If there’s one thing gamers universally appreciate, it’s the great art found in their video games. Video game worlds are best when players can escape into a truly unique environment — something completely different from their everyday lives. Some great examples of these types of worlds are Remember Me, The Last of Us, and Fallout 3. Each of those three titles feel incredibly different from one another, and each have their own enjoyable aspects. There are, of course, even deeper worlds — mostly found in the RPG genre — that have even more content to delve into. Games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and WildStar create their own story and tell that story through gameplay, missions, and pages of tomes scattered about their respective worlds that users can uncover at their leisure.
According to the Witcher 3 reviews that began popping up across the web yesterday, the world of the Witcher 3 contains some truly spectacular art and is incredibly immersive. Of course, although there’s over 200 hours of gameplay, it would be impossible to uncover everything about The Witcher 3′s world in-game, which is why Dark Horse recently announced The World of The Witcher Video Game Compendium, an absolutely massive collection of notes, art, tales and Witcher history from the upcoming dark fantasy adventure game from CD Projekt Red.
I’ve spent extensive time with Dark Horses’ many video game art books, and the quality is always there. But The World of the Witcher really takes it to an entirely new level. While we’re still waiting for a review copy of The Witcher 3, The World of The Witcher gives us a ton of background information about The Witcher’s world, such as the many religions on the continent, the story of Geralt, and the many beasts of the Northern Kingdoms. And, these aren’t just little tidbits of information here and there scattered around art from the game. No — instead, there are pages upon pages of great content to further your knowledge of the Witcher. If you enjoy extraneous information about a game’s world, there is a ton of it contained in The World of the Witcher (including an entire page dedicated to the swords you’ll find in the world. While many of these types of collections are mostly art, The World of the Witcher is more text-heavy than Dark Horse’s usual volumes, and it’s loaded with information that enhances the world you’re going to be playing in next week. But, what do you expect from a collection from a game that’s based on a book series.
Of course, there’s still a ton of great concept art and illustrations as well. The World of the Witcher is both colorful and informative, and while it’s not a necessity to enjoying the upcoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it will definitely enhance the enjoyment you’ll get out of the game. There’s also a Limited Edition that will include 6 enamel pins, a portfolio with a special print and a clamshell case with a secret compartment.
The World of the Witcher will be released alongside The Witcher 3 on May 19.
Pre-Order ‘The World of the Witcher’ here. | Pre-Order ‘The Witcher 3’ here.
