The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is awesome. It’s a defining game for this generation, and for open-world games in general. It’s visuals are a step above its peers and the sheer volume of content within its walls is almost baffling.

Still, it does miss a few things and, given developer CD Projekt RED has pledged some serious post-release support by way of free DLC and two massive expansions, plus myriad patches to make sure the experience is always the best for players, we thought we’d present five elements we think the game is missing that could very easily be added in.

(Big thanks to Joaby for his help on this feature.)



Property Purchase
While the life of a Witcher is a relatively solitary one, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to lay your head down on your own pillows and mount your many trophies upon your own walls. The separation of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its natural counterpart, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, is that the main character is an established and known person with a history not forged by the player. Still, it shouldn’t mean players can’t craft a sanction as their own hub, replete with bragging rights by way of trophies and displays. Buffs could also be a large part of coming home, and you could even be able to invite the many ‘ladies of the night’ Geralt is able to hook up with, back to your own pad.

Boat Purchase and Upgrades
There’s a world of sea around you in Northern Realms, and while it’s awesome you can jump into any boat, ownership of one, with upgradeable components wouldn’t be a bad way to make life on the high seas more attached to the player. You could also combine this idea with the property purchase idea above, with a customisable quarters and maybe even set up a trade route, so your boat is working for you in the background, given money is actually a difficult accrual part of the game. Trade, investment and a boat that doesn’t break when you run slightly aground would just add a greater level of depth to the game, and could also be opened up with more high seas action against bandits, pirates and even new sea monsters.



Consolidated UI
If The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is let down anywhere, it's in its user interface. Clearly designed for those playing at a desk and on a monitor, The Witcher 3's tiny text and awkward controls can be tough to wrangle when it's 3am and you're eight hours into an all-night binge. There are definitely some quality of life adjustments they could make which would be world class, starting with... well, a larger text option. A button to sort your inventory by type, price and quality, at the very least. Finally your junk tab could list all the actual junk first, and all your craftable junk separately, allowing you to quickly get rid of those broken axe heads.

While we're talking about streamlining your inventory, a notification when you're able to craft a new item would be a great boon for those of us not used to memorising the materials needed for fictional potions. I know I need five "Celandine" for a Swallow potion, but when I'm picking every flower I see I press the "Take All" button so fast I usually don't know when I've picked one, let alone five.

Better Climbing Options/Mechanics
The Witcher 3 is, funnily enough, the first game in which the agile and well-trained Geralt can jump. In games gone past, he would climb over ledges in relatively locked pathways, so the team can be a little forgiven for not nailing this new system with perfection. But it doesn’t mean in the future Geralt shouldn’t be able to climb a little better. We’re not asking for Assassin’s Creed levels of climbing, but being able to grab higher ledges and hang could make for a bit better exploration of the world. There are plenty of decaying castles and strongholds that look climbable in the current game and it just feels like a letdown that we can’t jaunt our way up these tantalising walls. Plus he’s that “agile and well-trained” Witcher, so you know, it just makes sense.



Fishing/Better Hunting
There might be nobody better at hunting than Geralt, who can use a combination of encyclopaedic monster knowledge and magic Witcher senses to find everything from hiding children to the lairs of mythical beasts. Still, wouldn't it be lovely if you could do some real hunting? Track deer through a forest, set traps for bears and acquire the meats Geralt relies on for health replenishment so much? Actually, forget hunting -- imagine if you could use those countless fishing rods you've no doubt found by now to head to one of the many streams and estuaries in the world to catch your dinner on the end of a line!? Those boat upgrades from before will come in handy when you install a chilled compartment in the hull to hold the many beers you'll drink as you spend hours reeling in tasty fish.

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This is just five basic ideas, obviously in a world as big and as expansive as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt there are myriad things players are going to be asking for, so join our conversation and be sure to invest your ideas and feedback in the Comments below.