I have played this game four times, thrice through the expansions and the level of choice is as clear as something like the newer, lighter RPG's like games from Larian studios. It lacks emergent stuff from those games but there's more to this, it is so nuanced here that you can't see the details in choice cause it does it so well. Whole sections of the game will be withdrawn from you depending on your choice, so much change from one playthrogh to the next. Things can happen hours apart that change how the stories unfold, sometimes dozens of hours apart. I've played choice based games like Detroi become human and been less impressed by the sprawl of the choice here. 

I think they done it too well, they didn't make light of it and because it's scripted and not dynamic as with older RPG's nor is there a character creater people write this off. I have spent so much time this playthrough fucking up and the reloading saves cause I know there's a better outcome than I got.

This game had everything that defines an RPG apart from a character creator but fuck silent characters. 

I think the W3 is a mediocre game that is way over hyped. I tried to play it 3 different times and got bored 10 hours in, every time. I would call it a rpg, just a very boring one with sub par battle system.

Now, now. Depression is a treatable illness and you shouldn't go on suffering. 

Lol, I really don't get the love.  With the free upgrade I am going to give it one final try this holiday.  Either way, it is an rpg.  So is oblivion.

Not every popular games clicks with everyone.  I know plenty of big jrpg fans that didn't enjoy Clair Obscur Expedition 33, or platform fans that didn't feel Astro Bot.  You can't satisfy everyone with a game.

@LegitHyperbole

I think you fundamentally don't understand what elements an RPG constitutes of, but I'll elaborate tomorrow.

Short answer: In-between
Long Answer: Loading...

Witcher's core gameplay is an RPG, experience points, learned skills, upgrades, and so on. The gameplay experience is widely around these mechanics.
But, it does have action elements (attack buttons and such), and adventure elements (choosing dialogue options and such). However, these elements tie into the RPG mechanics. This makes it a prime example of an Action RPG.

Now, whether Action RPGs are a proper form of RPG or "somewhere between" is another kind of debate.

RPG = Role Playing Game.
The Witcher 3 is a RPG because you can influence the story with your actions throughout the whole game. Do you want to be good, neutral, bad, chaotic, etc? Therefore you're playing a role. It's not gameplay wise playing a role it's more story wise you're playing a role. Now this doesn't mean games with different endings are RPGs, it means game where every action and every answer you give influences where you go and what happens throughout the entire game and not just one or a few sections.

Other RPGs everyone knows about like playing one character that you have difference classes with or playing with a party where everyone isn't the same and each plays a different role (or class) instead of just one person playing any (or every) class.

I've seen gamers and even developers call games RPGs where they literally aren't, such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West. Those games do not fit any criteria to be call RPGs.

It is. Wether i think it is or not.

This is a common misconception. But RPGs are not games where dialogue choices yield unique outcomes (along with other mechanics like puzzle solving and such) that's actually adventure games. These are based on the old adventure books where you get to the end of the chapter and then are presented with options, and choose where to go from there which impact the outcome.

Roleplaying differs from adventure games in that role-players don't choose from a selection of options, but rather create their own outcomes; a collaborative storytelling experience. Pen and paper RPGs (like Dungeons and Dragons) took this idea and applied rulesets, stats, randomized events, boards (maps), and the story delivered by a previous designer (and player selected as a referee) or a Game Master (also called Dungeon Master).

RPGs are games that borrow mechanics from the old pen and paper RPGs (especially dungeons and dragons). In this case, the writer/game designer and refereeing are all programmed into the game.