it at least sets the benchmark for side quests

Minecraft is the benchmark in open world games.

I'm enjoying this game immensely, but:

1) Trees move anything but realistically, it's like they're possessed or their branches are made out of kid balloons (actually saw some attached balloons just yesterday moving in the wind and immediately thought of Witcher 3 trees)

2) Weather system is ok, but I really don't see anything out of the ordinary

3) This is actually only part I have major problems with - world is too flat-ish and realistic for quest design they've put in.

What this means is that if you turn off markers (which are there for usual hand-holding), quest descriptions and directions are simply not good enough and the world begins to feel almost too open with lines of sight that are not very good due to all the trees and flat-ish terrain, which turns your travels into bit of a 'comb the map' affair - same thing is with ? locations if you want to turn them off in map. Open-world games really benefit from condensed geography, and honestly, IMO, while very detailed, Witcher 3's world doesn't come anywhere near Piranha Bytes level of global world design.

That said, characters and side quests are great, and while there are few other things aside from 3), at least for me, that stop it from being THE open-world WRPG, combat, one thing I see some people complaining about, is certainly not the one - maybe it's really completely different experience with kb/m on PC than on consoles, but I have really no issues with gameplay, quite the opposite.

All in all, so far, it's a must have game for all WRPG fans, though, not as stellar as it might've been.

i thought xenoblade x would be that, Yes its by far not that popular but the world is like 3x as big as witchers 3 (which isnt even real open world)

The Witcher 3 sets the bar when it comes to the open-world in open-world games, I agree. But its combat is terrible, which brings the game down significantly. This is one place where DA: I was far better.

Also, lol at people comparing The Witcher 3's combat to GTA V. Do you know that melee combat is essentially a non-existant part of GTA games? And GTA V's shooting mechanics are much more refined than The Witcher 3's combat mechanics.

Other than that, I'm loving the game though :)

But the grass looks like something from the Sega Saturn though...

I agree although I hate how the main characters are nowhere to be found after you finish the story, makes it feel empty.

If you have to click on a Map to get to new areas it isn't open world so how can it set a benchmark in a genre it isn't? Game looks great nearly bought it today but it was 60 euros

Haven't finished it yet but ya I can't argue. The game us just pure quality, top to bottom. Easily one of the best games I've ever played. Maybe the best period.

Gothic did all of these things before the Witcher.