If you own any version of the base game of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you can now grab its next-gen self as part of a free update. For newcomers a "Complete Edition" of the game is also available (always has been) and will download as the next-gen edition of the game.

Harnessing the power of next-gen hardware, the updated version of CD PROJEKT RED’s trilogy-concluding role-playing epic comes as a free download for owners of the original release of the game, featuring a wide variety of visual and performance improvements.

These include real-time ray tracing for PC, Performance and Ray Tracing modes on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and Performance and Quality modes on Xbox Series S, support for DLSS on PC and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution across all next-gen platforms, faster loading times, and more. Furthermore, the next-gen version introduces content and quality of life additions: items and quest inspired by the The Witcher Netflix show, new camera options, quick Sign casting, Photo Mode, cross-platform progression, map and UI tweaks, a selection of community-created mods integrated into the experience — among many others. The Complete Edition also comes with all previously released content for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — the award-winning Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine expansions, as well as 16 pieces of extra content.

Having fired it up on Series X over the past few days and taking the introduction and early parts of White Orchard for a run in Quality Mode, this is definitely a familiar, yet better-looking beast. Ray Tracing in particular brings a softness to the updated 4K visuals, and running at 30fps I didn't really notice too much in the way of the game being slower (in fact I had to turn down camera responsivness). Combat is perhaps more flawed an experience this many years on and with other games nailing it better, but there's a dance and cadence to it that came back with some muscle memory and repetition. On the whole though, I can see myself playing right through this again with a goal to making different decisions this time around because all of the above really does make it feel like a different, or even new game.