One of my New Year’s resolutions was to post here on a more regular basis, but then I (finally) started playing Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt… So, to break my procrastination I decided to write a post about the usability delights of this wonderful game.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is the third game in the epic fantasy saga from the Polish game developers CD Projekt Red. It was released on May 19, 2015.

The Witcher games are based on the fantasy books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. The books tell the story of the witcher (monster hunter) Geralt of Rivia, whom you also play as in all of the Witcher games.

I won’t go into great depths about the story of the game. If you’re interested, read A Beginner’s Guide to the World of the Witcher by Kotaku. The lore is as epic as in The Lord of the Rings and the politics is as complicated as in Game of Thrones.

But in short, You play as Geralt who is looking for his adoptive (sort of) ultra powerful daughter Ciri who is lost in war-torn world and being chased by a group of scary specters called the Wild Hunt.

Just as its backstory, the mechanics and interfaces of Witcher 3 are deep and complex. But CD Projekt Red has pulled it off remarkably well. Here’s six of my favorite usability delights of this game.

1. No crashing into trees on horseback

I’ve played quite a few games where you spend time on horseback. Mainly Nintendo’s classic Legend of Zelda games, but also Rockstar Games’ western epic Red Dead Redemption. I’ve always found it incredibly frustrating when you’re gloriously blazing through a field with the sun setting in the background only to be abruptly stopped when crashing into a tree. Ugh.

In Witcher 3, this is almost never happens. Even when you ride into the most dense of woods, you are subtly auto-aimed past the many trunks and branches. It’s such a welcomed change. Well done CD Projekt Red.