The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Remastered: All 15 Major Changes And Improvements

Published Sep 28, 2026, 10:17 AM EDT

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered officially releases tomorrow, offering players a pretty unprecedented free upgrade for an 11-year-old game, one that's packed with systemic changes, enhanced graphics, and so much more. If you own The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you'll get access to the upgrade tomorrow at no extra cost, alongside both of the original two expansions; Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine.

There is, of course, plenty to dig into with this remaster. But for now, let's focus on the 15 biggest changes and improvements CD Projekt RED has introduced to the game, from enhanced performance to reworked combat.

Upgraded Visuals and Performance

This is probably the most obvious one. The Witcher 3 Remastered has been given a serious visual upgrade. NPCs look better than before, interior and exterior lighting has been reworked, there are new and improved environmental textures, and major changes to foliage to make areas feel more lush and alive.

Path Tracing

This one is exclusive to PC, unfortunately. For those that might not be aware, path tracing is basically just even more realistic lighting that better simulates rays of light. It does make a massive difference in games, and it looks great in The Witcher 3 Remastered.

PS5 Pro Support

If you're playing on a PlayStation 5 Pro, you can make use of PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) to enable a smooth 60 frames per second with ray tracing turned on.

Reimagined Skill System

The Witcher 3's skill system has been reworked to give players brand-new abilities and easier, earlier access to high-level skills. Instead of being forced to spend a set number of points in tier-by-tier blocks, as was the case in the original game, there's now a more modern skill tree that lets you put together custom builds much more efficiently. For me, this is definitely a big one.

Improved Combat

Not everyone loves the combat in The Witcher 3. To be honest, it's not that different in the remaster, although some of the rougher edges have been sanded down. Animations have been improved, and new finishers have been added to make things more visually exciting. The camera has also been adjusted to better adapt to fights in any setting.

Sign Refresh

All five Witcher signs — Aard, Igni, Yrden, Quen, and Axii — have been upgraded to include brand-new visual effects. Aard in particular looks and feels even better to use now.

Enemy Behavior Enhancements

Enemies now generally behave way more realistically, making for more immersive encounters with even regular enemies like Drowners or bandits. What does this actually mean? Improved enemy AI means they don't all fight exactly the same way, and will keep you on your toes with an expanded set of attack loops and tactics.

Overhauled Movement Animations

Geralt and Roach now look and behave much more realistically when moving through the world. Which, in the case of Roach, is arguably a bit of a shame, really.

Witcher Senses Rework

Geralt’s Witcher senses have been reworked to look clearer and cleaner. New clues are now also only revealed if you focus on the right aspects of a scene, making for a much, much better experience when sniffing out monsters and chasing down bad guys/missing body parts.

Refreshed UI

An updated main menu, refreshed quest and tutorial notifications, and a much clearer, cleaner HUD that you can customize pretty much any way you like. If I were you, I'd try turning off the minimap and just let yourself get good and lost.

Transmog

Transmogrification is a much-loved feature in pretty much any RPG. Basically, it lets you keep the look of your favorite weapons and armor even if you find new gear with better stats. Because what good is a Geralt who has higher defence if he looks like he's just crawled out of a bin in Novigrad?

Expanded Photo Mode

A much better photo mode has been added to the game that gives you a huge new selection of poses, camera controls, frames, filters, models, and more. I daresay there are going to be memes over the next few weeks.

Mod.io Integration

Cross-platform mod support introduces even more brand-new content long before we get to next year's official Songs of the Past expansion. You'll be able to download new quests, weapons, gear, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

Bard’s Ballad

Bard’s Ballad is a brand-new accessibility feature that's been added to The Witcher 3 Remastered. It modifies select gameplay elements to make the experience easier and less overwhelming, for players with potential cognitive limitations by including features like automatic self-healing and auto looting. It's also fully customizable.

Motion Controls (Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive)

Exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2, players can use motion controls for things like the crossbow, throwing bombs, or getting Roach to speed up. The Switch 2 version also includes a mouse mode, and you can use the touchscreen in handheld to navigate menus or play Gwent.

Systems