Over a decade ago, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched and cemented its place as one of the most acclaimed RPGs of the generation. Ever since, players have been discovering — and returning — to this dark fantasy world, immersing themselves in the lands of the Continent. And on September 29, they’ll have another way of experiencing Geralt of Rivia’s epic story with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered on XBOX Series X|S!Revealed on stage at gamescom Opening Night Live, Remastered will bring a wide range of improvements and modernizations to the game, upgrading the experience while maintaining the heart and soul of the original. And if you saw the announcement trailer, you also caught a glimpse of the upcoming Songs of the Past expansion, releasing in 2027. But we’ll get to that later! First, let’s talk about some of the key upgrades coming with Remastered.Visually, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered aims to bring the game up to more modern, contemporary standards. You can see this not only through the improved textures across the environment — as well as NPC and monsters — but also the reworked lighting.Throughout the open world, you’ll see more natural illumination and dramatically improved light and shadow. You’ll notice it in the foliage while hunting monsters in the wilderness, in the streets of Novigrad as the sun sets over the bustling market — all across the world. Together with improvements to ray tracing, these changes will make it feel like you’re seeing the world of The Witcher 3 for the first time again.Of course, looks are one thing, but how does it feel? Modernization is also a key consideration here. Changes have been made to combat, traversal, and general movement too.When it comes to combat, the action now feels more precise and smooth than ever before. Revamped animations play a decisive role here, with Geralt closing the gap in combat much more fluidly now, for example. Some brutal new finishers also enter the fray, including the Aard-based finisher that you can see in the trailer. The new adaptive camera also feeds into the way the action is presented; it’s more dynamic and lets you feel more immersed in the moment-to-moment swordfighting. Depending on how many foes you’re facing, the camera will now move in tighter or zoom out for a wider view of your enemies. The goal is to make this feel natural, smooth, and keep you engrossed and aware in battle at all times.One of the biggest mechanical changes you’ll find in Remastered relates to skill trees and character progression. When looking at The Witcher 3 holistically, it became clear that there are ways to bring skill trees and character building more in-line with what a modern RPG audience might expect or be used to. Naturally, this is a pretty fundamental change. The entire system has been reimagined. New perks and abilities have been added, many existing skills have been reworked, and with the skill trees themselves completely redesigned, unlocking and creating your build becomes more flexible and intuitive.There’s much, much more to talk about with the additions in Remastered, but for now let’s just quickly shout out a few more:Transmogrification — Reforge the look of your favorite weapons and armor through the magic of transmogrification! Now you never need to sacrifice style for stats. Geralt’s style is yours to command.Cross-platform mod support — With mods available on XBOX Series X|S, you can create and play a wealth of custom content. From new quests, weapons, and equipment to balance changes and more, mods create an entirely unique Witcher 3 experience.Expanded photo mode — Make memories and capture thrilling moments with a wide array of photo mode options, including new poses, camera controls, frames, filters, models, and more.And Remastered also supports XBOX Play Anywhere! Enjoy seamless play across your XBOX Series X|S, PC, or XBOX-supported handheld, and carry on your upgraded adventure without missing a beat.The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered launches on September 29 as a free upgrade for all owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on XBOX Series X|S. What’s more, players who only own the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt base game will receive both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions for free. This includes players on XBOX One. Digital owners will automatically receive the expansions in their library, while disc-based players can claim the expansions for free from the Store.Of course, Remastered is not the only time we saw Geralt appear at Opening Night Live. Geralt returns to the Path in the third expansion, Songs of the Past, coming in 2027. The trailer gave a small glimpse into the dark story that awaits players when they enter the brand-new realm of Letten — Dandelion’s homeland. Geralt travels alongside his good friend to support him in a personal matter, and together they find a land of peace and prosperity… Not the place for a witcher, right?Well, in true CD PROJEKT RED storytelling fashion, there cannot be light without darkness. And in Letten, there is a darkness lurking beneath the surface; something that needs the expertise of a witcher. Something only Geralt can solve.Songs of the Past also features never-before-seen monsters for Geralt to hunt down and face. To even the odds, the White Wolf will be equipped with new options in combat. New mutagens will be available in the expansion as well as a new weapon that some veteran The Witcher fans might recognize… That’s right, the chain! The chain weapon gives Geralt more variety in battle, especially when it comes to crowd control. The chain itself is a nod back to the intro cinematic for the original The Witcher game, and it is great to have it become a full-fledged part of the game here in Songs of the Past!This expansion will launch in 2027. It is available to wishlist now on XBOX Series X|S, and benefits from all the upgrades included in Remastered, too! Stay tuned for more information on Geralt’s next adventure in Songs of the Past at a later date. We hope you’re ready to return to the Path!The post Geralt Returns in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past and Remastered appeared first on XBOX Wire.