Blood and Wine is not DLC. It’s a complete second game built inside the shell of The Witcher 3, and it might be the best piece of expansion content ever released. That’s the argument I’m going to make, and I stand by it. Other candidates — Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s DLC, Lich King for WoW, whatever — welcome to make their case. But Blood and Wine is extraordinary.
Toussaint is the first reason. After the grey war-torn world of the base game, this sun-drenched wine country — modelled on the French Riviera and Provence — is a visual shock. It’s beautiful in a way that almost feels wrong for a Witcher game. Colourful, warm, safe-feeling. And then the monster attacks start, and the fairy tale cracks, and Blood and Wine does what Witcher 3 always does: uses the prettiest surfaces to explore the ugliest subjects.
Regis, the vampire who becomes Geralt’s companion through the expansion, is one of the best-written characters in the entire saga. His backstory, his relationship with Geralt, his own arc within the main Blood and Wine plot — all of it lands. The painted world sequence, which I won’t describe in detail, is unlike anything else in the game and has stayed with me.
And the ending. The final scene of Blood and Wine — which you can take in after completing everything — is the closest thing to a proper goodbye the Witcher saga has ever offered Geralt. He gets a home. He gets peace. After everything the games put this character through, he earns it. I teared up a bit. I’m not embarrassed about that.
If you’ve played Witcher 3 and skipped the DLC: Blood and Wine is the ending Geralt deserves, and it’s also just superb on its own terms. Play it. Stay for the wine.