Reviewed on PC.

I’ve got a ton of experience in playing the different Reigns games that have been released over the years. That being said, I want to note that I will never claim to be good at them. Instead, I think I am actually rather bad. Luckily, that doesn’t seem to matter in these games, and you can still have a ton of fun outcomes regardless of what happens.

Reigns: The Witcher follows the same mechanics and art style of the previous games in the franchise, just this time it has that classic Witcher feel to it that you’ll experience in the games and books. If you’ve been wanting to make some goofy choices as Geralt of Rivia, while having your story regaled by Dandelion the Bard, this is the game for you.

Casually Joyous

This game landed in my lap at a great time. Mentally, I wasn’t doing well, but this game has provided me with so many great moments of joy and laughter when I needed them. It gave me those reminiscent moments of banter between Geralt and Dandelion that I was searching for. While the interactions were brief, the choices made throughout Reigns moved quickly, much like other iterations in the franchise.

The interactions that you can have throughout the game remind me a lot of those from the game and even from the TV show. The ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choices have that Geralt level of sass, as well as some witty remarks from Dandelion about some of Geralt’s weaker stories, depending on how long you survive.

I really love Reigns: The Witcher for how easy it is to just pick up and start playing. There is no lead-up to the game; you just dive straight in. As someone who can be a touch impatient at times, especially with lengthy cutscenes at the start of a game, this was the perfect start to a game for me. Very little introduction needed.

Trial and Error

One thing that has been true across all of the Reigns titles that I’ve played is that a lot of the game revolves around trial and error. Of course, there are decisions that you make that will influence how certain interactions play out, and you have to choose carefully. However, for the vast majority of my time with the game, it was trying to carefully balance the four stats at the top of the cards to ensure that Geralt doesn’t get too big for his boots and is caught off guard, leading to his demise.

The interactions between the different characters are so fun and offer little drops of whimsy as you have to remember whether it’s venom of one monster or a fang of another to poison someone and appease your client. Of course, there is the option to lead them astray and not help at all.

When it comes to the Reigns titles as a whole, being as chaotic as you like is really a huge part of it. This is why, for me, it is extra fitting that there is now the option to explore Geralt’s stories with Dandelion, retelling them to his fans. Across all of The Witcher media, Geralt ends up in chaotic situations, whether he likes it or not. Reigns: The Witcher is no different. With one card, he may be running a bubble bath and relaxing. Next, he’s charming a Troll and trying to get them to crack a smile.

I will admit that even after many, many attempts to try and figure out the gameplay loop of this game, I still am unsure of how to be truly successful. I know that every decision influences some or all of the statistics at the top of the card, but a lot of the time, the number will never be revealed to you. As a result of this, I often ended up getting Geralt killed (whoops) by mistake, thinking that it would reduce the statistic, instead of filling the bar completely and landing him in trouble.

Geralt the Storyteller

One of my favorite parts of Reigns: The Witcher is the tarot card mechanic. While they may not be intentionally like tarot cards, they function like them. To start a run in the game, you draw three cards, all of which have different titles for Geralt of Rivia. For example, “Geralt the Comical” or “Geralt the Gullible”. These mean that you will be working towards set goals within your run, which may also influence the choices you make in certain conversations. For example, there is one where you have to appease the sorcerers. Because of this, anything that would lead to a negative interaction with them, you are locked out of doing, and you have to say yes to them, whether you like it or not. More often than not, this landed in my end running, as it was the tipping point of one of the four stats you need to be mindful of.

Trying to read between the lines and make decisions that fit with the goals of each version of Geralt is a lot of fun, and also helps you gain more XP by the time your run finishes. This XP levels up Dandelion’s skill as a bard, gaining him a more favorable title. He goes from being unknown to the best storyteller via ballad.

I was thoroughly impressed with how many options Reigns: The Witcher had on offer. While there were a lot of interactions that you come across over and over again, there are also plenty of unique conversations to be had with different groups of people. On top of that, there are a fair few familiar faces to interact with, including Yennefer, Triss, and Vesemir.

Surprise Combat

The one feature that surprised me the most was the combat. I wasn’t expecting to have a combat mini-game to participate in. If you like rhythm games, you’ll probably enjoy the combat in this game. Once you choose to take on one of the monsters you’ll inevitably encounter along the way, you’ll be taken to the combat screen, where you get to take on the monster.

I’ll admit, I really struggled with this combat system. Timing it so that I was the one attacking and not being attacked was a real challenge for me. So much so that I chose to use the accessibility setting to turn off combat. I am very grateful to the developers for adding this in, as I feel that the combat alone would have ended many of my runs if I didn’t.

I did have a few runs where the combat had somehow turned itself back on, but it was easy enough to turn it back off and carry on my runs to make Dandelion the best bard in all the land.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Reigns: The Witcher. It had all of the wit and sass that I wanted from both Geralt and Dandelion, and I also liked that the game had a bit of a grinding aspect, where every time Dandelion leveled up, I’d unlock a new title for Geralt, allowing for new interactions and quests.

Of course, what would a Witcher experience be without the amazing music? The music was atmospheric and fitting to the moods of the interactions, especially when in combat against a monster.

There are so many possibilities and fun unlocks to be found in this game, and I’m very glad I got to experience it. It was the perfect relaxing game that I needed.