Which open world fantasy game is better? They have both gotten critical acclaim and have both won GOTY. Let's look at what makes each of them great. This comparison excludes mods on both sides [u]Story[/u]- Both games have good stories but The Witcher 3 has a much longer story with many more memorable characters and is presented better. Skyrim's story is going to always be remembered by me because of time traveling dragons and actually fighting real dragons. It's definitely memorable. The Witcher's is also an instant classic story with The Wild Hunt. Phantom Riders from another world to claim this one as their own with the power of the elder blood. I love it! But the first sentence basically sums it up [b]Winner: Witcher[/b] [u]Gameplay[/u]- Skyrim's gameplay was simple. Ramble around and do whatever you want with little to no consequences. Controls were pretty basic. Right trigger/bumper to swing your right hand weapon wildly at your opponent and left trigger/bumper uses whatever you have as your left handed weapon whether it be another sword, magic, or anything else and that's about it. The Witcher's gameplay and combat was much more complex with monsters of great diversity, in depth combat system with light attacks, heavy attacks, sidestepping, rolling, blocking, magic, and 2 swords at once. You have to think strategically rather than button mash. [b]Winner: Witcher[/b] [u]Lore[/u]: Both stories have good lore but Skyrim's is much more expansive and in depth. You could read about the legend of Red Eagle and then find his tomb and ACTUALLY FIGHT HIM! I thought that was so cool at the time. It was great. I love how in Skyrim you can just sit in your home and read a good book. An ACTUAL book. The book shows up and you actually turn the pages rather than reading a black box of dialogue. It's the little things that count. Witcher also has great lore but I mainly know the lore from the books rather than the game and it isn't presented in the game as well as Skyrim's [b]Winner: Skyrim[/b] [u]Length[/u]: In terms of campaign? Witcher, hands down. This game's campaign has taken people hundreds of hours to complete. It's long, in depth, interesting, and just overall, fantastic. Just the way I like my campaigns. Skyrim's was actually kinda short. It was good but short. It was 20 missions which compared to the Witcher is a cakewalk. Now in terms of the general game itself? It's debatable. Technically Skyrim never ends because the game will autogenerate fetch quests into dungeons to get some treasure for the person but those get old real fast. Witcher 3 had side quests that are great, witcher contracts that are great and VERY plentiful, treasure hunts, and of course GWENT! [b]Winner: Witcher[/b] [u]AI[/u]: Both games have some questionable AI in different situations. The AI in Skyrim rears it's ugly head with the dumb companions who trap you in doorways. The Witcher's AI isn't really that bad. The only thing that is iffy is the agro range for some monsters where if you do it right you can shoot them from a distance and they'll just stand there. Both have issues so... [b]Winner: Tie[/b] [u]Weapons[/u]: Both games have good weapons. Those swords in the Witcher are interesting looking if you get good ones and Skyrim's weapons are great is you enchant them or forge them. In each you can get mastercrafted weapons but in Skyrim they're presented a little better. [b]Winner: Skyrim[/b] [u]Open World[/u]: Which open world has the better experience? Depends on what you like. Skyrim has very little things holding you back. You're the hero, you do what you want. You wanna go slaughter everyone in a village? Do it. You wanna hunt trolls? Do it. There's wildlife such as bears, wolves, trolls, vampires, werewolves, and of course, DRAGONS. There's greener areas and snowy areas. The Witcher takes a different approach and makes the open world bigger with a few ground rules. You can't kill innocents but it makes sense. A Witcher gains nothing by killing off their client base. you have to think twice before -blam!-ing with the guards because they are not pushovers. You could be a level 8 and draw your weapon in front of a guard and they'll reveal themselves to be level 44's and one shot your ass. Witcher is more real. You may be a hero but you are a mortal man. The wildlife is much more diverse with regular bears, dogs, and wolves and then adding trolls, griffins, basilisks, cockatrices, endregas, elementals, sirens, ghouls, foglets, drowners, water hags, cyclopses, ice giants, trolls, different kinds of wraiths and vampires and werewolves, I could go on. There's also of course the standard bandits in both games. [b]Winner: (for me) Witcher[/b] [u]Horse riding[/u]: Debatable. It's really personal preference because Roach in the Witcher sure is clunky and horse riding in Skyrim is really basic and not unique. The game changer here is horse combat. In Skyrim you hit the left or right bumper/trigger and you'll swing your weapon to the corresponding direction. The Witcher isn't as great in this regard. You just hit square and hope your sword hits the target [b]Winner: Skyrim[/b] Final 4:3. Witcher is the better game. for me at least. After all these points, what about you guys? What do you think about it?