Here's an hour and a half of Geralt standing by a tranquil lake as peaceful music plays

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Everyone needs to take a break now and then—even the world's foremost monster hunter. Toussaint is a land of exotic wonder and there's no end of sights and sounds in the free city of Novigrad, but sometimes the path to tranquility is simplicity: Blue skies, clear water, and the distant, gentle rush of wind playing through nearby trees. And thanks to a new video shared by CD Projekt ahead of the release of the big Witcher 3 next-gen patch, we can all take a moment to find that peace on the Path.

The full video runs 1:36:46, and through it all there's nothing to do but enjoy the scenery and listen to the gentle music and ambient audio. Despite the placid environment, things do happen, but they're calm, harmless: The sun sets and rises, birds flap through the sky, a child rushes out to play in the water, now and then a fisherman rows by—and through it all, Geralt stands stoically on the shore, gazing across the water and into the distance, no doubt pondering the life that brought him to this point, and where it might take him next.

There are glitches to be seen, too. Nothing quite as overt as Roach standing on the roofs of houses, but little things here and there, like a man rowing a boat with no oar, or a rider on a horse suddenly disappearing into nothingness. It doesn't take away from the overall soothing effect, but it is a fun little reminder—almost like an Easter egg—that despite its well-deserved acclaim, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not without its own share of oddities.

If you'd like to see this spot for yourself, head for the Upper Mill, found across the lake from the village of Brunwich, which lies well east of the city of Novigrad. If it's your first time there, be sure to approach from the south—the chapel across the bridge to the north is cursed.

The Witcher 3's big, free next-gen update goes live at 4 pm PT/7 pm ET on December 13, which is just a few hours from now—there's a good chance it'll already be live by the time you read this. For the full lowdown on what it brings to the table, including the PC-exclusive Ultra+ graphics setting, be sure to have a look at the patch notes.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Image of The Witcher 4 mocap session from The Witcher 4 – Cinematic Reveal Trailer – Behind the scenes
The Witcher 4 reveal trailer took 14 days of mocap, and CD Projekt wants you to think about what happened after it ended
Witcher 3's Geralt having a think
The Witcher 3's now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the 'vibe' CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4
bathtub geralt
I regret to inform you that The Witcher 3 is a decade old this year, but you can forget about unceasing mortality for a few hours at the anniversary concerts
Monster Hunter Wilds palico
Monster Hunter Wilds' first free update will feature 'a whole host of new additions' and a majestic water wyvern for players to blow sky high
A hunter digs in to some delicious dumplings in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds' first title update is overflowing with new stuff: A long-awaited Grand Hub, Arch-tempered Monsters, Arena Quests, and most importantly, fashion
Hades 2 key art
Need to relax? Grab a coffee, kick back and submerge yourself in the sound of Hades 2's narrator reading the patch notes for its latest massive update
Latest in The Witcher
A close-up of a scared young girl's face as she stumbles through the woods, a crown of twigs and flowers upon her head.
CD Projekt says it's not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 because it's 'quite tricky when it comes to legal IP ownership'
Tub Geralt, just chilling in his tub.
The new Witcher novel is a prequel called Crossroads of Ravens where Geralt is 18 years old, and it'll be available in English in September
The Witcher 3
Geralt will definitely appear in The Witcher 4, Doug Cockle confirms (again): 'I can't wait to see what they do'
bathtub geralt
I regret to inform you that The Witcher 3 is a decade old this year, but you can forget about unceasing mortality for a few hours at the anniversary concerts
Geralt thumbs up
Witcher author reveals that Geralt is 61 years old in The Witcher 3, with even weirder ramifications for Henry Cavill's Netflix performance
A still from the cinematic reveal trailer of The Witcher 4, showing unt Witcher
CD Projekt had to nerf Ciri for The Witcher 4 after she fully unlocked her spacetime teleportation powers in the previous game: 'Something totally happened in-between'
Latest in News
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'