For so long, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was the highest-rated open-world RPG of them all. That was until Elden Ring was released at the beginning of the year and stole the top spot off it, and who’s to argue? The game was brilliant. But there’s a change in the wind now because The Witcher 3 has retaken the top spot as the best open-world RPG, and it’s because of the next-gen update.

The Witcher 3’s next-gen update is currently chilling at the top of the list once again with a superb score of 97 on Metacritic. The highly anticipated next-gen port of the game finally drops tomorrow (December 14), and it will allow players to revisit this fantasy world that they all fell in love with all those years ago. Enhancing the adventure this time though are dozens of better visual performances and technical improvements compared to the original. This updated version will also include faster loading times (thank God), several mods, as well as brand-new content that is based on the Netflix series.

Everything that has been added to this game (which you can see in the trailer) is sounding fantastic, but possibly the best thing about it is that it’s free for anyone who already owns the game. But don’t just take our word for how good this game is sounding because the proof is in the pudding – the PlayStation 5 version of the game is sitting at the top of the Metacritic tree.

This 97 rating that the game has been given means it’s taken stole the spotlight from Elden Ring to become the best open-world RPG of all time. Although, it’s a very close one because FromSoftware’s game is currently sitting on a score of 96, literally the finest of margins. Previously, the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of The Witcher 3 scored 91, 92, and 93, which are fantastic scores to be fair.

It’s early days though, the race has only just begun because these scores are based on very early experiences. The game has not even been released yet which means it needs time to settle properly. It could very well end up with a lower score than Elden Ring, but going off the quality we’ve seen so far, that would be very unlikely.

This wasn’t the only standings that Metacritic was keeping tabs on because the review site has also released the worst-reviewed games of the year as well, which you can take a look at here.

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