When The Witcher 3 was first released back in 2015, it became quickly apparent it was one of the greatest video games of all time. When its excellent expansions dropped in the years to come, that only cemented the game’s reputation. But through all the highs, over all the playthroughs, there was one nagging low.
Through the whole saga, you go through a lot of horses, and they all get the same name—Roach—because Geralt loves each of his steeds equally. You spend hundreds of hours together, roaming the wilderness, chatting to folks and getting rained on. Geralt and Roach are—in a world teeming with villains and treachery—some of the only true friends in the whole Witcher universe.
Yet you could never pet Roach. Could never press a button to let them know that, hey, bud, I appreciate everything you (and those who came before you, and are to come) have done for me. I hope this feels nice. I may be a weird mutant human killing machine, and you a horse, but we’re pals.
You can now! As part of the game’s recent next-gen update, you can now approach Roach, give them a little neck rub then a couple of friendly pats on the shoulder.
In addition to this important new addition to the game, the next-gen update has sadly shipped with a ton of bugs that are making things rough for PC players of the game. That’s the bad news; the good news is that the update also includes a number of fan-made mods that evolved over the the years into staples of the community, like The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project by HalkHogan, HD Monsters Reworked by Denroth, Immersive Real-time Cutscenes by teiji25, Nitpicker’s Patch by chuckcash and World Map Fixes by Terg500.