I think countering one absolute opinion with another like this is a bit counter-productive.
In that case I will try to be a bit more conversational.
I mean, looking at the most iconic looks from the two previous games, it's just something that isn't in The Witcher 3 at all. That is, I believe, what many people would like the option to play through the game with. The classic Geralt look. Nothing more, nothing less.
See --I
don't consider that the classic Geralt look, at least not the one on the right. I am someone who played Rise of The White Wolf before Assassins of Kings, and only played the games one year apart. And coming from the Rise of The White Wolf I actually
disliked the armor in Assassins of Kings (I may be in the minority here.)
I liked the fact that in Rise of The White Wolf Geralt's armor was extremely simplistic and seemed like the kind of thing a Witcher would wear in reality. It was light, so he could move quickly. As master swordsmen, Witchers don't need heavy armor because if they can't ward off enemy blows with their swords then they are as good as dead anyways. IMO Assassins of Kings stepped armor up and made it more elaborate. There was tons of things hanging off it that I wasn't sure Geralt would ever use. And for that reason I didn't like it as much as the first game.
I consider Wild Hunt a step up simply because it has tons more armors than in the previous games, as well as three different armor classes. We could argue for days about whether or not there is a lore justification for Geralt to
ever wear anything above light armor (I don't think there is --as I already said, if he can't defend himself with his sword he is as good as dead anways.) But at the end of the day Wild Hunt is an open world game with tons of different armors, and for that it needs
variety. Which is exactly what the devs succeeded at creating.
Now, I agree that many of the armors feel very "un-Geralt-ish." They don't give me the "lethal warrior-monk" vibe that Rise of The White Wolf did. But I will give them props for allowing you to wear the same armor as NPCs -- something you could never do in Assassins of Kings. I think this helps to immerse yourself deeper into the world of the game --something that's important for a fantasy as rich as The Witcher. A casual gamer is going to walk around wearing Redanian armor and then notice only Redenian NPCs wear it. As a result he/she will feel more connected with the world. They also incorporated a lot of diverse styles from history, something I have mentioned before, and even though they aren't very Geralt-ish I will give them props for handling armors the best way possible for the type of game that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is: an open-world RPG with a rich lore and extensive item game.
