These Red Dead Redemption comparisons keep exciting me more and more.
Yup. Some folks probably took offense at the statement* that "Witcher 3 doesn't feel like a Witcher game but more like Red Dead Redemption in a fantasy setting" but to me that's one of the best compliments I can think of for a narrative-driven open-world game. In my humble opinion, RDR still is the unrivaled king in this particular genre, featuring an immersive, incredibly atmospheric world full with meaningful side missions that accomplished to be both thematically thought-provoking and unique in design, an intelligent, emotional resonant story that didn't shy away from complex issues and that concluded in one of gaming's best endings, and - for its time - robust gameplay mechanics that were able to transcend the established GTA formula. If CDPR is able to combine those aspects in a similar compelling fashion with the more RPG-oriented elements of their previous two installments, we're in for a real treat.
*also, I wouldn't read too much into the first part of the statement since the gamespot guy mentioned that he neither is familiar with the novels, nor got too much into the prior games. He obviously only has perfunctory knowledge of the Witcher universe.