Still playing Witcher 3, now on my second and on NG+ AND Death March. Oh, the *SQUEE* insanity.
I never play Super Hard mode or whatever in any game, but this felt right, actually. Fighting monsters like these should not be something that become super easy after some levels. On Death March, I got destroyed by Drowners early because I was just playing the game like I did before. And the good reviews I read on this mode also helped, of course. And that shiny X Box silver, I want one of those elite style trophies.
I'm doing everything I found "wrong" to do on the firstie, meaning
romancing Triss's Bewbs
) and just being the deadbeat dad that Ciri never thought she had. I want [spoiler]her to be Empress of Milfgaarden, grab some coin from the bad guy and just give Geralt the equivalent of a "she's not the one, but you know, she's in awe of me and we're really close friends... and man, those bewbs" kinda relationship.

[/spoiler]
Also, freaking Gwent. I did not play this almost at all in the first playthrough, now I'm only missing the 4 last from the Passiflora. I went there earlier but the fact that I was knocked out of my *SQUEE* by a stupid half-elf/full sore loser after I beat him on cards, made me realise that it is better to level up before that quest. Guy had a red skull on his health bar, 2 punches and I was out. Death March's fistfights are freaking brutal.
Gwent is addictive and is no surprise the minigame actually became a standalone game AND a serious competitive "sport" a la MTG online.
But I have to say, so far, this has been even better in parts than my previous game. By that, I'm mostly talking about the monster contract's fights; even if you are out-levelling whatever you are fighting, if you don't prepare and actually THINK in a battle, read the bestiaries, all the oils/bombs/potions stuff, you'll be dead in a few hits. There's a sense of actually thinking like a Witcher for a need, instead of just easing the carnage you do after some levels of good ability picking.
But there was a particular fight, I think it has got to be the most intense boss fight I have played in a long time. Took about 10 tries and I only did it in 10/15 minutes.
That f*cking Ice Giant in Skellige, where Hjalmar's bud is trapped.
That guy destroyed me in secs for the first 5 or 6 times, until I gave up and actually leveled up a bit more and - with a bit of sorrow - started using anything other than my Grandmaster Manticore black armor from the beginning of Death March. I did 19 levels with it, but it had to go. Using Legendary Wolven, waiting to get Legendary Manticore of course.
I (we) defeated it after releasing seriouly-complete-loon friend named Vigi, The Loon- I actually laughed out loud when he goes "I'm just gonna kill him first" and then when you are expecting him to drive a sword on the heart of the SLEEPING thing, he kicks it, wakes him up, and just screams at the monster like he's gonna f him up. Most optimistic dude ever.
But then we had to fight this thing. I did not land a single blow, just Pierced him, Northern Wind and Fire. All the while, always checking Quen and running/dodging the guy because you know... it takes one, ONE hit from this dude to off you, if you are careless for a second. Most intense fight so far.
When it was oveR and the 2 dudes start laughing heartily at the deed and at the crazyness of Vigi, I laughed out loud again, this time, the old "I *SQUEE* KILLED A GIANT" sort of laugh, heart still racing. Epic does not define it right, seriously.I
love this mode of the game, even if it can be super punishing in many many situations.
Wolves? GTFO. Seriously, Wolves will kill you more easily than the Wild Hunt.
Bandits? Run, unless you know your surroundings and again, PREPARE a lot. And on that, the first time I got to Novigrad, wearing my fancy armor from previous game, having beaten dozens of monsters, I was killed in one hit by a dude with a mace. Not kidding, there's some sort of bug, that gives mace wielding humans severe Hit power.BOOK SPOILER
It actually fits the story of Geralt, if you have read the books. He dies by peasant with fork. But I haven't fought those *SQUEE* dudes yet, because I don't want to see the load screen again and again.
Just one more little tidbit I experienced.
Oh boy, you know those times in games where the camera and the movement combinations just give you a view of something unforgettable? I still remember the first time I saw a Rancor in KOTOR, just peeking from a corner and when I look BAM there's a Rancor in that place. Gaming Goosebumps.
This thing that happened, well, I think players of the game can understand this way better. No words do justice to what CDPKRT did with some of the creatures here.
So, I was near Oxenfurt, decided to go and check that far off ? that I thought was a Place of Power. I still have no idea what it is, because of what happened.
I was running, Roach free, sunny day and the whole thing, great stroll.
Out of nowhere, the sky goes dark and cloudy, and I notice I am surrounded/about to be chased by what seemed, some 30 wolves. A huge red blot on the map, with me in the middle, I swear they were dozens. Wolves kill you in seconds in DM, like I said, unless you have the patience, and even then.
And then, crows or ravens, clouds of them chasing me, along with wolf army. I start running, but the nerves got the better of me (I could not make a save in the moment of course, and didn't do it in a while, so lots of stuff had to be redone

) Camera starts rolling,
fingers did not do what the brain wanted, and IT happens.
I had the camera with Geralt facing me, so I was seeing the pack chasing me, the clouds in the sky and some 50 meters away in the back (in real life, that felt like the distance) the responsible for this scenario, out to kill me- yeah, it was a Leshen. A damn Leshen, sending the entire forest after me. I only saw him in that half second, shat my metaphorical gaming pants and RAN, RAN, RAN. I only stopped when I saw civilization, was actually on auto mode, that mode being running as fast as poor Geralt can run.
Leshen are the coolest monsters in the entire franchise of the games. But I will not see one again out of my own will, until I rule this game on this mode and might stand a chance against what seems impossible, actually.
Weird, that I never had a problem with them before in normal mode, even if underleveled. But Death March is where the stuff like this is even more amazing. One-hit-kill monsters are where this game actually is its best when it comes to combat.