I wanted to like W3; I had [small] hopes that they would restore the series' critical gameplay in the third game—despite adding the open world aspect —that I wish it didn't have, (funny how the same can be said of FO3), but alas, so far it plays like W2 instead of W1. Geralt is again the puppet instead of the pragmatic professional.
I've had Witcher 3 since Day 1, and it never held my interest long enough to even exit the tutorial area; W2, I don't recall staying interested past the Kraken battle. W1 was superb, and I played it through to the end for all campaigns—being further, and further impressed with it, as the game progressed.
I did really like the W2 replacement intro cinematic. (For those who don't recall, the initial release of W2 had an in-engine cutscene with Geralt stumbling out of the woods; and as with all in-engine cutscenes, its visual quality suffered commensurate to the player's hardware). I did not like the W2's loss of combat disciplines, bar fights, advanced alchemy, and intelligent choice in the use of potions; all lost from the original gameplay; not to mention the three camera systems also lost.
On the whole, IMO Geralt's appearance/physical likeness has changed for the worse with each new installment of the franchise; it's not change due to age, he simply doesn't look like he was ever the same person as before.