Patient Gamers

It's not as dramatic of a departure as Fallout but the change in style and scope is obvious.

• Witcher 1 was built on a modified Neverwinter Nights engine, so it feels and looks somewhat "classic". It has rhythm based combat with clear focus on preparations and knowing how to approach each enemy (though not to a hardcore degree). UI is clearly PC focused and should look very intuitive if you're familiar with old RPGs. It's also map based, with loading screens between locations and access to certain maps dependant on which chapter of the game you're at.
• Witcher 2 is more action orientated but still keeps some of the importance of prep. It's presentation is slicker and graphically looks much better but some of the design decisions (especially UI ones) shifted somewhat in a more gamepad friendly direction. It has similar structure to W1 except instead of bunch of smaller maps you have big open areas you move between with each chapter.
• Witcher 3 is a modern action RPG with open world, gamepad friendly design etc. Combat is much closer to what you'd expect based on other similar titles (though with more weighty movement), prep is mostly optional (unless you spec into it and/or play on higher difficulty) and it's generally the most accessible title for those who don't vibe with more classic RPG gameplay.

While things like combat evolved towards more mainstream appeal, others (like conversations, writing in general) improved without changing the core feel/design of the experience - only modernised them and put some additional polish made possible by increased budget.
There are also some things (the main being choices with long term consequences) which didn't relay as much on technology and stayed pretty much the same throughout the whole series.

Last but not least, Unlike the Fallout titles, Witcher games are a continuous story. While you can start with 3, there will be some moments that won't work as well as they would if you played the previous titles. Still, plenty of people started with 3 and enjoyed it quite a bit so missing this additional context won't destroy your experience - it's more of a bonus.

TL;DR: Yes but to a lesser extent.