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Witcher 4 director interview: Ciri will pass trial of grasses during game, the trailer is a pre-rendered in-game cutscene, and more

LectureMaster

LectureMaster

Gold Member
Interviewed by Chinese site Gamersky.
Original interview in Chinese

Some key points (Google translate)


  • The Witcher 4 is a new original story about Ciri, and Geralt will appear from time to time
  • The story takes place a few years after The Witcher 3, still on the same continent, but the world will be further expanded
  • As a "Source Warlock", Ciri will have new spells and combat mechanisms
  • What is shown in the trailer is all pre-rendered by the game engine, and the materials are from the actual game machine
  • There will be Chinese dubbing when it is released
  • Players will experience the "Trial of Green Grass" in the game where Ciri becomes a witcher
  • The witcher emblem in the first trailer is the Lynx School


Q: There is a scene in the trailer where Ciri drinks the potion. According to the original setting, people who have not passed the Trial of Green Grass cannot use the witcher's potion, so why can Ciri?

A: Yes, that's why her eyes mutated. This is actually very important because it conveys a key message to the player: this scene takes place after Ciri has mutated into a demon hunter. For those who have completed The Witcher 3, the last thing they saw was Ciri, and her whereabouts after that were a mystery. But in fact, players will experience the "Trial of Grasses" in person in The Witcher 4 and see her transformation into a demon hunter.
Click to expand...
A: Actually, we decided to use Unreal Engine a few years ago for many reasons. First of all, Unreal Engine provides us with more possibilities, and its technology is very stable, which is suitable for us to build a huge open world. Obviously, the content you see today is based on Unreal Engine 5, but this is also a custom version we developed in close cooperation with Epic engineers. We hope that this engine can provide strong support for us to build a huge and detailed game world.

A very cool detail is that the trailer you see is actually a pre-rendered cinematic cutscene, with no post-production compositing at all. The game resources we use are all actual assets in the game. In other words, the quality of the assets in the trailer is the actual game quality in the game. This was a challenge for us because it was the first time we made a trailer in this way, but we are very happy that we made this decision. This not only helped us establish the overall quality of the game, especially in terms of visual effects, but also ensured that the visual style of the game can be carried through the entire game experience.

We are very pleased with the smooth cooperation between our cooperation team and Epic Games engineers. Through this cooperation, we can ensure that the game reaches new heights in technology and brings players more stunning visual and gaming experience.
Click to expand...
 
V1LÆM

V1LÆM

Gold Member
awesome. i don't get the hate.

anyone who has played Witcher 3 should know this is where they were likely gonna go. We've known Ciri was training to be a witcher and we knew 3 was Geralt's last game as main character. The last scene in the game (B/W expansion) breaks the 4th wall and that is Geralt saying goodbye to the players.

I hope Geralt's role is that of Vesemir and he appears now and then to mentor and assist her but he's not playable.

and the game isn't gonna look like the trailer because yeah it's CGI. Geralt didn't look like he did in the CGI trailers for 3.

the only thing that upset me is knowing this game is many years away :(
 
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Senua

Senua

Member
Gaiff Gaiff

Jurassic Park Water GIF
 
Puscifer

Puscifer

Member
Not exactly are how consoles or even PCs will handle it. Watch the trailer in 4K and the last 30 seconds are clearly in game, it's a massive shift you see at high resolution.
 
Tsaki

Tsaki

Member
I'm always excited for more Witcher, BUT having Ciri as the main character is disappointing because it undermines the choices we made in The Witcher 3. Setting a canonical ending where 'Ciri lives and becomes a Witcher' renders many players' decisions meaningless. The Witcher series shouldn't reduce its storytelling depth to the level of Assassin's Creed. Instead, they should introduce a new cast of characters while letting Geralt and Ciri's legacy vary based on our choices in W3.

fdE5Vhv.jpeg
 
Gaiff

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Lambert or even Letho would have been fine as playable characters, but sure, let’s have an adult woman pass the trial of grasses where their survival rate is 0 just so we can have our strong female lead.

Was made clear multiple times in the books that Geralt and Yen would never subject Ciri to the trials because of how deadly and inhumane they are (plus that no female ever survived them). Oh, and thanks to her elder blood, she would have never needed them anyway.

It would have been good to just have a spin-off where Ciri isn’t a witcher, but CDPR is too bitch for that and they had to do one of the biggest lore butcheries ever. Actually, the biggest.

Meh.
 
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Oberstein

Oberstein

Member
LectureMaster said:
  • As a "Source Warlock", Ciri will have new spells and combat mechanisms
  • Players will experience the "Trial of Green Grass" in the game where Ciri becomes a witcher
  • The witcher emblem in the first trailer is the Lynx School
Click to expand...

So she still has full powers + the characteristics of a Witcher. Does she also cast summons? XD

Well, I'm waiting to see how these new mechanics turn out, but it seems a bit excessive.
 
L

Last Hearth

Member
Tsaki said:
I'm always excited for more Witcher, BUT having Ciri as the main character is disappointing because it undermines the choices we made in The Witcher 3. Setting a canonical ending where 'Ciri lives and becomes a Witcher' renders many players' decisions meaningless. The Witcher series shouldn't reduce its storytelling depth to the level of Assassin's Creed. Instead, they should introduce a new cast of characters while letting Geralt and Ciri's legacy vary based on our choices in W3.

fdE5Vhv.jpeg
Click to expand...
Agreed, that's the direction they should have gone, but I think the temptation of having a girlboss main character is too much to resist.
 
Puscifer

Puscifer

Member
Unrivaledx88 said:
Damn man , love the Witcher and Ciri but i wanted to play as a Guy tired of all single player games having Woman as Main.
Even the New ND game a woman again . Tired.

Played enough HZD as a Woman love it but god damn get me a man Main.

Either way i will get the Witcher 4
Click to expand...
It's been like ten years since Witcher 3 came out and it's crazy obvious she was going to be lead for years.
Gaiff said:
Lambert or even Letho would have been fine as playable characters, but sure, let’s have an adult woman pass the trial of grasses where their survival rate is 0 just so we can have our strong female lead.

Was made clear multiple times in the books that Geralt and Yen would never subject Ciri to the trials because of how deadly and inhumane they are (plus that no female ever survived them). Oh, and thanks to her elder blood, she would have never needed them anyway.

It would have been good to just have a spin-off where Ciri isn’t a witcher, but CDPR is too bitch for that and they had to do one of the biggest lore butcheries ever. Actually, the biggest.

Meh.
Click to expand...
They've been butchering the lore for years lol the books were inspiration and references but since the original game they've undone the "lore" several times.
 
Hawk The Slayer

Hawk The Slayer

Member
Yeah the game should be very good since the focus on Witcher at least from what I got from Part 3 was a deep and well written story and setting. Plus the story on hunting various kind of diverse and unique monsters with some greater plot later on. Highly doubt it's going to involve disgusting sick stuff like Veilguard and Dustborn etc.

Not too concern with Ciri's look at the moment. This Ciri looks more like a late 30s compare to her early 20s look in part 3. And more importantly this is a CG trailer which is going to be different than her ingame cutscenes. I remember Tifa looking different in her FFVII Remake cg trailer while she actually looks better in her ingame cutscenes which you'll see a huge majority of the time. Should be the same for Ciri. Plus this trailer was also made during the bad era of gaming so they couldn't just scratch it and remade a new trailer which would require too much work. She'll most likely look better in ingame cutscenes.

Always liked Ciri a lot in Witcher 3 and I'm glad she is more playable and even the main protagonist. I wanna master her powers with the combination of her magic potential combined with Witcher skills. Should have crazier and cooler moves compared to Geralt and might even allow us to fight some more insane monsters.
 
C

CityHunter1981

Member
Look nothing against Ciri, but why do so few games still a male protagonist… new franchises uses mostly female protagonists, so why do most sequels also have female protagonists.

At least they should have give the player a choice if they want to play as Ciri or Gerald, except for some very story driven quests where you are forced to play as her or him.
 
Gaiff

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Puscifer said:
They've been butchering the lore for years lol the books were inspiration and references but since the original game they've undone the "lore" several times.
Click to expand...
Next, they'll have assault rifles, but it'll be fine because they've changed the lore in the past? There are degrees to this, and this is arguably the single biggest change they've ever made. Altering the lore here and there for gameplay and story purposes is fine (Geralt switches mutagens on the fly). Completely undoing one of the most critical and ingrained aspects of witchers just so you can have your girlboss is another.

The worst part is, it's a double-whammy against Ciri. Not only is she an adult, but she's female. Two factors that almost guarantee on their own that the trials will fail and they combined them.

Brilliant.
 
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M

Madonis

Member
Ciri was definitely the top candidate for the next protagonist in light of the events of The Witcher 3. I'm glad that we might see how exactly she underwent the process rather than keeping it in the background.

As far as the lore, it's true that women in general haven't been able to become witchers, but Ciri is extremely far from a normal woman. If you've played the game, you know that's an understatement. Therefore, it's very easy to come up with explanations for why Ciri would be almost one-of-a-kind and why everyone else couldn't do it. Furthermore, they've likely changed the process as well, since it is more or less lost knowledge.
 
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night13x

night13x

Member
It they were ever to replace Geralt...it would be Ciri and deservingly so. I look forward to a new trilogy (or more!) of games featuring Ciri taking the helm with old man Geralt taking more of a mentorship role.

The graphics were insane using Unreal 5 engine. I can only imagine what Cyberpunk 2078 will look like under the Unreal 5 engine.

Things are looking bright for CDPR.
 
Puscifer

Puscifer

Member
LectureMaster

LectureMaster

Gold Member
Puscifer said:
That explains a lot, no way in hell current gpus are going to run that when you look at the switch to real time graphics in the last stretch of the trailer. PS6 and PC only is my bet, but eh
Click to expand...
They said before they were contemplating launching on PC only first, the game will be demanding.
 
Geometric-Crusher

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
Puscifer said:
That explains a lot, no way in hell current gpus are going to run that when you look at the switch to real time graphics in the last stretch of the trailer. PS6 and PC only is my bet, but eh
Click to expand...
xbsx will not receive a port because of the S series. PS5 and PS5 Pro will be low settings IF receives a port.
 
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Laptop1991

Laptop1991

Member
I'm all for it, making Ciri the protagonist makes sense to me after playing The Witcher 3 and the dlc's, it's the ending i chose anyway, as Geralt was her father figure and trained her and she grew up around Witcher's, and also wanted to be one, as for the way she looks, i don't know yet if it's DEI woke stuff or not, time will tell about that, she looked better later in the trailer than the first shot i'll admit, but for me Ciri is the right choice, i didn't mind playing as her in TW3 so i won't mind in Witcher 4.
 
LectureMaster

LectureMaster

Gold Member
Oberstein said:
So she still has full powers + the characteristics of a Witcher. Does she also cast summons? XD

Well, I'm waiting to see how these new mechanics turn out, but it seems a bit excessive.
Click to expand...
I'd rather have some depths in combat. Unlike, CP2077, you are constrained using one sword. I think a more fledged moveset/combo system would get folks more engaged in terms of action.
 
Nasigil

Nasigil

Member
CityHunter1981 said:
Look nothing against Ciri, but why do so few games still a male protagonist… new franchises uses mostly female protagonists, so why do most sequels also have female protagonists.

At least they should have give the player a choice if they want to play as Ciri or Gerald, except for some very story driven quests where you are forced to play as her or him.
Click to expand...
Everyone tried to move away from tough middle age white guy protagonist trope at the same time, and they ended up created a new trope of badass young lady protagonist, which is getting tiring a little bit.

That being said, Ciri is one of the few examples that makes total sense instead of just devs blindly chasing trend. She's such an important character in the story, it'd be a waste to only have her in one game. Her story was written like a protagonist's, the father-daughter relationship between Geralt and her makes her a natural choice for sequel protagonist. I have no problem with them going with Ciri in TW4.
 
rodrigolfp

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Unrivaledx88 said:
Damn man , love the Witcher and Ciri but i wanted to play as a Guy tired of all single player games having Woman as Main.
Even the New ND game a woman again . Tired.

Played enough HZD as a Woman love it but god damn get me a man Main.

Either way i will get the Witcher 4
Click to expand...
3 games playing with Geralt, one game will be playing with a woman.

"Tired of all single player games having woman as main."

🤦‍♂️
 
J

jason10mm

Gold Member
Nasigil said:
Everyone tried to move away from tough middle age white guy protagonist trope at the same time, and they ended up created a new trope of badass young lady protagonist, which is getting tiring a little bit.
Click to expand...
Right game, right time for sure!

uKAywrq.jpeg

Nasigil said:
That being said, Ciri is one of the few examples that makes total sense instead of just devs blindly chasing trend. She's such an important character in the story, it'd be a waste to only have her in one game. Her story was written like a protagonist's, the father-daughter relationship between Geralt and her makes her a natural choice for sequel protagonist. I have no problem with them going with Ciri in TW4.
Click to expand...
I agree. Ciri as protagonist is fine, especially if we get some bits with Geralt and his more forceful fighting style as a palate cleanser. Buuuuuut, their desire to keep the potions and other Witcher aspects and having her go through the Trial....thats gonna be a problem for them unless they have a good explanation and some consequences for her (maybe she is effectively poisoned and has to keep dosing herself with an antidote or something). I would have preferred that she is just called a Witcher without sharing all of their characteristics to hew closer to the lore. But they are sorta stuck with the name (much like how anything based off "The Highlander" franchise is stuck having a scottish person due to the familiarity of the name) so it is what it is.
 
Puscifer

Puscifer

Member
Gaiff said:
Next, they'll have assault rifles, but it'll be fine because they've changed the lore in the past? There are degrees to this, and this is arguably the single biggest change they've ever made. Altering the lore here and there for gameplay and story purposes is fine (Geralt switches mutagens on the fly). Completely undoing one of the most critical and ingrained aspects of witchers just so you can have your girlboss is another.

The worst part is, it's a double-whammy against Ciri. Not only is she an adult, but she's female. Two factors that almost guarantee on their own that the trials will and they combined them.

Brilliant.
Click to expand...
That's just hyperbole and you know it. You even said "because of her blood she wouldn't have too" so maybe that's how she survives? Dude she was already teleporting to other dimensions and other stuff in Witcher 3
 
Gaiff

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Puscifer said:
That's just hyperbole and you know it. You even said "because of her blood she wouldn't have too" so maybe that's how she survives? Dude she was already teleporting to other dimensions and other stuff in Witcher 3
Click to expand...
Elder Blood doesn’t provide resistance/immunity to toxins or make the body more palatable for transformations. It gives her superpowers.
 
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Edgelord79

Edgelord79

Gold Member
Looks great to me. The Witcher is one of the last big fantasy RPGs I tend to care about as more and more of them stray from their roots.
 
{insert code here}

{insert code here}

Member
Gaiff said:
Lambert or even Letho would have been fine as playable characters, but sure, let’s have an adult woman pass the trial of grasses where their survival rate is 0 just so we can have our strong female lead.

Was made clear multiple times in the books that Geralt and Yen would never subject Ciri to the trials because of how deadly and inhumane they are (plus that no female ever survived them). Oh, and thanks to her elder blood, she would have never needed them anyway.

It would have been good to just have a spin-off where Ciri isn’t a witcher, but CDPR is too bitch for that and they had to do one of the biggest lore butcheries ever. Actually, the biggest.

Meh.
Click to expand...
Yeah the fact that they going to rewrite the lore and mythology of the Witcher universe so they can have their DEI lead is unreal. This is a perfect example of what pisses people off about DEI. I mean, aren't the trial of grasses restricted to children because their bodies need to grow into a Witcher body? CDPR is flat out spitting on the original author's creation by doing this. And it's all so they score diversity points for having their female lead character 😂. Absolute joke these Western studios have become.
 
Gaiff

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
Freelance Yakuza said:
Lol
Just no
They are awful ffs
Click to expand...
I think they’re both awesome, especially Lambert. Letho, I would have liked to play a young version. The 7ft tall mountain of muscles doesn’t scream protagonist to me. He’s also a CDPR creation as far as I’m aware.
{insert code here} said:
Yeah the fact that they going to rewrite the lore and mythology of the Witcher universe so they can have their DEI lead is unreal. This is a perfect example of what pisses people off about DEI. I mean, aren't the trial of grasses restricted to children because their bodies need to grow into a Witcher body? CDPR is flat out spitting on the original author's creation by doing this. And it's all so they score diversity points for having their female lead character 😂. Absolute joke these Western studios have become.
Click to expand...
That’s what people mean when they say DEI is forced. Ciri as a full witcher makes no damn sense for fuck’s sake.
 
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Oberstein

Oberstein

Member
But wait a minute, I remember the news that CD Projekt had made peace with Sapkowski.

CD PROJEKT, creators of “The Witcher” series of games and upcoming role-playing game “Cyberpunk 2077”, together with Andrzej Sapkowski, author of “The Witcher” books, would like to inform that today both parties signed an agreement further solidifying their relationship.

The agreement satisfies and fully clarifies the needs and expectations of both parties, past and present, and sets out a framework for the future cooperation between the two sides.
Click to expand...

CD PROJEKT S.A. Solidifies Relationship with Witcher Books Author Andrzej Sapkowski - CD PROJEKT

CD PROJEKT, creators of “The Witcher” series of games and upcoming role-playing game “Cyberpunk 2077”, together with Andrzej Sapkowski, author of “The Witcher” books, would like to inform that today both parties signed an agreement
www.cdprojekt.com www.cdprojekt.com

I was thinking at the time that Witcher 4 would have a script written by Sapkowski. Maybe he's okay with it, lol
 
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Freelance Yakuza

Freelance Yakuza

Member
Gaiff said:
I think they’re both awesome, especially Lambert. Letho, I would have liked to play a young version. The 7ft tall mountain of muscles doesn’t scream protagonist to me.
Click to expand...
Lambert is a cool side character, but not main protagonist material
Letho may be cool on Witcher 2, I never played so I don't know
 
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