The Witcher 4: A First Look

Who else is hyped?

Fans have been given a taste of the new Witcher game much sooner than we expected—and it sure is sweet.

The Unreal Engine 5 Tech demo aired yesterday, and already fans have flooded the internet with theories, reactions and critique. Here’s my two pence.

First impressions: visually, The Witcher 4 is undoubtedly THE most beautiful game developed to date. New rendering technology paired with stunning graphics make for a hyper-immersive word to explore. Breathtaking landscapes stretch before the player, broken up by rambling towns, sprawling cities, and never-fought-before beasts. The demo plunged fans back into The Continent we know: wicked, dark, fantastical and volatile.

Developers introduced the country of Kevir—a creative choice hypothesised by WitcherGeorge on YouTube—a land teeming with lore which hasn’t been playable until now, along with a bunch more material for both established and new fans to nerd-out over.

Ciri

Despite pushback from the initial ‘first look’ cinematic trailer, regarding Ciri’s character design, I love the way she looks in game. The unconventional Witcheress looks exactly the same as in The Witcher 3, only older. Whilst I prefer the previous voice actress’ style, from the little dialogue we’ve seen so far, this more mature Ciri also checks out. Her character certainly seems more measured, even subdued, compared to the previous game. Still, Ciri retains her distinct fire that distinguishes her from Geralt’s passive calm.

Her horse - Kelpie - is designed to feel like a part of Ciri herself. And she’s gorgeous.

There’s still a big question mark in understanding how and why Ciri chose to become a Witcher, a gap the developers hopefully delve into during gameplay.

Backlash

‘Watched this game go woke. I despise this choice’ one TikTok user commented about the switch from Geralt to Ciri as the playable character.

…mad

Similar complaints were made when Naughty Dog killed off Joel in The Last of Us II.

And I (kinda) get it — Geralt is an astounding character. But his journey very clearly came to an end in all versions of The Witcher 3 endings.

The only logical progression is to introduce a new Witcher… and Ciri is already so intrinsically embedded in game (and book) lore, that developing her story is a sound creative choice.

Atmosphere

After the (unsatisfying) detour Netflix took, it’s wonderful to see a return to a Slavic inspired fantasy aesthetic.

Tons of NPCs, woodland creatures, corruption and, of course, monsters add to the chaos.

In the demo, we saw wild bears, boars, brawls— I can’t wait to see how interactions with the world and other characters will play out.

Time to pass the torch on, Geralt

Overall…

I’m SO excited to sink my teeth into this game when it eventually releases. It looks nothing short of remarkable, but I’d expect nothing less from its wonderful creators.

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Is This a Novel or a Fever Dream?

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