The Witcher 4 has lastly been revealed, and with that announcement comes a surprising trailer that follows new collection protagonist Ciri on a harmful quest. Pre-rendered in a customized construct of Unreal Engine 5, it’s definitely a spectacle to behold, however behind these good-looking seems and thick mist, there’s lots to get caught into. So, we spoke to The Witcher 4’s sport director and govt producer to uncover and clarify the various unimaginable particulars featured within the cinematic. From monsters, to music, to medallions, listed here are 12 vital particulars in The Witcher 4 reveal trailer defined by CD Projekt Red itself.
1. People Hate Witchers
“We’ve all the time mentioned that this world would not want a hero, it wants an expert”, states The Witcher 4’s sport director, Sebastian Kalemba. And, certainly, there isn’t any room or need for heroes within the Northern Kingdoms. Professional monster hunters, often known as witchers, could clear up the inhabitants’s issues, however not with out being feared themselves. This is proven in the best way the trailer’s villagers look upon The Witcher 4’s new cloaked protagonist with mistrust and disgust.
“People, particularly on the ends of civilization, they’ve most likely seen a witcher perhaps twice of their life”, Kalemba continues. “They’ve heard rumors, they’ve heard tales that they’re monsters as a result of they take care of monsters. So that is why they’re in concern. But truly they create good, they create assist and assist.[The moment the villagers see the witcher for the first time is] an important second as a result of we lastly reveal who’s the protagonist for the brand new saga.”
2. A Brand New Protagonist
That new lead character is Ciri, the adopted daughter of earlier protagonist, Geralt of Rivia. Several years have handed for the reason that occasions of The Witcher 3, and it’s now Ciri’s flip to tackle the position of witcher and the talents and burden that include such a title. We see her armour, each metal and silver swords, and medallion. But, crucially, we additionally get to see her new cat-like eyes: a transparent signal that she has undergone the legendary Trial of the Grasses – a painful proper of passage for any graduating witcher that mutates the participant’s physique into one thing greater than human.
“That was an enormous factor for us, to make that decision [to mutate Ciri], not just for her, however for the sport,” explains Małgorzata Mitręga, The Witcher 4’s govt producer. “But then it is so vital and nonetheless leaves a lot area for creativeness, like when it occurred, the way it occurred. It’s only a tease displaying one thing, however you do not know the place you’ll expertise it and the way within the sport. I believe it is an enormous change and I hope individuals didn’t count on it.”
3. The Village Ritual
Ciri is seen coming into a village seemingly within the midst of some type of ritual ceremony. While we get a glimpse of the ritual’s rites and process within the trailer’s opening moments, its darkish true that means of is just steadily revealed over time.
“At first look, plainly it’s simply the flower that’s floating on high of the water,” says Kalemba of a cleaning sequence in a bath. “But the enjoyable truth is that it is a very Slavic form of flower. This is a particular flower that individuals within the medieval period had been utilizing in particular moments to defeat evil. It may be very symbolic. Every single body right here may be very significant.”
That consideration to element can be seen in the best way the trailer’s two central characters – Mioni, the younger girl participating within the ritual, and Ciri – carry out preparations that mirror each other’s. As Mioni is ready for her village ceremony, Ciri concurrently prepares to do the violent work of a witcher by meditating and sharpening her blade.
“The motivation behind this parallel montage right here is that you’ve the ritual. And at this stage you do not know what this ritual is about, however you may have a really skilled ritual as type of a preparation for one thing. And then you may have an everyday villager, you do not know who she is correct now, however [she’s undergoing] a parallel ritual. [There’s] roughly the identical form of motivation behind two utterly completely different rituals, and preparation for one thing, which may be very symbolic, too.”
“But at this level, you do not know if it is a unhealthy factor, an excellent factor, or what’s the actuality,” provides Mitręga. “It is perhaps a marriage. So it is simply teasing one thing’s happening, however you can not inform if it is one thing odd but.”
Mitręga additionally tells us that this village is positioned within the far north of The Witcher’s world, however the place precisely stays a thriller for now. “I believe at this stage we should not say the precise location,” teases Kalemba. “So we maintain this as a secret nonetheless. But yeah, we plan to let gamers be capable of discover new lands and new areas on the earth. And I can solely say that there are some actually epic areas to seek out.”
4. Ciri is Not Geralt
Geralt was well-known for remaining impartial and as apolitical as attainable when it got here to the bigger conflicts at play within the first trilogy of video games. Those aren’t footsteps that Ciri essentially desires to observe in, although. “She would not need to keep impartial,” Kalemba affirms. “She’s means youthful. She’s nonetheless defining her personal code and she or he’s much less pragmatic.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Mitręga: “I believe that what makes her so particular as a protagonist total, [is that] she has so many layers, and the eagerness and engagement of being a witcher, however she desires to be the individual that is all the time selecting a aspect. There is not any impartial anymore in her. So it is a new path, proper? And a brand new expertise for the participant as effectively.”
By the mid-point of the trailer, it’s clear that whereas Ciri has taken on a paying job, she’s motivated extra by saving Mioni from a ritual sacrifice than she is the revenue. “She’s truly going to enter this cave,” explains Kalemba, speaking of the cave the place Mioni will likely be sacrificed to… one thing. “And that is the purpose of no return. At this stage, she is aware of that she’s dedicated. ‘I am going there and for positive just one character will survive.’”
“What’s superb about her is that she’s not that well-defined”, Kalemba provides. “So now we have this chance to let the participant outline her expertise, this path, this journey. Since I can keep in mind, we believed that for positive the subsequent journey, the subsequent saga belongs to Ciri as she’s an excellent vast container for feelings, for the expertise, for the journey.”
5. The Bauk
If there’s something assured to be discovered alongside that journey, it’s monsters. A witcher is nothing with out a bounty to hunt, in spite of everything. And within the trailer we get a take a look at an intimidating new foe.
“His title is Bauk”, says Kalemba. “He has this capability to odor your concern, to have the ability to play together with your traumas, to paralyze you. So that you simply lastly change into straightforward prey, a straightforward meal.
“A enjoyable truth is that after we began to develop [this trailer], the large thought was that while you see the silhouette in a fog, you need to really feel or at the very least suppose that it’s a really outdated granny type of character that’s in a hooded coat,” Kalemba explains. “Then he unfolds to [reveal] the large monster.
“We wished to have a creature that is ready to be very heavy and powerful, however on the similar agile,” he provides. “So the Bauk is ready to additionally use every kind of surfaces to discover and to run. We wished to push all the monster design for the mission.”
The Bauk’s visible design was crafted with a really particular emotional impact in thoughts. “What emotion will we need to have with the participant with the monster?” says Mitręga. “How can we embody it within the visuals and the best way it feels and also you combat? It’s all linked, proper? So [there’s] lots of elements to create the beast.”
This fascinating new creature has its roots in Serbian mythology, however it isn’t simply European people tales that The Witcher’s horrors emerge from. CD Projekt Red has taken inspiration from a world 1,000,000 miles and a number of other hundred years away: Cyberpunk 2077’s Night CIty. Kalemba notes that the studio’s work on Phantom Liberty’s Chimera tank boss combat particularly was an excellent touchstone on the trail to constructing larger, higher monsters.
“This is a unending studying curve”, he states. “It is an evolution of every little thing we have created up to now. We attempt to elevate the bar with each subsequent title. And completely, the Chimera was a really, excellent lesson on our path in terms of designing massive creatures. In this case, after all, now we have an natural monster, however nonetheless, [we learned] some classes in terms of the best way we need to let gamers in the end defeat it. It’s one thing that now we have undoubtedly been impressed by.”
6. The Silver Sword
Speaking of defeating creatures, Ciri does precisely that within the trailer – taking down the Bauk with assistance from just a few acquainted Witcher tips and instruments.
The first a part of a witcher’s package we see within the trailer is arguably crucial: a sword. “It is a silver sword at this stage,” Kalemba confirms. Silver swords are, after all, important for monster searching as a result of many enemy creatures are weak to silver.
Ahead of her battle with the Bauk we see Ciri sharpening her personal silver sword. And, in case your playthrough of The Witcher 3 ended with Ciri changing into a witcher, you then’ll seemingly recognise this explicit blade. “I consider that some individuals will already spot that it is likely Zireael,” says Kalemba. The sword was a present from Geralt, and it’s mentioned that no witcher has, or ever had, a greater weapon.
7. The Potion
A sword alone won’t be sufficient to defeat the Bauk, although. And so we see Ciri make use of one other vital witcher merchandise earlier than she makes her first strike.
“So she’s consuming the poison,” Kalemba explains. “Witcher potions are poison; that is the way it works on this world. A daily human being would undoubtedly die, however Ciri as a mutant is ready to not solely survive however construct a bonus due to this potion. She’s lethal centered, has tunnel imaginative and prescient, and [hears] no extra voices [because the potion helps her block out the Bauk’s whispers]. She’s even in a position to see higher within the fog. And she’s in a position to lastly acknowledge the silhouette of the monster and go full pressure with an assault.”
“That’s additionally a particular second as a result of likely no person has seen a Bauk that shut, ever,” he provides.
8. The Magic
There are many, many variations between Geralt and Ciri, however in terms of fight the important thing factor that separates the 2 witchers is magic. While Geralt is ready to solid some very primary spells, often known as “indicators”, Ciri is ready to command the facility of sorcery. We noticed a bit of of her energy in motion throughout the segments of The Witcher 3 during which we play as Ciri, as she was in a position to teleport round enemies to keep away from harm. But this trailer showcases an excellent better aptitude for magic than we’ve seen from Ciri earlier than.
“Ciri isn’t solely mutated, she’s a supply, a robust supply. So she’s a particular being,” Kalemba reveals. “The mutated supply signifies that’s form of connecting two worlds, the witcher world and the sorcerer world.”
During the trailer we see Ciri draw vitality from the cave’s water and switch it into an electrified blast. “She’s in a position to drain the supply, the stream that’s subsequent to her, and catalyze it in a robust spell, on this case, the bolt.”
9. The Witcher 1 Homage
This trailer incorporates a enjoyable callback for long-time veterans of the collection. The final moments of the combat echo the unique Witcher sport’s opening cinematic, during which Geralt does battle with a Striga and takes it down with a silver chain. Ciri makes use of a really comparable approach right here to take down the Bauk, however does so in a supercharged means that’s all her personal.
“You keep in mind [Geralt] combating with a Striga?”, Kalemba enquires. “In this case, she’s not solely utilizing [a silver chain] but additionally enchanting it to make it extra highly effective. It is a utility software to shorten the space to ship a last blow.”
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10. A New Composer for a New Saga
The complete six-minute trailer is soundtracked by a brand new composer for The Witcher collection, as Cyberpunk 2077’s senior composer picks up the baton.
“The grasp maestro behind the tune is our composer, P.T. Adamczyk,” Kalemba reveals. “He was tailoring the tune in a means that you’ve this music arc purely linked to what we wish the viewers to really feel on this particular second.
”There is that this second when the ladies’s voices are literally getting louder,” he continues. “This is the second of breakthrough. So the second that she’s lastly nearly to defeat the monster. The title of [the track] is No Gods Only Monsters.”
11. There Are No Gods Here, Only Monsters
Speaking of no gods, solely monsters, let’s bounce to the ultimate line of the trailer, during which Ciri says these actual phrases. But what do they imply within the context of this story?
“We wished to form of depart room for interpretation,” Kalemba explains. “You do not know what she is about to do. But the best way she delivers it, you already know that there aren’t any gods right here on this forest. There was solely a monster. And it’s that straightforward. But these individuals, they’re pushed by superstitions. So they do not consider her. She can present them a chopped-head trophy and they’ll nonetheless observe the bloody outdated paths. But it is also symbolic in terms of the general career of a witcher.”
“It’s form of like, who’s the monster?”, Mitręga provides. “For her, [it’s about] being this hope in all of that. Still with this ardour, though the world may be very darkish, you possibly can nonetheless combat for it.”
12. The Choice and the Consequence
The Witcher’s is a darkish world certainly. That a lot is evident within the seemingly inescapable demise of the younger girl, Mioni, by the hands of the villagers. Ciri could have chosen to do what she thought was the correct factor, however she didn’t foresee the bloody penalties of her actions. It’s totally consultant of the type of selection and consequence-centered quest design that CDPR has change into identified for.
“What I like about this world is that it is darkish and it is grim, however there may be all the time this shade of hope, the heat,” says Kalemba. “As you already know, the best way we make video games [is] all about selections and penalties. But on this case, Ciri is solely tremendous disenchanted once more with people, proper? Humans are, merely on this case, on this village, incapable of change. These persons are pushed by some superstitions, some bloody custom that they established, as a result of what helped them set up that is simply merely concern.”
As beforehand talked about, whereas Ciri arrives within the village to carry out a paying job, it’s clear that she’s actually there to avoid wasting a life. And whereas she does save Mioni from being eaten by the Bauk, the villagers are sad that their sacrifice nonetheless lives – a sacrifice they consider retains them secure from evil. And so that they do the grisly work themselves.
“So I don’t know precisely what occurred within the meantime [after Ciri sends Mioni back to the village], however you possibly can think about that her father is overwhelmed, he was about to defend her,” he theorises. “Sadly, he could not handle. And as you see right here, the end result is that it is also an excellent lesson for Ciri herself, that she’s not in a position to take full management over every little thing. She’s not in a position to be chargeable for every little thing and everybody. She can strive, however life is life.
“These individuals sooner or later will discover that change will come, as a result of the [Bauk’s] fog won’t ever be right here ever once more,” he continues. “That must final years for individuals to have the ability to expertise it. And most likely there’s going to be a people story in regards to the witcher with the gray hair that, years in the past, got here right here and defeated the monster so we will stay our life the best way we stay.”
‘It is simply not a hero story, though she desires to be. The world would not work like that,” Mitręga explains. “So the teachings are arduous, however then once more, as a participant, you possibly can all the time make a selection. And then within the earlier sport, it is by no means black and white. You do not know in regards to the penalties or the way it impacts the world. And after all, it is a half that we need to embrace lots [for The Witcher 4] as effectively.”
So, Ciri is main a brand new Witcher saga, and from this six-minute trailer alone, we will inform she’ll have each robust monsters to take down, and hard selections to make alongside her journey. For extra on The Witcher 4, try our in-depth look into every little thing we’ve discovered about CD Projekt Red’s subsequent RPG, and our lore primer made with the studio’s consultants to assist get you set for the brand new saga.
