Last week, we saw the cinematic debut of The Witcher IV, the latest instalment in CD Projekt Red’s iconic dark fantasy series. In this new chapter, we won’t be following Geralt; instead, his adopted daughter Ciri takes center stage as our witcher protagonist.
Following the announcement, we spoke with key leads at CD Projekt Red to delve deeper into this trailer and learn how the studio is gearing up to introduce Ciri as the lead in a brand-new Witcher saga that will respect the series’ past (and players’ choices in it) while leading the series boldly into a new era.
A New Ciri
In the reveal trailer, we’re introduced to the village of Stromford, an isolated settlement located deep in the north of The Continent. In this scene, a young woman, Mioni, is selected as a sacrifice to ward off a local monster. This is where we see Ciri for the first time – older, stronger, and brandishing those iconic steel and silver swords.
The Witcher IV takes place “a few years” after the end of The Witcher 3, according to Narrative Director on The Witcher IV, Philipp Weber. While the details of what brought Ciri to this particular place and time are still under wraps for now, we’re shown that Ciri has mutated eyes, an indication that she’s completed the Trial of the Grasses to become a witcher in her own right.
Throughout the events of both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – not to mention Andrzej Sapkowski’s saga of Witcher novels, which the games are based upon – Ciri is set up as a secondary protagonist, and her personality is very much established. By the end, she is by no means just an extension of Geralt, but a fully-fledged character ready to take on a new journey.
That journey could have gone in several directions depending on the ending players received in The Witcher 3. While CD Projekt Red is keeping specifics close to its chest, Weber assures us that The Witcher IV will handle its predecessor’s multiple endings, and that personal choice is something they aim to honour in this next game.
Differences Between Geralt and Ciri
The studio is keen to emphasise that while Geralt is a seasoned witcher who typically prefers to remain impartial, Ciri is a character that will often take a more aggressive stance driven by personal motivation.
“Geralt has already created a code for himself, and he’s gone through a ton of experiences to get to that point,” Weber explains. “With Ciri, we now have the opportunity to show a lot of those experiences as she finds her own code, and her own way of handling these tough things.”
We see this in the trailer reveal, as Ciri ventures into the forest and tells Mioni to flee back to the village, in the hopes that it will save her. What’s interesting to note is that the inhabitants of Stromford don’t react positively to the sight of a witcher, even though Ciri is there to do good.
“She’s super passionate, super determined and very engaged in this story,” explains Game Director Sebastian Kalemba. “She will never hesitate; she deeply cares about the other girl here.”
Unfortunately, despite Ciri’s best intentions and a gruelling battle with a brand-new monster known as a Bauk, Mioni still meets a swift end, accentuating how grim the world of The Witcher IV will continue to be, and how its characters may continue to find ways to villainise Ciri’s choices (and your own) despite a well-meaning approach.
“Ciri is someone who won’t accept that fate is just given to you, you always have to fight back, and sometimes that’s the right thing to do,” says Weber. “In this trailer, we also wanted to show some parallels that Mioni’s fate could have also been Ciri’s once upon a time, but she fought back against that fate.”
The nuance in Ciri’s character also stems from her backstory – which makes her a great character for a complex, mature story about choices and consequences inside The Witcher’s dark and often unsettling world.
“Ciri is definitely a flawed character; she has a lot of darkness in her, she was abandoned, and she’s made terrible mistakes in the past,” Weber explains. “But she also has some amazing strengths, and I think this is this balance that for us makes her into this great character. We want to tell these character-driven stories, and I think if we want to have real characters with real emotions, that also means that they need to have some flaws.”
That said, the impact of Geralt on Ciri is by no means being overwritten; The Witcher IV‘s emphasis on choice and consequence means that Ciri will often grapple with the decision she thinks is right and perhaps another direction that Geralt may have taken in the same scenario.
“She’s Geralt’s daughter, so she’s learned a lot of values from him,” Weber notes. “There will be choices that feel close to what Geralt would do.”
Kalemba adds: “Geralt has also learned some things from Ciri throughout their journey in The Witcher 3, and that will be reflected in those choices.”
Looking Ahead
The Witcher IV is of course a natural evolution for this series; and long-invested fans will find deeper references and lore galore as they step into the fold with Ciri. CD Projekt Red has confirmed that Geralt will return as a character, but his place in the story remains a secret for now.
However, this will also serve as a new beginning for the franchise. Almost 10 years and countless development lessons on from the release of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red acknowledges and embraces the fact that a new generation of players will want to experience this world for the first time with The Witcher IV.
“This is a new character and the origin story of Ciri [as a playable main character], and we believe it’ll be a great starting point for newcomers,” Kalemba says. “There will be new regions and areas to explore, but it is still very much the dark fantasy world and story that Witcher fans know and love.”