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Having Ciri as The Witcher 4 lead will help the game explore the Witcher world’s sexism, say CD ProjektIt’s also something of a Witcher origin story
It’s also something of a Witcher origin story
Image credit:CD Projekt
Image credit:CD Projekt
The announcement ofThe Witcher 4withThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s Ciri as protagonist has attracted a bit of discussion. Some of the reaction is online toddlers waxing wroth about a video game having a (somewhat older!!!) woman as lead character, and especially, shock, a video game in a series that has hitherto starred a man. And some of it is people commenting more thoughtfully on whether Ciri genuinely makes for a suitable Witcher protagonist, given that she isn’t the product of the typical Witcher genetic modification regime (which is heavily tailored towards men), and given that, without spoiling too much, she has gifts that make crumbly old Geralt’s sword-and-sorcery skillset look rather paltry.
The specific section of the interview in question begins with Weber noting that, in the original Witcher books from Andrzej Sapkowski, Ciri is repeatedly described as a witcher, so you’re all out of luck if you’re arguing against her protagonism on the basis that it disagrees with the source material. He and Kalemba acknowledge that, yes, fair enough, Geralt is a good laugh and some people would love to have him back, but Ciri is already playable at points in The Witcher 3, and CD Projekt want to see what more they can do with her.
Did CD Projekt consider introducing a custom Witcher 4 protagonist, Eurogamer asked, as inCyberpunk 2077? “I think, honestly, this character-driven storytelling has been always in the DNA of our Witcher games,” said Weber. “First with Geralt, and then, of course, we started setting up Ciri as a second protagonist in The Witcher 3, and now we want to continue with her as well.”
“One of the things that makes Ciri into an interesting new protagonist for us is, of course, also that she is at the beginning of her journey as a witcher,” said Weber. “So as an example, Geralt was very, very experienced already. He went through so many things. And, you know, he created his own code, his value of neutrality, he created through so many experiences. And Ciri still has to make many of those experiences. She has to go through so many of these things.
“So in a way, even though Ciri is, of course, a defined character, with her, players will have the opportunity to still define her quite a bit more, specifically define the path that she will take on her way to becoming a witcher, and basically also what kind of person that will make her.”
Naturally, Ciri also promises to bring a fresh perspective to the broadly misogynistic, alternately sensitive and pervy universe of The Witcher, a video game series that once let you collect porno cards for female characters, and still loves to make a spectacle of its nubile sorceresses.
“We make games for adults, and it also means that we tackle some difficult topics,” he suggested. “We tackle them in interesting ways. We tackle them without giving easy answers, but often opening difficult questions that players have to answer. And I think some of those questions might be going in this direction as well, because, yeah, Ciri is a woman, and as a witcher in this world, this is an unusual state. So I don’t think it’s going to be this story everywhere, but since this is a part of this world, and we want to tackle so many of those different themes, it’s definitely also going to appear there as well.”
There’s also the tiniest snippet of hand-wavey commentary on the question of Ciri’s various supernatural capabilities, and how they might disrupt the quest design and slash-dodge-aard combat of The Witcher 3. Will Ciri begin The Witcher 4 in a low-power state, without the talents she displayed towards the end of the previous game, enquired Eurogamer? CD Projekt don’t have anything to share for the moment.
“No, we cannot tell you exactly how,” said Kalemba. “But we can tell you just, like, believe us: that was one of the things, or first things, that we were solving, to make sure - the way we develop here, we do not leave anything without a clear answer.” OK then.
Previously codenamed Polaris, The Witcher 4 is the first of several new Witcher experiences. You can read more about it inour announcement post. If you’re still pining for Geralt, you might prefer to read aboutThe Witcher 1 remakein development at Fool’s Theory. I wouldn’t be surprised if it did away with some of the original game’s laddier elements.
