We pretend the awards are important, but really it's the game announcements we care about when we The Game Awards. This year's Game Awards saw the announcement of The Witcher 4, the worst kept secret in gaming. And this time around, Ciri will be our big lead character.
News in brief
- Ciri is the star of The Witcher 4
- Trailer shows her "doing a Geralt"
- We can expect more customization options, a la Cyberpunk 2077
The game was announced with a trailer which perfectly encapsulated the grim and thoroughly miserable world of The Witcher. The trailer begins with a discussion of fathers and daughters, before revealing that a young woman is being sacrificed to a village's "god" for appeasement. This attracts the attention of a certain young but headstrong witcher, and she sets off to slay the monster in question — only to find her decisions have had unintended consequences. Much like Daddy Geralt before her, Ciri will learn doing the right thing doesn't always mean a happy ending.
It perfectly captures the feel of the The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, and shows CD Projekt RED haven't lost their mojo where this series is concerned. The cinematic even ends with an allusion to the famous "Killing monsters" Witcher 3 trailer. To say Ciri isn't a chip off of the ol' Geralt block would be entirely incorrect.
Further news from the developers has highlighted that Ciri may very much go her own way in terms of combat. After having learned lessons from Cyberpunk 2077, the next Witcher game may have much more freedom in terms of how you approach combat and other situations. In the lore, different witcher schools specialized in different forms of combat, with some favoring fast attacks and poisons, while others preferred heavy armor. While Geralt had some flexibility, it would be great to see Ciri lean more into that for her first outing — since she's not technically wedded to a particular school in the way Geralt is, she could borrow from whichever she liked.
Of course, our bestest grumbly boy Geralt will likely make a return for this game. While he probably won't be the focus, it would be downright silly for him not to come back for the next installment in the series.
