The Witcher 4
When the first trailer for CD Projekt RED’s upcoming The Witcher 4 came out, a lot of fans expressed concerns about Ciri becoming the game’s protagonist. Some of this was lore-based, with fans questioning how Ciri could become a full-blown Witcher given her Elder blood. Others thought the character model just looked off.
I was among these – not because this new version of Ciri was “ugly” but because she looked nothing whatsoever like Ciri from The Witcher 3, which was kind of strange. She didn’t look like an older version of the character, either, as some people claimed. She looked like a different character altogether. Unrecognizable. (And not because she looked more like her voice actor, either, which she does not in either version).
In the developer’s new tech demo, major changes to Ciri’s facial structure reveal a return to a character who looks much more similar to the model in The Witcher 3. She looks a bit older, which makes sense, but there’s no denying the resemblance.
I bring this up because I think it shows CDPR is willing to make adjustments based on fan feedback, which is a good thing. I’m also incredibly impressed with the new voice actor, Ciara Berkeley, who does a great job playing a somewhat older Ciri. She takes over for the excellent Jo Wyatt.
Play Puzzles & Games on Forbes
The tech demo itself looks fantastic, but it’s important that this is a demo – not actual gameplay from the final game. Just a slice carved off to show the world, polished and primed. It certainly shows off what Unreal Engine 5 is capable of, and frankly if the final product looks even remotely close to this good, I’ll be deeply impressed. If it manages to run at 4k / 60fps on modern consoles, I’ll do a happy dance (though I’ll be playing on PC, naturally). But I remain skeptical, not just because CDPR has certainly let us down in the past (thank you Cyberpunk 2077 launch!) but because I’ve been doing this for a long time, and I’ve seen countless tech demos that look far, far better than the final product. They promise the world and then deliver . . . less.
The Witcher 4
But hey, I’d happily be wrong on this count. The game doesn’t just look amazing, it has such enormous attention to detail, like the musculature of Ciri’s horse, Kelpie, and the thick, living forests using “nanite foliage” technology. It certainly looks better than those crazy trees in The Witcher 3.
The good news is that Epic Games is working closely with CDPR on this game, which should translate into the most efficient and accurate use of Unreal Engine 5 possible. The reactive nature of the NPCs in the market is incredibly impressive, and I wonder if some of Epic’s progress with AI in Fortnite will carry over into The Witcher 4.
Whatever the case, watching this tech demo makes me want to live in this world. I suspect that when the game finally comes out, I will do just that.
If you’re looking for more Witcher content in the meantime, I’ve really been enjoying Viva La Dirt League’s Witcher sketches, which are in many ways better than Netflix’s series.
