The Witcher’s Next Saga Puts a Big Feature at an Intersection

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 19, 2024 142 Views 5 Min Read
The Witcher's Next Saga Puts a Big Feature at an Intersection

The Witcher series has cemented itself in the minds of fantasy RPG lovers as a trio of impressively complex games. As Polish developer CD Projekt Red gears up for the next Witcher trilogy, it has a lot to consider in trying to submerge players back into the franchise’s fantasy world.




As The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was one of the most successful games of the last decade, The Witcher 4 will need to be just as impressive on several fronts to reach the same heights. One of those fronts is the major feature of alchemy.

The Witcher 3 Geralt Alchemy

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The Witcher 3: 10 Things No One Tells You About Alchemy

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The Witcher’s New Alchemy System Must be Considered Carefully

The first Witcher game’s alchemy—and crafting in general—was far more complex than the familiar systems of its successors, offering bonuses based on the tier of ingredients used and heavy inventory management. As the series advanced, bringing in larger audiences with each, the alchemy system became drastically streamlined.

Given that each
Witcher
game approached alchemy differently, how the upcoming saga will do it is a complete mystery, especially with
future
Witcher
games
sure to feature entirely new mechanics.


Alchemy is Complex Enough to Warrant Traditional Mechanics

In terms of precedents CDPR has already set, one might think about how it could revive parts of the first Witcher, which are mechanics largely unseen in modern RPGs. Of course, with its release in 2007—under a developer that was much smaller than it is now and following the traditional course of a CRPG—the original Witcher is a little rough around the edges.

That said, there is a huge audience for a heavier alchemy system that more resembles the likes of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. It managed a certain simplicity in the ingredients available as well as a tiered system, but the crafting itself had to be thought out, utilizing the quality of ingredients and secondary effects.

CDPR May Need to Follow Recent Recipes for Success

Despite the excitement of new features, there’s a persistent concern that the best traits of a game will be thrown out. While a case can be made for any system, certain things have been undeniably successful in recent years with open-world games’ approach to alchemy.


The Witcher 3 players only need to craft an item once before it is refilled upon meditation (with some alcohol base). It completely removes thinking about alchemy beyond initial creation, focusing on either upgrades or the story itself. For the average loot goblin, when in need, the abundance of most alchemy ingredients means necessary potions are only a click or two away.

The Witcher 3‘s alchemy system also includes potions, decoctions, oils, and bombs. It’s the varied arsenal of an expert monster slayer that requires players to think carefully about their approach, as a witcher would. Yet, the ease with which players acquire ingredients, the way interesting quests provide rarer ones, and the friendly interface of in-game menus smoothly highlight a witcher’s dexterity and sharpness of wit—without stalling the all-important story. In essence, the well-balanced mechanics of alchemy that worked in later Witcher games should appear in the new saga.


Overall, while some prefer the more complex CRPG approach the first Witcher game took, the later games were undeniably more accessible and convenient. Taking some mechanical complexity and a wide array of alchemy but simplifying the rest was the right call to better serve the focus of the narrative, but if CDPR can find a way to marry the differing approaches of its existing trilogy, it might have a ground-breaking new alchemy system on its hands that rivals The Witcher 3‘s.

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