Like The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption Needs Another Way to Reinvent Itself

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 3, 2025 6 Views 7 Min Read
Like The Witcher, Red Dead Redemption Needs Another Way to Reinvent Itself



The future of the Red Dead Redemption franchise is a bit foggy. Unlike Rockstar’s other leading series Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption is focused on the same principal characters, conflicts, and themes across both entries. Even though Red Dead Redemption 2 introduces several new characters that didn’t appear in its predecessor, including its protagonist, it’s still a prequel that subsists on the content of the first game.

What this means is that, if there is to be a Red Dead Redemption 3 one day, Rockstar has a major decision to make: the game can either be built around an already-established Red Dead Redemption character, or it can adopt a new narrative altogether, leaving the Van der Linde Gang and its scions behind entirely. The issue with the latter strategy is that it would effectively be cut off from the rest of the series, which is fine in its own right, but begs the question as to why it would be “Red Dead Redemption 3” instead of its own, separate entity. On the other hand, no character has been tapped as a successor to John or Arthur, making the former approach perhaps just as tricky.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Arthur Morgan Holding a Man Up

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The Witcher 4 Has a Strong Premise That May Not Be Afforded to Red Dead Redemption

Ciri Can Carry The Witcher Forward

Geralt of Rivia has been a strong protagonist for three well-received The Witcher games, but he is taking a backseat now. As was revealed in the Game Awards trailer for The Witcher 4, none other than Ciri herself will be taking over as The Witcher‘s protagonist. Not only has the appropriate groundwork been laid for this choice, but it also opens the door for continued, narratively rich Witcher games in the future.

Ciri was essentially a secondary protagonist in The Witcher 3, and her character and backstory were well-formed there. Even before CD Projekt Red revealed that she would be taking Geralt’s place as the main character of the next game, it was widely speculated that she would be the most logical choice, unless the game were to be hundreds of years removed from the original trilogy, or have a premise that is otherwise disconnected. Put another way, Ciri was always the most logical choice to lead The Witcher 4 in Geralt’s stead, and now the series can spawn a number of games with her in the driver’s seat, should CDPR so choose.

How Red Dead Redemption Can Have Its Own ‘Ciri’

The truth is, no Red Dead Redemption character has been adequately groomed for the protagonist position thus far, at least not in the same way that Ciri has been. The closest Ciri parallel in the Red Dead series is perhaps Jack Marston, who is the only playable character still alive in the series’ timeline. There are two problems with this, however:

  • Red Dead Redemption 1 ends in 1914, which is not the best setting for a Wild West story.
  • Jack Marston’s story is already complete, as he has avenged his father’s death and should be ready to move on; shoving him into another adventure could feel forced.

There are other characters, like Charles and Sadie, who have been unofficially nominated as the leads for Red Dead Redemption 3, but they haven’t exactly been primed for the protagonist role. They are likable, certainly, but being likable is different from being able to carry a major franchise—they may not have much potential for unique and gratifying adventures on their own. Perhaps the best way for Red Dead Redemption to have its own “Ciri” is for Red Dead Redemption 3 (or whatever it may be called) to focus on an entirely new cast, while having enough narrative leeway to allow more than one character to carry the torch moving forward.

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