Summary
- The Witcher 4 has the opportunity to reinvent the franchise with a new story featuring Ciri.
- The game could benefit from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Reputation System for enhanced role-playing.
- Implementing a reputation system similar to KCD2 could add depth to player choices and interactions in The Witcher 4.
CD Projekt Red has a big opportunity to reinvent the Witcher franchise with its upcoming installment, The Witcher 4, simply due to the title’s “brand-new saga” status. As the beginning of an all-new story for the Witcher series, The Witcher 4 can essentially build something fresh and original on top of the franchise’s foundation, so long as it retains the Witcher DNA it has established over the last almost two decades now. While some of these potential changes are already clear — like the new story that will arrive alongside The Witcher 4‘s protagonist, Ciri — other changes may require even bolder steps toward reimagining The Witcher‘s gameplay.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is responsible for bringing the series to a level of success that no title before it had been able to accomplish, but it has now been nearly ten years since its release. Between then and now, the gaming industry has seen a wide variety of role-playing games enter the scene, many of which have unique characteristics and elements that The Witcher 4 could glean from. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one of the most recent RPGs to take the stage, and it carries over one feature from its predecessor that could benefit The Witcher 4.
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The Witcher 4 Could Benefit From Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Reputation System
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Reputation System Sees Players Rewarded or Punished for Their Actions
CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that players will have a greater degree of agency in The Witcher 4 than they’ve had in previous entries, which simultaneously opens the door for some genuine role-playing mechanics. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s reputation system, for instance, is one mechanic The Witcher 4 could utilize if it wants to make player choice a significant factor in its gameplay.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s reputation system is one of its most active systems, consistently present throughout the game. Just as it did in the sequel’s predecessor, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s reputation system essentially takes note of players’ actions (when they are witnessed by NPCs), whether those actions be physical or verbal. From there, players are often rewarded or punished, depending on their choices.
CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that players will have a greater degree of agency in The Witcher 4 than they’ve had in previous entries, which simultaneously opens the door for some genuine role-playing mechanics.
When players do just about anything in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, their actions are directly tied to the perceptions of various communities and factions in the game. For example, should players get caught trying to steal something in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, their reputation with the town they are in will decrease, thereby causing its inhabitants to treat the player differently. On the opposite side of that is more positive responses, like after players treat another NPC with respect during a conversation, which increases their reputation with that individual and the community they are a part of.
A KCD2-Like Reputation System in The Witcher 4 Would Enhance Role-Playing
Incorporating a reputation system akin to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s into The Witcher 4 could significantly enhance its immersion and its role-playing, putting even more weight on players’ choices and forcing them to think twice before they act. Helping villagers fend off monsters or resolving local disputes could increase Ciri’s reputation in specific regions, resulting in discounts from merchants or additional support during side quests.
On the contrary, attempting to steal something or responding rudely to NPCs in a village could decrease Ciri’s reputation with that town and even make its inhabitants hostile.
There is a prime opportunity here for The Witcher 4 to increase the depth of its role-playing mechanics, and given how most people on the Continent respond to a Witcher, it would make sense to implement a reputation system similar to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. A major part of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s success is its genuine role-playing mechanics, so The Witcher 4 taking the same approach could help it achieve success as well.
