CD Projekt Red has released a 10-minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Witcher 4‘s cinematic reveal trailer, which has given some interesting insight into the RPG’s focus on Ciri as the protagonist rather than Geralt.
Story director Tomasz Marchewka previously explained that “from the very beginning we knew it had to be Ciri” as the protagonist, with game director Sebastian Kalemba adding that “it just felt natural to us and we believe that Ciri deserves it.” Ciri and Geralt are two very different characters, though, and it sounds like the devs really wanted to get that across right from this first trailer.
Pointing to certain scenes in the trailer, from the way she slaughters a monster to the way she responds to people killing Mioni (the girl who we see get sacrificed) cinematic director Kajetan Kapuściński acknowledges that Ciri’s actions are “different than what Geralt would do. She lives through these emotions she’s connected with herself.”
Narrative director Phillip Weber also explains that Ciri and Mioni are kind of like “mirrors of each other.” This makes an awful lot of sense considering that he later points out that the monologue made by Mioni’s father, Zhivan, right at the start of the trailer about his daughter’s destiny was written “in a way that Geralt could have said that about Ciri as well.” In case you needed a recap, amongst other things, he says he’s watched Mioni “grow from a devilishly curious child into a remarkable young lass with much grace, wisdom, and kindness.” Writing this whole section in a way that allowed parallels between the two father and daughter duos to be drawn “was really important for us,” says Weber.
There’s still an awful lot we don’t know about The Witcher 4, but with our first look finally out there, hopefully CD Projekt Red tells us more about the new RPG soon.
In the meantime, be sure to check out our list of the best RPGs for more games like The Witcher.