It has been greater than a decade since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was first launched, however CD Projekt Crimson is not fairly completed with the sport simply but. Songs of the Previous, the sport’s third growth, is ready to reach in 2027, bringing with it a completely new area to discover, new monsters to hunt, and extra tales to inform.
However how do you broaden on a sport as beloved as The Witcher 3 with out upsetting its notoriously devoted followers? And the way do you retain issues contemporary whereas remaining trustworthy to a universe with many years of established lore?
IGN spoke to CD Projekt Crimson’s degree design lead Miles Tost and Songs of the Previous author Paula Meissner on the Lucca Comics & Video games pageant about creating a definite new nook of the Continent, the stunning significance of native booze, and why even bringing characters again from the lifeless does not essentially imply breaking canon.
IGN: Speaking about Songs of the Previous, from a pure degree design perspective, is there a particular new mechanical hook that you are looking at for gamers? And in addition, how does the atmosphere actively change in a means that possibly veteran gamers of The Witcher 3 are going to be discovering one thing new?
Miles Tost: Usually talking, the introduction of a complete new area. And for those who’ve performed the bottom sport and the opposite expansions, for us, these areas are actually enjoyable. I believe they’ve a variety of solutions for that query by themselves as a result of we attempt to at all times make each really feel distinctive, not simply visually, however within the sense of the traversal. Skellig, for instance, has a variety of boat journey as a reliance. It is also very mountainous. No Man’s Land is a a lot wider area. And I believe with the worth of Lettin, you may principally see additionally that as you progress round — we’re not introducing a brand new movement mechanic so far as I am conscious — however usually it is actually necessary to us that if you end up in an space, you could have this distinct feeling of being on this area.
And this goes additional culturally, for instance. The folks of Lettin have their very own cultural backdrop. There are some British influences within the aristocracy there, but in addition we have now very, very many Polish countryside influences there. You see that within the structure, and we normally go fairly deep in eager about the cultural identification of those areas. So with Skellig, we have now the extra Viking-esque influences, however right here, these folks have their very own alcohol.
It is a enjoyable factor to say as a result of — Bracket is what it is referred to as — it is a sort of fusion between honey and beer. It seems like such a small factor, however for us it is essential, as a result of it attracts lots on what this area is. So for the manufacturing of it, you want honey and also you want hops. And so you’ll find each of those within the space. And apart from it being a cultural export, of the realm and the economical spine of the place, it even adjustments how we take into consideration monsters there. So within the demo we have proven, we’re principally introducing one new monster, the Swarmion, and these guys love honey. They use hornets as a method of safety, all that stuff. And so the logical cause there may be as a result of what sort of monster would dwell there? So the Swarmion is smart. So you discover that this seemingly small factor of those guys having their very own alcohol, and it actually has this enormous impact on all the space. And so this can be a little bit of how we’re making an attempt to make issues really feel distinctive and particular. And it goes into the search storytelling and all of that.
IGN: Clearly, The Witcher has possibly one of many deepest lores in fiction, with plenty of established canon. With Songs of the Previous, was there a selected piece of deep lore that was significantly difficult to untangle? And as you have been placing all this collectively, did you must bend any of the established canon to make the story match?
Paula Meissner: We really do have an incredible lore staff in CDPR that we’re cooperating with. And these guys are simply superb. They know all the things, each element from the books, from each sport, from each piece of franchise content material. So we do speak with them regularly to be sure that we do not say something silly and that we keep really truthful to the lore. However yeah, it’s a difficult query as a result of it touches on matters that weren’t revealed but. So there have been undoubtedly challenges, however I do not know the way a lot I can say about these.
Miles Tost: The overall thought is that we attempt to at all times additionally evolve and make issues contemporary. So it is actually necessary for us to probably not assume on this means of like, “Oh, can we do that or can we not? If we do, how? How would we deliver Regis again?” If we simply informed folks earlier than Blood and Wine, “Yeah, we’ll do it.” Numerous the hardcore followers would most likely go like, “That is unimaginable. He fucking vaporized. How would he?” And I believe we requested ourselves those self same questions, and in the end I believe we settled on one thing that works as an expectation the place he is like, “Yeah, he is again, however he is like 10% of his energy, and he is nonetheless recovering. He is solely been capable of get well as a result of he is had assist from this different larger vampire.”
Geralt, by himself, is already like, “Hey, let’s simply deliver him again from the lifeless.” And it really works so long as you may clarify it and make it make sense. And I believe that is actually the method that we’re making an attempt to take. So we do not actually attempt to retcon issues, however we do attempt to discover cool methods to broaden and construct on the franchise and the established lore so long as we are able to discover methods to clarify it.
Paula Meissner: We frequently really use discussing challenges with the lore staff as [original Witcher author] Andrzej Sapkowski would do it. For those who take a look at the books and lore of The Witcher within the books, it is such a mixture of all the things, to be sincere. And even for those who hear Sapkowski in interviews and other people ask him these questions, he is typically like “No matter.” So yeah, that is the final word argument that we use generally, and generally it really works.