Facing a draught in video game releases coming in the near future when it comes to the world of RPGs, I'm forced to look misty eyed into the clouds to try and make out what lies on the horizon. In that vein I really do think we're going to see the strongest showing out of those that both need to prove themselves and still have the hunger in their bones to do it. Bioware have given up their RPG routes in their entirety and are expecting a round of applause for that, Bethesda still have me wondering if they even know what people are thinking about their recent releases- all that's left right now is to look at CDPR- because they certainly showed they aren't willing to let their reputation fade to dust even if they have to kick two years of post launch support to salvage it. In that light I actually have some high expectations for the upcoming 'The Witcher 4'.
The Witcher remains my special little game I discovered back when the rest of the world were still totally oblivious. To this day The Witcher 2 gets looked at with an unturned nose as some sort of black-child of the franchise- along with the original, I guess. (I suppose it's more just 3 being considered 'The Golden Child' in that light.) I remember absolutely falling in love with a totally mature Fantasy game that nailed political drama in a fantastical world with consequence and personality- truly it was the height of the RPG action world back in it's day. And yes it was messy at times, but it stuck with me- and I actually think there are aspects that original that outstrip even The Witcher 3 to this very day! And it seems to me like going back to some of those hallmarks might just be the future of The Witcher franchise in the coming instalment.
Of course those three Witcher Games covered the journey of 'Geralt of Rivia', the star of the books and ailing TV show, through a pretty complete summation of his journeys post the then-end of the original narrative. Where we go from here is entirely up to the whims and wants of the CDPR team, which is partially why I'm really expecting we see something truly beyond the barriers of what we're seen thus far from the studio. Essentially from here on the franchise is their fantasy plaything to go wild with, just as The Elder Scrolls belongs to Bethesda and Final Fantasy belongs to Sqaure Enix. They can go absolute nuts with the scope, the characters and most-importantly: the consequence of the player's actions within that world space.
Sure, there were choices in the original games. But all to a the degree that could roughly fit into the character of who Geralt already was- which itself was a nice grounding aspect to the way they presented the narrative so that CDPR didn't actually have to play out every reality in their mind. As it turns out this quirk would actually stick in the way they tell their stories and bleed into Cyberpunk- which itself was not a total 'free choice' RPG but rather players iterating on a pre-set character that the team already had largely in mind. This really is a limiting factor I think they need to push past in order to push their RPGs to the next level- not go the way of lazy Ubisoft and their one note protagonists with no value or growth to them. Which is why I think that CDPR's real competitor to bring themselves up against is going to be Larian.
Sure, there were choices in the original games. But all to a the degree that could roughly fit into the character of who Geralt already was- which itself was a nice grounding aspect to the way they presented the narrative so that CDPR didn't actually have to play out every reality in their mind. As it turns out this quirk would actually stick in the way they tell their stories and bleed into Cyberpunk- which itself was not a total 'free choice' RPG but rather players iterating on a pre-set character that the team already had largely in mind. This really is a limiting factor I think they need to push past in order to push their RPGs to the next level- not go the way of lazy Ubisoft and their one note protagonists with no value or growth to them. Which is why I think that CDPR's real competitor to bring themselves up against is going to be Larian.
Yeah, I know: "He's brings that bloody game up every blog!" But it stands to bear that Baldur's Gate 3 is the template through which the gaming world is shaped. The very fabric of what an RPG can be is based around the promise of 'reactivity'. You role play in a world that reacts to what you do- however the extent to which that was possible tended to be inelastic. The bigger and fancier your game was, the less space there really was to be truly reactive to the player's choices. Which is how we got into a situation where the more money the Dragon Age franchise receives the less they begin resembling actual RPGs until we hit the point where we're at now. Baldur's Gate 3 bucked this trend to thunderous and overwhelming applause- The Witcher 4 needs to follow suit.
We've already gotten somewhat confirmation that The Witcher 4 is going to star an entirely brand new build-a-bear Witcher who embarks on a journey all of their own, which could be the perfect formula to create a really substantive narrative of exploring the dark fantasy mires of The Northern territories and
discover what they make of you. Cyberpunk 2077 already proved that CDPR aren't afraid to really delve into the question of 'who are you' even in an RPG, I'd love to see that expanded into a highly political fantasy world stuffed to the brim with warring factions and uneasy allegiances. Maybe we'll get another story of how it feels to circle oblivion with no way out- or perhaps we'll start legend building on a journey to make a hero to rival the white wolf. Maybe they'll get really crazy and move the fiction of the world up to the age of the renaissance and see what happens there! The possibilities are actually pretty exciting.
Already CDPR are praising themselves with a hardy clap on the back for the extent of their technology going into this new Witcher game, talking about how it surpasses anything they've worked on before. And to that point I just want to helpfully remind you all that Cyberpunk 2077 is still the benchmark to which all new innovations in fidelity are tested, so whatever they're working on which apparently puts that to shame must be making current hardware shudder in it's boots. I weep to think of what my measly GeForce card is being threatened with. But my inner masochist also welcomes the challenge with gusto. And if the technicians are bringing it- you know that the rest of the studio are being edged to match that level of innovation.
I've been rightfully hard on CDPR over the past few years but I try not to be outwardly nasty, and that's because I still have a lot of love and respect for this studio. I was angry because I know they can do better and I know this team has a few hits left in it before it starts to go the way of Bioware and, seemingly, Bethesda. I never held these artists on the same minuscule level as I do Ubisoft, because I truly do think they have the capacity to set the world on fire once again as even their poor releases have done before. The Witcher 4 may still be a sparkle in the milkman's eye, but it's one I'm getting ramped up to start hyping for once that reveal hits. Although, something tells me we're going to waiting until the next generation for that one. Just a hunch.
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