The Witcher 4 might be getting some of that Cyberpunk 2077 freedom in making your own builds
Ahhh that's more like it. Watching that Witcher 4 trailer reminded me of what matters to me in an RPG: the NPCs have pockmarked faces and broccoli noses, and the whole thing looks like it smells of manure, burned wood, and fermented cabbage. Its grimy world is a breath of fresh, briney air after the spate of squeaky-clean RPGs like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and (sorry, I love it, but still…) Baldur's Gate 3.
Beyond the fact of it starring Geralt's protege Ciri as a now fully-fledged witcher, we don't know that much about The Witcher 4, so are foraging every quote and comment from CDPR to get a better picture. In an interview with IGN, Witcher 4 Game Director Sebastian Kalemba drew some interesting parallels between The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2077, suggesting that CDPR might be looking to offer more diverse build options for Ciri than Geralt ever had.
““"I believe the gameplay [in Cyberpunk 2077] was more varied [than that in The Witcher 3] and it allowed more freedom when it comes to creating character builds and being able to experience encounters in your own way," Kalemba told IGN. "This is something we definitely want to bring as a lesson [to The Witcher 4].”
The interview also talks about how Ciri is prone to following her heart more than the stolid, calculating, and sometimes stuck-in-his-ways Geralt, which feeds into the extra flexibility CDPR want to give players when it comes to shaping her story and progression through the game. Kalemba added:
“We want to let players try to define her. Unlike Geralt, who has been a veteran monster hunter for the entire Witcher saga, Ciri is only just starting her career. That means there’s space for players to create their own version of her… she's about to form her own codex on her own terms.”
I was probably an outlier in saying that I'd have liked The Witcher 4 to let us create our own witcher from scratch, but the idea of having a bit more of a hand in Ciri's development and the opportunity to experiment with diverse builds would be good enough for me. Naturally, Ciri's magical abilities are vastly superior to Geralt's, so maybe we'll see a bunch of different spell trees (in the trailer, we see her extract water from a surface then combine it with electricity to attack a creature, hinting that elemental combos might play a part). I'd also love to see the option for stealth-based builds. And for all ye gatekeepers who say 'That's just not the witcher way,' I direct you to the School of the Viper, a witcher sect who'd use small blades and assassination to hunt their prey.
Gah, the possibilities! Sure, it's probably years before the game actually comes out, but let the buildup begin. You can check out our own Witcher 4 interview here, and also our 'all things Witcher 4' page to keep up with the latest info as it trickles through.