The Witcher 4 devs hint at Ciri's morality and those delicious RPG story branches: "The situation that may happen after the trailer is over is such a tough choice"

As part of a new behind-the-scenes dive into The Witcher 4‘s reveal trailer, developer CD Projekt Red discussed its approach to the game’s branching story moments and how new protagonist Ciri will navigate choices.

The Witcher 4 – Cinematic Reveal Trailer – Behind the scenes – YouTube

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“The ambiguity of the whole story itself, I think, plays very much to the way Sapkowski was crafting his Witcher stories,” says director Tomek Suwalski of Platige Image, an animation studio that worked on the reveal trailer. “It’s also very in our Eastern European mentality that there’s shades of gray everywhere, not clear choices, and the famous lesser evil.”

CDPR is of a similar mind, and looks beyond the trailer to The Witcher 4 itself. “This trailer is an adaptation of the story that we actually want to tell in the game,” says narrative director Phillipp Weber. “We’re not going to give you a black or white situation. We expect you to consider some situations, make some tough choices, and as an example, the situation that may happen after the trailer is over is such a tough choice.”

As a refresher, the trailer depicts Ciri rescuing a woman from a sacrificial role foisted upon her by superstitious villagers. Even the woman herself recognizes the folly of the tradition, but she attempts to go through with it anyway out of duty and due to social pressure, only for Ciri to slay the monster that would’ve been waiting at the end – likely her end.

I’d imagine the “tough choice” Weber is hinting at here involves Ciri’s treatment of the villagers and where her actions leave this woman and her father, who seemed to oppose his daughter’s involvement. Do you admonish them? Threaten them? Seek some kind of vengeance? How would any of this affect the quality of life of the biggest victim here? This is just a trailer and it’s already a tough choice. How closely the in-game quest mirrors this trailer remains to be seen, but the root balance of humanity and literal monsters feels like the kind of material The Witcher excels at.

The Witcher 4 devs say Ciri’s actions in the RPG’s reveal trailer are “different than what Geralt would do.”

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