The Witcher 4 was officially revealed with a gorgeous cinematic trailer last night at The Game Awards 2024, and now Game Director Sebastian Kalemba is breaking it down for fans so no one misses anything.
The trailer, which was rendered in Unreal Engine 5 on an unannounced Nvidia GPU, starts with a father speaking to his daughter before sending her off as a sacrifice to what their village believes is a god. At the same time, another character (Ciri) is preparing for a battle.
Kalemba explains that this is setting the scene and the characters to be foils. The first trailer, featuring the daughter appearing to be dressed for a celebration despite the grim villagers, is set in an isolated Northern village. This isolated village sacrifices people to appease monsters.
Ciri is watching the scene, and she’s called out by a villager for being a Witcher. One of the ways the villager knows what she is, according to Kalemba, is because of the two swords on her back. One is silver, for monsters, and one is steel, for humans.
As Ciri is called out and her face finally exposed, Kalemba excitedly points out that everyone has been waiting for this moment. The developers have been working on the game for years and were so excited to share Ciri’s role with fans. He wants people to experience her journey of becoming a Witcher, as she was happiest in that community.
There’s a shift that happens when the two travel into the woods. Kalemba explained that this is to create a more atmospheric and magical setting. Given that it’s part of The Witcher franchise, this is incredibly dark and evil.
In the forest, Ciri lets the girl lure the monster out with the sacrificial song. Kalemba revealed that Ciri lets her stay until she senses the evil waking up (signified by the abundance of fog). She then sends the girl back to her village while she stays to fight the monster.
Kalemba explained that Ciri enters the Heart of Darkness here, where she hears voices and sees hallucinations. Ciri drinks a potion that Witchers prepare to force herself to focus, which is shown in her eyes. The voices and hallucinations stop, and she can finally spot and fight the monster.
This monster turns out to be Bauk, a powerful monster in the Witcher world according to Kalemba. The fight also showcases how Ciri can drain energy out of elements. She also uses a chain, which Kalemba pointed out is a hint back to The Witcher trailer from years ago. In it, Geralt fights with a chain (a heartwarming touch, if I do say so).
Despite defeating the monster, Ciri comes back to the village and sees that the young girl was killed. Kalemba explained that Ciri was unable to change the girl’s fate as some people are incapable of change. In this case, it’s the villagers who were infuriated that the girl didn’t fulfill her duties as a sacrifice. Bauk won as the villagers were still full of fear.
Kalemba talked about how the world of The Witcher 4 is dark, but there’s still hope. While the cinematic trailer shows the girl dying, there’s also a way to save her. The Witcher games are full of choices and consequences that let players see how hopeful the world can be.
Players can watch Game Director Sebastian Kalemba break down The Witcher 4 cinematic reveal trailer below:
There’s no release date or window for The Witcher 4 yet. To see more coverage of The Game Awards 2024, check out our rewards and reveals roundups (part one and part two).
