It’s official! We now have, courtesy of CD Projekt Red, the first trailer for project Polaris, which is confirmed to be titled “The Witcher 4” and feature Ciri as its protagonist. Watch the trailer here. In it we see a thirty-something-looking Ciri interrupting a village human sacrifice (cf. the Woodland Beast quest from Skellige in The Witcher 3) to do battle with a bauk, a monster out of Serbian mythology, according to an interview CD Projekt staff gave to IGN.
Several details jump out immediately from the video. First, Ciri is now a full-blown Witcher, wearing Kaer Morhen armor, carrying the silver sword Zirael from The Witcher 3, taking potions etc. That means in effect that the ending where Ciri follows in Geralt’s footsteps has become the canonical ending to The Witcher 3. Likewise, Ciri is shown using both signs and other magic in the bauk fight, confirming that she has undergone the Trial of the Grasses but retained her source/Elder Blood powers. This hints at some interesting potential gameplay options, suggesting it might be possible to construct a more mage-oriented build in The Witcher 4. But for now that’s speculation.
We also see that Ciri is older, suggesting that anywhere from a decade to several have elapsed since The Witcher 3, given that Ciri was 21 in that game but would have aged more slowly after being mutated by the Trial. Likewise, she’s clearly not voiced by Australian actress Jo Wyatt in the trailer.
Lastly, the setting: we could be in Skellige, but given the snow depicted in previous promo imagery and the general Nordic feel of the scenery in the trailer, it’s also very possible we’re in the far North of the Northern realms, such as Kovir or Poviss, kingdoms often referred to but never explored in any adaptation of Sapkowski’s prose heretofore.
We still have no idea when this game is coming out, but this is an encouraging first look. As Geralt says in the credits, “Time for a new saga. See you on The Path.”
Photo credit CD Projekt Red, PC Gamer