Final evening, CD Projekt Purple confirmed off the primary footage we have seen for The Witcher 3 enlargement, Songs of the Previous – new content material for the sport launching some 11 years after the bottom sport was launched. The enlargement takes us to a brand new location, Letten, a bucolic nation very removed from the conflicts and politics that dominate the remainder of the continent Geralt calls house. However all just isn’t because it appears in Letten – shortly after Geralt’s arrival, his pal Dandelion goes lacking, and what begins as a easy seek for a lacking bard shortly turns into a job worthy of a Witcher.
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In Songs of the Previous, we’re launched to Dandelion’s household – and their huge property – and get to see a bit extra of the context that Geralt’s erstwhile pal grew up in. In a hands-off demo, this morning I noticed Geralt acclimatise to the brand new area, assembly Dandelion’s prolonged household (together with a cousin and grandma), and start to root by way of the peculiar, peaceable realm of Letten. Even from this 45-minute glimpse of the enlargement, it is clear that the writing, cutscene course, and characterisation are as sharp and humorous as you’d count on from CD Projekt Purple.
The enlargement is being co-developed by CD Projekt Purple and Idiot’s Idea, a studio based in 2015 that is labored on authentic sport The Thaumaturge in addition to supporting growth on Divinity Authentic Sin 2 and the Silent Hill 2 remake. Idiot’s Idea CEO Jakub Rokosz sat down with me at Gamescom to shed a bit extra gentle on how Songs of the Previous is coming collectively – a few years after the story was initially put to paper.
“This can be a fully authentic story,” Rokosz tells me once I ask if Songs of the Previous takes inspiration from any of Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher books. “The story was conceived, method again when, in CD Projekt Purple by Ola Motyka and Philip Weber [who were writers on the base game]. Once they have been engaged on it, they needed to put it apart for numerous causes – stars needed to align, Idiot’s Idea needed to develop, and so forth. A couple of years later, the subject resurfaced and we began engaged on [Songs of the Past]. We have been digging deeper, and rising it since then, and that’s the way it got here to be the enlargement you see at this time.”
Rokosz goes on to notice that the crew “all the time takes plenty of inspiration” from the Andrzej Sapkowski books, however this time the novels have been merely a place to begin for a much bigger, extra in-depth character examine of Dandelion. “The story is authentic,” provides Despoina Anetaki, senior quest designer at CD Projekt Purple, “however I’d say what we took from the books was Geralt and Dandelion’s shut relationship, and we did not have the area in Witcher 3 to discover that as a result of there have been so many different subjects to give attention to – particularly, Geralt’s relationship with Ciri.
“So this enlargement was an important alternative to truly discuss Dandelion and make him a extra fleshed-out character. [In the base game], we did not have that a lot area to discover him, and now now we have the area to discover him, inform his story, and see him extra absolutely. Within the books, for instance, he has these extra philosophical conversations with Geralt – now we get to truly see a deeper facet to Dandelion within the sport, too.”
Rokosz then spends a bit time speaking about how Dandelion has all the time been a pure counterpoint to Geralt: he’s a light-hearted, deep-thinking foil to the gruff seriousness of the Witcher. “The Witcher is all about morality and gray areas,” Rokosz continues, “and we actually wished room to give attention to how Dandelion enhances Geralt on the subject of that.”
CDPR has stated that Songs of the Previous will likely be “comparable in scope” to Blood & Wine – which is about 15 hours or so of content material, for those who give attention to the vital path – so I am assuming that is going to provide us loads of time to see extra of Dandelion and Geralt on this new enlargement. “[Dandelion] is admittedly one in all my favorite characters,” smiles Rokosz. “He is this very lighthearted comedic aid, however he is additionally very deep and really caring. He would not stick round with Witcher for thus lengthy, and thru all of these harmful adventures, if he did not take care of him. And that form of angle deserves a spot, and its personal story.”
“[That focus on Dandelion] makes Songs of the Previous very distinct from the opposite expansions,” provides Anetaki. “It is nearly like a callback to The Witcher 3 right here, as a result of the main focus is about household – however differently to the way it was dealt with [in the base game].”
“You realize,” posits Rokosz, “we all the time did plenty of romances in Witcher 3, and there was by no means anywhere for a bromance…, and that is the factor we’re aiming for right here.”
The Witcher 3: Songs of the Previous launches someday in 2027.