Does ciri have to be a witcher in The Witcher 4?

[Bigboss PC Faster]

Isn't she already strong af even though she's not a witcher?

[Flinsberg]

She's "strong af" regardless of where CDPR takes her. In the books she becomes the Empress of Nilfgaard, which I'd argue puts her in an even more powerful position than just being a witcher.

No matter how you look at it - she's OP. Always was. Her being a witcher doesn't change much, realistically.

[BioRadical]

They probably thought it would sell better to have her be a witcher than stay anywhere remotely cannon. Maybe they'll justify it as this being an alt universe where Ciri doesn't have Elder Blood?

Dunno how it'll turn out, but I wish if they were sticking on the Witcher route, that they'd tell the story of one of the other Witchers in the universe. Maybe focus their story more on mythology rather than the politics that took a major part of the trilogy we got.

[smoketrees]

She's a Witcher because they need it for branding. They could have made it a little more abstract but going on how devs speak about consumers these days they probably wouldn't trust us to understand that.

[Azrael245]

Ciri has been OP since she was a child, having Elder Elven Blood in her veins she was already stronger than any Witcher in the genre. In the books, yes she becomes Empress, but in the games which do not follow the books Lore 1 to 1, she goes her own way and doesn't want to be Empress but a Witcher instead. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had already setup Ciri becoming the new protagonist; which even fans of the game were leaning in to in a good way; the way she was because Geralt just wants to go do his own thing.

The biggest issue we have now with Witcher 4 coming around, is that they are trying to girl boss the heck out of Ciri to appease a certain crowd of people. The only way I see they can explain Ciri becoming a Witcher and being able to handle the alchemical tonics Witchers drink is because of her Elder Elven Blood allowing her to withstand the changes these tonics physically make to ones body upon undertaking the Trial of the Grasses.

The biggest gripe most of us fans have, is the fact that CDPR is willing to do this to a beloved character that was loved just the way she was. Hell, Ciri could even visit alternate worlds/dimensions already, she even explains her time in a more 'Distopian' world with flying carriages and odd 'magic'. A.K.A., Night City in Cyberpunk 2077. But the developers have even stated in many reviews, they are making Witcher 4 for, 'Modern' Audiences and 'People who don't play our games.' For DEI practices and to appease a certain demographic.

Don't get me wrong, Ciri being the main character in Witcher 4 was expected and a LOT of the fanbase is looking forward to. But the way they are going about it, horrendous. Even a lot of their higher up Devs are leaving the company to create their own Studios because they are tired of the direction things are going. It's a sad time for gaming in this day and age and if things keep going the way they are; expect The Witcher franchise to fall much like Dragon Age.

[Stirling Dreamer]

Well, the name of the game is The Witcher tho.

[VDRSK]

Originally posted by smoketrees:

but going on how devs speak about consumers these days they probably wouldn't trust us to understand that.

For good reason, it seems media literacy is very lacking, people complaining that writing is to heavy handed when things like "The Boys" was heavy handed and people still missed the point.

You have to near on hit people over the head with a bat with the intended message engraved on it for some to understand.

[AsianGirlLover]

Originally posted by MarVerine:

Name one game/movie franchise where they swapped the main character and it made them more profit.

Dragon Quest, Persona, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Dragon Age (not including Veilguard).

[Crow]

So there is literally no reason to drop Geralt as lead except for well lets say activism.

There are a few:
- Geralt's story has come to a satisfying end and he is now retired in Toussaint, so a new adventure with him would be repetitive and forced.
- Jacek Rozenek, the Polish voice of Geralt, suffered a severe stroke and his voice deteriorated to the point, where he probably wouldn't be able to handle an entire game as the protagonist, let alone whole trilogy.

[Darklight]

The answer to that question is yes. If you took a look at CDPR today, they aren't the same company. They've lost quite a bit of their old talent, made a point to become a more progressive studio.

Ciri is a fine character in her own right and special to the story but her becoming the next Witcher, regardless of how they justify it was always going to be a conflict. We all know why they chose the harder route.

[Crow]

Let me correct you here, both of Ciris and Geralts stories came to a satisfying end because CDPR made the end up themselves and that was imo the weakest part of the game.

No it wasn't, They always wanted to wrap up Geralt's story in three games and then pass the mantle to Ciri. It was a beautiful and satisfying finale, the best possible one.

Have not read his last book and dont think it is even translated, but from the parts/translated i read online she kind of decides to not go back to her original world and thus stops the prophecy from happening (her becoming the world conquering emperess) and lives on another world/litterally rides into the sunset with geralt lol. Again second hand account so cant say for certain.

The books have nothing to do with this, because they take place BEFORE the games. At the time the games take place, Geralt from the books is dead.

Doug Cockle is still around so dont care about the second part.

Polish players don't care about Doug Cockle, and they are CDP's priority. CDP writes Witcher games in Polish, with Polish voice actors in mind. Only later do they translate them into other languages, including English. That's why the game contains a lot of references and wordplay that only Poles will understand. CDP themselves stated that without Rozenek there is no Geralt.

[Crow]

You just need to remember the best quests from W3 and look who made them and see that they are gone

And where exactly do you get this information from? Give me the names of those who left and the quest names they designed.

[Crow]

Originally posted by MarVerine:

Easy search. Bloody Baron makers both gone.

If it's that easy, you can surely name the designer of this quest.

[Crow]

Originally posted by MarVerine:

Originally posted by Crow:

If it's that easy, you can surely name the designer of this quest.

Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz lead quest designer and the writer Karolina Stachyra.

Wrong. It was written by Stachyra, but the designer was Paweł Sasko. He still works for CDP.

[Sardukhar]

Originally posted by MarVerine:

Originally posted by Crow:

If it's that easy, you can surely name the designer of this quest.

Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz lead quest designer and the writer Karolina Stachyra.

1. No real world politics here. That'll get deletions, warns and bans. It's in the Rules and there's a big warning on the main boards.

2. The Bloody Baron quest? In which case, it was designed by Pawel Sasko, who still works for CDPR. From the witcher series, Adam Badowski, Board member and director of Witcher 2 (and Cyberpunk 2077); Philipp Weber, Quests, Witcher 3; Miles Tost, level design, Witcher 3; Marcin Blacha, story, Witcher 3; Sebastian Kalemba, animation director, W3 and many many many others are still at CDPR. They have people there still all the way back to Witcher 1.

If you are referring to Rebel Wolves, there are some CDPR devs there, as well as at many other studios. CDPR wishes them all the best, of course.

Sometimes, people are just plain wrong and suggesting the majority, or even a great number of Witcher devs aren't with CDPR, or that it has somehow become a totally different company, is just plain wrong.

And now let us return to topic: does Ciri have to be a Witcher?

[DaWeezerd]

Originally posted by AsianGirlLover:

Originally posted by MarVerine:

Name one game/movie franchise where they swapped the main character and it made them more profit.

Dragon Quest, Persona, Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto, Dragon Age (not including Veilguard).

Resident Evil