Though fans of The Witcher franchise might still be reeling from the news of Henry Cavill stepping down as Geralt of Rivia after season 3 of the Netflix series, CD Projekt Red did give an exciting announcement in the form of another upcoming triple-A game. While an earlier presentation by the publisher revealed the codenames for several franchise games in the pipeline, the identities of two of them were unknown.
That was until they announced Canis Majoris was The Witcher Remake. The original 2007 game was a cult hit for its time, but it's certainly shown its age. Namely from combat and atmosphere perspectives, fans on Reddit discussed their hopes for what the remake will facelift.
A More Intuitive User Interface
As far as user-friendly interfaces go, The Witcher can certainly make strides in its various menu designs. The original game had interfaces that weren't intuitive for the uninitiated and, at most, tolerable for CRPG veterans. Redditor PontiffPope once again thinks back on their time with the game, saying "I have some rather nostalgic memories of playing the first Witcher game by how hideous its menu-UI is; a big, fading circle that takes over half the screen, no clean lines dividing the various sub-menus."
But with how game design has made such strides in the 15 years since The Witcher — including Wild Hunt — this feels like an extremely safe bet to see touched up.
Revitalizing The 3 Combat Styles In Unreal Engine 5
Action RPGs can live or die by their combat, and for its time, the original 2007 The Witcher admirably combined multiple gameplay elements for its combat. That cocktail of hack-and-slash, rhythm, and depth helped make it a unique experience then, but it's admittedly aged in clunky fashion today. Redditor ih8meandu shared that sentiment but gave credit where credit was due, saying "As janky as the combat was, I was always a fan of the 3 different fighting styles."
They further added that they, "thought that it was a neat mechanic and that it would have done well in a better game engine." With the gaming tech of the 2020s courtesy of Unreal Engine 5 on the way, this should be a prime opportunity to breathe new life into its customizable combat approach.
Translating The Environments & Atmosphere Onto Modern Hardware
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt became one of the most acclaimed open-world video games, in part, due to its richly atmospheric sandbox. Even so, many longtime fans still stand by the overall feel of the original game's world.
Redditor Webbysan was a fan of it and agreed with another commenter saying, "particularly in the Outskirts and the Fields in the later chapter have a chilling feel to them, loved it. Really hope they get at least that right." CD Projekt Red has been generally praised for adapting author Andrzej Sapkowski's work, with enticing dark fantasy landscapes and soundtracks to complement them.
Change The Rhythm-Style Action
The aforementioned combat styles are a feature that could see some tasteful changes on top of the foundation it laid out for The Witcher Remake. However, the rhythm-inspired elements are something that needs to be reworked entirely. The combat mainly revolved around the player having to make Geralt time their attacks by simply left-clicking when the icon notifies them.
Redditor SilentThunder-00 surmised that "It will likely have W3 style combat in UE5. Timing mouse clicks probably isn’t happening again haha." Credit should go to CD Projekt Red for trying something bold for the time, but the jarring feel of it combined with modern action-RPG sensibilities would make that mechanic come off as stale.
Modernized Controls
Remakes and remasters are more popular in the video game industry than ever before, and the standard that current and upcoming western RPGs may set will keep expectations high for The Witcher Remake. Outside of completely redoing graphics, gameplay, and voice acting, modernizing the controls will be another requirement for the remake for sheer playability in the modern age.
Redditor PontiffPope recalled how they "remember an absolutely out-of-control turn-sensitivity if you played the games on mouse and keyboard." Both PC and console gaming have come a long way, so assuring the controls are much more intuitive this time is essential.
Expand On The Original's Scope
Having to follow up on Wild Hunt after it cemented itself as one of the greatest modern fantasy RPGs to date is a tall order. The game's sense of scale was breathtaking, especially for how it filled its environments with meaningful substance. What the original game achieved was still respectable given the context of its generation, the studio's smaller size, and the restrictions they developed under. Redditor thuy_chan said they "hope they expand on it. There were a lot of engine restrictions on the original."
Remaking a 2007 PC game for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and modern PC hardware is bound to look drastically different, but considering the original used the engine from BioWare's even older Neverwinter Nights, this is a chance to get even more ambitious with the scope of the game.
Better Combat Preparation Mechanics
In terms of changes that could be made in The Witcher Remake based on solid foundations of the original, the various combat preparation mechanics are things that could see a welcome makeover. Redditor SpaceballsTheReply thought it was among the game's strongest features, saying "In Witcher 1 potions weren't just something you chugged in the middle of combat for a 10-second buff. You had to know what you were facing and go in prepared."
Other fans, though, also thought the potions and meditating were too archaic in certain respects in practice. But it's nonetheless a great show of reverence for the source material in making players feel like a professional Witcher, and thus is worth retooling in the remake.
Better Characterization For Triss
All three of CD Projekt Red's The Witcher games have been critically praised overall, with storytelling and character drama being two highlights. That being said, that isn't to say everything was to perfection.
Even affectionate fans of the whole series thought that Triss Merigold felt like a somewhat tasteless romance option for Geralt that didn't amount to much more than that, even though she'd been manipulating him since his amnesia. And especially so compared to her stronger portrayal in Wild Hunt. Redditor paperkutchy said, "Triss feeling a scrapped Yen-prototype than actually Triss."
Overhauling The Romance System
Along with Triss Merigold getting a tasteful dose of rewriting, The Witcher's overall romance system would do well to have a mechanical overhaul as well. Over the years, it's been looked back on a bit infamously, as the system handled Geralt's romantic exploits with no tact.
Redditor potpan0 believed that "in general it felt kinda juvenile that every area had one woman you can [have] sex with and you need to complete a short quest/puzzle to unlock her." Seeing this change is another safe theory in the remake, especially since Wild Hunt generally handled it well by revolving around role-playing mechanics and fleshed-out character drama, rather than a collectible card.
Brand New Voice-Over Work
Even with its loving homage in the storytelling for Sapkowski's source material, the voice acting is also something that's going to need to be completely redone. Aside from the fact that there were actor changes after the initial game to the final entry in Geralt's story, it is on the cheesy side.
It's not necessarily bad, as more than anything it was a product of its time, but Redditor DougieFFC nonetheless thought that "Dialogue and VA especially are both janky as anything, and whilst they're part of the charm of the original, they'll need re-working for a remake." This, thankfully, shouldn't be difficult to adjust since Wild Hunt had an exceptional voice cast from top to bottom.