A first look at the Official Reveal Trailer of The Witcher 4

Eleven years after the "Killing Monsters" cinematic trailer of The Witcher 3, we finally get to see the first official reveal trailer of the fourth game - The Witcher 4 (or The Witcher IV).

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It shows a more mature and grown-up Ciri, taking the place of Geralt as the main character. CD Projekt Red has not yet shared an official release date for the game, although the team expects it to be out before 2027.

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This blog post contains some spoilers about the ending of the third game.

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The six-minute trailer, which was pre-rendered in a custom build of Unreal Engine 5 using an unannounced NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU, shows Ciri as she gears up for battle. Meanwhile, a village girl is being prepared for a ritual, a sacrifice for a god to protect the village.

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While the sword doesn't seem to be the exactly same as the one Geralt hands over to her during the one ending of The Witcher 3, where Ciri becomes a Witcher, the design of the guard remains the same, and the engraving seems to also be the same, showing "Zireael" ("Swallow").

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She is also wearing a new pendant which appears to be of the School of the Lynx.

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As the village girl shares her last moments with her father at sunset, she sets for the path leading into the forest. Ciri, who shows up at the ceremony, is recognised by a villager for her trade as a Witcher asked whose coin she took, insisting that the girl sent into the forest was the chosen by the gods. Yet Ciri ignores the scolding of the villager, and catches up with the girl, who has already reached the forest.

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The girl, kneeling in front of a big opening in a mountain's side wall, prepares for her sacrifice. Ciri, who finds her just in time, tells her to leave the forest at once and to save herself. She fights the alleged god, which reveals itself to be a monster called the "Bauk". A monster that apparently can sense the fears of its victims and play on them.

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In the fight she can be seen drinking a Witcher potion, with her (cat-like) eyes changing as the potion rushes through her body, which possibly indicates that she, after all, underwent the Trial of the Grasses. She can also be seen using signs and magic.

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As she defeats the monster and heads back to the village, the village girl is found lying in her fathers arms, with a knife stuck in her chest. The villager who previously scolded Ciri for intervening, repeats his words of the village girl having been the chosen one and the tradition.

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The trailer ends with Ciri responding to the mentioning of the alleged god with "There are no gods here - only monsters." (which somewhat reminded me of the Killing Monsters cinematic trailer of the Witcher 3).

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What I already love most about the trailer is that it shows the moral conflicts and consequences of choices made in the world The Witcher is set in. While it might be seen as a good choice of Ciri intervening, saving the girl and slaying the monster, some choices, even if coming from a good place, have no happy ending.

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According to some sources, such as Investing.com, the trailer has sparked mixed reactions, although judging by the comments, it seems to be received well. Some points seem to be her transformation into a Witcher (instead of havig an entirely new story), the fact that the game will have a female lead and the apparent change of voice actresses.

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Personally, I don't mind at all that the game follows Ciri's path as a Witcher, as after all, this is one of the endings you will get when playing The Witcher 3:

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"Cirilla Fiona Ellen Riannon, heir to Niflgaard's throne, chose the life of a witcher, on the Path. Geralt taught her all he knew, every skill he possessed, then each set off on their own. Soon word of the ashen-haired witcheress had spread throughout the North, from the Yaruga to the mountains of Kovir..."

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One of the most important things to me is the lore. For example, the fact that Ciri seems to have undergone the Trial of the Grasses as an adult, with her cat-like eyes and her drinking potions with similar effects to a Witcher's body as we know from the third game. After all this is the story and one of the possible endings of the third game - Ciri trains hard to be a Witcher without undergoing any mutations. Especially this very topic can be found being discussed in comments a lot.

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The Witcher 3 is by far my favourite game of all time, and not only sparked my passion for video games (being one of the first games I have ever played) but also for 3D character art. I really do look forward to the fourth game and hope CD Projekt Red takes its time to make this a worthy successor to the previous games.

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