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If you’re anything like me, you’re probably stuck between waiting for the rumored DLC for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and further information on The Witcher 4. But it doesn’t need to be that way. A brand-new Witcher game is releasing in just a few days, and while it’s not exactly an expansive open-world RPG, it is a love letter to a beloved series.
Ahead of the release of Reigns: The Witcher on February 25, I spoke with developer Nerial — specifically François Alliot, Creative Director, and Oscar Harrington-Shaw, Narrative Designer. We touched on why Dandelion is the star of the show, how this curious project came about, and why Witcher fans everywhere should sit up and take notice of what could be one of the year’s best surprises.
This Is By Witcher Fans, For Witcher Fans
The first thing you need to know is that the people behind this game are massive fans of The Witcher, especially the games. The project originated a few years ago, when Nerial and CD Projekt RED met at GDC, the massive industry event held each year in San Francisco.
“There was already some contact between [publisher] Devolver Digital and CDPR, but very informal,” François explained. “And then we really pitched this project to them at GDC two years ago. That was a point when we were starting to look at other licenses to cover, because Reigns: Game of Thrones was quite a success for us. So we wanted to try something different, but similar — so something more in games, a game license and… similar in terms of scope and size, if you want, of the lore and the world we play with. They like Reigns, were big fans of Reigns, so we built on that.”
Oscar added: “We’re particularly big fans of the games, although we also watch the show, and we’ve read the books, but it’s set in the world of the games primarily.”
Fans Of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Will Feel Right At Home…
Given that Reigns: The Witcher is set within the continuity of the CDPR games rather than the original novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, fans of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt should feel right at home. Geralt, Triss, Dandelion, Yen, and more all make their return, and it’s a real joy as someone who has put something like 500 hours into The Witcher 3 to see these versions of these characters again. But how exactly does Reigns: The Witcher play?
There are lots of references to quests as well as some of the more obscure side quests that we like from The Witcher 3.
For anyone who might not be aware, the original Reigns is a choose-you-own-adventure life sim in which you’re presented with a series of binary choices as you rule your own kingdom. In Reigns: The Witcher, you’re effectively playing as Dandelion making up stories about Geralt. You’ll meet familiar characters and monsters, and your choices will shape each run. As you play through the game, you can unlock more scenarios, although most stories end with Geralt dying in increasingly ridiculous ways. In one of my early playthroughs, the White Wolf was turned into a fly by Yennefer.
“I think it’s a nice… way to riff on things that you already love about the world,” Oscar said. “I suppose it’s like we’ve really tried to pack it full of familiar characters and familiar events. There are lots of references to quests as well as some of the more obscure side quests that we like from The Witcher 3.”
If you’re worried about authenticity, Oscar also confirmed Nerial worked very closely with CDPR throughout development. “We’re meeting with them every week, meeting with their lore masters and writers, and they’re pitching content ideas to us as well, and we’re bouncing back and forth. So everything in the game has gone through them.”
…As Will Fans Of The Netflix Series
What if you’re not a massive gamer? You might vibe with Netflix’s The Witcher and have absolutely no time for massive 200-hour RPGs. Is Reigns: The Witcher right for you? According to Oscar and François, absolutely.
“I think if you’re looking for a nice bite-size experience where you can just dive into the world quickly and experience storylines in a new light, I think that’s the appeal of it, for sure,” Oscar said. “We definitely think it’s an accessible game, and in some ways, it actually feels like a nice way for people who haven’t played The Witcher to get into the world… actually jumping into the world in our game is a nice gateway into it.”
Oscar added that fans of the books, games, and show can think of Reigns: The Witcher as a bit like fan-fiction. François added: “The point is not to try to make a Witcher game, and we’re not making a Witcher game, but at the same time… you can experiment with the world you know.”
This Is Very Different To Previous Reigns Games — And Past Witcher Games
The Witcher usually sees us playing as a grizzled monster hunter for hire. So at what point was it decided the flowery bard Dandelion would be the star of this show?
“In the original Reigns game, you play as the king… there’s an obvious loop to that, because you die, and you play as the king’s successor,” Oscar explained. “So we needed some kind of meta structure that allows this loop to occur… We wanted to play as Geralt… but normally, if Geralt dies, he’s dead. So like, how do we bring him back?”
Ultimately, it was decided the game should be framed as Dandelion telling stories, which unlocks much more scope for silliness and allows the introduction of unique gameplay features. For instance, after each “performance”, Dandelion’s fame grows and he unlocks new inspiration for characters and scenarios.
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“You are playing as Geralt, but you’re also playing within a song, so you’re trying to make good content, and he’s sometimes exaggerating and toying with things that happened in the past,” Oscar said. “There’s this kind of conflict between the person actually living the thing, trying to survive, and the poet… trying to embellish to create good content.”
Reigns: The Witcher is a game that might seem simple on the surface, but has plenty of replay value. There are tons of unique scenarios Geralt can find himself in, each sillier than the last.
Oscar told me his personal favorite to work on: “There’s a rock troll under a bridge that isn’t letting you pass, and you can, you can just fight them and kill them, if you like. But you can also start to ask, ‘what’s wrong?’ And you find out they’re bored, and they want to see more of the world. And then you can encourage them to do this, and you can meet them in other jobs all around the world.”
François added: “I think there’s one particular scenario where one of the cards sort of puts you on a road trip with Roach. And I think that that’s very interesting, because it changes the mechanics, and for a while you’re doing something different. And that’s a nice surprise.”
Reigns: The Witcher officially lands on mobile devices and PC via Steam from February 25, and if you’re into the games, books, or TV series, I’d definitely urge you to check this wonderfully weird adventure out when it launches.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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