With the next entry to The Witcher series still years away, fans of the franchise will need to find other avenues for their Witcher fix. Luckily, a new game has just been released: Gwent: Rogue Mage. Though the title is described as an expansion of the free-to-play multiplayer game Gwent, it will be a standalone purchase featuring new mechanics and a single-player experience.
Aside from providing a new way to play Gwent, the Rogue Mage expansion also has an interesting setting. The game is set long before Witchers even existed, and players take on the role of the famous mage, Alzur. This gives Witcher fans a new perspective of the Continent.
The Premise of Gwent: Rogue Mage
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Gwent: Rogue Mage was first unveiled as “Project Golden Nekker.” According to game director Vladimir Tortsov, the expansion was for Gwent players who wanted a PvE experience. This is why Rogue Mage focuses more on single-player gameplay rather than online multiplayer. The game will also have roguelike mechanics, allowing players to build their deck as they explore a procedurally generated map.
Throughout the player’s journey, they’ll learn more about the mage Alzur. Like in The Witcher trilogy, Rogue Mage also features morally gray decision points and interactable landmarks, like Places of Power. However, it should be said that the developer didn’t intend to craft an in-depth story to match mainline Witcher media. Tortsov explains that the team prioritized gameplay over narrative and that the expansion shouldn’t be treated as part of Witcher lore. Still, it’s interesting to see a whole new side to the Continent, especially through the eyes of one of the most powerful known mages in The Witcher.
Alzur from The Witcher
The first-ever batch of Witchers was created nearly a thousand years after the Conjunction of the Spheres in The Witcher. This means that the Continent was still teeming with vicious monsters, making for a dangerous game world. And based on the promotional art of Gwent: Rogue Mage, players will likely control the adult Alzur.
Alzur is a skilled mage, having been trained at a young age. In the lore of Gwent, it’s said that his fondness for a mage named Lylianna was what spurred him onto his quest to create Witchers. He was captivated by her grand goal of making the Continent a safer world for all, ridding it of The Witcher monsters. Unfortunately, she died sometime later.
Alzur then gathered with other mages in Rissberg Castle, Temeria and began experimenting on potential Witcher mutations. The band of sorcerers gained the confidence of local rulers, who then provided them with the resources they needed. In return, Alzur promised them powerful monster slayers that could wield magic in The Witcher universe. The mage even kidnapped children or paid off their parents before bringing them back to the castle to be experimented on.
These experiments went on for some time, but eventually, Alzur and the rest of the mages managed to create five Witchers out of the 38 children. They had little affinity to magic, however, causing the mages’ former investors to pull back their support. Later, Alzur would set up the Order of the Witchers.
The above is an overarching view of how Witchers were created, so it’d be interesting to see how Gwent: Rogue Mage might add to the finer details of the story. What’s especially intriguing are the moral decision points considering that Alzur isn’t some benevolent mage, based on the lore. The game could delve deeper into Alzur’s relationship with the other mages, the local rulers, as well as the unfortunate children under their care. It’d no doubt make for an engaging Witcher story, wrapped up in a fun single-player Gwent expansion.
Gwent: Rogue Mage is available now on PC and mobile devices.
Source: IGN