Developer CD Projekt Red recently announced that it will be working on a remake of The Witcher, the first game in the acclaimed trilogy starring monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. This remake will include graphical and mechanical upgrades meant to bring the game in line with the high quality of the successful third installment, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As Wild Hunt was many fans' first introduction to Geralt, those who play the remake of The Witcher may be surprised to find that the character they encounter is somewhat different from the one they know.
The Witcher games are inspired by a series of books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski. As CD Projekt Red assumed that many who played their games would not be familiar with Sapkowski's books, they decided to give Geralt amnesia in the first game, so that players could be slowly introduced to the world and characters of The Witcher as Geralt himself slowly rediscovered them. After regaining his memory, Geralt underwent significant character development throughout The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings and especially The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The Geralt of the first game is more short-tempered, more promiscuous, less humorous, and even grumpier than the Wild Hunt version of the White Wolf with whom fans are now most familiar.
The Witcher 3's Geralt's "Dad Side" Doesn't Come Out Quite Yet
One of the most iconic elements of The Witcher 3 is the bond between Geralt and his adopted daughter Cirilla, aka Ciri. Although the White Wolf is grumpy and reserved, he genuinely cares for Ciri and acts sweet, protective, and genuinely affectionate towards her. The relationship between Geralt and Ciri leads to some of the game's most heartwarming and memorable moments, such as the pair having a playful snowball fight or battling side-by-side against the Wild Hunt. Because CD Projekt Red didn't want to overwhelm fans who weren't familiar with the book series, they held off on introducing Ciri until the third game. Without his daughter to interact with, Geralt is overall withdrawn and surlier than he would later become.
The first Witcher game does introduce Alvin, a young boy with magical powers who Geralt rescues, to serve as a substitute for Ciri. While Geralt does take care of Alvin throughout the game, the relationship between them is less heartwarming and meaningful, especially when a connection is revealed between Alvin and the villainous Jacques de Aldersburg. Instead, the handful of emotional moments that the game does have generally occur between Geralt and his primary love interest Triss Merigold, or his best friend, Dandelion the bard. Fans of the father figure of Geralt may be disappointed to find that this caring side of the Witcher is far less present in the first game.
The Witcher Is Less Open and Friendly, But More Flirty
While Geralt in The Witcher can have a serious relationship with either Triss or the medic Shani, most of his encounters with women come in the form of brief one-night stands with characters who are then never seen again. It is unknown how the remake will handle this - especially the somewhat controversial mechanic of The Witcher collecting "sex cards" depicting women he sleeps with - but the number of brief encounters he can have will likely be significantly more than the third game, in which he was primarily involved with either Triss or returning book character Yennefer of Vengerburg.
Although Geralt is quite popular with the women in The Witcher, his personality doesn't immediately make one think of a successful Casanova. Due to his amnesia, Geralt is withdrawn, more often than not choosing to utter his now-famous "Hmm" instead of engaging in conversation. Because he is so unfamiliar with the world around him, Geralt is suspicious and short-tempered even with friends of his, such as Dandelion. Additionally, because many friends of Geralt from The Witcher books - including the doppler Dudu, the dwarf Yarpen Zigrin, and the warriors of Skellige - do not appear in the first game, he has fewer open conversations and discussions of his past adventures. If the remake does choose to include these characters, then it is possible its version of Geralt will have more in common with the one fans know from Wild Hunt.
The Witcher Remake is currently in development.