Summary
CD Projekt Red has a big opportunity to reinvent theWitcherfranchise with its upcoming installment,The Witcher 4, simply due to the title’s “brand-new saga” status. As the beginning of an all-new story for theWitcherseries,The Witcher 4can essentially build something fresh and original on top of the franchise’s foundation, so long as it retains theWitcherDNA it has established over the last almost two decades now. While some of these potential changes are already clear — like the new story that will arrive alongsideThe Witcher 4’s protagonist, Ciri— other changes may require even bolder steps toward reimaginingThe Witcher’s gameplay.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis responsible for bringing the series to a level of success that no title before it had been able to accomplish, but it has now been nearly ten years since its release. Between then and now, the gaming industry has seen a wide variety of role-playing games enter the scene, many of which have unique characteristics and elements thatThe Witcher 4could glean from.Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2is one of the most recent RPGs to take the stage, and it carries over one feature from its predecessor that could benefitThe Witcher 4.
The Witcher 4 Could Benefit From Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Reputation System
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s Reputation System Sees Players Rewarded or Punished for Their Actions
CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that players will have a greater degree of agency inThe Witcher 4than they’ve had in previous entries, which simultaneously opens the door for some genuine role-playing mechanics.Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s reputation system, for instance, isone mechanicThe Witcher 4could utilizeif it wants to make player choice a significant factor in its gameplay.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s reputation system is one of its most active systems, consistently present throughout the game. Just as it did in the sequel’s predecessor,Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s reputation systemessentially takes note of players' actions (when they are witnessed by NPCs), whether those actions be physical or verbal. From there, players are often rewarded or punished, depending on their choices.
CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that players will have a greater degree of agency inThe Witcher 4than they’ve had in previous entries, which simultaneously opens the door for some genuine role-playing mechanics.
When players do just about anything inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2, their actions are directly tied to the perceptions of various communities and factions in the game. For example, should players get caught trying tosteal something inKingdom Come: Deliverance 2, their reputation with the town they are in will decrease, thereby causing its inhabitants to treat the player differently. On the opposite side of that is more positive responses, like after players treat another NPC with respect during a conversation, which increases their reputation with that individual and the community they are a part of.
A KCD2-Like Reputation System in The Witcher 4 Would Enhance Role-Playing
Incorporating a reputation system akin toKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s intoThe Witcher 4could significantly enhance itsimmersion and its role-playing, putting even more weight on players' choices and forcing them to think twice before they act. Helping villagers fend off monsters or resolving local disputes could increase Ciri’s reputation in specific regions, resulting in discounts from merchants or additional support during side quests.
On the contrary, attempting to steal something or responding rudely to NPCs in a village could decrease Ciri’s reputation with that town and even make its inhabitants hostile.
There is a prime opportunity here forThe Witcher 4to increase the depth of its role-playing mechanics, and given how most people on the Continent respond to a Witcher, it would make sense to implement a reputation system similar toKingdom Come: Deliverance 2. A major part ofKingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s successis its genuine role-playing mechanics, soThe Witcher 4taking the same approach could help it achieve success as well.
