Highlights
- The Witcher 4 should explore new locations to inject fresh energy into the series and distinguish itself from other open-world games.
- The underwater city of Ys offers immense creative freedom and the opportunity to design a radically different setting for players to explore.
- Rebuilding Aretuza, a school for sorcery, would illustrate the world’s evolution and provide new interactions and quests for players, adding variety to the gameplay loop.
CD Projekt Red is returning to its roots with The Witcher 4. Inspired by Andrzej Sapkowski’s books, the Witcher games take Geralt of Rivia to many exotic places within this dark fantasy world. However, several locales remain untouched.
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Many open-world action RPGs were released since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that could help inspire what features and mechanics The Witcher 4 will have.
The Witcher 4 is a prime opportunity to visit those places. The game seeks to break new ground in narrative, but why shouldn’t it do the same with its journey? Exploring new maps can distinguish the adventure from what came before, thereby injecting fresh energy into the series. This would be extremely helpful given the prevalence of open-world sandboxes. Such innovation lets longstanding fans live in the world they love while standing out in a well-worn genre.
6 Ys
Underwater City
This underwater city is arguably the most mysterious locale on the Continent. In fact, fans only get a glimpse of Ys in The Sword of Destiny. Hired to stop the slaughter of sailors, Geralt discovers steps leading to the ocean floor. Unfortunately, he can’t progress any further due to both treacherous waters and the aquatic warriors guarding the path. In the end, he barely gets away with his life. This scenario is rife for expansion.
Ys picques one’s curiosity. What people don’t see is often more intriguing than what they do. Thus, fans are eager to explore the underwater city, never knowing what they’ll find. This benefits the developers, giving them immense creative freedom to design the setting and culture from the ground up. With a little imagination, this kingdom could be radically different than anywhere else in the series. True, players must deal with underwater controls, but the games have a way to facilitate that. In The Witcher 3, Yennefer casts a spell which lets Geralt dive to great depths. This opens the door to a whole new world beneath the waves. The tale might even start the very war that the author only teases.
5 Aretuza On Thanedd Island
Magical Academy
Considering how powerful the mages are, one wonders where they train. Aretuza is the site for that training. Thanedd Island houses this school for sorcery. Yennefer, Triss, and other magical characters gathered here in days past. Sadly, it suffered severe damage in a coup by Vilgefortz and Nilfgaard. In addition, the games mention that King Radovid’s witch hunters raid the place and arrest the remaining novices. This once-great school is practically dead, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
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The Witcher 3 wraps up numerous conflicts in a climactic fashion, so the next game could be a time for rebuilding. The Lodge of Sorceresses reunites, and the war with Nilfgaard is over. Depending on player choices, the story sows essential seeds for rebirth. Radovid could even fall victim to assassination, negating the danger to mages. Not only does the new leadership (Dijkstra or Roche) not purge nonhumans, but Triss spirits a new generation of novices out of Novigrad. This is a solid foundation for Aretuza to start again. Doing so would be vital in illustrating the world’s evolution and the passage of time.
On top of that, the city would add some welcome novelty to the gameplay loop. Whenever Geralt visits a town, the residents are usually soldiers, aristocrats, or peasants. Throwing magicians into the mix opens up all sorts of new interactions and quests. The series needs that variety if it wants to keep going.
4 Rivia
The Place Of Geralt’s Death
Although Geralt’s not actually from Rivia, this land still holds tremendous significance for the witcher. It’s the site of his fatal injury and “death” in the books. This also makes it the catalyst for his story in the games. Returning here would be a full circle moment in that sense. Of course, that line of thinking would also apply to his knighthood.
The books see Queen Meve–the kingdom’s ruler–dub him “Geralt of Rivia.” It’s here that The Witcher 4 could tie into Thronebreaker. This card-based RPG depicts that fateful meeting as well as Meve’s wartime exploits. Her kingdom would naturally evolve between then and now. In fact, many fans likely wonder how she fared during the third Nilfgaardian invasion. Few people expected the Witcher developers to craft such a compelling tale about an unrelated human queen and her people, but that’s exactly what they did. Why not continue that tale in keeping with the theme of rebuilding? At the very least, it would let Geralt get to know the country he claims to hail from.
3 Cintra
Ciri’s Birthplace
Speaking of rebuilding, Cintra could use it. Ciri is born in this kingdom, but it falls to Nilfgaard during the first war and suffers untold destruction and death. That said, Sapkowski is vague about what happens afterward.
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Once again, this leaves the locale up to interpretation. Cintra may be undergoing the same reconstruction as Aretuza. How that restoration plays out could differ depending on which side wins the war in The Witcher 3. If Redania and the Northern Kingdoms win, Geralt may encounter quests related to Calanthe and other Cintran characters. If Nilfgaard is victorious, fans may get more info regarding the fake Ciri whom Emperor Emyhr marries in the books. If the focus shifts to the real Ciri, visiting Cintra could be a useful way of confronting her past. This bygone kingdom is full of narrative possibilities.
2 Mahakam
Dwarves’ Homeland
Players encounter countless Dwarves in the Witcher series, but they get little in the way of their homeland. These savvy people hail from Mahakam, a kingdom in the mountains. It’s an isolated place, but it’s also home to several mining villages and the hardy folk maintaining them. The residents need to be resilient in such a harsh environment.
Nevertheless, that environment is enticing for explorers. Aside from the obvious scenic sights, Mahakam is a step outside the dominion of humans. Dealing with the reclusive Dwarves would carry its own set of challenges. Not only would this inform the quests, but it would also benefit gameplay. Their mines are doubtless full of both goodies and monsters native to this climate. In essence, they’re ready-made dungeons just daring Geralt to raid them. Thronebreaker already demonstrates that. Mahakam is one of the better maps in that title, and it has the potential to be the same with The Witcher 4.
1 Kovir
A Prestigious & Prosperous City
Another wintery region is Kovir. This vassal state of Redania is more prosperous than its modest size suggests. It’s garnered immense renown for trade and manufacturing, namely in glass. That prosperity leads to sublime architecture and clean conditions throughout. What’s more, these aspects remain untarnished since Kovir sits out the Nilfgaardian wars. For that reason, refugees flock to such a setting.
The Witcher 4 should do the same. Kovir would offer a welcome change of pace from the usual dilapidated ruins and rundown villages that Geralt frequents. The Witcher 3 has a similarly beautiful locale in Toussaint, and it’s one of the best places in the game. Kovir could elicit similar majesty and wonder.
On top of that, it could present some unique challenges. Not only must Geralt integrate into polite society, but the monsters and villains would be more covert. Because of that, players would need different tactics to flush them out and find the ugliness behind the beauty. That itself reinforces the books’ themes of the most monstrous natures hiding behind civilized exteriors. Kovir’s inclusion is a win on multiple levels.
