How will they handle the Empress Ending?

[Toyen]

I will be importing the Empress Ending as will no doubt many other players.

I feel like they are 2 ways to go about this.

1. Ciri simply changed her mind.

After she got to the court, she decided it's not for her and left. Emhyr still rules Nilfgaard.

2. Ciri was forcibly removed

The conspiracy in Nilfgaard goes through anyway even if Nilfgaard wins the war. Emhyr gets the Henselt treatment and dies anyway.
Ciri is forced to flee Nilfgaard and becomes a witcher. Moovran/Fake Ciri rule Nilfgaard now.

I feel like 1. is the lazy way and 2. is the way that makes most sense story-wise.

Other things:

Unique Prologues

This has already been mentioned but I really do hope there will be 3 different prologues based on the 3 endings of TW3.

The Empress prologue should be a fast paced action sequence revolving around political schemes and the post-war world.
The Witcher Prologue(also default for new players) should be a personal monster hunting adventure with Geralt.
The White Frost Prologue should be an lone introspective journey showing how Ciri defeated the white frost.

Special Items

It would be a nice touch to keep a token from each prologue unique to each ending. For example:

The Empress import will reward you with (cosmetic) Nilfgaardian Attire.
The Witcher import will reward you with a special weapon (skin).
The White Frost import will reward you with a special ability/ability points.

I am counting on you CDPR! I really want my Nilfgaardian outfit for Ciri!

I was shocked how she did not get it at the end of TW3 when she had her cameo in Touissant still in her old outfit.
I mean, Cynthia in TW2 got a whole new Nilfgaardian outfit and she was a side character!

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

Hey,
I think It can be any of what you mentioned What matters is the quality.

Save import or unique intros are nice-to-have. They are expensive to make and can only add so much.


The game could very well have a common intro: Ciri meets the emperor, finds out White Frost appeared in the north, and travels there to stop it.
It's hard to say, we don't know anything at this point

 

[Toyen]

I doubt any kind of white frost storyline will be present in TW4 as it was a major plotpoint in TW3 already.

TW4 is going to be about Ciri becoming a witcher.

 

[TeamLucy]

I doubt any kind of white frost storyline will be present in TW4 as it was a major plotpoint in TW3 already.

TW4 is going to be about Ciri becoming a witcher.

I prefer a game focused on the Witcher path rather than saving the world, so I'm glad this is the case.

Not sure how they'll handle the Empress ending, personally my canon TW3 ending is Witcheress Ciri but it will be interesting how they explain all 3 endings, as they vastly differ from one another.

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

I doubt any kind of white frost storyline will be present in TW4 as it was a major plotpoint in TW3 already.

TW4 is going to be about Ciri becoming a witcher.

Right, the White Frost was just an example
It's most likely that the plot will be complex and not motivated purely by Ciri's goals.

Personally, I can imagine a vague intro in the form of a witcher contract like this:
The game opens with a short thematic video (combining pictures, in-engine footage, etc) narrated by Ciri telling the player about a contract she took on recently. It's about delivering something to a pythoness living in the woods on a mountainside.
Then it pops the player right into a brutal scene in which she investigates decimated bodies and blood trails somewhere along the way. (similar to Geralt in the 15-minute E3 gryphyn demo).
Heavy grey clouds are moving in, with thunder being heard closer and closer...
The quest gives opportunities to utilize ALL of the witcher tools, and guides the player to learn about witchers and their job (similarly to the quest with Sandra Dorsett).
It may give an optional timed objective to finish before it starts to rain.
When Ciri reaches the pythoness, she asks about her medallion, and BOOM - there go the big questions, a skippable flashback, etc. (It might be she's from Cintra and knew Calanthe and Pavetta.)
She rewards Ciri for the delivery and tells her about gods and their will. To that, Ciri replies she already knows about it and is going to face it.
They part, and Ciri rides downhill to a nearby city's port where nilfgardians wait for her to set sail to the north.
That night, she has a nightmare about the will of the gods, destiny, and defying it, with a possible flashback about becoming a witcher, etc.

Meh...even though this intro is too inconsistent and epic, I like that it keeps moving right from the beginning, carries on with the physicality of becoming a witcher, and focuses on Ciri's role in the main story instead

I prefer a game focused on the Witcher path rather than saving the world, so I'm glad this is the case.

Me too
Do you have an idea about how it could be done? Especially the part about becoming a witcher?
Would you like the trial of grasses and undergoing the mutations to be part of the gameplay? I find the vision of it too creepy, painful, and time-consuming in any way I look at it.

 

[ReptilePZ]

I'd be very surprised if there's any save importing at all. They're positioning this as a new trilogy taking place at a different time and location, with a new storyline. One of the endings in particular would be difficult/inelegant to handle, so I fully expect them not to bother with imports and just pick a canon ending (Witcher Ciri) and run with it. I imagine save imports on a console would also be something of a technical challenge - cross-platform saves were not available until the next gen version of TW3, so anyone trying to import an old PS4/Xbone save would likely be out of luck.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

One of the endings in particular would be difficult/inelegant to handle, so I fully expect them not to bother with imports and just pick a canon ending (Witcher Ciri) and run with it.

I could be wrong, but I remember they already said that they will address all "TW3 endings", so no matter which ending players ended TW3, it should be fine (in the trailer breakdown video I think). Personally I'm (very) happy with this because picking one ending among many is always terrible...
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And about TW3 saves, something like in TW3 (simulating a TW2 save) should be good enough

 

[ReptilePZ]

I could be wrong, but I remember they already said that they will address all "TW3 endings", so no matter which ending players ended TW3, it should be fine (in the trailer breakdown video I think). Personally I'm (very) happy with this because picking one ending among many is always terrible...
--------------
And about TW3 saves, something like in TW3 (simulating a TW2 save) should be good enough

I don't remember hearing anything like that in the trailer breakdown. But it's very possible I didn't catch it - I must admit I've not been following news on The Witcher 4 that closely.

Either way, I would like nothing more than to see them do justice to the choices from TW1/2/3 - I'm personally a fan of the idea of save imports. I've never seen them done well and would love for The Witcher 4 to be the first game that does.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I don't remember hearing anything like that in the trailer breakdown. But it's very possible I didn't catch it - I must admit I've not been following news on The Witcher 4 that closely.

Maybe not in the trailer breakdown, but here (IGN - Cian Maher)

CD Projekt Red definitely has the ‘bigger, better, more advanced’ aspect of a AAA sequel underway, then. But sequels are also about continuing the story, and while The Witcher 4 is the start of a new saga, it’s still the next chapter in an established character’s life. And that’s where there’s a little problem to overcome.
“The one complication is probably the idea that there is an ending in which Ciri can die in The Witcher 3,” explains Maher. Thankfully that ending, which is one of three different fates for Ciri and the outcome of several hidden choices made throughout the game, isn’t quite as clear cut as it may seem.
“There are hints in that ending that highlight the fact that she probably does not die,” says Maher. And so regardless of the events you personally witnessed at the end of your own Witcher 3 playthrough, the sequel will not “break any canon or even offend any canon.”

Inside The Witcher 4: CD Projekt Red’s Plans For Its Next Big RPG - IGN

IGN's exclusive interview with CD Projekt Red reveals the developer's plans for The Witcher 4, including a renewed focus on varied gameplay and a protagonist defined by the player.

www.ign.com

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Either way, I would like nothing more than to see them do justice to the choices from TW1/2/3 - I'm personally a fan of the idea of save imports. I've never seen them done well and would love for The Witcher 4 to be the first game that does.

Beside, not sure how many TW3 choices/events will be revelant in The Witcher 4, outside of the obvious ones (the endings and maybe, Triss/Yen/none). So maybe they don't really need to importe a save just for this... we will see

 

[ReptilePZ]

Maybe not in the trailer breakdown, but here (IGN - Cian Maher)

Inside The Witcher 4: CD Projekt Red’s Plans For Its Next Big RPG - IGN

IGN's exclusive interview with CD Projekt Red reveals the developer's plans for The Witcher 4, including a renewed focus on varied gameplay and a protagonist defined by the player.

www.ign.com

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Beside, not sure how many TW3 choices/events will be revelant in The Witcher 4, outside of the obvious ones (the endings and maybe, Triss/Yen/none). So maybe they don't really need to importe a save just for this... we will see

Thanks for linking to that - legend.

Yeah, that reads vague enough that it's unclear how they'll approach this. It could mean a way to import/configure your choices from the previous games, or it could mean a story that is far enough removed from those events that they do not directly impact it. The latter would be hard to do though, given the fact that your main character could be considered dead at the end of the previous game (vague or not) - I don't see how you don't address that directly, which is why I would think they'd take the opportunity instead to pick one ending and work with that instead.

While Ciri dying in one of the endings was indeed vague, pulling a definitive "but not really" in the Witcher 4 would I think cheapen that ending if not handled carefully. The same of course goes for the Empress ending. Personally, I'm sceptical about them being able to resolve both of those endings into "but she became a Witcher after all" in a satisfying way - imports or no imports. It feels an awful lot like the "but Henselt died anyway" or "Adda had no impact on the succession of the Temerian crown anyway" school of handling choices, which I found to be deeply unsatisfying.

Alas, we can only wait and see.

Ultimately, I wish developers would stop going for endings/choices that they don't intend to/know they couldn't realistically resolve in a manner that befits them. Or working on sequels that can't possibly do justice to all the endings of the title that came before.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I would think they'd take the opportunity instead to pick one ending and work with that instead.

Personally, I think they have no other choice than adressing all endings...
Picking one ending ans making ot canon is a terrible idea, always. Imagine someone, just after finishing TW3 (Ciri empress, for example), who jump into TW4 right away then realizing that...
Nope, sorry buddy, despite of what you saw in TW3, Ciri never became empress, but witcher instead. It was too difficult to do so we decided to pick up one, the one you didn't get!
What a terrible experience

While Ciri dying in one of the endings was indeed vague, pulling a definitive "but not really" in the Witcher 4 would I think cheapen that ending if not handled carefully. The same of course goes for the Empress ending. Personally, I'm sceptical about them being able to resolve both of those endings into "but she became a Witcher after all" in a satisfying way - imports or no imports. It feels an awful lot like the "but Henselt died anyway" or "Adda had no impact on the succession of the Temerian crown anyway" school of handling choices, which I found to be deeply unsatisfying.

Honestly, I don't know TW3 endings that much because I always ended either with Ciri empress or witcher... But I'm not especially worried how they could handle all the endings. After all, Ciri still seek her place in the world and can be a bit lunatic.

If I remember, Ciri likely didn't die, but could have simply "not coming back". Because all the "choices" which lead to this ending are pretty much Geralt never supported her, never trusted her and always wanted to tell her what she can or can't do, something she's so tired of (to say it nicely^^).
The swallow want to fly free, once and for all.

And about Ciri empress, I think it would be even easier... Again, if I remember, Ciri said that she want to "change the world and there won't be a better place to achieve that than becoming empress" (or something like that). It's easy to think that after a little while, she would have realised that she won't change much even as empress, the world still sucks and always will... And at the end, the only thing she achieved is trading her freedom again a golden cage. So not long after becoming an empress, she say "screw you all" and run away.
Again, the swallow will fly free, once and for all.

For me, Ciri's fates in TW3 endings doesn't seem especially difficult to adress in The Witwher 4...
Fingers cross it will be well done, better than my exemples

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

Again, the swallow will fly free, once and for all.

For me, Ciri's fates in TW3 endings doesn't seem especially difficult to adress in The Witwher 4...
Fingers cross it will be well done, better than my exemples

she achieved is trading her freedom again a golden cage

Nice points
I am sure CDPR will manage, they always do

 

[ReptilePZ]

Trillion oren idea:

Witcher 4 becomes Witcher: A New Witcher and tackles the Ciri Witcher Ending.
Next Witcher game is Witcher: The Empress Strikes Back and tackles the Ciri Empress Ending.
Finally, you guessed it - Witcher: Return of the Child of Destiny and tackles the Ciri Dead Ending.

Each of those only support imports of the respective endings, handling the minor choices.

20 years from now, you repackage all of these as Witcher 4: The Complete Saga, supporting all save game imports.

CDPR, feel free to PM me and we can negotiate royalties.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Witcher 4 becomes Witcher: A New Witcher and tackles the Ciri Witcher Ending.
Next Witcher game is Witcher: The Empress Strikes Back and tackles the Ciri Empress Ending.
Finally, you guessed it - Witcher: Return of the Child of Destiny and tackles the Ciri Dead Ending.

Each of those only support imports of the respective endings, handling the minor choices.

> 2035 : Last game of the new trilogy release - Witcher: Return of the Child of Destiny
Hell yeah, finally! After two decades, I'm now able to import my TW3's save!

 

[CiriusBlack]

Witcher 4 becomes Witcher: A New Witcher and tackles the Ciri Witcher Ending.
Next Witcher game is Witcher: The Empress Strikes Back and tackles the Ciri Empress Ending.
Finally, you guessed it - Witcher: Return of the Child of Destiny and tackles the Ciri Dead Ending.

That was a good one! And I'm not even a Star Trek...Wars... fan.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

That was a good one! And I'm not even a Star Trek...Wars... fan.

Oh yes, a good one indeed! I feel a bit dumb not catching before reading your post....

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

Witcher 4 becomes Witcher: A New Witcher and tackles the Ciri Witcher Ending.
Next Witcher game is Witcher: The Empress Strikes Back and tackles the Ciri Empress Ending.
Finally, you guessed it - Witcher: Return of the Child of Destiny and tackles the Ciri Dead Ending.

Oh yeah! I can see the dialogues:

Master Geralt, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?!
Hmmm...Do you ever play Gwent?