Hello, this is my letter, from a fan to CDPR.
I wanted to make it a separate discussion, but I can not create a new thread so I post it here.
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Dear CDPR
Probably you already got many letters/messages like this over the past few months. I know that what we saw are CG trailer and tech demo, not a final game, and there is still a lot of time until the release and a lot can change. I am not a person who is active on forums and comments on things on the internet, but sometimes something is so important for me that I just must do it. I just have a need to express my feelings. I do not intend to offend and blame anyone. I just want to share my thoughts and feelings. I hope that it will make me feel better.
I am a huge Witcher games fan. They did have a huge impact on my life. With story and characters that I love and are stuck in my head since my first playthrough until today. And I really care about this game and its characters. I wish I could now be excited for a new game and talk about all the awesome things about it, but there is one thing that does not let me do this. The fact that I do not see Ciri here...
And I do not talk about her model. I know there has been a lot of discussion about her look since the first CG trailer, and you probably have read complaints about it a million times by now. And I know that her look might still change, as it is not a final game. But I can not stop thinking about it and every time I do I feel sad. Because every time I see "new" her I do not see Ciri I know and love. And I think there are couple of factors.
One of the factors could be the engine and the lighting. REDengine has a more stylized look and UE is focused more on ultra realism. In my opinion, more realistic doesn't always mean better, but this is for a completely different discussion. Also facial expressions in the tech demo looked weird and exaggerated. At some moment her face looked like Ciri, but any smile or other emotion looked unnatural to me. I know this is a tech demo and I hope it will be much improved. I just wanted to mention those two things.
Moving to Ciri herself. I really don't like this new hairstyle on her. For me, it just does not suit her. I know this is a very subjective thing and many people like it. I just miss her more messy hair with loose strands. And there is something about this new hairstyle that just doesn't work for me, I can't really tell what. I just love her original one. For this I assume that at least there will be an option in game to change it for Witcher 3 style. And overall I think that the more options for players, the better. But what bothers me is the fact that this new one is her "default" one. Why? I love community creations. From artwork to videos. I have so many wallpapers and artwork of her. And creating those, people usually use the default look of character. I am just afraid that I will not like artworks of her anymore due to her new hairstyle and other change in her look like...
Eyes. Yes, going to I think the most problematic change for me. Ciri had beautiful and very characteristic green emerald eyes in Witcher 3. And eyes are something you look into when looking at someone. And I do not see any of it here. They are just not her eyes. Not only are they darker, less vivid. What is worse for me is that they are vertical. And I must admit, I hate that. Not only the look itself but the reason she has cat eyes.
The decision to make Ciri mutate is just so wrong for me. I really do not like this idea. I feel it takes away what defined her, what she is. A girl, who has some ancient powers. The power that others want to posses. And the fact that she didn't want that power. In books and games she said that it is a gift but also a curse. That she would give it up if she could, that she would like to be normal. And going through mutations is the opposite of being normal. There will probably be a reason for this in the story but I can not imagine any reason that I will accept. And I do not know what I hate more. The fact that she did that willingly or that she was forced to do so. And for me it isn't something positive. Yes, it gives faster reflexes, immune to poisons, etc. But at what cost? She do not need that. She can be a witcher without mutations. She can compensate that with magic. And that itself give a huge gameplay potential. Potential to do something different and better than in Witcher 3. I am afraid that all this is just to make gameplay similar to Witcher 3 and bring back potions, which at least for me ended in "press button to heal yourself" mechanic.
What is also a problem in this, is the fact that we are supposed to shape this character. Make choices. And I feel like the choice (going through mutations) was taken from me. That it was decided for me. And it is the choice that I would have never taken. We had Ciri in Witcher 3 and now we will continue her journey. But I feel that this is not the same Ciri. That this is not the same character anymore. And I am afraid that this is something that I will never accept. Eyes itself can be easily modded by replacing them with those from Witcher 3. And I will do that for sure (If I will even be able to play this game). But for mutations it would require a mod that removes anything related to that fact from the game, for me to fully enjoy it. I am afraid that any mention of that would just not let me play this game.
The last thing that does not help is her voice. I am a person who has an ear for voices and I often recognize actors' voices. I never skip dialogs, because I like to listen to the characters. (That's why I do not like games where the main character does not speak). And her voice I remember very well and for me is as characteristic as Geralt's voice. (I am talking about the Polish version as it is default for me). The change of voice actress is just incomprehensible for me, as she was played really good. Probably there is some reason behind it, but I just don't know it. And I have no complaints about the new actress. I can not tell anything about her performance as we only heard a few lines from her as Ciri. It is just another thing changed, that takes away what she was like in Witcher 3. Not only I do not see her visually, but I also do not recognize her from voice. And if I had money, I would even try to pay the original actress to play Ciri here again.
All this combined makes me not see Ciri in her. Many characteristic things about her have been changed. Hair, eyes, voice and who she is. What I see is a girl that also has white hair and the same scar on face. But remove that scare and there is nothing left of the original Ciri. And I feel like everyone tries to tell me that she is Ciri when I see she is not.
Someone might say that if you don't like it, don't play it. And I would agree. But unfortunately it is not that simple.
As I said in the beginning. Those games and characters did have a huge impact on my life and I really care about it. At first I was optimistic when we had rumors that we will play Ciri in the next Witcher game. I had my worries that there might be something in a plot that I will not like, but I couldn't even imagine this. After watching the CG trailer back in December I got depressed for a week. I was hoping it would pass with time. That after seeing her in gameplay I will stop feeling that way. But unfortunately this did not happen. Every time I see this "new" Ciri, it comes back and I get depressed again for the rest of the day and sometimes I can not even sleep. To the point I stopped reading and watching any content related to gaming, especially Witcher, just to avoid anything related to this game. I can't enjoy community content anymore. It just reminds me of all this. Even writing this is very hard for me. The only way for me now, is to forget that this even exists. And this is impossible. I would have to quit my job and disconnect myself from the internet. And we are not even at the beginning of it. I do not know what I will do when we get to the release and it will be everywhere.
And I am so afraid that the Ciri I know from Witcher 3 will be erased. Replaced by this new one. That not only I will not enjoy the game and community content for Witcher 4. But also that Ciri from Witcher 3 will be forgotten. And even sometimes I feel that I would like to not have Ciri as the main character. That there would be another character to like and Ciri I know would not be gone. I just wish I could see and play the Ciri I know, as she was perfect for me.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to blame anyone for this. This is not my intention. I am sorry if someone feels that way. As a game developer I know all of you put a lot of hard work to make the best game possible. I wrote this mostly for myself. Because I really had a need to share this and not keep it inside. Because I do not know what else I could do. I really would like to do something about it. I would do anything to change this, but at the same time there is nothing I can do. I tried to give here a feedback as a fan. Not insult developers, but explain what I do not like, why and how I feel about this. And I really wish I could be positive and excited about the new game. I tried many times to be positive. But I just can't and I do not know what to do. I know that some people will laugh at me, but this is really how I feel. And I hate myself that I feel like this.
I wrote this to not feel bad that I didn't do anything. I wrote this to have some hope. I hope that someone will read this and I will make some impact. Because I feel this is my only goal now. To not let this happen. To negate the fact that she is mutated. As my dream would be to not have it at all, or at least have that as an option. To have a choice. Even if that would mean the whole potion mechanic is not available. To at least mutation not affect her eyes and have less negative effects that they have in books. I just do not have words to express how I feel. I just do not like the idea of mutated Ciri so much. Over those months I had many hopes. That maybe it would not be that bad and I will accept this over time. That maybe this will not be important part of the story, and I will just pretend that this never happened. But it keeps coming back. Even her new medallion worries me that this will be an important part of the story. As I always imagined that she would retrieve Vesemir's medallion and wear it. Maybe it would be a nice thing by itself to have the option to choose a medallion? I just do not know what else to say here.
As for voice actresses there might be some reason that makes it impossible, but I would really like to have the original actress back as Ciri. Even as an option to choose a voice. In Cyberpunk we did have two voices for main characters (male and female), so it is not impossible. I would even pay for that if I could. But I have very little hope for that to happen.
Lastly, I would like to see Ciri with her original hairstyle. In the final game but also before that. In some trailers and gameplays. I feel that it would make a huge impact and maybe it would calm me down a bit. To have an original hairstyle at least as 2nd default. To have both hairstyles shown in promotion materials. I at least have some hopes for that as it is not a big thing. And I hope that then I would see at least some Ciri in her and be able to sleep better at night. I hope.
As they say, "Hope die last"
I feel like I haven't even expressed half of how much I care about this and how I feel and I want to say so much more.
This letter is also a plea. Because I am so tired. I want to be happy about all Witcher things again, but this mutation thing does not let me. And I do not know what to do. I just want to do everything that I can so that it doesn't happen to her.
But despite this all, I wish you all the best and I hope that others will be able to love those games and new Ciri the same way I love the original one.
Thank you for reading and understanding.
Just a Witcher fan