Obviously, we know Gerat will appear, he's been announced already but who else? He's the only one confirmed so far (aside from Ciri) and we probably won't know if any other familiar faces will be confirmed until Witcher 4 goes to marketing. We all want to see these characters again after we've either grown fond of them over the years or have loved them since the books, and that goes for Ciri too.
How they handled her interactions with those from her past in Witcher 3 -
Witcher 3 is when Ciri was first introduced in the games and got to finally reunite with her family and friends after years on the run. Yet when you get her back, despite everyone else she loves and had to leave years ago, the only character she spends pretty much all her time with and seems happy to be around is Geralt. That's perfectly fine, he's her father figure and someone of immense importance to her (and as the player we also have our sort of connection to Geralt because he's our conduit to experience this world and characters and many players have grown fond of him), this has the downside of neglecting literally everyone else. There's a quest where you can go with her to help out some people who helped her in Novigrad (fine btw, it was quite fun and she should do that) but it feels like a strange priority when there are people she is much closer to finally with her and she doesn't bother to spend time with them, after seeingin them for the first time in actual years the moment they can take a quick breather.
The most criminal relationship they neglected was with Yennefer. The other most important person in Ciri's life- aside from Geralt, the woman whom she sees as and calls her 'mother', who she grew to have an immense bond and love for, have practically nothing together. Well, nothing like Geralt and Ciri wich makes it quite unfair. It's unfulfilling scraps of any sort of moment they have. And you can pry them from my cold, dead hands, but I am still starving.
Yen is frantic throughout the first act of the game trying to find her daughter. You can tell the woman is a desperate mother and more than willing to do anything to find a trace of Ciri, which does lead her to do some ruthless and maybe questionable things, but none of that matters to her because where is Ciri and is she okay? That's all Yennefer cares about. After so many years of being apart and now they can find each other, it goes without question that she'll do anything. So when Geralt brings Ciri back to Kaer Morhen and they reunite, it feels sweet and rewarding. Yennefer lets her walls down and races to her for a hug (even calls her daughter in the Polish dub but strangely not in English, or in the subtitles) while Ciri kind of stands there awkwardly. It could be down to shock, and Ciri has no idea what to say to her after being away for so long, but you compare how she raced to Vesemir it feels a little weird (he deserves the hug tho, may he rest in peace). This gives us the impression as the player that Yennefer deeply cares for Ciri, and we can infer that she and Ciri mean a lot to each other; they just chose to showcase it poorly when they're actually together.
After that small reunion however, Ciri basically forgets anyone important in her life aside from Geralt. Who cares about Triss, Dandelion, the other witchers and Yen? Sure, there isn't much time to have a nice catch-up during the third act (battle of Kaer Moreh and the one in Skellige don't leave much room for anything really) with everything going on. They do manage it though for Geralt (does make sense of course I'm not complaining about them spending time together, I love every moment of it <3), but at the same time, what this does is just make the time with each of her parental figures pretty poorly balanced. The closest the two have to a conversation is when Yen and Ciri are trying to break into Avallach's lab and even then you only hear the end of it. Seriously, where is the mother-daughter time?
They couldn't try to have even a small scene where they talk off to the side (Geralt looks over in a cutscene and sees Yennefer and Ciri are hugging and look really happy. Replace the boat scene so it's him watching them both sit down and laugh. Or just an NPC-style conversation off to the side you can overhear). But no, Ciri hardly acknowledges her. Someone she was desperate to find and means the world to her, she has called her mother and braved going to Stygga castle after her, has been looking for since the hunt kidnapped her from the Isle of Avalon, after everything- nothing, not even a smile. And this is the same Ciri who wanted to call herself 'Cirilla of Vengerberg'? Perhaps a reason to this may be down to two things; Yennefer having to work with Nilfgaard and its resources, and she's (CIrir) still mad about how all the way back in Rivia Yennefer couldn't save Geralt. The first is most likely, but it's never addressed whatsoever by Ciri or even the game itself. The latter is pretty weak. Ciri has a had at least 7 years of off-screen development; she's no longer the angry child she once was when she lost Geralt and Yennefer. Maybe the intent was that she still harbours some childish resentment to Yen for not being able to do much, but again, it's never mentioned in any way, shape or form and feels like a weak excuse and something Ciri probably would've realised a while ago was not Yen's fault.
Their relationship is so one-sided when you compare it to Geralt, which again feels unfair and sucks. It gives off the feeling Ciri only cares about Geralt and couldn't care less about Yennefer at all, either ignoring her or treating her like an acquaintance. Which is wrong on so many levels. What were they thinking with that I have to wonder? She even has that weird dialogue about Yennefer having plans for her and seems really annoyed about it, which has to be some kind of mistake they left in because wth no??? There's also a line Ciri says in the Empress ending about "rather not having Yennefer get involved this time" what does that mean? On a side not, why is Yennefer not in any of the Ciri endings, she doesn't get to see her daughter off or anything. Any scenes for Yen and Ciri should've been a given. Obviously Geralt is going to have the most time, he's us as the player and we need to feel like we care about Ciri and Geralt is the main character. Doesn't mean it should leave any other potential moments Ciri has with literally anyone else she loves as scraps to be cherished or completely nonexistent.
The whole reason why i got witcher 3 in the first place is because i wanted to reunite them all. The family i had read about and grown attached to over the whole book saga, after everything they went through and I can bring them back together? Hell yeah. But that only sorta happens, i can bring Geralt and Yennefer together again, Geralt and Ciri, but not Yennefer and Ciri. Their little family just feels incomplete in a way by the end, i still don't get why Ciri couldn't also show at the end of Blood and Wine with Yennefer there (maybe because it'd feel unfair to the player if you wanted Ciri there but chose Triss or Dandelion idk). It was pretty disappointing as a fan of these characters and their incredible bonds to each other, and it only reminds me in the end that the games are essentially published fanfiction and will miss things sometimes.
It's not just Yennefer who had this Ciri-neglect though, it's just what I'm most mad about most. Eskel and Lambert, whom Ciri also loves and were there to teach her how to become a witcher. Triss, who she looks up to as a sister and was there for when she went through her first period and helped care for her. Hjalmar, who she wanted to marry at one point as a child, before that they were close as she considered Skellige her home. Ermion/Mousesack, who she has known since she was a young girl all the way in Cintra and of course Dandelion who she loves as a friend as well. Compare these people to what Yennefer got with Ciri, and it's either literally nothing or a a really minor thing. Dandelion probably got the most time with her, but because it was all of-screen we don't see much of it, only when Ciri goes to recuse Dudu from Cyprian Willy are they together in a proper scene interacting with each other. After the battle though and you all go to Novigrad, with Ciri there's no follow-up conversation where either of them ask how they are and what happened (Ciri disappeared suddenly, and she unintentionally left him to be captured), doesn't have to be anything huge just some ambient dialogue you can overhear. Triss got a hug and that's about it, which is pretty lacklustre. Nothing at all for Hjalmar or Ermion who are staying at Kaer Morhen and don't leave until a little after the funeral, and neither of them bother to go up and speak with her, not even during the funeral or a bit before the hunt shows up and they're getting ready to prepare, or even when the whole group goes to Skellige.
I know that they had to rush the latter part of the game, and in-game itself, everything is happening so fast; you find Ciri - battle of Kaer Morhen, Vesemir dies - trip to Bald mountain - regroup in Novigrad - a brief breather/other stuff - Skellige to confront the hunt. No real life time for a full-blown reunion for everyone, I'm aware of that, but again, having some ambient conversations you can overhear couldn't hurt that much. While prepping for the battle of Kaer Morehn, Ciri could be seen talking to the other witchers, Hjalmar, Ermion, and Triss just npc chatter or an added interaction in a custcene, either just after planning for the battle or at the funeral. For Hjalmar and Ermion they could've come to see her on Undvik. I'm sure Hjalmir would be thrilled to fight the hunt and Ermion could help the sorceresses. Not even Crach gets too see Ciri again and now they never can never see each other again because he dies.
A chance to fix some of these for Witcher 4 -
And now we have witcher 4 coming, which will star Ciri, they have the chance to remedy these missed interactions. This game will do its own thing, I don't expect it to hold onto any previous characters for too long (like Geralt's little entourage we had in the first three games, though they will be missed) instead going for more original characters as this new trilogy goes on, speculation on my part though.
Doesn't hurt to have our favourites at least show up again, as small as their moments may be. Triss feels like she has a good chance of being in the game, after all we know she's in Kovir. That'd be great, we can see how Triss is doing, and she can hang out with her little sister again, and maybe she'll apologise for joining the lodge against Ciri way back when haha. Lambert and Eskel could show up for a quest, perhaps 'your training finally paid off' scene or something sweet. Lambert already does appear in a Witcher 3 quest while you're in Novigrad so maybe this time it could be Eskel. Or perhaps neither of them show up, or it's only one of them.
We have no idea how the game will even start, what the tutorial/prologue will be like, it may be like witcher 3 or it could be a new approach. Either way, Ciri's powers are back, and I believe that gives them the perfect opportunity for Yennefer's role, to teach Ciri magic again and show how close they actually are, just like what started their relationship in the first place or something else with her. They may take a different approach, after all, does Ciri start as a witcher off the bat, or does she transform during the game, and how would that affect the magic tutorial? If she transforms during the game will she visit Yennefer in Toussaint to learn magic again, or will it be at the start of the game (if u go behind the Nilfgaard tents while on Undvik before fighting the hunt Ciri is levitating some rocks so that means her magical abilities were coming back in some way near the end of witcher 3), where she's trying to re-learn magic again properly, not the elder blood powers?
I just want something where she acknowledges Yennefer, she doesn't have to call her "mother" outright (even though she does in the books and in the Polish dub Yen still calls her daughter), but a nice family moment would be alright. It's criminal how they did it previously, seriously Ciri wth and CDPR too. They have the chance to fix it this time, and I hope they will do it justice in showing how much they mean to each other, more on Ciri's behalf (this also goes for all the other characters, Yen is just more important with how they fumbled it the first time, and I admittedly like her more). Who knows, Yennefer may be an obvious inclusion since she is on the same level as Geralt with her importance to Ciri, and they know that and will try to do it right this time. With Ciri being the protagonist, they can't avoid it.
I doubt we'll see Ermion/Mousesack or Hjalmar again, unfortunately. At most we can hope for a mention in some dialogue, like if you import your saves from witcher 3 or some random lines, but that's probably all we'll get for them. The same goes for Crach. Maybe if he comes up in any way, we can see her regret not going to see him before fighting the hunt. Triss i hope she can spend some time with her, but if she went back into politics like with Foltest, then it may not leave much room for her and Ciri to do to much together (I am sure we will see her though, I'd be pretty surprised if Triss is only mentioned). Dandelion may show up, but he doesn't seem to be the travelling bard he used to be as he now runs the Chameleon in Novigrad. They may give some excuse how it didn't work out or something, and that's why he's in Kovir, or it could be on a business trip? If he's there, he could introduce Ciri to a bard friend he has, but then that'd kinda be replacing him and giving us a new Dandelion which can be seen as a bit of a let down since Dandelion is a favourite of many and wouldn't want him essentially replaced. Another person who would be an especially pleasant surprise, Ciri met him as a child and they were quite friendly, is Yarprin Zigrin. It's been a long time for them, but Yarpin is cool and he was in witcher 2 so he's already appeared in one of the games so why not again (Vergen didn't last long, so the citizens are probably scattered around). Another one who'd be a (far less pleasant) surprise is Avallach, maybe he'd be annoyed she no longer (by the looks of it) has access to her Elder blood powers, no idea though and i don't really want to see him again but who knows, CDPR may have plans or an idea in mind for him, his role in Ciri's life is pretty much done though (good riddance to that creep).
Other characters are a bit more speculative (CDPR originals)- like I doubt we'll see Roche and Ves again, which sucks but they have no significance to Ciri, and why would they be that far up north? Iorveth would be a pleasant surprise, as would any of the new characters CDPR introduced in previous games (witcher 1 and 2), again they hold no meaning to Ciri though, and they aren't neccessary anymore. Like the Scoia'tael aren't much of a plot focus now, unlike back then. Like i said, it would still be nice though, and I'm sure a lot can agree. Vincent Mies was supposedly going to show in witcher 3 and they cut him out, maybe he moved to Kovir and can mention how Geralt helped him way back when. We'll see. Who do you think has almost a 100% chance of showing up regardless, and who you'd like to see again if they decide to bring more old characters back?
How they handled her interactions with those from her past in Witcher 3 -
Witcher 3 is when Ciri was first introduced in the games and got to finally reunite with her family and friends after years on the run. Yet when you get her back, despite everyone else she loves and had to leave years ago, the only character she spends pretty much all her time with and seems happy to be around is Geralt. That's perfectly fine, he's her father figure and someone of immense importance to her (and as the player we also have our sort of connection to Geralt because he's our conduit to experience this world and characters and many players have grown fond of him), this has the downside of neglecting literally everyone else. There's a quest where you can go with her to help out some people who helped her in Novigrad (fine btw, it was quite fun and she should do that) but it feels like a strange priority when there are people she is much closer to finally with her and she doesn't bother to spend time with them, after seeingin them for the first time in actual years the moment they can take a quick breather.
The most criminal relationship they neglected was with Yennefer. The other most important person in Ciri's life- aside from Geralt, the woman whom she sees as and calls her 'mother', who she grew to have an immense bond and love for, have practically nothing together. Well, nothing like Geralt and Ciri wich makes it quite unfair. It's unfulfilling scraps of any sort of moment they have. And you can pry them from my cold, dead hands, but I am still starving.
Yen is frantic throughout the first act of the game trying to find her daughter. You can tell the woman is a desperate mother and more than willing to do anything to find a trace of Ciri, which does lead her to do some ruthless and maybe questionable things, but none of that matters to her because where is Ciri and is she okay? That's all Yennefer cares about. After so many years of being apart and now they can find each other, it goes without question that she'll do anything. So when Geralt brings Ciri back to Kaer Morhen and they reunite, it feels sweet and rewarding. Yennefer lets her walls down and races to her for a hug (even calls her daughter in the Polish dub but strangely not in English, or in the subtitles) while Ciri kind of stands there awkwardly. It could be down to shock, and Ciri has no idea what to say to her after being away for so long, but you compare how she raced to Vesemir it feels a little weird (he deserves the hug tho, may he rest in peace). This gives us the impression as the player that Yennefer deeply cares for Ciri, and we can infer that she and Ciri mean a lot to each other; they just chose to showcase it poorly when they're actually together.
After that small reunion however, Ciri basically forgets anyone important in her life aside from Geralt. Who cares about Triss, Dandelion, the other witchers and Yen? Sure, there isn't much time to have a nice catch-up during the third act (battle of Kaer Moreh and the one in Skellige don't leave much room for anything really) with everything going on. They do manage it though for Geralt (does make sense of course I'm not complaining about them spending time together, I love every moment of it <3), but at the same time, what this does is just make the time with each of her parental figures pretty poorly balanced. The closest the two have to a conversation is when Yen and Ciri are trying to break into Avallach's lab and even then you only hear the end of it. Seriously, where is the mother-daughter time?
They couldn't try to have even a small scene where they talk off to the side (Geralt looks over in a cutscene and sees Yennefer and Ciri are hugging and look really happy. Replace the boat scene so it's him watching them both sit down and laugh. Or just an NPC-style conversation off to the side you can overhear). But no, Ciri hardly acknowledges her. Someone she was desperate to find and means the world to her, she has called her mother and braved going to Stygga castle after her, has been looking for since the hunt kidnapped her from the Isle of Avalon, after everything- nothing, not even a smile. And this is the same Ciri who wanted to call herself 'Cirilla of Vengerberg'? Perhaps a reason to this may be down to two things; Yennefer having to work with Nilfgaard and its resources, and she's (CIrir) still mad about how all the way back in Rivia Yennefer couldn't save Geralt. The first is most likely, but it's never addressed whatsoever by Ciri or even the game itself. The latter is pretty weak. Ciri has a had at least 7 years of off-screen development; she's no longer the angry child she once was when she lost Geralt and Yennefer. Maybe the intent was that she still harbours some childish resentment to Yen for not being able to do much, but again, it's never mentioned in any way, shape or form and feels like a weak excuse and something Ciri probably would've realised a while ago was not Yen's fault.
Their relationship is so one-sided when you compare it to Geralt, which again feels unfair and sucks. It gives off the feeling Ciri only cares about Geralt and couldn't care less about Yennefer at all, either ignoring her or treating her like an acquaintance. Which is wrong on so many levels. What were they thinking with that I have to wonder? She even has that weird dialogue about Yennefer having plans for her and seems really annoyed about it, which has to be some kind of mistake they left in because wth no??? There's also a line Ciri says in the Empress ending about "rather not having Yennefer get involved this time" what does that mean? On a side not, why is Yennefer not in any of the Ciri endings, she doesn't get to see her daughter off or anything. Any scenes for Yen and Ciri should've been a given. Obviously Geralt is going to have the most time, he's us as the player and we need to feel like we care about Ciri and Geralt is the main character. Doesn't mean it should leave any other potential moments Ciri has with literally anyone else she loves as scraps to be cherished or completely nonexistent.
The whole reason why i got witcher 3 in the first place is because i wanted to reunite them all. The family i had read about and grown attached to over the whole book saga, after everything they went through and I can bring them back together? Hell yeah. But that only sorta happens, i can bring Geralt and Yennefer together again, Geralt and Ciri, but not Yennefer and Ciri. Their little family just feels incomplete in a way by the end, i still don't get why Ciri couldn't also show at the end of Blood and Wine with Yennefer there (maybe because it'd feel unfair to the player if you wanted Ciri there but chose Triss or Dandelion idk). It was pretty disappointing as a fan of these characters and their incredible bonds to each other, and it only reminds me in the end that the games are essentially published fanfiction and will miss things sometimes.
It's not just Yennefer who had this Ciri-neglect though, it's just what I'm most mad about most. Eskel and Lambert, whom Ciri also loves and were there to teach her how to become a witcher. Triss, who she looks up to as a sister and was there for when she went through her first period and helped care for her. Hjalmar, who she wanted to marry at one point as a child, before that they were close as she considered Skellige her home. Ermion/Mousesack, who she has known since she was a young girl all the way in Cintra and of course Dandelion who she loves as a friend as well. Compare these people to what Yennefer got with Ciri, and it's either literally nothing or a a really minor thing. Dandelion probably got the most time with her, but because it was all of-screen we don't see much of it, only when Ciri goes to recuse Dudu from Cyprian Willy are they together in a proper scene interacting with each other. After the battle though and you all go to Novigrad, with Ciri there's no follow-up conversation where either of them ask how they are and what happened (Ciri disappeared suddenly, and she unintentionally left him to be captured), doesn't have to be anything huge just some ambient dialogue you can overhear. Triss got a hug and that's about it, which is pretty lacklustre. Nothing at all for Hjalmar or Ermion who are staying at Kaer Morhen and don't leave until a little after the funeral, and neither of them bother to go up and speak with her, not even during the funeral or a bit before the hunt shows up and they're getting ready to prepare, or even when the whole group goes to Skellige.
I know that they had to rush the latter part of the game, and in-game itself, everything is happening so fast; you find Ciri - battle of Kaer Morhen, Vesemir dies - trip to Bald mountain - regroup in Novigrad - a brief breather/other stuff - Skellige to confront the hunt. No real life time for a full-blown reunion for everyone, I'm aware of that, but again, having some ambient conversations you can overhear couldn't hurt that much. While prepping for the battle of Kaer Morehn, Ciri could be seen talking to the other witchers, Hjalmar, Ermion, and Triss just npc chatter or an added interaction in a custcene, either just after planning for the battle or at the funeral. For Hjalmar and Ermion they could've come to see her on Undvik. I'm sure Hjalmir would be thrilled to fight the hunt and Ermion could help the sorceresses. Not even Crach gets too see Ciri again and now they never can never see each other again because he dies.
A chance to fix some of these for Witcher 4 -
And now we have witcher 4 coming, which will star Ciri, they have the chance to remedy these missed interactions. This game will do its own thing, I don't expect it to hold onto any previous characters for too long (like Geralt's little entourage we had in the first three games, though they will be missed) instead going for more original characters as this new trilogy goes on, speculation on my part though.
Doesn't hurt to have our favourites at least show up again, as small as their moments may be. Triss feels like she has a good chance of being in the game, after all we know she's in Kovir. That'd be great, we can see how Triss is doing, and she can hang out with her little sister again, and maybe she'll apologise for joining the lodge against Ciri way back when haha. Lambert and Eskel could show up for a quest, perhaps 'your training finally paid off' scene or something sweet. Lambert already does appear in a Witcher 3 quest while you're in Novigrad so maybe this time it could be Eskel. Or perhaps neither of them show up, or it's only one of them.
We have no idea how the game will even start, what the tutorial/prologue will be like, it may be like witcher 3 or it could be a new approach. Either way, Ciri's powers are back, and I believe that gives them the perfect opportunity for Yennefer's role, to teach Ciri magic again and show how close they actually are, just like what started their relationship in the first place or something else with her. They may take a different approach, after all, does Ciri start as a witcher off the bat, or does she transform during the game, and how would that affect the magic tutorial? If she transforms during the game will she visit Yennefer in Toussaint to learn magic again, or will it be at the start of the game (if u go behind the Nilfgaard tents while on Undvik before fighting the hunt Ciri is levitating some rocks so that means her magical abilities were coming back in some way near the end of witcher 3), where she's trying to re-learn magic again properly, not the elder blood powers?
I just want something where she acknowledges Yennefer, she doesn't have to call her "mother" outright (even though she does in the books and in the Polish dub Yen still calls her daughter), but a nice family moment would be alright. It's criminal how they did it previously, seriously Ciri wth and CDPR too. They have the chance to fix it this time, and I hope they will do it justice in showing how much they mean to each other, more on Ciri's behalf (this also goes for all the other characters, Yen is just more important with how they fumbled it the first time, and I admittedly like her more). Who knows, Yennefer may be an obvious inclusion since she is on the same level as Geralt with her importance to Ciri, and they know that and will try to do it right this time. With Ciri being the protagonist, they can't avoid it.
I doubt we'll see Ermion/Mousesack or Hjalmar again, unfortunately. At most we can hope for a mention in some dialogue, like if you import your saves from witcher 3 or some random lines, but that's probably all we'll get for them. The same goes for Crach. Maybe if he comes up in any way, we can see her regret not going to see him before fighting the hunt. Triss i hope she can spend some time with her, but if she went back into politics like with Foltest, then it may not leave much room for her and Ciri to do to much together (I am sure we will see her though, I'd be pretty surprised if Triss is only mentioned). Dandelion may show up, but he doesn't seem to be the travelling bard he used to be as he now runs the Chameleon in Novigrad. They may give some excuse how it didn't work out or something, and that's why he's in Kovir, or it could be on a business trip? If he's there, he could introduce Ciri to a bard friend he has, but then that'd kinda be replacing him and giving us a new Dandelion which can be seen as a bit of a let down since Dandelion is a favourite of many and wouldn't want him essentially replaced. Another person who would be an especially pleasant surprise, Ciri met him as a child and they were quite friendly, is Yarprin Zigrin. It's been a long time for them, but Yarpin is cool and he was in witcher 2 so he's already appeared in one of the games so why not again (Vergen didn't last long, so the citizens are probably scattered around). Another one who'd be a (far less pleasant) surprise is Avallach, maybe he'd be annoyed she no longer (by the looks of it) has access to her Elder blood powers, no idea though and i don't really want to see him again but who knows, CDPR may have plans or an idea in mind for him, his role in Ciri's life is pretty much done though (good riddance to that creep).
Other characters are a bit more speculative (CDPR originals)- like I doubt we'll see Roche and Ves again, which sucks but they have no significance to Ciri, and why would they be that far up north? Iorveth would be a pleasant surprise, as would any of the new characters CDPR introduced in previous games (witcher 1 and 2), again they hold no meaning to Ciri though, and they aren't neccessary anymore. Like the Scoia'tael aren't much of a plot focus now, unlike back then. Like i said, it would still be nice though, and I'm sure a lot can agree. Vincent Mies was supposedly going to show in witcher 3 and they cut him out, maybe he moved to Kovir and can mention how Geralt helped him way back when. We'll see. Who do you think has almost a 100% chance of showing up regardless, and who you'd like to see again if they decide to bring more old characters back?