Summary
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntwasn’t subtle about who the bad guys were. It was obviously those big menacing dudes with skulls on their armour. Our hero Geralt had to find his child surprise, Ciri, as she jumped across dimensions in order to escape the Wild Hunt.We all know how that ended– with a climactic duel between Geralt and Eredin aboard a sinking ship.
However, it seems CD Projekt Red initially had a different plan for Geralt and the Wild Hunt. Of course, he’d have to fight them in the end, but early concepts of the game apparently had Geralt join the Wild Hunt and ride as one of them. Of course, plans always change in development, but this could have been a massive diversion from what we finally got.
Geralt Almost Joined The Wild Hunt In The Witcher 3
Speaking about early concepts withPC Gamer, lead writer Marcin Blacha revealed the original plans. “The biggest changes were probably regarding the Wild Hunt,” said Blacha, “Geralt became kind of like an insider in the Wild Hunt… and he was sailing on the Naglfar—this ship that the Wild Hunt sails—and there were some quests with the riders of the Wild Hunt, and Geralt was one of them, and he was doing stuff pretending to be one of them.”
This concept would have put the Wild Hunt in the forefront, rather than the story of Geralt, Ciri, Yen and the rest. In the final version, the Wild Hunt is almost a mysterious enemy that can arrive at any time. It built a mystery around them, making them even more intimidating. The focus instead was on our beloved characters and their relationships.
In this version, the final mission was going to be a bit different too, inspired by one of the best RPGs of all time. “Mass Effect 2 was a huge inspiration for the game,” Blacha said, “and even initially, we had an ending that was kind of inspired by Mass Effect 2… that moment when Geralt gathers a party and goes on a suicide mission.
“It was on a Skellige drakkar [ship] you were sailing into a frozen sea, and you were supposed to fight the Wild Hunt on this drakkar,” he continued. “We redesigned it a little bit, and we decided to make this more personal ending.”
The final fight with Eredin was indeed on a ship, so the devs kept the setting. Thanks to that, we also got a great ending with Geralt passing on the torch to Ciri by giving her a silver sword, cementing the fact thatCiri was always going to be the protagonist of The Witcher 4.
