Wind's howling a little stronger than usual. Over a decade after the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, developer CD Projekt Red has announced that a new DLC is coming to the game, titled Songs of the Past. This upcoming adventure will not only serve to bridge the gap to the release of The Witcher 4, but it will also mark the last time we will play as Geralt of Rivia before Ciri takes on the mantle.
Any CD Projekt Red release has a lot of expectations behind it, and this one is no different—especially since it will close one of the most iconic sagas in the gaming world before setting the stage for a brand-new chapter. But in order for Geralt's story to end with a bang, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past must include four specific elements that will greatly enhance the player's experience in the DLC, and now is the perfect time to break them down.
1. A satisfying farewell for Geralt of Rivia
Warning: This section of the article contains spoilers for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine DLC.
For three games and nearly 10 years, we played as Geralt of Rivia in CD Projekt Red's The Witcher franchise. Throughout this time, players hunted countless monsters, played more Gwent games than anyone could keep track of, and made at least one very bad decision that affected the story in a negative way. All of that seemingly came to an end in 2016 with the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine, when the iconic monster hunter retired in favor of a simpler life. It was a very fitting and beautiful end, but one that's about to be undone.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past will feature Geralt of Rivia stepping out of the shadows to help his closest friend, Dandelion. So once the dust settles and the day is saved yet again, what fate will await the legendary Witcher? Will he go back home? Will he sacrifice himself to stop whatever is going wrong in Letten? Regardless of the answer, we hope Geralt has a satisfying farewell that not only honors the long journey so far, but somehow manages to at least top the one in Blood and Wine. Otherwise, why bring him back into action?
2. A world that feels alive
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past will take place in a brand-new region called Letten, which CD Projekt Red confirms is "comparable in scope" to the main setting of Blood and Wine, Toussaint. This area will be home to terrifying monsters and unnerving legends, but also to new faces, unique landmarks, and countless side quests. We're about to experience an area that's meant to feel "alive," as revealed by the game's official gameplay showcase:
"Songs of the Past builds on The Witcher 3's community systems, adding more complex routines and detailed dialogue than Geralt's previous adventures. Everywhere you look, people are busy with their lives. Altogether, this gives Letten its unique identity and makes the world of The Witcher 3 more detailed and alive than ever before"
NPCs in The Witcher 3 have never been a glaring problem, given that most of them have interesting stories to tell. However, CD Projekt Red could be hinting that they will have full-on schedules in the upcoming DLC, similar to their behavior in games like Skyrim or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Hopefully, this will add yet another layer of interactivity to what is already a very deep game.
Another crucial part of making the world feel alive is filling it with countless secrets, side stories, and interesting details for players to uncover. It doesn't matter if the map isn't incredibly large, but hopefully it will have a lot of content to keep us glued to the screen for hours.
3. Reworked combat mechanics
We all know The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a fantastic game with many things to praise... yet combat isn't one of them. It can feel clunky at times, and when you start pouring more hours into the game, it becomes clear how "shallow" or simple it truly is—even risking becoming repetitive by the end. Fortunately, that could change very soon.
Before The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past comes our way next year, CD Projekt Red will remaster the trilogy-capper to add many quality-of-life improvements, including revamped combat, enhanced monster behaviors, improved movement, new finishers, and new Witcher signs FX. All of these elements combined should, hopefully, result in reworked combat mechanics that feel tighter and more responsive. Better yet, the upcoming DLC will also add a bit more depth to the gameplay as well.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past will feature a new chain weapon that adds more options for mid-range combat. Players will be able to manually aim the chain, target one of an enemy's weak spots, and throw it to trigger a finisher move. Otherwise, they could use it to pull the bad guys in, closing the distance and then seamlessly transitioning to the sword for hand-to-hand combat. While it's unlikely that the combat will feel 100% different, it's clear CD Projekt Red is keen on improving it. Hopefully this will result in the DLC being a little more enjoyable.
4. Horrifying new monsters
The whole purpose of witchers is to hunt monsters in exchange for money. So, of course, these terrifying creatures have to play a huge part in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past. The DLC's story is surrounded by a lot of mystery, but it seems the narrative will focus on the twisted witch at the center of the Garden of Thorns, called the Naghag.
This terrifying-looking witch won't be the only new monster players will face in CD Projekt Red's upcoming release. The gameplay showcase also gave us a look at Geralt fighting against a Thornbloom, which is a large, carnivorous plant that can shoot projectiles and is vulnerable to fire. Similarly, the footage also gave us our first look at Swarmions, which are zombie-like monsters that can protect themselves with a swarm of hornets.
Hopefully, there will be many new types of monsters that will make for memorable (and slightly horrifying) encounters. After all, that's one of the main selling points of a saga like The Witcher.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past will be released in 2027.
Add us as a preferred source on Google