With the announcement of The Witcher Remake, "a modern reimagining" of the game that kickstarted CD Projekt Red's trilogy, series fans are already signing the death warrant of one feature from the original.
Shortly after the announcement, Reddit user Absalom98 took to the Witcher subreddit to say "we all know the first thing that'll get axed in the Witcher remake," accompanied by an image of one of the game's infamous 'Romance Cards'.
While The Witcher 2 and 3 opted for fully-animated romance scenes focused on just a handful of (mostly) story-relevant characters, The Witcher 1 had a different system. Romance cards depicting a bizarrely vast array of female characters could be collected throughout the game. Almost exclusively, those cards featured those characters in pin-up style poses in states of significant undress. Over time, they've become the game's most infamous feature, mostly as a result of the way in which they treat the game's sizeable female cast as collectibles; serious relationships, like those with Triss Merigold or Shani, are treated in the same way as unnamed characters who leap in bed with Geralt for little more than a kind word and a smile.
Unsurprisingly, fans aren't expecting the cards to make their way back to the remake. In another thread, user al_fletcher said they'd "put money on romance cards not making it in," while Kongy1 said that the remake didn't need the cards, describing them as "a product of [their] time." Others are expecting Gwent to return, swapping the romance cards with the card game that developed out of The Witcher 3.
Romance is an important part of the entire Witcher franchise, and players are expecting some form of relationship mechanic, but others are also pre-empting the efforts of the modding community. While the cards are "the first thing that'll get axed," another player noted that they'll also be "the first thing modded back in." It's pleasing to note that the community understands that the feature has no official place in a modern game, but also important to remember that there's no holding back a modder.
From combat to conquests: The Witcher remake has its work cut out for it.
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