Even without skyscrapers, light pollution, and the near constant blare of lewd TV ads, the liveliness of the Kovirian marketplace in The Witcher 4's Unreal tech demo taps into the environmental buzz of Cyberpunk 2077. So much so that, after watching YouTube clips of players taking Geralt out for light strolls around some of The Witcher 3's most bustling haunts – Novigrad and Toussaint here, specifically – I'm struck by the almost eerie silence in comparison.
Maybe it's the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, but I never noticed how quiet The Witcher 3 can be. Soft footsteps and the odd NPC bark aside, it seems these thriving townships suffer from a serious lack of actual thriving. Sure, it was (and still is) one of the best RPGs for a reason, but with The Witcher 3 having turned 10 this year, it's clear that CD Projekt Red has learned a lot of lessons since then. Specifically, around how to craft an environment – and the tech demo has me hyped for Ciri to get a taste of Night City's buzz
Night and day cities
The Witcher 4 dev says the tools behind its PS5 tech demo "unlock me as an artist"
As much as I love the "city of dreams,", it took the developer almost four years-post launch to achieve Cyberpunk 2077's potential.
Today, Night City is as immersive of a video game metropolis as you can get. Hundreds of NPCs crowd the streets from Heywood to Japantown and beyond, the roads teem with cars of all shapes, sizes, and engine, and sound is pretty much everywhere.
You can almost smell cigarette smoke through the screen, hazy and thick in the early morning air as a nightclub's rhythmic bass keeps the party going, or taste the oily scopdog being wolfed down by a nearby Tyger Claw seconds before getting shoulder-chucked by a dude in leopard-print hotpants. This thoroughly lived-in vibe is what makes Cyberpunk such an exciting place to escape to in a video game, and sadly, it's something we just did not get in The Witcher 3.
In the videos linked above, I was surprised to see how much I'd disregarded the lack of urban business in CD Projekt Red's most iconic RPG. One of them sees an NPC drinking silently and repetitively from a flask of wine, rooted to the spot, while a passing woman bemoans her husband's adulterous liaisons, all while Geralt simply walks past them like a ghost. Suddenly, a child comes running up beside him, causing a collision issue with the striding witcher as her character model seems to reverberate off Geralt's for a moment before coming unstuck and continuing on her travels.
In hindsight, the lack of bustle makes these cities feel a bit, well, dead. Thankfully, The Witcher 4 looks to change that.
Leaps and boundaries
It's a testament to the studio's immense growth...
This time around, bringing Night City's lively urban environments to The Witcher 4 seems paramount to CD Projekt Red. It's part of the studio's mission to deliver "the most ambitious, immersive Witcher game ever," harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 5.6 to do so.
In the short clip seen in the tech demo where Ciri walks around a marketplace in Kovir, that power is already evident – as are flavors of Night City's vitality. A tavern keeper is seen throwing an unruly patron out into the streets in what looks like a scripted environmental encounter, triggered by the player's proximity to a certain location. This reminds me of the Cyberpunk 2077 quest Don't Lose Your Mind, which kicks in only when observing a car crash while driving around Corpo Plaza's roundabout.
Not only that, the environmental noise is far more realistic. It's only an in-engine demo to showcase the technology, with an on-screen warning indicating that it's "not actual gameplay," but hearing fully-scripted NPC conversations happening while Ciri waltzes past is a far cry from the near deathly silence of towns in The Witcher.
It's too early to say for sure, but this small slice of progress tells me that CD Projekt Red is taking innovation seriously. With plenty of lessons learned through Cyberpunk 2077 and DLC Phantom Liberty, its design philosophy is a testament to the studio's immense growth, reminding us why The Witcher 4 is one of the most exciting new games on the horizon. Let's hope we get eyes on some actual game footage soon to see if it holds up.
There's plenty more upcoming PS5 games on the way besides The Witcher 4... though I'll admit, it's still my most wanted
