.Keys: I've not played The Witcher 3, but by watching gameplays and reviews, I thought it was quite obvious for everybody that the next protagonist was always going to be
Ciri.
Tokyo_Bunny_8990: It really depends and there is an argument for CDPR to not go down the Ciri road.
Ciri becoming a witcher is one of 3 endings in the Witcher 3. Making Ciri a witcher in 4 essentially confirms that is the "canon" ending and some players may dislike that.
It seems to me they shouldn't follow the idea to develop their next games and characters story based on which ending was or wasn't preferred by the players, but to follow a character's arc based on their personality of the books and their endings or possible endings.
This way even though the games are different from the books in 'some areas', they might still be faithful to The Witcher's universe and characters personalities.
I'm not saying that Ciri becoming a Witcher ending should be made canon, but that if that makes sense in her character arc / personality development
through the original story in the book, and if that makes sense into
her character choices when the player gave her the opportunity to do so in the game, then this should be the team's choice imo.
By that I mean that Ciri (or any
well develop character from books or games really)
are not what their fans think they are, or even the projections fans make of them, because, at least when we treat them as probable real persons, they do have objective and subjective choices they would make in a situation based on their personality,
overall character and congruence with their in universe past choices.
So even if majority of players would hate her being a Witcher, if this would make sense for her to become, and in universe this should and would be her choice, then she should be made a Witcher in The Witcher 4.
As this is just an example, I'm not taking into consideration all the other consequences of player choices in The Witcher 3 that would make her decide to go this path in end, so in this example for the purpose of the discussion, I'm only evaluating this objective fact "Ciri a Witcher", and not "For Ciri to become a Witcher in The Witcher 3, the player need to make Yennefer mad.".
Tokyo_Bunny_8990: Ciri is also did not go through the trial of the grasses so is not a witcher which some people may take issue with. Howeever, given Ciri already has a moveset (although would need to be toned down if she were the main character) and she already has a fanbase and connection with Geralt, having her be the next lead makes sense imo.
It would depend on gameplay trailers but I will likely buy and play the game. Witcher 3 was a very good game and really only needed a better combat system to be better (although the existing combat system was already quite good relative to other games). It would be a game I would be keeping an eye on along with the Witcher remake.
I'd like to add that I don't think Ciri *need* to be a witcher for her to be a protagonist in a game called "The Witcher" as we all know "The Witcher" is Geralt anyway, and Ciri is deeply related to Geralt (unless I missed something and Vesemir is "The Witcher" in the title. :P).
I'd also like to add that today
Ciri is probably more beloved than Geralt given how well made and lovely (as with care) The Witcher 3 team made her in said game. To explain what I mean, if we also take into consideration that the player plays Geralt,
they tend to make the actual Geralt a 'non-character' in the story, viewing themselves in-character shoes and deciding what they would if they were in Geralt.
Thus, Geralt is not himself, as in the books, necessarily. The player is Geralt, deciding to love Yennefer or Triss more, being a "good father to Ciri" or "treating her too harshly" and so on with The Witcher series many impactful decisions.
Because of this, the player creates deep connections with Ciri, Yennefer/Triss and all Geralt's friends, or enemies. Of course
this might not be true with players that know the books and play the game deciding not what they would, but what the "real Geralt" would. Those are excluded in this case.
We can be sure The Witcher 4 will sell well
simply because of how good The Witcher 3 is and the cultural success it became in the gaming community. The game will only fail if
they change beloved characters (like Ciri) so much that this would hurt how people viewed / judged them in their appearances in The Witcher 3,
if political / Woke propaganda destroys any sense of story or characters arcs in the game, or if
roleplaying with impactful choices are non-existent, hurting the series from what it is well known and beloved for since The Witcher 1 came out back then.
This is all just my opinion anyway. Sorry for the wall of text. I like to discuss characters and how people perceive them. :P