The actual location of the new The Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past, was revealed as part of Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, and it’s going to be a gargantuan adventure. Launching 12 years after the RPG’s first release, the added gameplay is headed to the bard Dandelion’s homeland.
Yes, we’re headed to Lettenhove, an idealistic place on the surface that holds some mysteries underneath. “The idyllic realm of Letten is yours to explore,” reads the description on the official site. “The homeland of Geralt’s greatest friend, Dandelion the bard, is steeped in rural tradition and full of buried secrets, bringing even more content to one of the most critically-acclaimed RPGs of all time.”
This is interesting for several reasons. First, Lettenhove is barely explored in other avenues of The Witcher lore, such as Andrzej Sapkowski’s books. It’s somewhere CD Projekt Red can approach with complete creative freedom.
Then, there’s the possibility this means Dandelion will be a major character. Geralt of Rivia will probably need a guide, right? Or at the very least, his old pal may want to drop in on some acquaintances given the chance.
The scale is another question. Coming so long after The Witcher 3, the expectation is for Songs of the Past to be bigger and more distinct than Blood and Wine. A developer at Gamescom explained further about what to expect.
“Letten is a fully realized open world which you can explore freely, and it’s packed with new adventures for Geralt and new quests and characters that live up to our signature mature story,” Miles Tost, lead level designer on The Witcher 4, during a gameplay presentation attended by GamesRadar+. “So NPCs like these are a great example of [how] Songs of the Past builds on The Witcher 3’s community systems to make them more reactive and alive, and NPCs can now properly use vehicles such as cars, horses, or even fireboats, which is a small thing, but I think adds a lot.”
We’ve known for some time the devs are looking at this as a bridge to The Witcher 4, and it seems like it’s going to be a substantive re-entry to The Continent. Songs of the Past comes out in 2027.
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