Lauren spends most of her time dead in League of Legends, or equally as dead in Valorant. Don’t ask her about Vampire: The Masquerade.
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There’s something almost Shire-like about Letten. There are rolling green hills, an abundance of food and drink, and playful music whispers through the air. It’s a stark contrast to the darkness and despair that we associate with the life of a Witcher; a nomadic monster hunter with their eyes firmly placed on their bloody prize. Said Witcher, Geralt, awakens from an alcohol-induced, nightmare-ridden slumber, blinking as he looks up at a sunny sky, laughter and merriment drifting on the breeze. Songs of the Past‘s live Gamescom demo looks a little different from what I expected, but it immediately has me intrigued.
The Witcher 3’s new DLC focuses on Dandelion, or Jaskier, if you want his original Polish name. Geralt’s faithful bard has gone missing, with his trusty lute turning up in the hands of mischief-makers. Our preview’s guide chooses to give the drunks a good ol’ smack, prompting them to quickly return said lute, but they don’t seem to know where Dandelion is. After that beating, I reckon they’d tell us if they did.
Geralt sets off to Manor de Lettenhove to question Dandelion’s family and try and work out where he’s run off to. We’re introduced to his fearsome grandmother, and his cousin, Lilla, a young woman hellbent on unshackling herself from her regal chains and heading out into the wilderness. After a brief conversation, it turns out that, in his alcohol-tinted dreams, Geralt has seen visions of an eerie well just outside of Letten, which is apparently haunted by an ancient witch. Lilla firmly believes that Dandelion has wound up there, but his grandmother remains stalwart in her view that he’ll ‘turn up eventually.’ Our path forward is pretty clear: head to the well, and find out what’s going on.
Songs of the Past’s most obvious addition is, of course, Letten. The region is absolutely beautiful, with its emerald pastures juxtaposing perfectly against the dark, rotten feel of the witch’s domain. “When we’re building a new place on the map, the most important thing is to stick to the principles we already know,” Creative Vision Director, Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz tells me. “The new place has to feel like it belongs, but is still fresh and different. We want to give you this experience of visiting a new place you haven’t visited before; the idea is for you to feel at home, but also feel like this place is new.”
Letten isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, however; the witch’s well is oppressive and claustrophobic, with thorny vines draining the lifeblood from wandering animals and unfortunate travelers. “We take extra care to make sure that these places are intertwined with each other and that there’s a story behind them,” Kuzia-Rokosz continues. “It’s woven into what you can learn from the people of Letten: you hear about the fact that there is this place that they don’t allow their children to play in because it holds a dark secret. But people don’t understand it; it’s not the main problem on their list. They live different lives and just don’t mention it because, why would you?”
The ‘out of sight, out of mind’ mentality is immediately reminiscent, once again, of The Shire in The Lord of the Rings. It adds that sense of innocence, and in turn that sense that you want to save Letten. The world of The Witcher is overridden with monsters and violence; darkness and shadow. Letten is a safe haven – a bastion of goodness, untouched by war. The parallels are clear, and after just an hour of live gameplay, I do find myself wanting to be Letten’s Frodo.
Geralt and Lilla, however, simply can’t resist the well’s call, and head on out into the murky thickets in search of Dandelion. This is where we get our first taste of combat, with some fresh enemies (called Swarmions) to fight using Geralt’s new chain weapon. As a result of the free remaster, fights feel smoother and more fluid, and the chain adds a new, dynamic element to how Geralt approaches combat. You can target individual parts of your foes, but in this instance we go straight for the throat, decapitating the corpse-like, corrupted beastie in an instant. It’s smooth, it’s clean, and most of all, it’s sick as hell.
The chain is both a welcome throwback to The Witcher’s extensive past and also a completely different look for Geralt. Your swords have always been your best friend, and while there are some ranged options, they quickly fall by the wayside as you level up. As someone who naturally chooses more ranged classes in videogames, the chain is a welcome addition, and has a certain level of gory finesse that the game’s other weapons simply don’t have.
The other new addition to our story is, of course, Lilla. Dandelion’s cousin is feisty and fearless, but with that comes a level of naivety. Geralt’s first instinct is to show no mercy, contrasting starkly with Lilla’s humanity and innocence. To avoid spoiling things too much, during the final boss sequence the wooden, magic-fueled corpse appears to recognize her, whether directly or as a result of the royal blood that runs through her veins. There’s a moment of tenderness as Lilla leans closer, attempting to communicate, but then the fight ensues.
Post-combat, there’s the opportunity for a seemingly romantic moment between our Witcher and his new companion; you can pull her into a hug and comfort her – she’s been through a hell of a lot in the past hour. “We really like how this character unfolds,” Kuzia-Rokosz tells me. “She is really very exciting, and you can already feel from the demo that there’s some sort of tension between them [Lilla and Geralt], but I will leave the rest for the players to unfold. However, Lilla is a nice girl!” She starts to giggle.
This prompts a quick response from CD Projekt Red’s PR Manager, who comments that people always ask if Lilla is romanceable, but not Dandelion’s grandmother. In the interest of equality, I put that question to Kuzia-Rokosz, who laughs and replies, “Well, she’s kind of the same age as Geralt, but oh, grandma would be a formidable foe, you don’t mess with her! She has to be the head of the family; she is very strict, she is kind of serious.” No romancing granny then. Unless?
What’s perhaps more exciting than the demo itself is Kuzia-Rokosz and CD Projekt Red’s passion. This is a team that loves its IPs: they even had Witcher-inspired beers in their booth fridge that were, of course, brewed in Letten’s local brewery (they were very good, by the way).
It’s easy these days to return to a classic IP for easy, nostalgia-tinged cash. That isn’t what’s happening here: Songs of the Past is a new story, handcrafted with love; a welcome return to one of gaming’s most beloved franchises. It’s not a cheap, rosy throwback: it’s a fond farewell to one of gaming’s most iconic characters.
“Welcome back to the path!” Kuzia-Rokosz says with a huge smile, and man, I’m so happy to be here. Trust me when I say, you will be, too.