Christmas came early this year, and The Witcher game is getting a well-deserved glow-up, but what exactly does that entail? Well, that’s for the future us to know and for the boring, present us to speculate about.

Still, we do have some ideas about how the new offering could look and play. CD Projekt Red’s first foray into the game-making business focused on and continued imagining Geralt of Rivia’s adventures through the fantasy world created by Andrej Sapkowski. The first two games in the main series made enough of a splash to warrant their own existence but then came 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which changed the face of the RPG genre forever. CDPR is now going back to its roots to deliver the game that started it all, albeit in shinier packaging.

Things we’d like to see changed in The Witcher remake:

Fighting mechanics

Straight to the big one. Fighting mechanics are the bread and butter of RPGs and this spread in The Witcher is lacking by today’s standards.

Geralt comes equipped with three different fighting styles: the quick, the heavy, and the group style. The player can almost seamlessly switch between the combat styles during a fight but there are two very important wrinkles in the entire set-up: it takes some getting used to and it looks pretty immersion-breaking.

All three combat styles of The Witcher trade in the mindless button mashing until the foe throws in the bloody towel, for an almost rhythm-based system that has you clicking only when your cursor lights up in flames. This posed a curveball, even for the devs who found the system confusing at best – a sentiment shared by the players. That said, the mechanic is not very difficult to get used to, and even appreciate, down the line. At least your mouse will breathe a sigh of relief.

Moving on to the more vain part of the issue, the strong style is by far the worst offender of the blue light protected retinas of gamers the world over. The strong combat style has our favorite Witcher running around with his sword held high up in the air like he just doesn’t care. This makes him look more than a bit silly but the different stances are a genius way to let the player know which style they’re currently using in case they’d like to switch things up before it’s time to dance again.

We understand that the different styles of brandishing the same two swords had to be visually distinct, but playing this 2007 game in 2022 is a tall order, and the dated animation just doesn’t pass muster.

The fighting mechanic may have taken some people out of the experience but it will also probably be the first thing to visit the chopping block once the remake rolls around.

Fireplaces, healing, meditation, and alchemy

You’ll have a memorable time crafting anything in The Witcher.

While the resources are aplenty, Geralt the amnesiac just isn’t exactly sure which plants he needs, or what their names are for that matter. Books procured from merchants or stumbled upon while exploring will open tiny windows into the local flora but that still won’t be enough if the plants you recognized and picked don’t have the required ingredients. So making Swallow becomes a task. We might also add that the potions don’t replenish using the alcohol in your inventory after a restful meditation. No, it’s back to the meadow with you for some flower-picking.

Meditation is also only available to Geralt while he’s sitting next to a designated fireplace, in which you have to start the fire yourself using Igni or flint. At least you can drink the potions and apply oils while in the middle of a fight. Looking at you, The Witcher 2.

The aforementioned setup worked just fine 15 years ago, but the players of today expect a bit more ease when crafting and hunting down ingredients. Add to this the fact that many fans will have already played The Witcher 3 and expect the potions to automatically replenish after a restful snooze, and CDPR has a very thin line to walk: stay true to the original’s crafting system but adapt it to modern sensibilities. CDPR has already danced this dance in The Witcher 2, so color us excited to see what they come up with this time around.

We heard you like weapons

Geralt of Rivia is famous for his two swords, made especially for dispatching different types of foes: monsters and human monsters. That’s two sharp danger sticks both types of foes fear with equal verve. However, The Witcher sees our hero lugging around an extra axe and a dagger, both of which have designated places in your inventory. Having played through the title, we can tell you that you’ll only need the two trusty swords. Everything else may just look cool.

All these weapons do have an upside though. You can use one of their spots to equip a Torch which will come in handy while exploring the many caves and catacombs scattered in and around Vizima.

If the remake axed the extra weapons and just gave us a torch slot, we wouldn’t shed any tears.

Can you hear me?

Let’s just be blunt here. The sound in The Witcher could use some serious balancing so we can actually hear what the characters in the cinematics are trying to say without relying on subtitles. That has to be an easy enough fix for the upcoming re-release.

Another not-so-budget-friendly remark is the voice acting. Doug Cockle’s voice as Geralt is now so iconic you can’t announce a change in the weather to a fan of The Wither games without them doing a very lousy impression of the “Looks like rain” line, but the voice acting in the original more often than not reaches the “so bad it’s good” area of the spectrum. Let us demonstrate:

Thankfully, there are some hopes that CDPR will spring for a complete voiceover revamp. We’re hoping to hear some more enthusiastic reunions between long-lost pals and some additional lines that reference the two very important ladies in Geralt’s life who don’t make an in-the-flesh appearance until the third game.

Saucy?

The Witcher games and their romance options are known far and wide but they came from humble beginnings.

The original title will titillate the players who engage in some rumble in the bed bundle with a reel depicting Geralt making out with a nondescript member of the opposite sex and then overlay a card boasting a scantily-clad object of current affection over the steamy action.

The Witcher has an astonishing number of romance opportunities compared to its successor and it would be a shame if the devs missed the chance to add some of the saucier animations we already know they know how to pull off. Still, this could prove to be a costly adventure so there will be no hard feelings (some pun intended) if we get the cards again.

What we’d like to see again

The world

All that said, The Witcher is much, much more than the janky combat and the voice acting. It’s a supremely atmospheric title with a unique sense of humor and oodles of charm that rewards exploration in ways too amazing and worthwhile to get into right here and now.

Let’s just say that players who sneak a peek into the nooks and crannies of the game’s many locales won’t come out disappointed or worse for the experience. Quite the contrary, The Witcher sees your appreciation for its environments and nods in approval as it makes very convoluted and ultimately difficult quests a breeze if you just open the right chest.

Let us swoon over Geralt’s first adventure on PC for a moment longer while we tell you about the choices The Witcher has you make. From the get-go, you’ll be faced with seemingly irrelevant and random questions, and the way you answer or deal with them will have some unexpected ripple effects further down the line. This was, of course, replicated and loved in the later installments but seeing the roots and inklings of ideas in the original game just makes us appreciate what came after even more.

There’s much more to be said about The Witcher remake, and it will be done.

Until then, please use the comment section and tell us about your experiences with The Witcher, are you planning on playing the original, who did you side with if you did play it, and did you catch the subtle dig at Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci’s Code in the game?