A lot is going on in the world of The Witcher, though avid fans who enjoy not just the games but also the books and comics probably feel like they know pretty much everything there is to know, so much so that you probably expect you'll be familiar with the adventure in Reigns: The Witcher. However, while CD Projekt Red's games certainly have influence, Nerial created a brand-new story for the universe.
Nerial's narrative director, Oscar Harrington-Shaw, and design director, Francois Alliot, tell us that "Reigns: The Witcher has an entirely new adventure, but fans of CD Projekt Red's games will find many references to Geralt's most famous adventures, some subtle, some less so." Without spoiling anything, I recognized a couple of things during my Reigns: The Witcher preview, and I'm keen to see what else I can spot.
"The framing of the narrative is to think of what Dandelion could sing about Geralt when performing, bearing in mind he wants to construct a thrilling tale, and he may have had a little to drink," explain Alliot and Harrington-Shaw. "So some stories might stick quite closely to familiar events, while others might embellish or warp the truth, but all depict what Dandelion could plausibly conjure up when looking back through Geralt's past."
However, it's not just a new story for The Witcher fans to enjoy, but there are actually some fresh mechanics that you don't get in the previous Reigns games, meaning there's something refreshing for you, regardless of which series draws you to the game.
The first of the three new mechanics revolves around the combat, claim the pair. "We couldn't face making a Witcher game without some truly epic fights. Inspired by games like Crypt of the NecroDancer, we created a sort of rhythm-based action game that you control by swiping left or right, trying to get Geralt to dance between different attack patterns coming from the top of the screen while placing attacks and signs." I have to admit, I enjoy the fights a lot more than I expected to at first glance.
The second change comes in the form of Dandelion's inspiration cards, which take the spot of objectives in previous Reigns games. "As Dandelion progresses and becomes a more skilled bard, he unlocks 'inspiration cards.' At the start of each run, he picks three of these cards to tell the story of Geralt. Each card comes with an objective (like 'Unmask the serial killer' or 'Be nice to Roach') and an effect on the run (like 'Mages will like you more than usual').
Harrington-Shaw and Alliot further explain that in "each run, beyond trying to keep the balance between the four values to survive, you also try to play with the inspiration cards, each combination of 3 cards creating interesting variations in the run." Personally, I look forward to seeing the inspiration cards that Dandelion hands out, some you don't expect to see.
As for the third new mechanic, song puzzles, "As Dandelion gains popularity and masters his inspiration cards, he will be invited to create and perform songs." Alliot and Harrington-Shaw continue that "in this variation of the core gameplay, you need to match the inspiration cards and the death cards uncovered to the whims and mood of a particularly difficult audience (a nobleman, a mage, a (literal) troll…). It puts the inspiration cards in context and paves the progress of the player through the game until Dandelion gains the title of 'the immortal bard' (with several endings depending on what sort of immortality he achieves)."
As you can see, there's a lot to enjoy in Reigns: The Witcher, with all of the mechanics working together in tandem to create an experience that begs you to run through it many times to experience all of the stories and cards.
While Nerial has done a great job with The Witcher IP, based on my early impressions of the game, it should come as no surprise, given it's not the team's first foray into a collaboration with a fantasy IP. You likely know about Reigns: Game of Thrones, though there were still some differences in approaching the two IPs.
"The main difference is that, even if the books were a key element of the lore, we were de facto working on a game IP with one of the leading game studios of the world, CD Projekt Red," say Harrington-Shaw and Alliot. "It's a bit of an understatement to say they know how to make games. We had to find a specific place for our little project next to the giants that are the Witcher games, make it unique and unexpected, maybe, but also a true love letter to these amazing games."
Nerial worked very closely with CD Projekt Red, with Harrington-Shaw and Alliot telling us all about how the Reigns: The Witcher CD Projekt Red partnership worked, so make sure you check out that portion of our interview with them if you want to better understand how this new mobile game came to be.
Working closely with the team behind The Witcher games certainly helped the team, but that doesn't mean the pressure wasn't there - "Geralt is still looking over our shoulders, grumbling intensely. Haha," the pair tell me, going on to explain they did still feel "the pressure" as "it's not every day you're given a material as rich and powerful as this one."