Introduction

Once upon a time in the halcyon pages of print magazines, a reviewer could open an article with the kind of portentous throat-clearing that made readers feel like they were about to be handed the keys to a mythical kingdom. Consider this my throat-clearing for the next big thing from CD Projekt Red. The Witcher IV arrives as the heralded start of a new trilogy and a pivot in the franchise: Geralt's adopted daughter, Ciri, steps from cameo and memory into the full glare of the protagonist's spotlight. We are not looking at a mere sequel; we're looking at a franchise rebooted for a modern engine, modern production pipelines and modern sensibilities - but one that still wants to smell faintly of monster blood and lamp oil. This review is aimed squarely at the Xbox Series X/S owner who grew up with glossy previews and ale-fuelled speculation about whether a studio could actually deliver on grand promises. The Witcher IV is being built in Unreal Engine 5, teased in trailers that were pre-rendered on cutting-edge hardware, and shown in a tech demo on PlayStation 5. CD Projekt Red has used the lessons of Cyberpunk 2077 to reshape their development process and promises a game that is both accessible to newcomers and respectful to long-term fans. If you expected Geralt to be the central figure again, prepare for the intellectual and narrative judo of handing the reins to Ciri. The studio calls this an 'organic' choice; fans will call it 'about time' or 'blasphemy,' depending on how many times they rewatched the old cutscenes.

Gameplay

The Witcher IV sets the player loose as Ciri, an aspirant monster hunter rather than the battle-hardened Geralt many of us grew up with. That is an important distinction: Ciri is not a replacement in the clichéd sense, she's an evolution. CD Projekt Red describes her as "about to form her own codex on her own terms," and the playable build reflects that line of thought. Expect an open world laid across the Continent - familiar in tone if not in layout - with new regions to explore, including the Kovir region which has been discussed in books and hinted at in previous games but never fully opened up until now. The world will retain the slow-burn, quest-driven storytelling the series is known for, but CDPR insists it will be "deeper, not just larger," a design credo that would make any 1990s level designer nod appreciatively while stroking an invisible beard. On the mechanical side, Ciri's gameplay loop appears to mix what fans liked about Geralt (monster contracts, exploration, horse travel) with a fresher, more flexible approach. You can summon Kelpie - Ciri's horse - at will, which is a small but welcome QoL improvement that stops you from playing the medieval fashionably-uncomfortable version of Uber. The studio has also talked up broader character builds and encounters, and is explicitly leaning on lessons from Cyberpunk 2077 to increase gameplay flexibility. That suggests multiple viable playstyles rather than a single 'correct' talent tree. Combined with an emphasis on coherent integration between main missions, side quests and open-world activities, this could reduce that gnawing imbalance where the main story feels like a different game from side content. Narratively, CDPR wants more player agency: more consequential choices, expanded narrative branches and a game that remains canonical without contradicting the aftermath of The Witcher 3. They also acknowledge that many players may arrive without familiarity with earlier entries, so The Witcher IV claims to be both a new beginning and a continuation. This is a tightrope; striking it well will require writing that rewards veterans while never alienating newcomers. The lead writer and director seem aware of this, and the recasting of Ciri with Ciara Berkeley indicates the studio's desire to reset voice and tone for this era. Doug Cockle returns as Geralt, so loyalists will get the familiar gravelly narration when the plot demands it. From the studio-side timeline, the project - codenamed Project Polaris during its early stages - spent an extended pre-production phase before full production kicked off in late 2024. This is not a throwaway fact; long pre-production often correlates with tighter design goals and more coherent systems at launch, provided execution follows. Over 400 staff were reported to be working on the game as of early 2025, and CD Projekt temporarily brought in a team from Fool's Theory to help with shared assets. All of this suggests a massive, well-resourced effort rather than a rushed cash-in. Expect a deliberate experience paced to please those who prefer their role-playing with a side of narrative weight rather than twitchy multiplayer scraps. There are still practical considerations for Xbox Series X/S owners. CDPR confirmed the decision to develop with PS5 targets in mind, emphasizing a 60fps goal on PlayStation. That same ambition translated into cautionary notes about the Xbox Series S: the studio called 60fps there "extremely challenging." If you're on a Series X, the hardware gap between X and PS5 is not enormous and the machine should handle high-quality builds with fewer compromises than the S. If you're on Series S, expect configurations that favour resolution or visual fidelity over sustained frame-rate, at least at launch. For the impatient: patience is the friend of large, story-driven open-world games. CDPR has explicitly said the game won't ship until after 2026; internal estimates point to 2027 at the earliest, which in the 1990s would have been a lifetime but today might just be sensible.

Graphics

If a game's visual presentation was judged solely by trailers in the 1990s, we would all be playing back-of-magazine screenshots and calling it a day. This time around, The Witcher IV's visuals have already gone through their paces in two ways: a cinematic reveal crafted in collaboration with Platige Image, and a tech demo shown in-engine on a console. The reveal trailer was pre-rendered on an unannounced high-end GeForce GPU - widely reported to be the RTX 5090 - which gave the footage a polish that felt like a cross between studio animation and in-game cinematics. That's cinematic sheen, not a raw representation of the final gameplay, so take it as a promise, not proof. More telling is CD Projekt's switch to Unreal Engine 5 and the tech demo shown on a PlayStation 5 during the State of Unreal. UE5 brings features like Nanite and Lumen that offer denser geometry and global illumination without the same engineering headaches of older bespoke engines. CDPR's adoption of UE5 after moving away from their in-house REDengine is more than a technology shift - it's a philosophical one. The engine promises a richer world with more realistic lighting, denser environments and better streaming of assets for an open world. In practice, this should translate on Xbox Series X to detailed vistas, richer character models and dynamic lighting that reacts more believably to weather and time of day. Performance will vary by hardware. CD Projekt's public focus on PS5 first suggests that the most ambitious visual mode will be tuned around Sony's platform, with the Xbox Series X getting parity in many respects but perhaps differing in certain technical approaches. The Series S will likely receive a scaled experience; CDPR themselves described sustaining higher frame-rates there as a significant challenge. For Series X owners who like to crank settings, expect a beautiful, modern Witcher aesthetic: weather-worn stone, forested groves, fog-laced moors, and character faces that carry weight. For purists nostalgic for the era when screenshots dominated magazine covers, the in-engine tech demo will feel like the fulfillment of a long-standing promise: a living, breathing Continent rendered with modern tools.

Conclusion

The Witcher IV is shaping up to be the kind of event the 1990s magazines used to hype with full-page spreads and 'exclusive' callouts. CD Projekt Red is attempting something ambitious: a new trilogy starter that hands the narrative baton to Ciri, rebuilt atop Unreal Engine 5, informed by the painful but illuminating lessons of Cyberpunk 2077. The studio promises a deeper open world, more player agency, and the sort of production discipline that long pre-production and a large team can buy. The trailer and tech demo show undeniable polish, but they also remind us that cinematic presentation and taped tech demos are the appetizer - the real meal is the finished game. On Xbox Series X, the outlook is optimistic: the hardware should allow CDPR to approach their visual and performance targets closely. On Series S, expect concessions and scaled options. The developer's scheduling honesty - "not until after 2026" - is a welcome counterpoint to the old industry habit of promising deliverables before the work was done. If the writing balances veteran fan service with newcomer-friendly beats, and if the studio's promises about coherence between main missions and side content hold true, The Witcher IV could be both a triumphant continuation and a fresh entry point for a new generation. Will it be perfect? No triple-A epic is. There are risks: moving engines, recasting a beloved character's voice, and the sheer scale of the ambition. Yet those risks are the same ones that created the most memorable entries in the series. For Xbox Series X/S owners who want a story-driven open-world RPG with the potential for real evolution in mechanics and narrative, The Witcher IV is one to watch closely - preferably with a tankard of something warm, an updated graphics driver, and a willingness to wait for the final cut. In the meantime, consider this a standing reservation: pull up a chair, the Continent will be back - and this time, it's Ciri's turn at the helm.

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