Regarding gaming remakes, there’s a misconception that developers seek to just “overhaul the graphics and small gameplay elements to make it feel fresh in the new age it’s in.” It’s easy to see why that misconception grew because there are remakes that have done that. However, if you look at what Square Enix has done with a certain remake or what Nintendo is doing with a remake that arrives next month, they’re taking the time to make the game feel like more than the original in some of its parts. That’s something that The Witcher Remake will do as well.
The remake of the original groundbreaking RPG featuring Geralt of Rivia is in the works by a smaller team of CD Projekt Red workers, including their CEO! But what might surprise you is that in a statement that GamesRadar got a hold of, they promise to remove the parts that “are simply bad, outdated, or unnecessarily convoluted.”
That might sound odd given how beloved the franchise is, but everyone’s got to start somewhere, and there are plenty of video games, TV shows, movies, comics, and more that “for the time” did things that didn’t turn heads, but as time went on we went, “Yeah, that’s not the best.” The team noted that, and the CEO said bluntly:
“First and foremost, we need an honest, down-to-earth analysis of which parts are simply bad, outdated, and need to be remade.”
Would you like some examples of such things that will likely be removed from The Witcher Remake? Well, do you remember the “special cards” that Geralt had which guided his romance options? Yeah, the CD Projekt Red team has been very open about not liking that nowadays, and given how much more refined the romance system was in subsequent games, it’ll be gone.
Second, certain gameplay sections were a slog to get through, even with great storytelling being mixed within them. So, with updates in technology, you can expect things to be a bit more refined so that players won’t get frustrated.
A more obvious thing that will be revamped is the combat system. With two more games under their belts and a more robust system in both, the upcoming remake will likely have combat elements that are more in tune with what players used before. Plus, they might make it easier for players who have never touched the franchise before.
There’s still no release date for the remake.