Ciri is the second playable character in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, developer CD Projekt Red confirms. Plans to have series protagonist Geralt of Rivia joined by another playable character were first revealed earlier prior to the release of a new trailer at The Game Awards 2014.
Ciri is the descendant of an ancient, Elven lineage and was the one-time protégé of Geralt. She is also the object of the game’s titular Wild Hunt. “She’s a living weapon… and everyone wants to control her. This, plus she also has her own will and agenda, so it’s not just finding her that counts,” CD Projekt Red’s Robert Malinowski explained to IGN.
Players will only gain control of Ciri at particular moments in the story; she’s not a freely available alternative to Geralt. “You won’t play as her for long periods of time, but… she’s crucial to the plot,” Malinowski went on. “We introduce Ciri as supportive narrative tool and not because of gameplay mechanics. The Witcher was always about Geralt and that has not changed, but that handful of moments when you play as Ciri provide us with glimpses of how the story feels from the other side.”
Mechanically, Ciri will play similarly to Geralt as his former student, but with a few powers all her own. One of these is the ability to blink (teleport short distances) in combat, giving her a new kind of tactical control over the battlefield. You can catch a brief glimpse of Ciri and her blink in action in the Elder Blood trailer from The Game Awards.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is scheduled to arrive on PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One on February 24, 2015.
