Some players of The Witcher 3 are currently experiencing an unexpected experience: freely exploring the world in the shoes of Ciri. A feat made possible by a recently discovered bug. “A bug in The Witcher 3 kind of gave us The Witcher 4, in a pretty weird way.”
In the base game, Ciri is only playable during very brief scripted sequences, limited to a few missions. But a Reddit user, PotentialEmu2367, managed to go beyond the boundaries imposed by the scenario in the chapter “Ciri’s Story: Visit to Junior”, and wander around in the open world with her.
A bug that allows Ciri to be played anywhere in the open world
The manipulation, quite complex, bypasses instant death zones and invisible walls normally intended to block the player. “By exploiting this bug, you can even complete quests, but NPCs will see you as Geralt and comment as if you were him.” Result: the adventure takes a surreal turn. During cutscenes, Geralt sometimes reappears, or it is Ciri who speaks with Geralt’s voice. Unexpected scenes that recall the oddities of open-world games not intended for these diversions.
An illusion of early access to The Witcher 4
The exploit quickly ignited the forums. “My friend unlocked early access to Witcher 4,” jokes a user. Others see this bug as a taste of what could be offered The Witcher 4 if Ciri becomes the main heroine of the next opus. Another comment is ironic about the improbable immersion generated by these scene diversions: “This cutscene with Dijkstra is literally ‘the appearance of your personalized character in a cutscene’.”
A limited but promising exploration
Despite the surprise effect and the pleasure of experimentation, this twisted version of the adventure has its limits. Ciri cannot use the same powers as Geralt, including magic, which prevents certain quests from being completed. For example, in the DLC Hearts of Stoneit becomes impossible to move forward at a key moment. But this breach discovered ten years after the game’s release proves to what extent The Witcher 3 continues to fascinate players. And if CD Projekt Red has not yet confirmed anything about Ciri’s role in The Witcher 4this bug comes at the right time to fuel all the speculation.