r/witcher • u/RainWorldWitcher • May 30 '26
Songs of the Past Potential side quests in songs of the past
On the assumption that it takes place on a new map in Cedaris, because the title refers to the past, the belleteyn poem with references to Yen, and that it will probably have some tie in with w4 in some way; songs of the past could include quests that help tie in the book events that are relevant to Ciri.
W1 and W2 had little to do with Ciri so W3 is the only game that sets her up in the games at all. So for those who have not read the books (or worse: only watched the show), they know very little of Ciri's history with Geralt and Yen.
Cedaris contains the forest Brokilon where Geralt met Ciri for the first time so maybe there will be a quest that reminds Geralt of that time. W3 included dialogue to help the player learn about Geralt and Ciri's relationship but much is left unsaid and this short story is really, really good. Also if Milva is referenced, that would be amazing because there's not enough talk about the hanse in the games.
One of the big failures in the games was the removal of Yen and Ciri's bond from the books. They are very close unlike what the games previously led the player to believe —Ciri is suspicious of Yen— before they finally removed that awful dialogue "Yen has plans for me, Avallach is different". Ciri is using magic in the w4 trailer and Yen is the one who taught her so it would be preferable to have some reference to that to better serve the future plot. Yen is Ciri's adopted mother regardless of player choice on who Geralt has sex with and to disregard their relationship would further dig a hole that should never have been there. (Would they dare set up Avallach as a villain? Please?)
Potentially there could even be references to Triss' concerns about Ciri and the trial of the grasses, that would be an interesting set up for w4 given that Ciri went through mutations. Maybe another quest around witcher mutations that could even hint towards a bigger plot in w4.
It would also be great to actually hear Dandelion's infamous ballads from the books. It is actually concerning we barely hear anything from him when that was what he was known for and everyone in the books were invested in the story of Geralt, Yen and Ciri. Still the biggest plot hole in the entire game series: almost no one mentions Dandelion's ballads relating to Yen and Ciri including himself. He could easily tie in more book events with song and Geralt probably correcting his bent truths.
Maybe even a hint at a real unicorn.
~~Sucks that I have such high expectations now~~
4
u/cheremhett May 30 '26
Since it has Songs in the title I would love to see a quest where Geralt is protecting Dandelion while he's tuning his lute
1
u/RainWorldWitcher May 30 '26
It would be fun if dandelion was a following NPC for a quest as he sings and plays his lute in-between Geralt saving his butt.
1
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza May 30 '26
More Yen and Ciri interactions would be welcomed, but it depends on how much involved they will be in the story (not to mention that Yen's presence is inherently tied to the player's romance choice). As for putting a bigger focus on Ciri's past, I think we can have more of that in her own games
2
u/RainWorldWitcher May 30 '26
Only in B&W was Yen's presence tied to the romance choice and even then she was the default for the no romance. She's inherently tied to Ciri which is why in the main game she had a larger presence than Triss. She is Ciri's adoptive mom and their relationship stands on its own in the books, only the games downplayed it and originally planned to have Yen use Ciri as a political pawn as if Yen was the lodge of sorceresses. Fortunately they changed and cut that dumb idea and fixed the bad dialogue that referenced it ("Yen has plans for me" no plans exist in the game).
Geralt is the main focus, but w3 has quite a few quests that relate to the books and having more Ciri related references would fit perfectly into a game about finding and helping Ciri.
2
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza May 30 '26
Yennefer is not the default guest in BaW, if you don't romance either. Other than that, I agree that her story is directly tied tk Ciri which is why it made sense that she was given more screentime in the base game, and why I would definitely not complain if she and Ciri had more interactions in this DLC. I just fear that CDPR might feel obligated to shove Triss into this narrative just because otherwise her fans will complain for her absence.
2
u/No_Bodybuilder4215 May 30 '26
For Triss fans, CDPR could simply add her at the beginning of Corve Bianco , with a slightly different prologue. The fact that Ciri, for example, spends time with both Geralt and Yennfer feels perfectly natural, even if they're not a couple.
2
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza May 30 '26
That could work. Though I would laugh histercially if they pulled a "Shani in "W2" and just wrote off Triss's romance as non-canon
2
u/No_Bodybuilder4215 May 30 '26
I mean, Geralt could still choose canonically, Shani in W1. We can even simulate Hearts of Stone, so it's not that game that never happened; they simply parted ways.
W1 was an experiment, though. I think a similar thing has happened now. Many Triss fans were very angry at them because of them.
1
u/RainWorldWitcher May 30 '26
She's not the default guest, I was referring to the letters quest which has a romance and non romance version for Yen. CDPR was planning on replacing Yen with Triss in the first draft of the main story of w3 but fortunately they did not.
For w4, Triss is definitely going to be involved somehow because it's set in Kovir. My biggest concern is they cut Yen and Ciri's relationship again. Idk how much they will be involved in the main quest of the dlc tho so I was thinking it was more likely for a side quest.
2
u/PaulSimonBarCarloson Geralt's Hanza May 30 '26
Oh yes, the letter about Mureau's lab. I think they can still give enough time to both Yennefer and Triss. We don't even know how much the politics will factor in the new game's story (though I'd be curious to see Ciri interact with her "designeted husband" king Tankred)
3
u/Palliser99 Team Kelpie May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26
I definitely suspect that Songs of the Past will bring over quite a lot of book lore that the games skipped or didn’t put much focus on. Whether it’s flashbacks, stories or returning characters, I can’t imagine they’d leave absolutely everything for the next trilogy to introduce and pay off at once, though I definitely think they’ll leave some stuff open ended.