00:00Hey everyone, my name is Miles Torst, and I'm a Level Design Lead at CD Projekt Red.
00:06We're at Gamescom right now, presenting our demo for our upcoming third Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past.
00:12We realized that while plenty of you are excited about the new content, you may not be able to join
00:18us in person,
00:18and so we prepared a few excerpts of what we are showing for you at home.
00:23And don't worry, we know new content for The Witcher 3 doesn't come often, so we'll keep it light on
00:28spoilers today.
00:29Please enjoy.
00:37Welcome to Letten, the new region we're introducing in Songs of the Past.
00:43The remastered update greatly improves on the visuals of the original by adding advanced ray tracing, improved lighting, and many
00:51other things.
00:54Letten is a fully realized open world, comparable in scope to Blood & Wine.
00:59Like other regions in the game, you'll be able to explore it freely.
01:03It's packed with new quests, interesting characters, places to find, and monsters to fight,
01:09all crafted with care to deliver our CDPR signature mature story time.
01:15Let's take a look at Letten and its people.
01:17It's the night after the mystical Bellatin, an important local tradition where people celebrate fertility and pray for a good
01:26harvest.
01:27Geralt is wearing the traditional Bellatin outfit because he took part in the festivities.
01:35Oh, hey, buddy.
01:39Hey, buddy.
01:59This is Roach.
02:02It's good to be back, old friend.
02:07From its Pagan-esque customs to its architecture and landscape, Letten is heavily inspired by the Polish and English countryside.
02:16And they call Letten the Land of the Plenty.
02:19And if you ask me, it's easy to see why.
02:22It's an almost uncannily idyllic place, sheltered from the conflicts that shape the rest of the continent.
02:29Here, people have their own customs, and traditions play an important role.
02:49Songs of the Past builds on The Witcher 3's community systems, adding more complex routines and detailed dialogue than in
02:56Geralt's previous adventures.
02:58Everywhere you look, people are busy with their lives.
03:07All together, this gives Letten its unique identity and makes the world of The Witcher 3 feel more detailed and
03:14alive than ever before.
03:48Okay, so, you've probably been wondering why Geralt is in Letten to begin with.
03:52It's because of Dandelion, the famous bard and Geralt's closest friend.
03:58Our Witcher travels to Letten, which is Dandelion's homeland, to help his friend with some family matters.
04:03Now, we'll not go into much more details here today, but let's at least end this moment with something that
04:09may surprise some of you.
04:18To follow them now. Tomorrow, come today.
04:30Scroves. Such a sight is in every straw.
04:43This is Dandelion's home.
04:45What you may not know about our favorite bard is that his real name is actually Julian Alfred Pankratz Viscount
04:52de Lettenhoff.
04:53And he's a member of a wealthy noble family, and this is where he grew up.
05:07It seems that not everything in Letten is fine, however.
05:10Do you see those black banners?
05:12They are a sign of mourning, and part of the reason why Dandelion has returned home after all of these
05:18years.
05:19Okay, let's jump ahead and show you a very different side of Letten,
05:23to give you a taste of the dark secret that is hiding below the surface.
05:29Letten's Valley is idyllic with the exception of one flawed spot, the Garden of Thorns.
05:35Together with Lilla, Dandelion's cousin, we're here to investigate an old Lettenhobe family legend.
06:04Lilla is right, no wonder people avoid this place.
06:07There's something unnatural about the forest.
06:22Lilla, hide now!
06:33Keep fighting down!
06:33Oh, look out!
06:36He's fighting down!
06:39Oh, damn it!
06:50With the remastered update, we're adding many enhancements to the combat system to make it
06:54more smooth and precise, by for example, updating the camera and targeting behavior.
07:25Smell blood. Lots of it. Some old. Musty. Some fresh.
07:43Poor thing.
07:46Hmm. Thorns are drinking its blood, looks like.
07:51Oh, my. Here. Look. Violets. From your dream.
08:01Dreamed I smelled them. Yeah.
08:05Oh, it's all so beautiful. Hauntingly so.
08:11These must be the remains of those who tried to enter before us. Rather like a warning.
08:20Looks like a thorny knot.
08:26What?
08:27Wait. Blood not bound.
08:31What?
08:32The legend. It tells of Humbert's mad, doomed love for a witch. The Nakhak.
08:40Lenten's villagers harmed the witch. And he spilled their blood in return. In the name of love. He threw their
08:48bodies down a well. And the garden of thorns sprung up around it. A garden that thirsts for blood to
08:57this day. Humbert's bloodlust grown flesh.
09:02Explains the bloodsucking creepers. Of boundless thirst and blood not bound. The garden shall yield to a heart true and
09:11sound.
09:16Great story. But the place looks rough and Dandelion might be in it. Step aside.
09:39It's worked.
09:50It's worked.
09:53Let's do it.
10:26The Garden of Thorn seems to be more than just a spooky looking forest, and now we have
10:31lost Lilla.
10:38The dream lies and dies, it enters the world.
10:54Who's talking?
10:56Let him return what was taken.
11:08This place is dangerous and clearly in need of a professional witcher.
11:25Let's take a look at one more cool thing before we end it for today.
11:29This is a Swarmium, one of Latin's new monsters.
11:33It protects itself with a swarm of hornets.
11:52Luckily, Geralt has a new tool that can help him with his warmest shield, the chain.
12:12The chain also features a weak point system that you can exploit to do this.
12:23All right, that's enough for today.
12:25I hope you enjoyed this small sneak peek of Songs of the Past and the many changes that
12:29come with the remastered update.
12:31Thank you very much, and see you on the path.
