The developers of Songs of the Past for The Witcher 3 wanted to send players to a new region from the start, but are doing everything they can to dodge questions about the main villain

CD Projekt RED is keeping most story details of the The Witcher 3 expansion Songs of the Past under wraps. The studio has shown the setting and a few characters Geralt will meet, but the plot itself remains a mystery. Journalists put questions to story director Marcin Blacha, who held the same role on The Witcher 3.

The plot pulls Geralt out of retirement to help his old friend Dandelion. The expansion takes over the role of the White Wolf's final chapter, which used to belong to Blood and Wine. The questions focused on what the new story offers to justify the hero's return ten years later, and why the team picked this particular path.

Blacha was most open about the setting.

"Letten is the homeland of Geralt's dear friend Dandelion, and it is because of him Geralt decides to head out onto the Path once again. The setting is unfamiliar to Geralt, and to players, and while Dandelion grew up here, he hasn't been back for a long time. It is only after he receives some urgent family business that he decides to return, but he needs Geralt's support as a friend.

I'd say this new setting helps do one very important thing for us: lets us tell new stories. We rarely see Dandelion like we will in Songs of the Past, forced to face up to responsibility, and in turn, we get to see how that impacts Geralt as a character as well. With a new region, there are new stories, and a lot of potential for players to discover a new side of a game they know so well. For us, Letten felt like a really natural way to go."

The answer explains why Letten suits the story and shows that CD Projekt RED deliberately wanted to explore a new corner of the Continent. Another question asked whether locations Geralt already has ties to were considered. Blacha did not rule it out directly, but his reply suggests the studio likely had eyes only for unfamiliar lands.

The developer said far less about the "long-dormant evil" Geralt will face in Letten. The question was whether the enemy resembles monsters or forces the witcher has fought before, and whether it has any connection to him predating the expansion. Blacha would only say that the foe is "certainly a new challenge for Geralt" and "a core part of the mystery of the region."

What is known so far is that a curse is involved, and that some enemies are people fused with trees. Further details will likely stay hidden until release.

Blacha declined to say whether Songs of the Past has any other nods to the first Witcher game beyond the chain weapon already visible in the promo material. He also said nothing about returning characters other than Dandelion, only adding that he is looking forward to seeing how players react to the new ones.

Journalists also asked what Blood and Wine could not deliver as a conclusion to Geralt story in the games, and what the team hopes to fix with the new finale. Blacha politely declined to answer. Talk of Songs of the Past endings is probably premature anyway.

The only developer comment on Blood and Wine no longer being Geralt last adventure came from Blacha in an interview with The Guardian. He said it "was certainly something [the studio] thought through." The team saw Dandelion's request for help as a fitting hook to pull the witcher away from his quiet vineyard life, but the story director did not elaborate.