With The Witcher 4 being one of the major announcements at this year's Game Awards, fans of the franchise are eager to get a glimpse at the finer details of the game. While The Witcher 3 is widely beloved for its amazing storytelling, engaging combat, and enemy variety, it's worth looking at some of the features that could have been improved or simplified to make the gameplay more enjoyable, efficient, or manageable - The Witcher 4 doesn't need to repeat its predecessor's mistakes.
Some of the major problem areas or blind spots in The Witcher 3 were with inventory and quest management, certain difficult combat and leveling mechanics, as well as an abundance of loot that left players feeling overwhelmed. Here's a look at gameplay features from The Witcher 3 that desperately need to be improved, overhauled, or simplified in The Witcher 4.
10 Improved Mount Mechanics And Mobility
Roach Was A Faithful Steed With Finicky Controls
If there's one thing a game needs when it requires a mount to complete quests, it's smooth horse controls that feel natural and seamless. While Roach is a faithful companion and always by Geralt's side, the horse's controls are an absolute mess and were a major pain point for a lot of players trying the game for the first time. The complaints about Roach are common among The Witcher 3 community, and frankly, it should be a top priority for developers of The Witcher 4.
It would be one thing if Roach was only used for traveling, but they're actually needed for races in specific quests, making the control issues even more prominent and frustrating. If The Witcher 4 plans on including mounts as a core gameplay feature (which it probably will), the controls will hopefully be given a complete overhaul. With contemporary games from Red Dead Redemption 2 to Elden Ring incorporating seamless and fluid horse controls, there's no reason Ciri's mount should be any different.
9 Underwater Combat That Parallels Ground Combat
It's Drown Or Be Drowned In Witcher 3
In The Witcher 3, the nature of its open world includes expansive swaths of water that Geralt can freely swim through and explore, which sounds all well and grand until he's bum-rushed by a gang of Drowners during a deep dive to the sea floor. Geralt is unable to use his swords or signs underwater and must rely on his trusty crossbow to bolt enemies down instead - this aspect of gameplay is not only frustrating, but breaks immersion in multiple ways.
If The Witcher 4 wants her to swim, it should give Ciri a better way to fight off enemies underwater than a crossbow. If underwater opponents are included, it only makes sense that this water-based combat is as dynamic as it would be on solid ground, and not so much an afterthought.
8 A Transmogrification Or Alteration Option
Altering Item And Armor Appearance In Witcher 4 Should Be An Easy Addition
With an abundance of styles for every category of gear found in The Witcher 3, players and hardcore fans of the franchise are confused as to why they cannot transmogrify their gear - meaning to change its style to whichever one they like the most. This seems like a major oversight for a game with such an array of amazing armor sets, and given Cyberpunk 2077 has a fully functioning transmogrification feature, it doesn't seem like it would be hard to implement into Witcher 3. Nonetheless, no transmog or alteration feature was ever included or added as a feature to Witcher 3.
If The Witcher 4 plans on dangling dozens of alternative styles for different gear types in front of players' faces, it should make those styles more accessible through a transmog feature. These alterations come at no cost or benefit to combat and are purely aesthetic, and overall would be a gesture of goodwill to longtime fans of the franchise.
7 A Consolidated & Organized Loot System
How Much Loot Is Too Much Loot?
The Witcher 3 is full of amazing and powerful gear, but it is also full of waste. Because of the leveling system and how quickly experience can be gained at times, gear in The Witcher 3 becomes obsolete after a very short period of time, especially in the early levels. Not only that, but there is an abundance of low-level items, random objects, and various ingredients that players will never use or will end up scrapping because they couldn't figure out the item's purpose.
It isn't necessarily that Witcher 4 needs to have less loot, just that the items need to be organized clearly, given more explicit descriptions, and not be so convoluted when looking at them in Ciri's inventory. This can be partially solved with an overhauled inventory management system, which leads to the next item on this list.
6 A Reimagined Inventory Management System
A Little Bit Of This, A Lotta Bit Of That
The Witcher 3 is packed with awesome items - oils, potions, bombs, swords, etc. - but the inventory system that acts as a medium between players and these items is extremely difficult to navigate. Primarily, the sheer variety of each item type and the similarity of each of their respective icons made it incredibly hard to discern between which potion or item was needed without ciphering through each one.
As far back as Witcher 1, inventory management has never been user-friendly or intuitive, which is excusable for the first game but a little unsettling if nothing has changed by the fourth. If developers for The Witcher 4 have played their own game, they'll understand why inventory management is so important, especially if they include as many diverse options as they did in The Witcher 3.
5 An Updated Quest Management System
Too Many Quests, Not Enough Time
Similar to the issues with inventory management, the quest management system in The Witcher 3 is clunky and unmanageable at times, creating unnecessary frustration. Quests also rely heavily on map markers, which isn't a bad thing per se, but can be overwhelming in areas like Skellige with an overabundance of question marks. It also isn't entirely clear how players should prioritize side quests and main quests at times, or if doing things out of any particular order will have negative consequences elsewhere.
Having many quests with experience as a reward is a winning formula, but the way these various quests are organized could use an update to make things a little more player-friendly. If The Witcher 4 plans on including a similar number of side quests, it will need to simplify, reorganize, and update the quest management system, and reconsider clustering quests in such large quantities into small areas on the player's map.
4 Better Alchemy System For Potions, Bombs, And Oils
Alchemy Ingredients Become Irrelevant Quickly
In The Witcher 3, if Geralt crafts a potion, bomb, or oil a single time, players will never need to worry about the ingredients for that recipe again. This makes the task of alchemy a chore that becomes a nuisance at times, and ultimately, Alchemy feels like a lesser mechanic in the game as opposed to one that could add value and incentive in the later game.
Additionally, the in-game Alchemy menu for each recipe does not provide a full breakdown of the potion or decoction's effects, and recipe pages from merchants and shops do not explain what each recipe does, forcing players to create the potion in order to truly see what it does. There's no reason the Alchemy system cannot be improved in some form for The Witcher 4.
3 No Rushed Or Half-Baked Plot Lines
Witcher 4 Can Let The Story Play Out
CD Projekt Red Because storytelling and dialogue are so integral to the Witcher experience, players are more sensitive to how story lines play out. Certain moments throughout The Witcher 3 felt rushed, particularly Djikstra's death, which left fans disappointed in how a strong character from the books was handled, and Radovid's assassination, which was the climax of the story and certainly deserved a bit of finesse.
The Witcher 4 can afford to spend as much time as needed to fill out plot points, and there's no need for any specific storyline to feel rushed, incomplete, or phoned in, especially when these stories have such rich source material to pull from and the game relies on narrative elements to keep players engaged. Because the plot and storytelling are excellent on the whole, incomplete stories stand out like a sore thumb.
2 Improved Movement And Fall Damage
Free Fallin'
The Witcher 4 can learn a valuable lesson from certain mods available in The Witcher 3 that improve motion and movement control for Geralt. The clunky and over-sensitive controls are a major pain point for many new players and veterans alike, and without mods to fix these issues, many players wouldn't play the game at all. It's going to be important for Ciri's movement in The Witcher 4 to feel much smoother than Geralt's.
Additionally, the way fall damage works in The Witcher 3 needs to be improved and rethought from the ground up - it's possible for Geralt to die from a pretty short fall, which doesn't make much sense when he can easily take massive hits from monsters and lesser enemies and take a fraction of the damage. Ciri should be able to survive a pretty high drop without dying, and this should be a pretty simple improvement to implement.
1 Difficulty And Combat Scaling
The Witcher 3 Is Pretty Easy Once You Learn What's Effective
Custom Image by Lee D'Amato One of the biggest complaints about The Witcher 3 is that the game becomes very easy once Geralt's basic mechanics are understood, even on the highest difficulty settings. It isn't a great sign that even casual players can play on Death March, the highest difficulty setting, and still not struggle very much during major encounters. The Witcher 4 can incorporate a better difficulty scaling system that makes enemies much tougher as players level up, and still provides an easy mode for players who enjoy a less challenging journey. It's going to be an interesting time for Witcher fans over the coming months as they await the next big installment in the franchise.
Looking back at The Witcher 3, there are so many amazing features and mechanics that players enjoyed, and just a handful of issues that fans ultimately can't wait to see improved in the next chapter. One thing is certain: having Ciri as the protagonist opens up so many opportunities for improved gameplay, combat, and story, and the decision has fans incredibly excited for what is to come, and these ten gameplay features are going to be essential for players looking forward to The Witcher 4 in 2025.
The Witcher IV
Franchise The Witcher
Engine Unreal Engine 5
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