As The Witcher 3 experiences a resurgence in modding activity, a particularly striking modification has emerged, poised to surpass all others in its impact. What does it do?
Properly, allowing you to substitute Geralt with a customizable witcher, witchress, or sorceress seamlessly preserves the narrative’s integrity.
As previously reported, The Witcher 3’s REDkit modding tool, which grants access to a vast array of assets originally used by CD Projekt Red to develop the game itself, has empowered modders to create impressive new content recently, including reviving cut material and porting over areas from earlier entries in the series.
Despite initial appearances suggesting otherwise, ‘Customized Participant Characters’ by modder Nikich340 surprisingly aligns with what could have been in development before CD Projekt publicly revealed the game’s mechanics. “After dedicating over two and a half years to developing this mod, I leveraged various instruments and wrote custom code where necessary.”
Why’s that shocking? Effectively, this mod takes on the monumental task of enabling players to fully embody their chosen character – a customizable Witcher, Witcheress, or Sorceress – in a way that transcends simple model swapping. Within the game’s latest trailer, players gain the opportunity to craft their unique protagonist by combining attributes from existing non-playable characters (NPCs). This customization feature is triggered through the consumption of a specific potion, which summons an interactive display for users to tailor their character’s appearance and abilities.
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While revamping Geralt’s appearance may be the primary draw of the male witcher option, the introduction of witcheresses and sorceresses offers a far more comprehensive experience. These additions not only include tailored animations to accommodate their unique physiques but also a striking new combat system for sorceresses, allowing them to wield the same magical spells as mages in the base game.
While acknowledging the mod’s potential for notable character development, one area for improvement lies in its representation of female protagonists. Instead of employing a custom voice actor, Nikich340 opted to train an AI RVC model to blend Geralt’s voice with those of Ciri, Triss, and Yennefer, offering three female voice acting options for listeners.
While this optional aspect of the mod may seem unrelated to its primary purpose, with the modder having created it as a standalone feature and taken steps like rendering voices half-donation exempt and never importing external voices from The Witcher 3, it is ultimately up to you to decide whether this suffices in making you feel comfortable using it.
As you weigh the pros and cons of embracing AI-generated voices, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with the ongoing debate surrounding their use, particularly in the context of acting, before making a decision.
