Even without skyscrapers, light pollution, and the near constant blare of lewd TV ads, the liveliness of the Kovirian marketplace in The Witcher 4's Unreal tech demo taps into the environmental buzz of Cyberpunk 2077. So much so that, after watching YouTube clips of players taking Geralt out for light strolls around some of The Witcher 3's most bustling haunts – Novigrad and Toussaint here, specifically – I'm struck by the almost eerie silence in comparison.
Maybe it's the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, but I never noticed how quiet The Witcher 3 can be. Soft footsteps and the odd NPC bark aside, it seems these thriving townships suffer from a serious lack of actual thriving. Sure, it was (and still is) one of the best RPGs for a reason, but with The Witcher 3 having turned 10 this year, it's clear that CD Projekt Red has learned a lot of lessons since then. Specifically, around how to craft an environment – and the tech demo has me hyped for Ciri to get a taste of Night City's buzz
