A Relatively Formal Analysis on the Sounds of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3 (TW3) brings players back to Andzej Sapkowski’s brutal, unforgiving, realist but high fantasy world. One of the most gripping and crucial elements to its Game of the Year Award success is its soundtrack, which was carefully crafted around the setting and the tone of the franchise (Playing with the Past in the Imagined Middle Ages: Music and Soundscape in Video Games, Sounding Out! Blog). With a game the size of TW3, there are a plethora of sound design elements to explore; in-game sounds, soundtrack, voice acting and thematic enclosure to name a few. To provide a solid foundation for the rest of the essay, it is important to state the thematic relevance of the game’s sounds and soundtrack.

The world of Andrez Sapkowski’s The Witcher is essentially the spiritual precursor to that of HBO’s hit show and George R.R Martin’s franchise, Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire). The worlds share a lot of similarities. The use of fantastical monsters, medieval weaponry and realist and adult themes make the innovative take on the high fantasy genre much more exciting. The comparison to Game of Thrones is present to contrast the rise of this sub-genre of fiction which seemed to bloom in the early nineties and to present the acceptance of the style years down the line. The world of The Witcher is gory, dark and melancholic. It exaggerates and exposes common tropes found in society while staying true to its overarching narrative.

The soundscapes of the world are reflections of the world, intertwined with its lore and inhabitants.

The Witcher 3 is not the first game to deal with a dark fantasy setting. However, what puts it ahead of its competitors is its influences and unique stylistic choices. As a subset of the game itself, the soundtrack of the game inherits these influences and styles.

An Introduction

Mikolai Stroinski, one of the lead composers, said in an interview (Ep. 37, TW3WH Music with Mikolai Stroinsky) that CD Projekt Red were looking for a for a Slavic sound when they first revealed the project to hire talent. This implies that the resident composer, Marcin Przybyłowicz, knew exactly what kind of sound TW3 was going to present to its players and why. The musical product can be heard in the various trailers released prior to the game’s release (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — All Trailers). Regions, instances, key characters, and storylines have their own unique soundtrack.

The game exaggerates the characters, regions and moments by planting an accompanying track or sound into the player’s aural space as a clever way to direct the player’s biases and reveal non-verbal and non-visual exposition.

For example, the main menu theme “Geralt of Rivia” (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Main Menu Animation) is the first track the player hears upon starting the game. The menu is animated with the Witcher meditating next to fire as a Gusli (Wikipedia, Gusli) intro fades in like the calm before a storm. Then the orchestra joins in, foreshadowing in its minor tonality the turns in Geralt’s adventure. The drums announce a heroic and brave introduction to Geralt, welcoming the player to the world and to the character. The rest of the track remains orchestral, accompanied by the hurdy-gurdy and the Byzantine lyre which introduce the player to the Slavic tones of the game.

Slavic Tonality

The Slavic themes in the game are brought to life by the music. Folk instruments (What Kind of Instruments are used in TW3?) such as the Gadoulka, Suka, Gusli and the Rebec are instrumentation choices that accent the Slavic modes and create a unique sound. Przybyłowicz discusses the employment of Slavic folk musicians such as the band Percival and the RED Witches in the video documentation of the creation process (The Witcher 3: Creating the Sound). The authenticity of the Polish musicians adds the extra touch in reaching and accentuating the sound of a medieval Slavic setting. Apart from characters such as Geralt, the world is brought to life by the soundtrack as well. For instance, the islands of Skellige each have their own unique themes (The Witcher 3 GameRip Soundtrack — Skellige Exploration Tracks). The track “Faroe” (9:11) is representative of its namesake island. The track shares a brief recurring motif of the Skellige Archipelago theme and then proceeds to share the quaintness of the location with some folk string instruments and a wind flute that accentuates the shiver of the minor backing strings. For the swamps of Velen, the soundscape and track are rainy, broody and dark. For the dingy dungeons of the elves, they are minimalist but mysterious like the race itself. For the booming city of Novigrad, they change depending on which hierarchical area the player finds themselves in. The soundscapes always feel right in TW3, and they make the hours of gameplay memorable months and years after finishing the story. Triple A titles hardly ever experiment with folk tunes and instrumentation and it is quite astounding how TW3 breaks RPG design conventions from every angle, particularly that of sound.

Diegeticity

The sound conventions of the TW3 are exclusive to how they appear in the game. This is particularly true for non-diegetic sounds in the game. Level-up sounds, quest update sounds (The Witcher 3 Quest Complete sound), successful alchemy are all vocalized. They are like grandiose yells indicative of accomplishment and become very rewarding on higher difficulties of the game where any enemy can kill you in one or two hits. Using vocals for feedback sounds is a fascinating choice and it works so well in-game. Most non-diegetic sounds are located in the menus (sounds such as addition of runes to a weapon and mutation changing) and the rest of the game is entirely diegetic, making the menus the only “meta” aspect in the roleplaying. The implementation of diegetic sounds is on a whole other level in TW3. Application of stereophonic and surround options take the diegetic sounds to another dimension. The sound of metal slicing through skin with the splatter of blood is so realistic and brutal that it sends shivers down the spine. In the sound journal (Creating the Sound), the sound designers talk about their process for foley recording and the efforts made to get the most realistic sounds possible. The drawing of a sword, wading in water, crackling of fire, the weight behind a horse’s footsteps (on dirt, stone and water), the clanking of mugs in a bar, one could go on about the various sounds that seem to exit the virtual realm without any effort. It is fascinating to think about the possibility of being able to witness and record actual bouts in armor, working blacksmiths and the clashing of weapons that are region specific to the Slavic and Scandinavian countries such as Poland which is where CD Projekt Red are based. The foley recordings of armor movement, sword cuts and bow stretches add so much to an RPG title like TW3. To create a realistic high-fantasy game almost seems like a contradiction, but TW3 and its sounds achieve that ambitious goal with extravagance.

One of the reasons TW3 achieves maximum player role-play immersion is by making most of its sounds diegetic. When Geralt walks into a bar, the non-diegetic soundtrack fades into the diegetic soundtrack being played by the in-house musicians, seamlessly altering the mood of the game. “The Wolven Storm” (Witcher 3 OST — The Wolven Storm) is a diegetic song in the game that reveals important lore from the book series to players who are not familiar with the lore. This song can be heard in a cut-scene when Geralt is searching for his old friend the city of Novigrad. Diegetic sounds in TW3 add to more than just immersion. They help the player explore lore, hint at potential points and situations of importance, act as a game mechanic and guide players to locations and choices. For example, magic is a key mechanic in the game, there are fundamental signs which can spawn fire, create barriers etc. There are hidden places in the wild called “Places of Power” where Geralt can gain a free attribute point and increase a particular sign’s intensity. The only way to find these places is to use the aural queue of a shiny, reverb heavy mystical sound that begins to enter the aural space as the player gets closer to the place. Another example is that of the Witcher senses. Geralt’s mutations gives him the ability to identify sound sources. While hunting down monsters and contracts, Geralt can use this ability to locate relevant sound sources. When the player activates the senses, the music in the back reduces in volume and the sounds of the environment and creatures magnify exponentially.

Soundscapes

On the topic of environment, TW3 uses the highest level of what the Oxford BioScience Journal calls “soundscape ecology” (Soundscape Ecology: The Science of Sound in the Landscape, Oxford Academic BioScience Journal). The biophony, geophony and anthrophony are intricately developed for every single environment condition. For example, the sound of a river flowing on a sunny day is completely different from how the flow of water sounds during a storm. The sound of monsters snoring while sleeping versus their howls and shrieks during battle make creatures of fantasy feel real. The audible cussing and moans of poverty stricken people versus the mighty laughter of the upperclassmen distinguishes the social stereotypes and tropes that the game wants to accentuate.

TW3 puts in the extra mile to make their sounds “as organic as possible” (Interview with CDPR Audio Team on TW3, Fred Pearson Blog) using techniques such as randomization and fine tuning of wave characteristics, which maintain dynamicity in the sound.

The soundscape ecology has so much detail woven into it that just standing in the two locations without any visuals can immediately give away “the feel” and can plant the right idea about environment into the player’s awareness. For example, the forests of Skellige (ASMR Forests of Skellige) sound rich and full of life. The sounds of critters and animals of various species create an ambience that is distinct and unique to itself, the same soundscape cannot be found anywhere else in the game, and for a game the size of TW3, that is an accomplishment few sound designers can match. The conventions of code and sound reusability have taken a back seat to create the most realistic simulation of the environment. The sound ecology is an aspect of the game that emphasizes the world. However, there are sound design choices that are purely implemented for the best possible narrative experience.

Since TW3 is a narrative driven game, the crux of the experience lies in the game’s characters. They are unforgettable, real and relatable. The core reason for this lies in the voice performances of the actors hired by CD Projekt Red. For the sake of argument universality, the performance language discussed will be English. Doug Cockle (Interview with Doug Cockle — The Voice of Geralt) of many triple A titles and films, reprises his role as Geralt for the TW3. His performance is exponentially better than from The Witcher 2. He brings to life the gruff, supposedly emotionless professional monster hunter that one can picture after reading the book series. The intonations of his voice are indicative of the fact that the mutations stripped Geralt of majority of his emotions but just perfect to relay the emotional stresses to the player. It can be hard to convincingly portray a character who is supposed to have no feelings. However, in the first book of the series, “The Last Wish,” it is exposed to the reader how Geralt starts to realize that the mutations are imperfect and that nobody can be fully stripped of emotions. Geralt’s character arc in TW3 is a roller coaster of emotions. His feelings as a foster father, a lover, a killer and an outcast blend in interesting ways and hearing Cockle bring those blends to life is satisfying and leaves a lasting impression. It feels impossible to imagine anyone else being the voice of Geralt after full completion of what is a very emotional and impactful journey. For the first time in the Witcher game series we meet Yennefer of Vengerburg, a cunning and shrewd sorceress and Geralt’s on and off lover. Like all the characters in the series, Yen is complex. She is a key character in the book series as she schemes and ideates methods to reverse the effects of magic (infertility) on her body. Denise Gough, an underdog in the voice acting scene makes her first major game debut portraying Yennefer. Although her performance seems inconsistent sometimes, Gough brings a unique voice to the raven-haired sorceress, accentuating her complex emotions and rage alongside her feelings of motherhood and love. Even the minor characters have a unique personality brought to life by great voicing. For example, Geralt’s old friend, the dwarf Zoltan, has a unique Scottish accent that perfectly represents a fun, violence-loving and kind-hearted dwarf. The voice acting certainly is not as professional as it could be if CD Projekt hired top Hollywood stars. However, for a game of its quantity of quality, the compromise works and has produced some of the best triple A voice acting in the industry.

Interweaving Sound and Narrative

For insight, the sound files for the game (inclusive of music, voice, effects and ecology) amount to over forty extracted gigabytes of data. The care the sound team has put into crafting TW3’s sounds is evident and manifests perfectly while in-game. Ryan Stunkel words the outcome of optimal sound design as a scenario where “when you play a game, the sound should meld into the gameplay experience unnoticed, but it should also be capable of directing the player’s attention whenever it wants to (Directing Focus with Audio in Games).” The sound design of TW3 fits that description with precision.

The music never seems misplaced, the sounds are all eerily natural and fitting, and the queues of narrative that the audio pushes to the player’s aural space never seem sudden and serve their purpose with elegance.

To quote Ryan Stunkel once again, “the sounds and music should be written with intent.” If one is to dissect any part of the game at any time and consider the sounds at that very moment, the intent in every single layer of sound is analytically obvious. For example, one of the first cutscenes in the “Hearts of Stone” expansion has Geralt stuck on a boat, headed to his own beheading (pun intended). Geralt meets Gaunter O’ Dimm who offers to break him out of his situation. The scene (The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone — Evil’s Soft First Touches Cutscene) starts with a slowed down lyre version of O’ Dimm’s theme (Master Mirror Song, Zor Bolum Blog), setting the tone for rest of the story and the character himself. Once the “deal” is made the music picks back up again, signaling the occurrence of a significant event i.e. the beginning of the expansion. O’ Dimm’s voice instigates skepticism from the player as he markets his talents like a creepy salesman along the road. The sound of the boat creaking and the sound of thunder lays an unconscious foundation in the player’s aural space which is used at the end of the scene, and of course it also serves as a great environmental emphasis. The painful but magical sound of extinguished fire has a higher level of aural influence on the player when the scene captures Geralt in pain as a mark is seared onto his face. O’ Dimm seems to take his theme along with himself as he disappears with the music. The scene ends with a captive complaining about boats and the ringing of an alarm bell before the boat collapses by method of a wave. The sounds of barrels breaking and the sound of the captive’s neck snapping because of the force have the intent of emphasizing chaos before Geralt faints and everything cuts to black. A fun fact that indicates the use of music to attach association with character — during a quest in a later, unrelated expansion to TW3 (Blood and Wine), there is a quest which requires Geralt to reverse a curse on an old woman (Blood and Wine — Man of Glass). The cameo appearance from the chilling O’ Dimm theme insinuates that the one who cast the curse was none other than Master Mirror himself. For any player who catches this non-diegetic moment in gameplay, the level of depth to the world and its characters and the way they are exposed by aural queues creates a feeling of awe.

One of the reasons games are such an amazing medium of narrative storytelling lies in their ability to prompt stimuli in players to manipulate their mental states and make them vulnerable to emotive situations. The sound designers at CDPR have “integrated” (Creating the Sound for the Grand, Wild World of The Witcher 3, A Sound Effect Blog) sound as a key component of the world, gameplay and storytelling which allows them to deliver the highest quality of narration. It succeeds in perfectly crafting environmental, reflexive and character audio dialogue. The Witcher 3 has a set a nonpareil standard for video game music and sound and it will be interesting to see how RPGs in the future try live up to, if not surpass, this standard of sound design.

Citations

Episode 37: The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Music with Mikolai Stroinsky. The Note Show Podcast. October 22nd 2015. http://www.thenoteshow.com/mikolai-stroinski/

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — All Trailers. Youtube. GAMEOST — 24th May 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzTuMqODyd0

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Main Menu Animation. Youtube. 2OldGamers — 25th November 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56GGL5Ha7mQ

Gusli. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gusli

What Kinds of Instruments are used in TW3? Reddit.com https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/46pcbv/whats_the_guitarlike_instrument_used_in_much_of/

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt || Creating the Sound. Youtube. The Witcher — August 30th 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3B2QHIT1Q4&feature=youtu.be

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt GameRip Soundtrack — Skellige All Exploration Tracks. Youtube. Rad — May 26th 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RVcQ_8KKd0&t=712s

The Witcher 3 Quest Complete sound. Youtube. Ggyouwin — May 19th 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28XX3-2_uDw

Witcher 3 OST — The Wolven Storm. Youtube. Murat Ozgen Ozkan — May 22nd 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcFYm0S-zo0

Bryan C. Pijanowski, Luis J. Villanueva-Rivera, Sarah L. Dumyahn, Almo Farina, Bernie L. Krause, Brian M. Napoletano, Stuart H. Gage, Nadia Pieretti; Soundscape Ecology: The Science of Sound in the Landscape, BioScience, Volume 61, Issue 3, 1 March 2011, Pages 203–216, https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2011.61.3.6

Interview with the CD Projekt Red Audio Team on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Fred Perason’s Wordpress. 17th February 2016. https://fredpearson.wordpress.com/2016/02/17/interview-with-the-cd-projekt-red-audio-team-on-the-witcher-iii-the-wild-hunt/

ASMR Forests of Skellige. Youtube. Nix ASMR — February 19th 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gufw5Bt0BXw

Directing Focus with Audio in Games! Youtube. Blipsounds — December 6th 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCV60kT5D88

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone — Evil’s Soft First Touches: Gaunter O’ Dimm Frees Geralt Cutscene. Youtube. Video Games Source — October 14th 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or4DTRYL6U0

Master Mirror Song. Zor Bolum Wordpress Blog. https://zorbolum.wordpress.com/2015/11/07/gaunter-odimm-master-mirror-song/

Blood and Wine — Man of Glass. Youtube. The Joker — June 3rd 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GsvXpK5qDk

Asbjoern Andersen. Creating the Sound of the Grand, Wild World of The Witcher 3. “A Sound Effect” Audio Blog and Library Resource. https://www.asoundeffect.com/the-witcher-3-sound/

Cook, James. Playing with the Past in the Imagined Middle Ages: Music and Soundscape in Video Game. Sounding Out! Blog. https://soundstudiesblog.com/tag/witcher-3/