The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past takes Geralt to Letten, a new homeland for Dandelion

CD Projekt Red has revealed more about The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past's setting and narrative direction through an interview with story director Marcin Blacha, who worked on the original game's story and as a lead writer.

The expansion sends Geralt to Letten, the homeland of his longtime companion Dandelion. According to Blacha, Dandelion returns home after receiving urgent family business and requests Geralt's support as a friend. "The setting is unfamiliar to Geralt, and to players, and while Dandelion grew up here, he hasn't been back for a long time," Blacha explained. "It is only after he receives some urgent family business that he decides to return, but he needs Geralt's support as a friend."

Blacha emphasized that the new region serves a specific narrative purpose. "I'd say this new setting helps do one very important thing for us: lets us tell new stories," he said. "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 choice to introduce an entirely new setting on the Continent rather than revisit locations where Geralt has established connections suggests CD Projekt Red wanted to explore unfamiliar territory for the expansion. When asked whether previously visited locations were considered, Blacha did not explicitly rule them out but indicated the studio's preference lay with new lands.

Details about the threat Geralt will face in Letten remain closely guarded. Blacha described the antagonist only as "certainly a new challenge for Geralt" and "a core part of the mystery of the region." Players have glimpsed hints of a curse and enemies described as people spliced with trees, but the studio has withheld further specifics.

This approach to secrecy mirrors CD Projekt Red's handling of previous Witcher 3 expansions, though the studio has disclosed varying levels of detail across past DLC announcements. Blood and Wine's Steam synopsis teased a "horrifying secret behind a beast terrorizing the kingdom" without naming vampires outright, while Hearts of Stone went further, revealing plot points about the Merchant of Mirrors and specific story missions.

When asked whether Songs of the Past includes references to the first Witcher game beyond the chain weapon already shown, or details about returning characters outside Dandelion, Blacha declined to comment. He did say he was "looking forward to seeing players' reactions to the new characters."

Blacha also sidestepped a question about what the expansion aims to deliver as Geralt's final chapter that Blood and Wine could not offer as the original ending. In a separate statement to The Guardian, Blacha noted that replacing Blood and Wine's conclusion with Songs of the Past "was certainly something [the studio] thought through," citing Dandelion's request as a suitable narrative hook to draw Geralt from his vineyard retirement.

Songs of the Past replaces Blood and Wine as the definitive ending to Geralt's story in The Witcher 3, arriving as a decade-long expansion to the 2015 original. The DLC has been described as "a lot dreamier" than a "bread-and-butter Witcher story," suggesting a tonal shift from the base game's approach.