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# The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past - Everything we saw at Gamescom
- URL: https://www.gamerocks.tv/the-witcher-3-songs-of-the-past/
- Published: 2026-09-05T13:28:23.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-07T10:07:15.000Z
- Author: Nick Bahdanouski
- Tags: Reviews

Last week CD Projekt Red showed an extended 1-hour gameplay demo for the new Witcher 3 expansion - Songs of the Past at Gamescom, and I had a chance to see it. New storyline, new big location, new enemies, new characters – all that looked very impressive. But let’s take it one step at a time.

Earlier this year CD Projekt Red dropped a bomb on the gaming community announcing a new expansion for The Witcher 3, Songs of the Past. It's not often that an 11-year-old game gets a new expansion, but this move makes a lot of sense. Considering that the last expansion was released in 2016 and The Witcher 4 won’t see the light of day until at least 2028, CD Projekt Red needs to keep players busy and hyped until the new game release.

It also helps that CD Projekt Red will work together with the company called Fool's Theory, veterans who worked on The Witcher 3 - which lets the main team focus on The Witcher 4.

In addition to the expansion announcement, last week at Gamescom Opening Night Live CD Projekt Red also announced the remastered version of The Witcher 3 that will be free for all original game owners, so the demo was presented in the remastered version.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/e7/afe78b8c-ad2d-4668-a936-e62e4a2b7f1e/content/images/2026/09/W3SoP_Gamescom_Garden_of_Thorns_2_NS2_16x9_CLEAN.png.png)

Songs of the Past is expected to be huge, close to the Blood and Wine expansion size. It will be sort of a prologue to The Witcher 4, although not a direct one. In the expansion story we play as Geralt again, traveling with Dandelion to his homeland, Letten, to help him with some family matters. Songs of the Past is set for release in 2027 and will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2.

Speaking about the remastered version, on top of the new graphics it will also include new skill tree, new combat system, new weapon, new horse and monster behavior and many, many other things. It is a great opportunity to replay The Witcher 3, especially considering it is out this month.

Now let’s move to what we saw at the Gamescom presentation. The main thing that impressed me right from the first seconds is how different the world feels now. Not only does it look great, it also has a lot of new activities happening around the player. There are more people around and everyone is actually doing something, more animals are surrounding us (and you can even interact with them), nature is richer with trees and plants and it just feels like a different, more alive world. Speaking about the graphics, it also looks amazing, with the new lighting, shadows, ray tracing and visual effects. All of that makes the picture even better.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/e7/afe78b8c-ad2d-4668-a936-e62e4a2b7f1e/content/images/2026/09/W3SoP_Gamescom_Letten_Vista_Brewery_NS2_16x9_CLEAN.png)

Another thing that surprised me is how natural all the new additions from the remastered version feel. The new weapon pulls enemies toward you so naturally that you start asking yourself how we ever fought without it? The new combat system and signs allow you to create an unbelievable variety of combinations for killing monsters. Running into a monster that burrows underground and escapes? Great, let’s use the sign that will trap it and then ignite. Running into a monster that you can’t get close to? Ok, this is the time for the new silver chain, to pull the enemy. The new skill tree, in my opinion, is also now more clear. All that creates a completely new experience in a world you already know.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/af/e7/afe78b8c-ad2d-4668-a936-e62e4a2b7f1e/content/images/2026/09/W3SoP_Gamescom_Combat_Signs_NS2_16x9_CLEAN.png)

The story itself is very intriguing, I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say that Dandelion’s family keeps a lot of dark secrets and the whole 1-hour demonstration felt like 10 minutes. It seems to be somehow similar to Hearts of Stone although a little bit more of a detective story.

On a negative side, while the graphics were good, animations and character details feel outdated compared to modern standards. It was especially noticeable in cutscenes. But again, we are talking about an 11-year-old game, so this is something we can easily forgive.

But the good news is that all the things that we loved about the original game are still there. A variety of things to explore, different approaches to passing quests, great humor, exciting fights and amazing story - all that I saw in the demo, so I feel extremely good about the new expansion.

CD Projekt Red didn't announce an exact date within that 2027 window, but hopefully, we won’t have to wait too long. And while waiting, I will replay the original Witcher 3 with the expansions in the remastered version and I recommend you do the same.