Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is a card game—it's based on Gwent—and also a "true Witcher RPG." If you're not quite clear on how that's going to work (which is entirely understandable), a new 37-minute gameplay video lays it all out.
The video begins with Nilfgaard's invasion of Lyria, then skips ahead (to avoid spoilers) to Meve's effort to break the siege of Dravograd. The full battle plays out, demonstrating the Gwent-style gameplay, resulting in a Lyrian victory (sorry, not avoiding that spoiler) and then some conversation and a decision to be made—to throw financial support to Dravograd, whose grain stores were lost in the siege, or to keep money and resources focused on bolstering the army.
"Some immediate, some far-reaching—eventually, a time will come when you have to deal with the consequences of the decisions you make," the narrator says.
From there, Meve takes to the overmap and encounters a side quest, which results in a shortened battle: The rules are the same, but it only lasts for one round.
The core mechanics mean that Thronebreaker is likely going to appeal to card game fans more than RPGers, but it looks like a legitimately fresh and interesting take on a genre that typically doesn't go in too heavily on narratives. It comes out on October 23 and is up for preorder now exclusively from GOG.
As Netflix's The Witcher Season 4 loses another star, once again I feel compelled to tap the 'this no-budget YouTube fan film does the Witcher better' sign
I can only assume this upcoming Witcher children's book takes it easy on the folk horror, fantasy racism, and brutal violence I associate with the series
