In Pokémon GO you catch monsters in the real world using your smartphone. The Witcher: Monster Slayer follows a very similar approach. But as the name suggests, it’s more about hunting down the monsters here.
What kind of game is this? Anyone looking at first images from The Witcher: Monster Slayer will likely be reminded strongly of Pokémon GO. It is also an augmented reality game where you must wander through your neighborhood with your smartphone.
There you will be confronted with elements from the Witcher world, as your neighborhood suddenly becomes filled with nasty monsters. But these aren’t as cute as Pikachu or Eevee; they want to rip your damn head off with beaks, claws, and spikes. You can see how that looks in the trailer here:
Aspiring Witchers can register for early access
This is what you do as an AR Witcher: To prevent a quick death at the hands of monsters, you need to hit the creatures hard with your witcher sword. You also have to brew potions and craft items that should support you in battle. So you’re not trying to catch the monsters like Pokémon, but rather to eliminate them as efficiently as possible from the map.
However, a little collecting does happen. Because like the witcher Geralt of Rivia, you take trophies from the slain monsters – which primarily are the heads of the fiends. It looks a bit like a PokéDex but in a brutal way.
There are also story-driven quests that are likewise inspired by the Witcher world. Overall, this is a darker, brutal version of the Pokémon GO principle. If you want to try it out: Soon there will be a way to test.
This is how you can register for The Witcher: Monster Slayer: There is no fixed release date for the game yet, but the timeframe mentioned is “Summer 2021.” However, the first players can plunge into the AR Witcher world even before that.
On the official website (via thewitcher.com) Android users can already register for a soft-launch version of the game. Through the registration, you should have a chance for access to the early access. The draw will be at the end of April, so very soon.
When the test will exactly begin is still open at this point. If the summer release date is to be maintained, it shouldn’t take too long – especially since players in New Zealand have also already received a soft-launch phase.
The Witcher is not the first franchise to attempt a Pokémon GO-like offshoot. Here you can find several alternatives to Pokémon GO that also rely on AR.
