The Witcher 3 remaster and Songs of the Past are interconnected: the idea for the expansion emerged during the development of the next-gen update, released in late 2022. The expansion is set to be released next year.
Songs of the Past can be started immediately after completing the main campaign. Playing previous DLCs is not mandatory. However, the plot takes into account whether the player has completed “Blood and Wine”: this will be reflected in dialogues, events, and the consequences of decisions. The story begins at the moment Geralt wants to retire, and Dandelion asks him for one last favor.
The size of the new world will be closer to “Blood and Wine” than to the first expansion. Players can expect new characters, enemies, monsters, weapons, armor, and non-linear quests with decision consequences.
Paweł Sasko noted that the developers decided to slightly expand the familiar formula of The Witcher 3 and make the story more unusual:
We can take that core, expand it a little bit, and go into something more absurd. Now, looking at Songs of the Past, you can see that approach. It doesn't make the story funnier or more absurd, but stylistically, it feels a bit like that in the demo presented.
The new approach will also affect the visual style and music. According to the developers, they will be significantly more “dreamlike” to give players a new experience with the expansion.