The Witcher Interview

Gaming Heaven has conjured up a lengthy interview with Michal Madej, chief designer on CD Projekt’s The Witcher.

Q: How much freedom will the gamer have in relationship to the story development? Is it totally linear, or are there areas where the gamer can do some side quests?

A: (The Witcher), as every self-respecting RPG, provides the player with a great deal of freedom when it comes to decision making. In this case, we put emphasis on shaping the plot through gamer choices. The game has three completely different endings, depending on decisions made by the player throughout the whole adventure, from beginning to end. While it seems that this is already a certain expected standard, established by games like BioWare’s, (The Witcher) is different in this respect when it comes to the nature of the actual choices. Firstly, all the decisions the player will face are mature and ethically difficult, forcing the gamer to make the choice between two evils. Secondly, the effects of these choices will not be immediately apparent, as they are time delayed, preventing the player to revert to the (save/load) technique to determine, which decision is more advantageous. Thirdly, when the effects of his actions will become clear, the player will be reminded of his choices which led to this outcome through flashback or feedback cut scenes. Naturally, there will also be a multitude of side quests awaiting completion, most of which will be commissions for the slaying of monsters.