The Witcher Feature of the Week

CD Projekt’s official The Witcher website has been updated with a new “Feature of the Week”, once again providing us with some new concept art and another portion of their ongoing Q&A with Michal Madej. An excerpt from the Q&A:

Q: Can you tell us a thing or two about the main assumptions for the story? What kind of quests can we expect?

A: The first and obviously most important thing is we’re playing Geralt. Not much of a surprise, I know, we announced that some time ago. The Witcher appears with no memories of his past. The main goal of the game will not be for him to reinvent himself in a way who he is is quite clear. Geralt is a well known individual and recognised by many. The trouble is getting to know the reason for his amnesia and the reason for his return. The other thread is a more epic one, it develops around a robbery of the witchers’ keep and the missing of mutation formulas. Ones that allow turning men into superhuman beings. And there’s of course a plethora of subplots and subthreads. That is about all I can tell you of the storyline at the moment. I would not like to spoil the fun of uncovering them by yourselves. As far as quests go, there are those… say self-imposed, an abundance of strictly witcher quests or those considered to be such by the NPCs. The inhabitants of the world do not actually differentiate between a monster slayer and a mere assassin. On the other hand I find it hard to imagine a warrior carrying boxes or babysitting. You can certainly expect a number of ‘˜killing orders’, though we wouldn’t like them to be similar to what you’ve seen in other games. The difference is particularly visible in outcomes of our deeds. There won’t be no rose petals under your feet just because you managed to kill a beast. The witcher is but a tool, respect goes to the one who hires him. A princess has been disenchanted… because her father hired a witcher not a hero. Such flavours all comprise in a certain ambience, a feel to the world. Another important thing is that we will be able to play a professional, a living legend to some extent. We will not be but a redneck climbing up from rags to riches. The players will not be forced to ask for jobs, they will be given ones and it will be them to dictate conditions. You will be able to say: ‘˜Ok, you’ll have your beast killed, but first you’ll need to do ME a favour’. The roles, as you can see, we’ll be somewhat switched. It does, in certain situations, result in obligations to fulfil promises, but will put the player in an entirely new position. Such tiny elements compose in a world where a game becomes reality… and that’s the point, isn’t it?