LectureMaster
Gold Member
Game director Sebastian Kalemba and executive producer Małgorzata Mitręga did an interview with Polish site GRY Online and they talked about tightening up gameplay of Witcher 4, and explore quality improvement of monsters in the game.
Full interview in Polish
Following is the google translation of parts of the interview.
MM: Was there anything that, with hindsight, seemed to you to be a weaker element in, for example, The Witcher 3 , and you wanted to tighten it up?
Sebastian Kalemba: Definitely. We definitely want to tighten up the gameplay and the experience of hunting monsters. That's one of the reasons why the bauk mentioned by Gosia was such an important part of the trailer. It's not just that we wanted to show a new creature that inhabits a nightmarish forest, we also wanted to show the organic nature, the fear that these monsters bring. To show that this is a real problem in this world and that defeating this monster, shortening the distance during the hunt every time is key. This fight, choreography and feeling, this experience of what it is to hunt a monster, was very important to us in the trailer and it was no coincidence that we wanted to present it this way. In this world, we play a professional witcher who hunts monsters and this is the center of her profession. We wanted this monster and this fight to have an emotional charge, but also potentially convey the feeling of gameplay that we want to achieve in the future.
MM: How much of The Witcher 3 will we find in The Witcher 4 ?
Małgorzata Mitręga: We will definitely find witchers here [laughter], because the whole profession, the whole world exists. It's still dark and difficult. We want to present new areas, like the village of Burzyny, located quite far to the north, which you saw in the trailer; you will get there in the game. What is definitely common between The Witcher 3 and 4 - both games live with stories; this has always been the case with The Witcher and all our games. You can definitely expect more of that, we want to explore even more colorful characters with whom you can emotionally bond, return to them and experience adventures with them.
Sebastian Kalemba: As Gosia says, the framework of the world is 100% established. It will be slightly redefined only and exclusively because we are making a plot strongly driven by characters. We are now getting to know her from Ciri's perspective, so we want to experience this world a little differently, in her way. And she will also become a witcher, which is already visible in the trailer. We really wanted to include in this material a pill of what the world carries within itself, that it is quite dark. At the same time, we wanted to show that the consequences of our actions can be different, there are also those that bring some hope. One hundred percent players who have completed the trilogy, especially the third one, will find nuances and references in The Witcher 4. However, this does not change the fact that the new game will be a great time to start an adventure with The Witcher , because it is essentially an origin story. We get Ciri, whose entire character arc is written out for the entire trilogy.
Małgorzata Mitręga: And most importantly, there will be monsters [laughter]. This is something that, in terms of quality, we want to explore more. Monsters are part of the storytelling, so they will be connected to the regions, to the stories told, so that it is all coherent and interesting. Besides, even this bauk [from the trailer – editor's note] is more than just an ordinary monster; it has its own psychological note when it tempts Ciri.
Full interview in Polish
Following is the google translation of parts of the interview.
MM: Was there anything that, with hindsight, seemed to you to be a weaker element in, for example, The Witcher 3 , and you wanted to tighten it up?
Sebastian Kalemba: Definitely. We definitely want to tighten up the gameplay and the experience of hunting monsters. That's one of the reasons why the bauk mentioned by Gosia was such an important part of the trailer. It's not just that we wanted to show a new creature that inhabits a nightmarish forest, we also wanted to show the organic nature, the fear that these monsters bring. To show that this is a real problem in this world and that defeating this monster, shortening the distance during the hunt every time is key. This fight, choreography and feeling, this experience of what it is to hunt a monster, was very important to us in the trailer and it was no coincidence that we wanted to present it this way. In this world, we play a professional witcher who hunts monsters and this is the center of her profession. We wanted this monster and this fight to have an emotional charge, but also potentially convey the feeling of gameplay that we want to achieve in the future.
MM: How much of The Witcher 3 will we find in The Witcher 4 ?
Małgorzata Mitręga: We will definitely find witchers here [laughter], because the whole profession, the whole world exists. It's still dark and difficult. We want to present new areas, like the village of Burzyny, located quite far to the north, which you saw in the trailer; you will get there in the game. What is definitely common between The Witcher 3 and 4 - both games live with stories; this has always been the case with The Witcher and all our games. You can definitely expect more of that, we want to explore even more colorful characters with whom you can emotionally bond, return to them and experience adventures with them.
Sebastian Kalemba: As Gosia says, the framework of the world is 100% established. It will be slightly redefined only and exclusively because we are making a plot strongly driven by characters. We are now getting to know her from Ciri's perspective, so we want to experience this world a little differently, in her way. And she will also become a witcher, which is already visible in the trailer. We really wanted to include in this material a pill of what the world carries within itself, that it is quite dark. At the same time, we wanted to show that the consequences of our actions can be different, there are also those that bring some hope. One hundred percent players who have completed the trilogy, especially the third one, will find nuances and references in The Witcher 4. However, this does not change the fact that the new game will be a great time to start an adventure with The Witcher , because it is essentially an origin story. We get Ciri, whose entire character arc is written out for the entire trilogy.
Małgorzata Mitręga: And most importantly, there will be monsters [laughter]. This is something that, in terms of quality, we want to explore more. Monsters are part of the storytelling, so they will be connected to the regions, to the stories told, so that it is all coherent and interesting. Besides, even this bauk [from the trailer – editor's note] is more than just an ordinary monster; it has its own psychological note when it tempts Ciri.
