Madej: While RPGs are essentially about player freedom and the liberty of choice, do keep in mind that complete gamer autonomy and the lack of any constraints often fails to automatically translate into a high quality game. To have this principle as the guiding force behind a game will probably lead the player nowhere. “The Witcher,” on the other hand, from its initial conception, was designed to provide the player with great liberty of decision, whose consequences were to have a significant impact on the plot. While it took us some time before we figured out how to transform this idea into a workable game system, we can now say that we developed our own “style” of going about it.

The first difference that should come to mind when comparing “The Witcher” with clichéd fantasy productions is the difficulty of choices and their resulting moral undertones that can be felt throughout the course of the game. In the dark and mature world created by Sapkowski, there exists no such thing as even an arbitrary division between Good and Evil. The player, therefore, will recurrently be placed in situations where his sole guidance will be his own personal morality in determining the lesser evil, as a universal “good” does not exist.

Secondly, a large proportion of games tend to – simply through their construction – severely restrict their own ability to create the build-up before dramatic decisions are to be made. Moreover, and probably more significantly, players can save their progress before making the choice, verify whether its outcome is beneficial enough to pursue, and only then make the actual decision, depending on what proves most advantageous. Now tell me, where is the fun in that? We addressed the problem by introducing a certain time delay before the consequences of any decision become apparent. Only after a couple of hours of gameplay will the player have to confront the outcomes of his choices. As a result, the gamer will truly have to follow his own consciousness, as he increasingly empathizes with Geralt and his predicaments. Even more significantly, however, whatever choices are made, all are equally valid, as all make the plot progress. Moral dilemmas, therefore, need to be treated as a price to be paid for the attainment of results. The consequences of these choices will steadily keep building up throughout the plot. A point I would like to add is that players will always be made fully aware why they are where they are in the story, as special cut-scene “flashbacks” will be employed.

Gameshark: I’ve read a lot about the game’s mature content – from the bloody fight scenes to nudity. With the increased scrutiny about video game content, is there a fear of a backlash? This sounds like a very, very, adult oriented game. I assume you’re shooting for an M rating?

Madej: “The Witcher” will most likely be labeled with an M rating, yes. Nevertheless, another misconception has crept into the question – the game is not about violence, erotica and other “adult” related aspects. “The Witcher” is termed an adult game largely for its uncommonly mature and serious content, the omnipresent moral predicaments, as well as the lack of a fairytale-like division between Good and Evil. Adult elements will certainly make a visible appearance in the game, yet they are only smaller parts of an intricate universe, which we do not want to distort and render nicer than it truly is. In the real world, after all, violence exists, sex is one of humanity’s “driving forces” and people fight over money and power. Sapkowski earned his popularity by not being afraid to introduce such elements into a fantasy world, and following his lead we head in the same direction. Nevertheless, it has to be said that adult content is not overexposed in any way.

Gameshark: Anything else you’d like to add that our readers may not be aware of?

Madej: Every year, there are a number of interesting games that have great graphics, spectacular combat, or an intriguing storyline. However, I can count on the fingers of my hand the games that offered a stunning treat for the player at the game’s completion, one which would be remembered for long and which would be the crowning achievement of satisfaction gained from reaching the very end. We believe “The Witcher” to be such a game worth playing from the very beginning to the very end. And a few times, at that.