The Witcher 2 - Interview @ IGN

IGN's Witcher Vault has an very nice interview with Tomasz Gop who gives answers with usefull information about the ucoming game. Topics discussed are the new engine, the length of the game, combat, sexual content, the story and character development:

Witcher Vault: Let's talk a bit about the character development. We've seen ‘level up' several times during the presentation, and the ominous message ‘you have new Talents to train'. Will new system also base on qualitatively different (and amount-restricted) feat points?
Tomasz Gop: Yes and no. You invest into what you basically want to become, but we changed the approach - there's a lot less passive abilities to be found in W2. Another thing is, that aside from Talent allotment, you will be able to influence the type of the witcher you want to become. In Witcher 1 you had a lot of things to invest into. You could invest into atttributes, abilities, passive development, magic signs. Here you'll have a three-way split instead; three roads of development - Witcher Mage, Witcher Alchemist and Witcher Master Swordsman. You can mix the three, but first and foremost, it's a much simpler system. The limitation here stems from developing something at the cost of something else.

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More information.

it's a much simpler system

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Thats what i voted for, when i bought the Collectors Edition twice?

In Witcher 1 you had a lot of things to invest into. You could invest into atttributes, abilities, passive development, magic signs. Here you'll have a three-way split instead; three roads of development - Witcher Mage, Witcher Alchemist and Witcher Master Swordsman. You can mix the three, but first and foremost, it's a much simpler system. The limitation here stems from developing something at the cost of something else.

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Uh oh..

This is not something I wanted to hear.

yep. not good.

lols, that is the last thing I wanted or expected to hear. They are on the sequel-streamline precipice here with a nasty slope in front of them. So many games have done this before and failed badly through fiddling with game systems that many believe don't need fiddling.

I am currently playing The Witcher and loving it. Also reading the books at the same time really drags you in to the world. Awesome stuff. I am really surprised how complex the quests are and the twists and turns, fantastic!

I find the concept good , i almost never used alchemy in W1 which was okay in easy but it made normal too hard , nice to see that i will never need a potion again , i just hope that they will keep things in balance .

In fact, we wanted to make combat in W2 more ‘witchery’, more tactical, more tuned to the character development.

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I hate tactics ! mindless sword swinging ftw!

Actually the description of this new character development system might be just a wordy way to say "there are classes in W2" which might actually result in a netter organized but in reality more complex system that the one of the first game.

(just trying to be a bit optimistic, because I'd find it somewhat surprising if they have truly decided to simplify a skill system that has already been criticized for being simplistic… Hopefully the goal is to provide a more organized skill system and not to present us Shepard of Rivia)

For my part I quite liked the witcher skills system - I enjoyed using potions and signs as tools to ply my trade. Having read the books that seems to be a fundamental part of a what a being a witcher is... trying to turn Geralt into one of the generic classes that abound in cRPG means it will become just another generic CRPG.

I liked how they designed skills in witcher 1. You had so many choises how to build Geralt. Above all it would be a shame if alchemy has a lesser role in the sequel.. It was so fun that you had to use alchemy to gain upperhand..mixing various potions and hunting monster parts and collecting herbs.. Its what witchers do really when they aren't saving kingdoms and ladies .



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No fixed combo sequences, even the ability to cast a sign mid-melee - sounds like theyre trying to shake up the chain of samey-same attacks that it was easy to slide into. It put a lot of people to sleep in the first one, and gave many the impression "that's all there is". Also, when talking about them simplifying things - when it came to silver, gold talents, all that… really, in the end it didnt make a difference. Youre gonna be maxed out anyway, and there's a few clear paths you can follow. If theyre talking about streamlining the myriad of ultimately meaningless char develpment busywork into a cohesive and meaningful system of solid character progression with a few set archetypes, then I'm all for it.

Like holeraw, I'm trying to be optimistic here when they start talking about their streamlining. I know it's easy to panic. Just take a few deep breaths and have a little faith - the RPG gods may just smile upon us. They just may do it right.

On the subject of the "mature" aspects of the game, Tomasz seems to imply that this time they will take it a little more seriously. I didnt mind the immature approach they took to sexual content last time - juvenile language & approach to t/a and sexual situations, theyre good for a laugh. I like to embrace my inner 14 year old mook self once and awhile, it's stupid fun. That said, I can only commend them if this time around they are approaching it from a truly more "mature" angle and give us some quality adult content, I'm down w/ that too. Plus it's one less thing we have to listen to the easily-and-often-offended caterwauling about.

I think it´s too early for conclusions.
Most of the changes can pan out either way quality-wise, it really depends on how exactly implemented they are.
Personally, I think that class system of sorts is a good idea and with encounter design and combat balancing responsive enough it could significantly increase game´s replay value.
Character development in first Witcher really didn´t offer much diversity, signs were badly balanced and the game wasn´t hard enough to motivate player to use alchemy (or bombs) more extensively and tactically.
Having a simpler system does not necessarily mean it can´t be more interesting tactically.

I have my doubts about some aspects (climbing via hotspots, for example, which hints the world won´t be that open ended as I hoped), but so far I´ve found nothing to be "alarming" and the game seems to be shaping up well.

But yeah, optimist crew represent .