The Witcher 2 - Interview @ Next Gen

CD Projekt Red's Tomas Gop has been interviewed at Next Gen about The Witcher 2. No new reveals but the comparison with Demons Souls is fascinating:

Since the first Witcher, which games have had the biggest effect on CD Projekt's direction for The Witcher 2?
We get inspired by many games, obviously, like any game developer. I can't say specifically whether it's Heavy Rain, Demon's Souls or Arkham Asylum that has inspired us most over the past few years – it's probably a mix of all of them. I think everyone will find elements of Demon's Souls, though, definitely. We don't auto-scale opponents, for example. If you want to compare it to anything, Demon's Souls is definitely good. I'd like that, for sure.

More information.

The more I hear from theses guys the more I like them. They seem to actually care about their fans, very rare these days.

When I get a PS3 someday the first game I playing on it is Demon's Souls.

Well… maybe Red Dead Redemption if it never comes to PC, then Demon's Souls.

Demon's Souls is a pretty vicious game. Not too much role playing, but it makes you feel like you earn every victory.

I found Demon's Souls a little too frustrating. It has excellent atmosphere and combat, but the difficulty is "holy shit this is hard!" brutal, and I'm the guy who's
normally complaining about a lack of challenge in modern games.

Anyways, I love the way CD Projekt doesn't pander to the masses. It sounds like they're truly trying to make TW2 for hardcore gamers.

They're more hardcore than most, in a couple ways

Demon's Souls is easily one of my favorite games from the past few years. Never too frustrating for me to quit. Just difficult is all. Once you know how to defeat someone it wasn't difficult to do. But sometimes you just got killed because you didn't know someting was coming .

Demon Souls was good for what it was but I dont want a play a game model where you can die every five minutes. I have real life it I want that.

Personally, I didn't have many troubles with dying very often in Demon's Souls, and I loved the difficulty and challenge. Would I loved about the difficulty was that it seemed "fair," meaning that the game never cheated you. If you died, it was because you messed up or weren't prepared for a particular level, and the levels all seemed to be designed extremely well. I know this game isn't for everyone, but I would recommend playing it in an instant. Once you get the hang of the strategies involved with combat, few games in the past few years can match the feeling of achievement that comes from beating a level, and the atmosphere is superb.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
I loved about the difficulty was that it seemed "fair," meaning that the game never cheated you. If you died, it was because you messed up or weren't prepared for a particular level,

I have to disagree with that somewhat. There are definitely some areas where you're almost guaranteed to die the first time going through them, simply because they're based on knowing the timing of a certain event. Some people don't have a problem with that, but I'm not a big fan of "trial and error" type scenarios.

Originally Posted by JDR13
I have to disagree with that somewhat. There are definitely some areas where you're almost guaranteed to die the first time going through them, simply because they're based on knowing the timing of a certain event. Some people don't have a problem with that, but I'm not a big fan of "trial and error" type scenarios.

I respectfully disagree (although our differing experiences might be due to the possibility that we played the game with different playstyles). I rarely fell victim to most of the surprise traps or ambushes because I played in a very careful manner, making sure to thoroughly analyze each room and anticipate surprises. I think that they really wanted to make sure that the player couldn't just sprint around a level full-speed, and I personally really like this approach to the design because it keeps you on your toes in a fair way (IMO). If the player isn't careful and proceeds recklessly through a level, they shouldn't really be surprised about falling victim to a trap that can be avoided when paying attention to the level's surroundings.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
I respectfully disagree (although our differing experiences might be due to the potential that we played the game with different playstyles). I rarely fell victim to most of the surprise traps or ambushes because I played in a very careful manner, making sure to thoroughly analyze each room and anticipate surprises. I think that they really wanted to make sure that the player couldn't just sprint around a level full-speed, and I personally really like this approach to the design because it keeps you on your toes in a fair way (IMO). If the player isn't careful and proceeds recklessly through a level, they shouldn't really be surprised about falling victim to a trap that can be avoided when paying attention to the level's surroundings.

We'll agree to disagree then. I certainly don't role-play the "guns blazing" type, and I still died far more often than I should have. Of course some people are more tolerant of dying than others. I also didn't like that everything respawned upon player death.

There are other flaws in the game as well though. I know some gamers don't mind an "auto-save only" system, but I despise it. I also found it odd that there was no pause feature whatsoever.

Originally Posted by JDR13
We'll agree to disagree then. I certainly don't role-play the "guns blazing" type, and I still died far more often then I should have. Of course some people are more tolerant of dying than others. I also didn't like that everything respawned upon player death.

There are other flaws in the game as well though. I know some gamers don't mind an "auto-save only" system, but I despise it. I also found it odd that there was no pause feature whatsoever.

Well I certainly can't say that you're "wrong," and I believe that all of your points are valid; Demon's Souls is a game that certainly isn't for everyone (though I believe that it is a great game nonetheless). I'm really not sure why, but I honestly just didn't die very often, so I didn't find the game frustrating at all. If I had died often enough, I too would have grown frustrated, but for whatever reason I simply didn't perish beyond a reasonable amount so the difficulty and punishment system wasn't an issue at all for me.

As for the death/save system, that is certainly going to be a divisive design issue because it is quite punishing, and some players will be turned off by this. I personally really liked it because I felt that it was very creative and immersive; each fight felt equally important because of the knowledge that failing to win said fight would have a consequence. I like this concept, and I think that it was an extremely effective way to build up tension and immersion. Would it work in every game? Absolutely not, but I think it worked well in this particular game. Either way, it's certainly a lot more creative than the standard "die and reload" system, although I can see why this dynamic would not appeal to everyone.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
As for the death/save system, that is certainly going to be a divisive design issue because it is quite punishing, and some players will be turned off by this. I personally really liked it because I felt that it was very creative and immersive; each fight felt equally important because of the knowledge that failing to win said fight would have a consequence. I like this concept, and I think that it was an extremely effective way to build up tension and immersion. Would it work in every game? Absolutely not, but I think it worked well in this particular game. Either way, it's certainly a lot more creative than the standard "die and reload" system, although I can see why this dynamic would not appeal to everyone.

Hmm.. I had no problem with the auto-save being "punishing", it had nothing to do with that. It's more a matter of convenience, as I don't want to have to exit the game just to be able to save when I want, and then it didn't put you back at the same spot anyways. Also, if real life comes calling, I'd like to be able to save immediately. Same thing for the missing pause feature.

Just my personal beefs is all, I'm not trying to bring the game down. I still thought is was a good game, just not a great one (for me). I've actually been a fan of From Software since the days of the original Playstation. I was a huge fan of their King's Field series, which Demon's Souls is (oddly) said to be a spiritual successor to.

Originally Posted by JDR13
Hmm.. I had no problem with the auto-save being "punishing", it had nothing to do with that. It's more a matter of convenience, as I don't want to have to exit the game just to be able to save when I want, and then it didn't put you back at the same spot anyways. Also, if real life comes calling, I'd like to be able to save immediately. Same thing for the missing pause feature.

Just my personal beefs is all, I'm not trying to bring the game down. I still thought is was a good game, just not a great one (for me). I've actually been a fan of From Software since the days of the original Playstation. I was a huge fan of the King's Field series, which Demon's Souls is (oddly) said to be a spiritual successor to.

Ah, I understand now. Yeah, not being able to save whenever you want is always a mechanic that can sometimes be annoying, and I think that the issue you brought up about real-life calling could have been avoided if From Software had at least allowed the player to pause the game. That was really my only big issue, as sometimes something would come up that I needed to do and I couldn't just pause the game. All of the other decisions make sense to me, but not being able to pause was a bit..odd.

I also liked the King's Field series, but I enjoyed Demon's Souls more. I think the combat just felt better for me, and the level design seemed a bit better in my opinion as well. I'm curious though: Why is it odd to you that Demon's Souls was a "spiritual successor" to King's Field? After all, it is the same developer working with a (somewhat) similar concept.

Originally Posted by Nerevarine
I also liked the King's Field series, but I enjoyed Demon's Souls more. I think the combat just felt better for me, and the level design seemed a bit better in my opinion as well. I'm curious though: Why is it odd to you that Demon's Souls was a "spiritual successor" to King's Field? After all, it is the same developer working with a (somewhat) similar concept.

It's nice to see someone else who played King's Field. I usually just get a puzzled look whenever I mention it, even from a lot of RPG veterans.

I'm surprised you would think Demon's Souls was anything like King's Field though. KF was a slow-paced, first-person RPG, with total freedom, and an emphasis on exploration. Demon's Souls is really not much similar at all, imo. I think the only reason some people have referred to DS as a spiritual successor is because From Software is no longer making KF games. Otherwise, there were game in the past from them that were *much* more similar. Ever play Shadow tower on the PS1, or Eternal Ring on the PS2?

Damn… we really hijacked this thread.

This is not first time Tomas Gop was talking about Demon Souls , and how he loves that game and how it influenced it very much (its why they added hardcore 1 death mode)

Seeing Demon Souls is not coming to PC this could even be better

Supeb roleplaying experience with real moral choices coupled with combat inspired by demon souls… wow !

Originally Posted by JDR13
It's nice to see someone else who played King's Field. I usually just get a puzzled look whenever I mention it, even from a lot of RPG veterans.

I'm surprised you would think Demon's Souls was anything like King's Field though. KF was a slow-paced, first-person RPG, with total freedom, and an emphasis on exploration. Demon's Souls is really not much similar at all, imo. I think the only reason some people have referred to DS as a spiritual successor is because From Software is no longer making KF games. Otherwise, there were game in the past from them that were *much* more similar. Ever play Shadow tower on the PS1, or Eternal Ring on the PS2?

Damn… we really hijacked this thread.

I know what you mean..we must be a few of the 50 people who played that game . My guess for this obscurity would be that KF wasn't on the PC, and it was far too obscure or "hardcore" to gain a following on the consoles.

I see your point. I guess I view both games as somewhat similar - or at least I can see the "spiritual successor" in DS - in that they both have, to me, similar atmospheres. It's almost as if they combined elements of horror and fantasy together to form a nice creative atmosphere in both games. KF certainly had more exploration and less combat overall, but DS still had an element of exploration within the levels - or at least they weren't completely linear and allowed some exploring. I guess now that I think about it, they really aren't that similar, but I definitely got a "King's Field vibe" from Demon's Souls. I never played Shadow Tower, but I did play Eternal Ring. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't as drawn to it as I was to KF. Good game though. Nice to see that at least someone has heard of all these games, as they have always been far too under-appreciated in my opinion.

Wow, this really is a hijacked thread. At least it's a civil conversation about RPGs, which is more than one can say about most hijacked threads . Besides, it's CDProject's fault - they're the ones that brought up Demon's Souls

I guess I started it veering way off topic. You guys make Demon's Souls sound like a must-try though. I tend to avoid console games; even my PS1 and PS2 were mostly just to play Final Fantasy games. I'll definitely be getting Demon's Souls whenever I finally get a PS3 though.

I for one really like the mention of Batman: Arkham Asylum. That game has my vote for most detailed and compelling environment ever made. Playing with Nvidia 3D vision there are just no words to describe how awesome it is.

Incidentally I'm playing the original Witcher in 3D now. Wow! It's like experiencing the game for the first time again!