Tomasz Gop tells me that The Witcher saves will impact The Witcher 2's story, characters, and more.
Jetpacks are the new Nolan North, but a more compelling mechanic outside of insta-flight is coming to more games, perhaps, as a result of how satisfying sci-fi RPG Mass Effect 2 managed to make it: save file importation. The Witcher 2 is a fine example of an RPG poised to accept data from its predecessor, and as I discovered, this data will have an impact on the follow-up's narrative, its characters, and even your loot bag.
"First, it's not obligatory," Tomasz Gop, senior producer at CD Projekt RED told me via e-mail, "the story will nicely shape itself at the beginning even if you haven't played the The Witcher. But if you have, just go ahead and grab the save you finished with."
"The most important thing is the storyline--the most important choices you've made will be reflected in The Witcher 2. People will behave differently or places will remind you of what you've done," Gop continued.
"There's also bits and pieces of other stuff: Witcher's swords, for example. They seemed to have been quite important for many players, so why not transfer those into The Witcher 2?"
In our conversation Gop listed Mass Effect and Batman: Arkham Asylum as influences on The Witcher 2's creation. But the impact of Mass Effect runs deeper than save file transfers. The Witcher 2 will feature a fresher, more filmic dialogue system reminiscent of Mass Effect's uncluttered, cinematic, and peppier system.
"Interactive, dynamic and visually attractive," Gop told me when I asked him to explain the dialogue system. "When you’re trying to introduce characters or unveil a plot in your game and you reach for means typical for a game, you’re fine. You will make it."
"But if you reach outside and use tricks found in movies, books or, I don’t know...advertisements, you’re definitely going to have player immersed longer and stronger."
"There were many things we couldn’t do in dialogues in the older Aurora engine, so now, after having rewritten our engine, we’re glad to be able to use means limited only by our imagination. Again, we want you to spend less time reading your dialogue lines and more time enjoying the story."
The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings is due out in 2011. The full interview between Gop and I will be published later this afternoon.
