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(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
In a fascinating bit of development insight, Sasko discussed the clue mechanic in an interview withFlow Games. “When we started The Witcher 3, we felt that the loop with the clues was kind of fresh,” he begins. “It was actually something that Danisz Markiewicz, he’s an expert quest designer on my team, the two of us, we actually designed that whole loop. And bear in mind it’s 2012 - at that time I think you had one Batman [Arkham] game out, and that was it. I think all other games that have that gameplay loop with clues weren’t out on the market yet. You didn’t have any Tomb Raiders, the new Deus Ex games weren’t out yet. All of the things that, right now, we know that we’re so tired of, of having clues in the game and investigating them.”
The timeline here, with development well underway in 2012 ahead of The Witcher 3’s 2015 release, again demonstrates how games may reflect the trends of their production cycle, not necessarily the trends of their launch window. Games take a long time to make, it turns out, and as complex, multi-discipline projects, they can be hard to adjust. If you set an 18-wheeler rolling down a hill, it’s not going to turn on a dime. Player tastes, meanwhile, can change in an instant, especially toward once-novel mechanics that become commonplace or genres that become saturated.
“But at the time it was really fresh, it was something different,” Sasko adds. “And when we were doing it in 2012, we felt it was a great way to do it. Then we did Witcher 3 with it, and one of our conclusions was, ok, we’ve kind of overdone it, we’ve kind of overcooked it. There was so much of it in the base Witcher game that, when approaching Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine [DLCs], we were thinking, when we are doing those clues, let’s try to do it more consciously, let’s try not to have long strings of clues. Clue after clue after clue after clue.”
Sasko points to the overall pacing of the experience, and reckons that excessive clues could hurt the flow of the game. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine noticeably improved on the clue problem, but for overall pacing, Sasko points toCyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty as CDPR’s crowning achievement.
“There, that pacing is really, really well-crafted,” he says of the DLC. “But already in Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, you could see that we’d learned. There were no situations like in The Witcher 3 where it’s like, ‘Oh god another blood trail, marks from the foot of a monster. How many times can I go through this?’ All of those conclusions came in, and that’s why it was just a better work.”
The first quest CD Projekt made for The Witcher 3 led to the best one in the RPG: “There are quests that are not that great, and we’re very much aware of that.”
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”