There are quite a few highlights in the Rebel Wolves studio’s debut title, The Blood of Dawnwalker, and one of them is its time-as-resource mechanic, which requires players to manage their time wisely.
When Games Radar asked if this approach might “turn off some players,” the game’s Creative Director, Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, who was the lead quest designer for The Witcher 3 and quest director of Cyberpunk 2077, shared his thoughts on taking risks in game development. He recalled that, with The Witcher 3, CDPR had a bold decision to have a long story.
“We tried to combine these really expansive storytelling techniques that were usually built in more linear RPGs, like more corridor structured RPGs, like The Witcher 2, for example, and we tried to carry that over to an open-world,” Mateusz said.
Taking risks might not be a favored approach, as it means the results are out of control, and if it doesn’t work well, it could hurt badly to both the team as well as the fame of such a beloved franchise. The team was like, “We didn’t know if people actually want this, if that actually fits the play style of an open-world game. But we took these risks. We did what we could to mitigate them.”
Luckily, it worked out in the end. In a Reddit discussion, players were asked if they feel The Witcher 3 is too long. The majority of the answers didn’t feel lengthy at all. Instead, some were quite enjoying it, immersed in the game and narrative, and couldn’t have too much of it; they believed it could be even longer. The expansive story contributed to what brought the game to a new height, which could be out of reach if being conservative.
Don’t forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
