Just one of those days when you're randomly reminded about the Witcher, you know how it goes.
Mods, please be so kind as to merge this into any appropriately generic thread if one exists - I couldn't find anything myself
With CDPR having crossed the Rubicon, opened Pandora's box etc. by diving into the Open World™ school of game design, it has become increasingly evident to me that there's a lot of untapped potential in The Witcher when it comes to taking advantage of this shift in direction.
The Witcher 3 had largely the same structure as previous games with the caveat that the player could technically do the initial main quest chains out of order. Yes, the scale was bigger, there was more questing, more exploration, but the overall structure really wasn't all that different to that of The Witcher 1 or 2. Once you've done your side-questing, you go to the nearby main quest marker and begin the quest. With Cyberpunk, they added cars and radio stations to the mix, which of course adds to the ambiance. Surely, there's more that could be gained from going Open World™ though, right? Things that future games could try and take advantage of`?
Allow me to take you back to the ever-more-distant year of 1993. What's so remarkable about it, you may wonder? Well, other than the birth of yours truly and the release of The Last Wish, a little open-world role-playing game called Betrayal at Krondor also saw the light of day. Story-driven and based on a series of books, no less. How intriguing.
In Betrayal at Krondor, the very first task that the player is given is to actually get to the city of Krondor. Getting there encapsulates the entirety of the game's first chapter, in fact. This happens a few times, actually. In other words, the journey is what forms large sections of the story, not the destination. Getting to the main quest marker is the challenge. A crazy thing to do in a game with vast swathes of land to explore, I know. On this journey, you may visit different settlements, meet various characters, find and ration supplies to ensure your continued survival throughout the days or weeks that it will take you to reach the destination, stumble upon a variety of quests and find all sorts of equipment that may aid you on your way to Krondor.
Now, that's all well and good, I hear you say, but as young Cerro said to King Vridank on their first date: "Does it have any practical uses?"
Well, I'm gald you asked! Consider the following question: What does a witcher normally do? Why, they go on the Path, don't they. That is to say, a witcher wanders around the land, ridding people of monsters - real and imagined - for a price. And, more often than not, a variety of other troubles find the witcher along the way. The entirety of Baptism of Fire is Geralt and friends dealing with the challenges that getting from point A to point B poses. 2+2=?
Another brilliant thing that Betrayal at Krondor does is that the world state changes at the end of each chapter. New quests may become available while some of the unfinished quests may end. In the context of The Witcher - monster trouble may beset a picturesque village you'd passed through before, bandits may have raided an inn where you'd resupplied on the way to your destination. Surprises. Reasons to wander around the lands (without resorting to fast travel) and rewards for doing so. The illusion of a living, breathing world.
At this point, I imagine you're so impressed with what you've read so far that you're frothing at the mouth for more genius ideas on how our dear developers could lean into the strengths of The Witcher while escaping the tyranny of Modern Open World Design™. Well, if you insist, here's a final musing for you.
As I mentioned before, witchers go on the Path, it's what they do. But this isn't something they do for fun. In fact, this way of life is the reason why no witcher's ever died of old age. It's an extremely dangerous way to make a living. And that is precisely what it is - their way of making ends meet. A common complaint from The Witcher 3 that I remember seeing was that side questing did not feel rewarding from a gameplay perspective. "Why oh why should I quest", players bemoaned. Survival. Yes, you really should get to Vizima in order to advance you main questline, but how do you plan to live that long if you have no supplies that will enable you to rest and recover? Do you know how much it costs to stay at the New Narakort? Maybe helping Janek court that samodiva doesn't seem so unrewarding when he offers to feed you for your troubles. Perhaps Agnieszka's offer of a roof over your head during your stay in Vengerberg is reason enough to look into the mystery of her lost cat that she swears was taken by a werewolf as a pet.
Let me tell you, never before in a game have I been more excited to see a cauldron, questionably-looking grub inside it, than I have in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Yes, I have been entrusted with a vital mission by my liege that I am definitely going to get to... but first, has anyone got sausage?
Anyway, enough meandering from me. If you're still reading this, I do apologise. Minutes of your lifie irrevocably gone - and for what?
Mods, please be so kind as to merge this into any appropriately generic thread if one exists - I couldn't find anything myself
With CDPR having crossed the Rubicon, opened Pandora's box etc. by diving into the Open World™ school of game design, it has become increasingly evident to me that there's a lot of untapped potential in The Witcher when it comes to taking advantage of this shift in direction.
The Witcher 3 had largely the same structure as previous games with the caveat that the player could technically do the initial main quest chains out of order. Yes, the scale was bigger, there was more questing, more exploration, but the overall structure really wasn't all that different to that of The Witcher 1 or 2. Once you've done your side-questing, you go to the nearby main quest marker and begin the quest. With Cyberpunk, they added cars and radio stations to the mix, which of course adds to the ambiance. Surely, there's more that could be gained from going Open World™ though, right? Things that future games could try and take advantage of`?
Allow me to take you back to the ever-more-distant year of 1993. What's so remarkable about it, you may wonder? Well, other than the birth of yours truly and the release of The Last Wish, a little open-world role-playing game called Betrayal at Krondor also saw the light of day. Story-driven and based on a series of books, no less. How intriguing.
In Betrayal at Krondor, the very first task that the player is given is to actually get to the city of Krondor. Getting there encapsulates the entirety of the game's first chapter, in fact. This happens a few times, actually. In other words, the journey is what forms large sections of the story, not the destination. Getting to the main quest marker is the challenge. A crazy thing to do in a game with vast swathes of land to explore, I know. On this journey, you may visit different settlements, meet various characters, find and ration supplies to ensure your continued survival throughout the days or weeks that it will take you to reach the destination, stumble upon a variety of quests and find all sorts of equipment that may aid you on your way to Krondor.
Now, that's all well and good, I hear you say, but as young Cerro said to King Vridank on their first date: "Does it have any practical uses?"
Well, I'm gald you asked! Consider the following question: What does a witcher normally do? Why, they go on the Path, don't they. That is to say, a witcher wanders around the land, ridding people of monsters - real and imagined - for a price. And, more often than not, a variety of other troubles find the witcher along the way. The entirety of Baptism of Fire is Geralt and friends dealing with the challenges that getting from point A to point B poses. 2+2=?
Another brilliant thing that Betrayal at Krondor does is that the world state changes at the end of each chapter. New quests may become available while some of the unfinished quests may end. In the context of The Witcher - monster trouble may beset a picturesque village you'd passed through before, bandits may have raided an inn where you'd resupplied on the way to your destination. Surprises. Reasons to wander around the lands (without resorting to fast travel) and rewards for doing so. The illusion of a living, breathing world.
At this point, I imagine you're so impressed with what you've read so far that you're frothing at the mouth for more genius ideas on how our dear developers could lean into the strengths of The Witcher while escaping the tyranny of Modern Open World Design™. Well, if you insist, here's a final musing for you.
As I mentioned before, witchers go on the Path, it's what they do. But this isn't something they do for fun. In fact, this way of life is the reason why no witcher's ever died of old age. It's an extremely dangerous way to make a living. And that is precisely what it is - their way of making ends meet. A common complaint from The Witcher 3 that I remember seeing was that side questing did not feel rewarding from a gameplay perspective. "Why oh why should I quest", players bemoaned. Survival. Yes, you really should get to Vizima in order to advance you main questline, but how do you plan to live that long if you have no supplies that will enable you to rest and recover? Do you know how much it costs to stay at the New Narakort? Maybe helping Janek court that samodiva doesn't seem so unrewarding when he offers to feed you for your troubles. Perhaps Agnieszka's offer of a roof over your head during your stay in Vengerberg is reason enough to look into the mystery of her lost cat that she swears was taken by a werewolf as a pet.
Let me tell you, never before in a game have I been more excited to see a cauldron, questionably-looking grub inside it, than I have in Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Yes, I have been entrusted with a vital mission by my liege that I am definitely going to get to... but first, has anyone got sausage?
Anyway, enough meandering from me. If you're still reading this, I do apologise. Minutes of your lifie irrevocably gone - and for what?
