It will probably take a while until The Witcher 4 actually appears, but CD Project Red regularly releases small bits of information about the game and its design philosophy. In a recent interview, the game’s director spoke about decisions and he seems to say exactly what the fans want to hear.
What does the director say about decisions in games? In an interview with IGN, the game director of The Witcher 4, Sebastian Kalemba, talked about decisions and the approach CD Project Red pursues. He emphasizes: No matter how the decision turns out and what consequences it has, we want players to feel rewarded, even if they are sad in the end.
He believes that if it is coherently
woven into the story, a sad consequence would be accepted by players. However, a perfect point must be hit for that. The team behind Cyberpunk, for example, realized that decisions and consequences were too subtle.
Witcher 3 did this better because players could return to places and see the consequences of past decisions directly. However, the most important point according to the interview is that decisions depend on the story. Only then do players become emotional and decisions become difficult.
At the end of the interview, Kalemba compares their approach with the real world. You cannot see the future, but you make decisions every day whose consequences you only recognize later. The approach that CD Project Red wants to continue seems to be just right for players.
Fans love tough decisions
What does the community say about it? Under a Reddit thread, the words of the game director are discussed, and the community seems to be satisfied with it. Currently, the thread has over 5600 upvotes. Tough decisions seem to be popular, at least when they are not completely random.
- whoo-me (via Reddit) states:
I love tough decisions in games. Except in cases where the consequences seem random and unpredictable.
fastertahnplight agrees and criticizes Fallout 4 for its opaque response options. - Another user (via Reddit) specifically praises a quest from The Witcher 3:
One of my favorite decisions in a game is the ending of the Bloody Baron quest line in The Witcher 3. Just because both decisions are morally grey.
- 0rganicMach1ne (via Reddit) even wants games to make you emotionally wrecked:
I don’t feel alive unless I am emotionally devastated by a fiction, so let’s go
With Witcher 3, it seems that CD Project Red has done quite a bit right, at least the game is mentioned more frequently in the comments of the thread. However, with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a current game is also mentioned multiple times in the comments.
What do you think about decisions and consequences? Do you find them important, or do you not care about such things at all? Feel free to share your most memorable decision from a game in the comments. Fans of Witcher 3 can also look forward to another game: In the new RPG of a lead from Witcher 3, you can ruin the whole game if you don’t watch out for your bloodlust
