Q: How does The Witcher 2 step it up above The Witcher?

Q: Right, because [The Witcher] had Aurora, and now this is a new engine.

What I really want to tell you is that: it’s the same kind of game. It will be the same kind of game.

Game Rant: So, you say that it’s going to be quite similar to The Witcher; if this is the first time someone had seen The Witcher series, why would they want to start with The Witcher 2? What is compelling about this game, when compared to the first one?

Q: You say you’ve changed the combat; is it more action-heavy now, or is it still very much a traditional RPG?

GR: So you’ve said before that a big aspect of the game is its story, and that the storyline of the game dynamically changes. And you’ve said that there are… how many different endings have you said?

GR: Sixteen, right. So…

GR: So, how hard is it to program for something like that? How hard is it to start at the beginning and say “Ok, so some players might go through this path, but they might change halfway through it, or they might change at the very beginning and go left instead of right. How do you work and think about that during the game’s production?

Q: In terms of the new engine, what sort of spec computer are you going to have to have to run this? Are we looking at mid-range, or will you require a higher-end machine to run The Witcher 2?

GR: You mentioned ‘When it comes out, the sort of computer will be mid-range’; are you still aiming for a Spring 2011 release?

Q: Thinking about platforms for a moment, there have been rumors about a possible console release. Is it going to happen?

GR: What about The Witcher? Obviously, although The Witcher 2 is a separate story, if you were to eventually bring The Witcher 2 to console, do you think that The Witcher could also see a console release?

Q: In the PC marketplace right now, there’s a large spectrum of thoughts about Digital Rights Management.  Will there be any DRM in The Witcher 2, and if so, will it be an Ubisoft-style DRM, or something different?

GR: Whenever I play PC games, I generally tend to get them on the Steam marketplace. Will The Witcher 2 come to Steam?

GR: That’s good because, on the whole, if a game isn’t available on Steam, I don’t buy it!

Q: Going back to some more core aspects of the game, you place narrative as a main concern; could you give us a little rundown of the story? Obviously, at the end of The Witcher, there’s an attempted assassination of the King, but the assassin turns out to be a Witcher…

And so concludes part one of our interview. Check back tomorrow on Game Rant for the second half, where the CD Projekt Red guys talk about the game’s literary influences, censorship, and what really differentiates The Witcher 2 from other RPG titles.

Click here to read Game Rant’s The Witcher 2 Interview: Part 2.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is currently a PC-only title, and will be arriving on your system Q1 2011.