GR: You’ve said before that some of the decisions you’ve made in the first game will affect the second game, similar to the Bioware titles; what would you say differentiates The Witcher 2 from, say, Dragon Age, or another high-fantasy RPG?

GR: Because, obviously, they’re very well-regarded games, and you will naturally want yours to be even better.

GR: Yes.

Did that answer your question?

GR: So, as you’ve mentioned, this is based on the book series ‘The Witcher’…

GR: Are there any inspirations from any other literary texts? I’ve read that you’ve mentioned Slavic folklore in regards to the story…

Q: With EA and other companies stepping up and trying to create mature RPGs; obviously Dragon Age, despite throwing a bucket-load of gore at everything, was a mature title. How are you taking the maturity from The Witcher and giving that same experience to the gamers in The Witcher 2?

Q: In the industry right now, there’s a lot of sensationalism, for example the Mass Effect sex scene a couple years back. Do you worry at all about censorship? Do you worry that people will ignore the deeper mature themes, and simply see the violence, see the sex and cry out “This is terrible!” Do you worry about that at all, and does it bother you?

With regards to the mature story: we personally believe that a mature story is not about showing breasts, or showing ‘buckets of gore’, as you said, it’s more about the choices that you make. For example, in The Witcher and The Witcher 2, if a player is 13 years old and in front of a choice whether he should help this guy, or kill him, it’s not about whether I want to be good or bad. It’s about the future consequences, thinking about whether he’s more of a political guy or an emotional guy, and that’s not suitable for really young people. It’s really something that mature adults think about, and this is the way we’re trying to approach The Witcher 2.

GR: Different parts of the world have different censorship guidelines, whether it’s more sensitive in America or in Europe, is there a chance that, say, if you’re selling it in America, you may need to block out boobs or make it less violent? For example, the original No More Heroes, in America it had blood shooting out of the enemies, but when it came over to the UK, it was placed with sprites, and there was no blood. Are there going to be any censorship differences between the territories? Or will it be the same game everywhere you buy it?

GR: Looking to the future now, I know that The Witcher 2 isn’t out yet, but do you have any plans for DLC? Any multiplayer aspects?

Q: When making The Witcher, you’ve just said that you were already thinking of The Witcher 2. With that in mind, could you potentially see a Witcher 3, or a Witcher 4?

GR: So that’s a yes, right?

GR: Stepping away from The Witcher for a moment, are there any other games that you guys are developing that are using the new engine, or are you outsourcing it to any other companies?

Q: One question that I’m asking everyone today; What is, in your opinion, the most awesome, kickass thing, in The Witcher 2?

GR: You’re asking everyone about The Witcher 2?!

Laughter

Q: Haha, no; so what do you guys think is the best thing you’ve implemented in your game?

We were then shown the recent ‘Prison Break’ trailer, and I felt I had to ask one last question.

GR: So, within this trailer, you see the story change as it’s being told by the two different characters. How does that work in the final game? Is it like Prince of Persia where someone says ‘No, that’s not how it happened!’ and everything changes?

GR: And so these are the two possibilities for this playthrough, yes?

And so, half an hour after we’d started, our interview was over. Thanks again to CD Projekt Red for taking the time to chat with us, and I hope you find it as interesting as I did, Ranters!

Click here to read Game Rant’s The Witcher 2 Interview: Part 1.

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