SDCC 14: Fifty Shades of Moral Grayness in The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is a massive and beautiful open-world RPG in which you will be forced to make tough decisions, sacrifice others for the greater good, and travel into the darkest depths of both the world and your own psyche. So brace yourselves, folks – this game is intense in a great way.

Lucky gamers who attended the San Diego Comic-Con International 2014 panel for
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt got an exclusive peek at new gameplay, as well as a Q&A with developers from CD Projekt Red and voice actors on the game.

The panel, hosted by Geoff Keighley, featured Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier – as well as Doug Cockle, the voice of series hero Geralt, and Paul Tobin, the writer for the popular
Witcher comic series.

The demo started off where last June’s E3 demo left off, and followed Geralt as he ventured on a quest to the swamp to talk to a trio of crones known as The Ladies. In this new demo, we got to see some of the tough choices Geralt has to make on his journey. A dark power in the woods has been killing people – but when Geralt confronts it, the creature claims to be the only one who can help the orphans of the swamp. The choice is up to the player whether or not to kill the creature, and that choice (and others like it) will change the course of the game.

“The choices aren’t always black and white,” explained Monnier. “They’re often gray, and sometimes you’ll feel like you’ve made the wrong choice.”

For the record, we – the crowd – demanded blood, and we killed the demon. But was that right? Immediately, we noticed that the children running around in the local village were gone. What had we done!

That’s the crux of
The Witcher. Based on a series of novels and very invested in the roots of Slavic folklore, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt pulls absolutely zero punches.

CD Projekt Red also showed off a number of awesome
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt goodies, like a lore book (releasing the same day as the game) that covers the massive world and its characters. They also touched on the game’s music, composed largely by Polish folk musicians and orchestras. Music plays a huge part in the game, adding to the emotional impact. Monnier stressed the importance of music in the storytelling of the game, and keeping the Slavic roots of The Witcher intact.

“In every scene, the music has to be perfect – absolutely perfect.”

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
comes out for Xbox One on February 24, 2015 – so we still have some time to wait. But stay tuned to Xbox Wire for more on The Witcher III: Wild Hunt and other great Xbox One games!