If the development team isn’t careful, the pacing of the narrative could be the weak point of this remake of the 2007 game.
The remake of the original The Witcher game was announced some time ago. All that is known is that it is being developed using Unreal Engine 5 by Fool’s Theory under the supervision of CD Projekt RED. Additionally, some of the original game’s most controversial elements, which now seem outdated, will be modified. According to Artur Ganszyniec, the lead story designer of the original game, aligning the structure of the open world with the game’s narrative pacing is the biggest challenge of the remake, since expanding the game world doesn’t necessarily solve the old problem.
Ganszyniec provided an excellent example of how open-world mechanics can impact narrative progression. In light of this, it’s clear that turning the remake into an open-world game alone won’t suffice. It will take a lot of work to keep the gameplay tight. Of course, it will also take money—enough to bring development to a point where costs and profits diverge.
“If we opened up the locations, there would be more space. If there’s more space, then more content is needed. The pace and scale of the entire project would change immediately. In The Witcher 1, many things worked because we knew exactly where the player would be at any given moment. We could trigger something, launch a scene, or insert Alvin between the fields and the village. In an open world, this would have to be handled completely differently.
When everything falls into place on the map around Lake Vizima in the fifth act, one might ask: If this were an open world, would I have a boat? What’s stopping me from getting on a boat on the outskirts of Vizima and sailing straight to the old manor? As a player, I would be happy about that, but as a designer, I’m starting to get gray hair. At some point, a pragmatic question must be asked: When does multiplying paths cease to be profitable? You can invest an infinite amount of time and budget, but will it generate an infinite number of new players?”, said Ganszyniec.
Based on his comments, it seems that the remake of The Witcher 1 will rebuild a significant portion of the original game, and something will inevitably be lost in the process. Hopefully, Fool’s Theory will overcome the development challenges Ganszyniec highlighted and deliver a game that all fans of the series will enjoy, especially those waiting for The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past expansion and The Witcher IV.
