RPS: Which do you regard as the most important of these changes and why?


Badowski: All of them are somehow important. The forty plus technical improvements because they bring the game closer to being perfectly polished. The new tutorial could prove really valuable to those about to start their first playthrough – and we suspect this could be quite a large group, as good RPGs have a long lifecycle. On the other hand, those who wanted and planned to play the game again will, I think, really appreciate ‘Dark’ mode. Finally, there’s the ‘Arena’ – the single biggest added feature that should bring a lot of people enjoyment. Hmm, so which one wins? Probably ‘Arena’ mode!
 
RPS: Do you think the new tutorial will genuinely make the game more accessible for newbies? How does it do that?


Badowski: Absolutely – yes. It starts off by explaining very basic things, like quest completion, looting items, using the Inventory and quest log, and preparing potions (alchemy). After introducing all these elements, it leads players to an arena, where combat movements and tactics are explained step by step. Anyone who completes the tutorial should have no problem understanding how to play the game and figuring out the tactics to be against different kinds of opponents.
I mentioned that part of the new tutorial is set in an arena. This basically means that these two new modes are interconnected, though you don’t need to complete the tutorial to have fun in ‘Arena’ mode. While neither of these features link into the main story of the game, they themselves constitute a kind of short story. I feel I need to stress this, as I want to make sure that people don’t think of the tutorial and ‘Arena’ modes as simple elements stripped of any and all narrative. Both of these features incorporate story elements, including dialogue and voice–overs. All this was done in the name of providing more fun and promoting immersion in the game world.
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Tutorial - The game tutorial takes the form of a brief adventure during which players learn how to use a range of game mechanics and functionalities. Assuming the role of game protagonist Geralt of Rivia, players save a wounded knight named Bolton of Ironford while learning game controls as well as the basics of combat and alchemy. This transpires step by step as the tutorial guides players through a series of minor missions. Upon completion, based on demonstrated abilities, the tutorial recommends the difficulty level which the player should choose in embarking on the main adventure of The Witcher 2.

Dark Difficulty - The „Dark. difficulty setting is the most demanding difficulty level in gameplay terms. Under this setting, each and every foe represents a significant challenge. In addition to raising the difficulty bar, the module includes several new sets of equipment/items that are linked through a dark legend detailed in the Journal. Once all their components have been collected and donned, the Blasphemer.s, Oathbreaker.s and Kinslayer.s outfits provide great advantages in combat. The swords included in the outfits strip opponents of Vitality while supplementing the witcher.s. However, given that they are cursed, the swords provide no benefit and harm Geralt by sapping him of Vitality as long as the outfits to which they belong remain incomplete.
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