The Rise of The Witcher: A New RPG King

by Benoit Reinier

Follow the journey of the White Wolf As Never before!

A unique, analytical look behind the scenes of the development of the Witcher Trilogy, the history of the games themselves, their multiple ramifications, and the evolution of the games' design.

Features exclusive interviews with Marcin Iwinski (co-founder at CD Projekt), Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (Game Director of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt), Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz (Quest Director at CD Projekt Red) and Marcin Blacha (Story Director at CD Projekt Red).

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Hardcover

Published December 15, 2019

Reviews

[Natalie]

So, I am a big fan of Witcher 3 to begin with, and since I also enjoy reading books about video games, I was really excited to read this book about why and how the game became as popular as it did. Be aware that one chapter of the book details the entire main story of the game, so spoilers abound there.

One of the things that really stood out to me was that the game is very focused on family and character development, and how each of the quests, even the random side quests, help develop Geralt's character just a little bit more (since you are deciding how he will react to things). There are also a lot of moments in the quests that have sweet or funny moments which also add to the appeal. Like this:



I found the whole thing really interesting, including how the developers kind of subverted a standard RPG (where the player chooses the backstory and appearance of the player character). You can't change much of anything about Geralt other than his hair and facial hair, but you can really develop his personality based on how he responds to dialogue options.

Overall, I really enjoyed seeing how this game became as popular and well loved as it is (and deservedly so!). The story is fantastic, the combat is great, the characters are interesting and well developed, and I want to go replay it again right now!

[Geo Kwnstantinou]

I really enjoyed it. Especially the reminder of the previous 2 Witcher games. * starts playing The Witcher 3 after finishing this book...again.

[Niccolò]

It is quite telling of the intellectual honesty of an author the presence of a thank you message to the studio, that created the product he sets himself to analyse, for helping him write the book. The book could be summarized to an infinite praise of cd project red created with the sole purpose of satisfying hordes of drooling fans. If you look for anything deeper, look elsewhere.

[Eadrinor]

This book was very well-researched. An interesting look into the creation of the games and amount of work that went into a faithful adaptation of the novels.

[Petr Přibík]

Jakožto fanoušek CD Projetu RED a videoherní série Zaklínač jsem dárek od své přítelkyně s radostí přečetl. Kniha je plná zajímavostí o studiu samotném, vývoji videoher a komplikacích, které to doprovázelo. Fanouškům určitě knihu doporučím, lidem, kteří však nejsou tolik zapáleni do videoher to říct bohužel nemůžu. Autor absolutně nevyužil toho, že videohry jsou mimo jiné vizuální médiu a místo toho, aby využil fotek přímo z her, spíše popisoval a popisoval a popisoval…