How can the first “Witcher” have a better atmosphere than the third? What builds the atmosphere in games?

In 2007, the whole of Poland was delighted with the first Witcher , the world a little less. Only the second and third parts allowed the brand to stay in the hearts and discs of players from Europe or overseas for good. In many reviews, in various articles devoted to games from the Witcher universe, one word was repeated and repeated to this day – “climate”. Some say that the winner of many Wild Hunt awards, established eight years later, is not equal to the number one in terms of climate. Why is this happening? What does a 14-year-old game have that the worldwide AAA hit doesn’t have?

Exactly. What are we really looking for and what are the differences? One big word – climate – combining a multitude of features, motives and feelings evoked by the recipient. There are a number of elements that contribute to this infamous climate. It is a kind of the whole of what the recipient sees on a computer or TV screen. It is often said that other works of culture, such as films or comics, are also atmospheric. For each of them, the set of features that make up this climate is slightly different. However, focusing on games, we should mention here what it cannot exist without. First of all, the graphics are kept in the appropriate color tones. In addition, the appropriate line is important in the visual preparation of the environment. Along with the presentation of the world, lighting goes hand in hand, neatly combining light and shadow into a mix that is as faithful to reality as possible. I do not mention the actual development of the space – about flavors, decorations, filling rooms, cave interiors or open areas, because it deserves a separate article. The above components of the climate are what the recipient sees. In order for everything to harmonize with each other, other senses are no less important. Sound, noises, music, voices of characters, creatures, animals. This is often more important than the visual impressions themselves. The balance of sounds that reach the ears of the player or viewer is a guarantee of a good atmosphere. It is said that good music is when we do not even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. I do not mention the actual development of the space – about flavors, decorations, filling rooms, cave interiors or open areas, because it deserves a separate article. The above components of the climate are what the recipient sees. In order for everything to harmonize with each other, other senses are no less important. Sound, noises, music, voices of characters, creatures, animals. This is often more important than the visual impressions themselves. The balance of sounds that reach the ears of the player or viewer is a guarantee of a good atmosphere. It is said that good music is when we do not even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. I do not mention the actual development of the space – about flavors, decorations, filling rooms, cave interiors or open areas, because it deserves a separate article. The above components of the climate are what the recipient sees. In order for everything to harmonize with each other, other senses are no less important. Sound, noises, music, voices of characters, creatures, animals. This is often more important than the visual impressions themselves. The balance of sounds that reach the ears of the player or viewer is a guarantee of a good atmosphere. It is said that good music is when we do not even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. The above components of the climate are what the recipient sees. In order for everything to harmonize with each other, other senses are no less important. Sound, noises, music, voices of characters, creatures, animals. This is often more important than the visual impressions themselves. The balance of sounds that reach the ears of the player or viewer is a guarantee of a good atmosphere. It is said that good music is when we do not even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. The above components of the climate are what the recipient sees. In order for everything to harmonize with each other, other senses are no less important. Sound, noises, music, voices of characters, creatures, animals. This is often more important than the visual impressions themselves. The balance of sounds that reach the ears of the player or viewer is a guarantee of a good atmosphere. It is said that good music is when we do not even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. that good music is when we don’t even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong. that good music is when we don’t even pay attention to it. Only in situations when it is missing, only do we feel its meaning, the fact that (literally) something is wrong.

that all the elements mentioned so far harmonize perfectly with each other, the smallest cogs in the watch, so that it could work well and show the time. This is the vibe. What we see and hear in the game, properly mixed. But what to do so that this watch not only shows the time, but also shows it correctly? Knowing what must be included in the balance that determines the climate, it is relatively easy to choose the right amount of data components for this mixture. This can be compared to sliders in the equalizer. That is, we add or subtract, for example, lighting to make the location darker. The creators handle all the variables in the same way. Proven schemes can also often be used. Many use their own or others’ experiences, what will work in a given production and what will work in another.

Getting back to the point. Let’s check what time we have in the games of the first, last in the Witcher series . Chronologically, first one. The game is described in many reviews as very atmospheric. Why is this happening? In my opinion, music, lighting, location design and details play the first violin in building the atmosphere here. From the beginning. The music in the first Witcher is, in my opinion, one of the best soundtracks in not only RPGs, but games in general. Simple, expressing a lot of emotions and perfectly fitting into the places visited by the player and the events in which he participates. Despite the fact that the game itself is on the back of its neck for teen years, the music hasn’t aged a bit and makes you nostalgic every time. Next we have lighting. A night in the first Witcherit’s darker than other games of this genre. It actually plays on feelings, causes anxiety, even fear. Thanks to this, the player takes steps more carefully, not knowing what is lurking around the corner. The drawing range is very short, so we only have a view of the immediate area. The lighting is designed in such a way that the locations have a completely different character at night than during the day. They go from being friendly and calm to scary and dangerous. This is how we get to the site design. Consequently, building them on the game engine, which did not give great opportunities. As a result, the spots are quite tight, which means that we experience a large accumulation of content with its details in a relatively small space. Therefore, the locations are carefully designed, while being close to the original book. And the book prototype is based on actual places we know from the real world. Forests, fields, old taverns, reconstructions of medieval towns.The witcher simply looks similar to what we could see outside the window, for example in a medieval open-air museum. The same goes for the gameplay. It is a full-fledged darkfantasy, which means we will not experience black and white choices in this production. We only have grayscale and there are no clear-cut right or wrong decisions. Just like in real life. It perfectly complements the darkness and the atmosphere of the whole game. This in turn refers to the last feature mentioned above – the details. The game is inspired by the folklore and culture of the Slavs. During the game, we are treated with many references to Slavic symbols, beliefs and architecture. Ba! The plot corresponds directly with Polish achievements and cultural texts. We have reflected Balladyna Slovak, which , incidentally,the text of the poem by Mickiewicz is used. Slavic are also names, names of objects, ways of arranging interiors, dialogue issues and a number of other things. All this perfectly mixed in the CDP Red cauldron makes the whole envelope of this game very close to us – Poles / Slavs, which intensifies the feeling of the climate.

The Witcher 3 as it is, everyone has seen. And when he did not see it, a lot of people wrote and commented on this topic. There is no point in repeating. But let’s focus on whether and what could be missing from the three, what the number one had. What can make it more atmospheric than its successor? The fact that three is a much larger and much more complex production than the first one is immediately noticeable. As a result, its structure must be different than in the first part. Therefore, this build-up of detail per square pixel may be missing. Is the Wild Huntsomehow compensates for it? Actually yes. Despite the fact that the locations are more extensive, the three provides an amazing experience through music and even greater detail than in the first one. For example, the names of many runestones used to improve swords come from the names of Slavic deities. Rites in which NPCs participate are modeled on the Slavic counterparts. NPC roles are also based on historical knowledge. So what might be missing? It seems that one could have an advantage over three because it was addressed almost exclusively to Poles or citizens of Central Europe. The goal of The Witcher 3there was also a conquest of western markets, as unlike one, the game appeared on consoles. Because they wanted to expand the audience, it was decided to slightly brighten the graphics in relation to The Witcherthe first. Many references have been neutralized, because typically Slavic plays, or those originating in medieval Europe, it would be difficult to fully understand the recipient from beyond the great water. In this way, the three could lose a bit of this Slavic spirit. This is also reflected in dialogues that are conducted more globally than locally in terms of vocabulary or syntax. Most characters are closer to fanciful archetypes than less common phenomena. In addition, many reviewers believe that the game has also lost in non-linearity compared to its predecessors, what they can gain in terms of climate. However, it cannot be said that it takes place on the entire surface of this production. Many texts are about the third Witcheras a game only simply bigger, thanks to which it was possible not only to keep the characteristics of the first one with its approach to the Slavic heritage, but also to add more Western elements to it. In a word, three is what one was strong, with an admixture of new ideas. Despite more extensive locations, the density of this world remains at a really high level, and the views resemble what we could see in reality. Therefore, it can be assumed that the first Witcher is more atmospheric. This is because it is completely focused on the Central European audience and almost one hundred percent of the content is directed towards it.

The three of them not only offers more than one for such a recipient, but also presents something especially for a larger and more diverse audience. In addition, the game is simply well constructed technically in relation to how large it is, to which, unfortunately, Polish games have not got us used to. We have the same incorrect and incomprehensible cult as very poorly hewn wood from the Piranha Bytes sign . Dziki Gon in the creation of the atmosphere and the world presented allowed for much more than the hardware limited one .In this way, the content prepared strictly for Poles, Ukrainians and Belarusians becomes a bit blurry. It is this above-mentioned content dressed in music, world construction, ambient, graphics and a number of other typical development elements that determine the atmosphere in these productions. This is the core and the base thanks to which The Witcher has found a place for himself in the segment of dark fantasy games . He simply offered something different from the American Mass Effectów , Dragon Age or Eastern Dark Souls . It was only Kingdom Come: Deliverance that it was tempted to show itself where the works of CD-Projekt have taken the lead so far.. The game from Warhorse Studios is also considered atmospheric. Like the first Witcher, it is focused on a rather narrow audience, but it was successful because – like the third Witcher – it is well made.

It is impossible to mention The Witcher 2 in this list . According to popular opinion, two of them have the least Slavic elements among the witcher games. One cannot disagree with this, because it was the main goal of the two that was to gain as many recipients as possible all over the world and to gain more popularity than the first part. It had to come at some cost. At this cost, it turned out to be following the route trodden by the western erpegi. Accordingly, the Assassins of Kingsthey are the most colorful, the most extensive tasks with political undertones, the most decisions changing the game map or the involvement of a simple witcher from Rivia in royal games of thrones. The three, however, did not forget about the legacy of number one, returning to the roots, showing Geralt’s lesser role in the course of history in favor of his profession. But it did not get rid of the elements characterized by Slavic character to the degree of one.