CD Projekt Red' "52 and a half" video introduced audiences to the characters from author Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher universe, and a post on the developer's blog explains the challenges of producing the video.
CD Projekt Red's "52 and a half" video introduced audiences to The Witcher 2's universe, and a post on the developer's blog explains the challenge of producing the video.
While working on the Xbox 360 port of The Witcher 2, CD Projekt Red initially settled on a clip showing The Witcher 2's protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, preparing for battle as a narrator provided details and back story. They soon realized that the concept was anathema to the tone and grandiosity of the fantasy universe, so CD Projekt Red scuttled the narrator and created 2D animatics based on a new story, which quickly fell flat, too.
"Geralt couldn't talk to himself and if he was a classic narrator it wouldn't feel right. What else could we do?" CD Projekt Red's cinematic director Pawel Swierczynski asks in the blog post.
That's the question that CD Projekt Red will cover in the second part of the making of series. For now, you can watch the 2D animatics and the final version of "52 and a half" below.