Witcher 2's insane difficulty revealed

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 17 December, 2010

Die and start the game from the beginning.

The Witcher 2's insane difficulty is just that – if you die you have to start the game again from the very beginning.

"You can save the game, but when you die the saves are disabled," explained lead gameplay designer Mateusz Kanik to Eurogamer.

"Of course we plan to have a resurrection scroll, maybe DLC or something. You'll see."

The 2011 fantasy role-playing game includes four difficulties: easy, medium, hard and insane.

On easy, players will be able to simply mash buttons to win. But on insane, things will be very different.

The Witcher 2's insane mode hopes to emulate FromSoftware's rock hard cult hit Demon's Souls - a game Polish developer CD Projekt admires greatly. And expect speed runs to be virtually impossible - monsters will be harder to avoid than they were in the original.

"It won't be easy to not fight the monsters. We fixed that by giving all opponents special abilities which allow them to catch the Witcher," Kanik said.

"Undead can dig into the ground and get up near the player. So when you run he will dig up in front of you and grab you. It will be harder to just run and avoid the fight."

Given how long The Witcher 2 is likely to be – it's billed as an expansive, non-linear story-based role-playing game – finishing the game on insane is sure to pose a challenge. But it'll be worth it, CD Projekt teased. "There will be an achievement for that, for sure."

In another nod to long-standing Witcher fans, CD Projekt has confirmed intentions to allow players to import save files from the first game into the sequel.

"In The Witcher 1 the story was non-linear, like in The Witcher 2. We want to import information about your decisions in The Witcher 1, and to make consequences of those decisions in The Witcher 2 so it will impact the storyline. Of course, not a new story, totally. Only little differences.

"We want to give the possibility to import some items from your inventory. Of course, not all because it impacts the game balance. Money, for example, we can't give, because the game economy will be ruined. But for sure there will be an option to import some weapons and armour."

For those who don't have a save game - The Witcher will be over three years old when the sequel launches next year - CD Projekt is considering creating a PS3 Mass Effect 2-style story generator, which will enable gamers to catch up and make decisions that impact on The Witcher 2.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 1 year ago

    "Of course we plan to have a resurrection scroll, maybe DLC or something. You'll see."

    Anyone else reading that as "there will be an option to pay real money to access your save"?

    Besides, Steel Battalion did this difficulty system already.

  • Triplesub #2 1 year ago

    Sounds very backwards to me. Then again, maybe there are people out there who would actually enjoy playing like this?

    Even then, surely you can create your own "Insane" difficulty on any game by simply switching the game off as soon as you die and wiping your saves from the console?

  • thisisatempaccount #3 1 year ago

    Anyone else reading that as "there will be an option to pay real money to access your save"?

    Precisely that. Kind of defeats the point, but it will make them $$$.

    It's both terrifying and genius. And part of me can't wait to have a go.

  • killemoff #4 1 year ago

    @zomoniac

    It's not a matter of who did it first, it's a matter of just having the option.

    Such a dificulty level is niche at best, but they are still offering it to players who are willing to do it.

    EDIT: and yes, the DLC scroll is of course a cash-in. A cheap one.
    Edited by killemoff at 17/12/10 @ 10:58

  • PixelPirate #5 1 year ago

    The thing is they missed the point about Demons Souls.

    When you died, you had a chance to get everything back, but you had to risk your current state to do it, it was a great risk/reward mechanic, that made every step forward a questionable decision.

    Asking people to pay money not to have to start the game from the beginning isnt making it "hard" its milking the consumer.

  • Bagpuss #6 1 year ago

    I can see this game being the source of many broken mice and keyboards, destroyed in the moment of sheer rage and frustration.

  • HoneyBadger #7 1 year ago

    Could be free dlc?

  • michaelius #8 1 year ago

    Reminds me of Diablo II hardcore mode :)

  • Shikasama #9 1 year ago

    Anything that helps a certain mindset to prove they are 'better at games' than everyone else will be succesfull. Any secondary revenue attached to that will be substantial.

  • drxym #10 1 year ago

    I can see how if you were playing insane and you died it could be so frustrating that you would pay money to unlock the save. But it seems an awful lot like cheating to want to do that.

  • des #11 1 year ago

    Nice,it should be the only option available for reviewers,especially EG

  • Grayvern #12 1 year ago

    Misses the point, demon souls was hard never crushing, so you continued playing.

  • butler` #13 1 year ago

    PixelPirate

    What's Demon's Souls got to do with it? You lose your souls when you died, and only if you died twice. And you only go back to the start of that level, not 'the game'.

    As someon said, this is just a hardcore mode akin to Diablo 2's.

    Problem is, hardcore modes are only warranted in balanced games. Do CDProjekt have it in them?

  • cowell #14 1 year ago

    Insane mode should be insane. Great option for the hardcore. Not for me personally but a video of somebody attempting it (and ideally failing long into the game) would make a great youtube video

    Is this coming to 360? I can see the achievements now....

    "Insanity" - 100g
    Completed the game on Insane difficulty

    "More money than sense" - 0g
    Completed the game on Insane difficulty despite multiple deaths using MS points
    Edited by cowell at 17/12/10 @ 13:00

  • darleysam #15 1 year ago

    Sounds like a bug that got rolled into a feature!

    I kid.

  • kingmong #16 1 year ago

    also known as masochist who doesn't have a job won't ever have a girlfriend mode

  • Lexx87 #17 1 year ago

    Everyone is missing the point due to misleading EG headline.

    'Insane' is a separate difficulty setting on which this happens it isn't just the game as a whole.

  • Lexx87 #18 1 year ago

    Not everyone actually...some people.

  • Phishfood #19 1 year ago

    It better have one amazing combat system to make me play from the beginning.

  • sunny_bizkit #20 1 year ago

    Playing the first Witcher right now, it's great to have a dark fantasy game with interesting characters for a change. Looking forward to Witcher 2 next year, the graphcis are probably the best I've seen on any machine ever.

  • Notez #21 1 year ago

    Now this is how it should be done. Scrap the resurrection scrolls, though.

  • Greggywocky... #22 1 year ago

    Be a bit a pisser if you were 30 hrs in (or whatever) and on the final boss...

  • Rajin #23 1 year ago

    To be fair, someone can mod in a ressurection scroll once and if they release new mod tools

  • hiddenranbir #24 1 year ago

    Yeah, hardcore mode!! HARDCORE

    If you want to access your save....don't play hardcore mode? Frankly, anyone wanting this option and will buy the DLC for that is a sucker.

  • dutzan #25 1 year ago

    In The Witcher 3 if you die your game will uninstall and activate a self destruct chip on your motherboard.

  • Lord_BeeJee #26 1 year ago

    Who said anything about paying, every update and the huge downloadable package from the special edition of the witcher have been available for free to buyers. At least wait until you know the details before getting a heart attack.

  • Orihalcon19 #27 1 year ago

    I loved The Witcher 1 and will be jamming it again to get a save up and running for number 2. The fact that they cater for players that enjoy a challenge in their games is awesome. Not taking shots at ANY form of casual gamer that just likes to play for enjoyment, but I for one, and I believe many others, like the games to be damn hard and challenging. This is not to further the delusion of who has the biggest E-Peen as some might see it, but it just offers greater enjoyment for some of us.

    Kudos CD Project for offering the option.

  • narked #28 1 year ago

    @redbarony because if you cannot save you will have to play the game on one sitting. if you save you can resume anyday

  • gamez #29 1 year ago

    @redbarony - If you want a real battle, go do that. If you want to play a game. Click. What can you not understand about the system? You die, you restart the game, no savegames, if you don't die, of course you keep your savegames. If you didn't die, there's no need to restart. What do you want, to sit 50 hours straight on your chair and play the game? Come on man, I'm sure you can go out into the sunlight, you just have to want that. Sheesh, some people...