The Witcher 4 story director and Cyberpunk 2077 lead writer Tomasz Marchewka loves writing flawed characters, and that's one of the reasons why most of his stories don't have happy endings. He thinks "exploring the darker side of human nature" is "exciting," leading us to wonder what this means for the long-awaited next entry to the RPG.
In an interview with GamesRadar+, Marchewka explains his philosophy when it comes to writing characters as he discussed his process when working on Cyberpunk 2077. "My favorite part to explore as a writer, whether it's writing for games or comic books or anything else, are the flaws of the character," Marchewka says. "I like to explore character flaws. I love inevitable mistakes, and I love seeing where it takes the character."
If you've played Cyberpunk 2077, you know that there isn't a single character that comes out looking like "the good guy." The way you interact, relate, and learn more about the characters also adds greater weight to your choices and determines the ending you ultimately achieve. From Marchewka's statements, it appears that these consequences are part of his wider writing philosophy, and we are likely to see more examples of it in The Witcher 4.
Cyberpunk 2077's story is one of the most critically acclaimed parts of the game, so it's no surprise that Marchewka was given one of the major narrative roles on The Witcher 4 as story director. The fantasy series also fits in perfectly with his love for flawed characters.
"As you can probably tell, my stories rarely have happy endings because of that," Marchewka continues. "But I think exploring the darker side of human nature is exciting, because we can learn something about ourselves as well."
