"That is extremely stupid design": The Witcher 1 story lead, frustrated playing the epilogue he largely designed, says "I got only myself to blame for everything that's happening here"

The Witcher
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Even the most beloved video games have their critics, but it's not often that those critics are the people who made the game. But that's exactly what happened at the end of a recent Witcher 1 playthrough by the game's lead narrative designer Artur Ganszyniec, who became frustrated during an action sequence in the game's epilogue but kept it classy and took the entirety of the blame.

Ganszyniec recently published the final episode of his 26-video saga, in which he played through the entirety of the first Witcher for the first time in 20 years, and at about the 23-minute mark in the new video (embedded below), he mistakenly attacked an elf and was then forced to "kill them all" or load up an old save.

Ep. 26 –The Witcher with a designer's commentary: Epilogue - YouTube Ep. 26 –The Witcher with a designer's commentary: Epilogue - YouTube
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Ganszyniec explained that the epilogue was made at the last minute, toward the very end of the game's production, after [project lead Jacek Brzeziński] decided to "find some extra time" to make a worthwhile epilogue. He and Ganszyniec then started working on the epilogue at night after they'd already been working their normal development schedules during the day. The result, at least in Ganszyniec's opinion, is an epilogue with a few rough edges.

"Most of the epilogue, I was the one implementing it, so I got only myself to blame for everything that's happening here," he said.

Later, at around the 30:10 mark in the above video, Ganszyniec ran into another situation that caused him some frustration when he tried to meditate but couldn't because the fire in front of him wasn't lit and couldn't be lit because you can't cast spells in safe areas.

"That was really stupid. I can't cast Igni here because it is a safe location," Ganszyniec said. "Maybe there will be something to loot here. Where are the bodies? No bodies here. That is extremely stupid design. Artur, you should be ashamed."

You know what they say, we're our own worst critics.

Ahead of The Witcher 1 remake, OG RPG story lead reveals that ending cutscene was created not "really involving the story team," which was "a mistake"

Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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