Executive producer Martin Klima revealed that during development, the team scrapped 35 side quests, several locations, and an entire morality system. One of the most unusual cut missions was a quest where the protagonist had to kidnap a descendant of Dracula's lineage — not a vampire, but a historical heir to Vlad the Impaler. This episode was supposed to lead to an encounter with King Sigismund, betrayal, and an angry reaction from Jan űižka. Only the ambush scene made it into the final version.
A karma system was also removed from the project. It was originally planned that the hero's good and bad deeds would affect his dreams: peaceful dreams for good deeds and nightmares for wicked acts. In the end, this idea was abandoned — sleep remained merely a way to rest and pass the time, except for a few narrative scenes.
According to Klima, cutting this portion of the content allowed the release date to be brought forward by roughly six months. Some ideas might return in the future as part of expansions, but the developers offer no guarantees. Despite the cut material, the project does not feel stripped down — just like with “The Witcher 3”, gamers have plenty to do.
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Cover art author: Warhorse. Cover art source: Steam