vAddicatedGamer: Ok let me analyze what he says in the review:
1. Combat:
a) Geralt starts out too weak
- I can see his point. In the beginning, you can block twice before your vigor runs out. You die with a few hits whereas the enemies takes more (and god bless you if you are surrounded)
b) Broken targetting system
- I won't go as much as say it is broken, but group fight (if not done in a methodical way) can be a huge mess where your (auto-)aim goes all over the place. You can lock down a target but then again with enemies moving around back and forth you might find yourself pursuing your locked target in the midst of the mob.
c) Unresponsive control
- This is partially true. As many users have pointed out, there are input lags here and there (which is why I usually press the button a few times just in case). For example, when you run and stop, Geralt won't respond to any keypress for probably one second - your actions do not get queued and you would just be standing there. Another example, if you cast an Aard sign and decided to say move forward there would be a 1-second pause; if you decide to attack right after the Aard instead there would be no pause.
d) Aggressive enemy
- I think this is actually the strong point of TW2, contrary to what Sterling said. It made combat challenging and more realistic - you'll get your ass whooped if you don't act fast and smart.
e) Potion drinking out of combat
- I see where he is coming from. Sometimes you have no idea that you would face a difficult encounter and not wanting to waste the potion (given that they last for 10 minutes prior to upgrades) you wanted to drink them right before the battle but boom you find yourself suddenly fighting dozens of mobs or a boss fight. The way I see it is to just down the potion if you are going after a main quest (or even if you are out of town) since potion ingredients are pretty easy to acquire. There is a boss fight where you don't get to use potion though... grrr....
f) Overpowered near the end
- Somewhat true, although I can still easily die if I don't pay attention.
f) Convoluted, obscure strategy in boss fights
- Other than part of the first boss fight, I don't really see anything "convoluted". A certain amount of guesswork is reasonable since you have figure out the weakness/flaw of the bosses since sometimes you can't take them by brute force.
2. Poor feedback
- I don't find it difficult following the main quest (I mean, I don't recall missing markers). Sidequest which requires searching the whole area can be annoying, but it makes sense that it is implemented that way.
- Tutorials leave much to be desired. Yes you can read the manual beforehand but that does not mitigate the fact that the tutorial is not too helpful. For example, they can perhaps explain the signs without having you to cast them first (I played TW1 so I know, but I see some players having this trouble). I look at keymappings prior to playing the game so I was spared the cruel fate of being thrown into combat without knowing what actions you can perform.
3. Dry, uninspiring narrative
- I'm not sure if I agree with that. I often find myself wondering what kind of consequences would my actions make and what happens if I side with this guy or that guy. And all the political intrigues and discovering secret plots from letters etc... I find it all very interesting. \
4. Reward vs hassle
- I found most of the sidequests to be quite interesting. Yes, you can see it as a kill something / fetch something variety but the backstory and the ways you can complete them make them interesting (at least for me).
- Extra experience points are not merely "nice", they are probably the main source of experience you get since killing non-boss monsters give peanuts.
- I don't remember having to visit the same dungeon multiple times for any quests, not sure what Sterling is talking about.
- That being said, the loot/reward for most sidequests is a let-down. But sometimes they offer up juicy details about the main plot.
5. Misc
- Door: Haven't had too much problem with the door. But I am not a fan of the 5-second routine and auto-close door.
- Separate shopping/crafting menu: Totally agree. In fact, while the new interface (by this I mean character/inventory/journal) looks sleek, it is a few steps back from TW1:EE. The latter may not look as fancy but it is easier to navigate the screens.
6. Gorgeous graphics
- Agreed. Also agree that animations are sometimes stiff and angular.
7. Voice acting
- I don't really know what to think of it. I would say it is sufficient but I am eager to try out the Polish voiceover.
He might be overly bitter/inflammatory in his writing. But I must say he makes some valid points. Let's not get too obsessed over the low mark though.
Oh some of the things he says has merit sure, but they are blown out of proportion.
Nice summary of stuff btw.
It's just how destructoid reviews have always been. Reminds me of how they gave deadly premonition a 10 and essentially said how stupid it was, how everything was horrible about it, and then, in the end, gave it a 10 because it was so horribly bad it worked. I played it and it is horrible, though I'm sure others will disagree. The only thing that bothers me about them is that metacritic takes their reviews seriously, when they are not. They are more in it for fun/page views then anything else. Whatever they can do to create some kind of rage war or fight, they will try to do it.
