Partly true. I want to enjoy a RPG without having the need to do the active combat and execute combos, active blocking and whatever. If you fancy this combat system you should play Monster Hunter or something similar. The rest of us wants to enjoy the story and the world and lore.

I think that this is the best combat system I ever see in an Action RPG without party...

I'm playing at High difficulty setting and I had problems in the dragon fire section, but once I figured out how to use all the signs, it seems like a piece of cake job to me.

All you need to know about the cs is in the journal (tutorial section) and you have to master the combat system and use all the items and signs to win every fight.
That the best part: you have to figure out how to defeat even the first enemies, but its not frustrating (even doing a section several times) because you know that it's only your fault if you are killed, the game itself it's all about to master the combat system... it's the fun part and you can do it with the style you prefer, you can use the signs, dodge every time, use the bombs, plant traps, run away, etc.... and as you level up, more ability allow you to do different things.

Finally a game that doesn't take you by hand and explain even the most insignificant thing... from the beginning you have to figure out how to properly use all the Geralt abilities, and yet... you have all the info you need in the tutorial section of the journal... you only have to read it.

I love the new drink potions system... you have to be prepared for a combat, because you can't drink potions during fights, so it's important to have several potions and drink them whenever you thing you are in a dangerous area... it's thrilling...

Please, every one that's frustrated about the difficulty, keep holding on, maybe restart the game and read carefully all the journal section... don't push CD Project to release a patch to simplify the game... trust me, you will be satisfied by the end of the prologue ;)

PS Sorry for my english...

god if you think the prologue is difficult, wait until you get the mileena quest in the first town, you have to fight like 20 neekers at once

srsly wtf
ok just managed to kill them, more liek 10-15, but bombs are your friends, stun bomb followed by grapeshot bomb, awesomesauce, and quen all the time

But for story and lore there are books... in a game I want to play... and the combat system is part of the gameplay, along with the quests, the choices and consequences, and so on.

I remember this world, I think we called it the nineties... :)

But really for a full-fat commercial game of this type, a tutorial is how it is done these days. And it looks like they meant to do a tutorial. The whole prologue seems to be intended to fulfil that function, it just does it really really badly.

Normally it is traditional to blame the money-men for a mistake - say they must have cut development time or whatever. This time I get the impression that they budgeted just fine for a tutorial, but the team in charge of doing it just really hated newbies or something.

It really wouldn't have taken much to turn the prologue into a proper tutorial. A few tips on how to fight BEFORE you are actually fighting, an overview of not only how, but which and when to use signs and items. More easier fights at the beginning to get you into they system without repeated deaths. Yes I'm sure it is all in the manual, but they've gone to all the expense of making a tutorial and then just not presented the information in a way that is easy to understand.

I think/hope the fighting system will turn out to be very good once I've got the hang of it (bit concerned about people talking about doing repeated kiting to win big fights, but hopefully you get effective crowd control later on). But sweet suffering Christ, they don't make it easy to learn.

I did check the journal, and read the tutorials.

I have mixed feelings on the requirement to use potions/items/signs right at the beginning of the game. My gripe is essentially that the game throws you into the fray without much opportunity to learn, so you're nearly forced to die a few times to learn.

It's almost like - "Man, I'm wasting all of my items, and I'm only in the Prologue! Crap! :(". That's the feeling I had. It was still enjoyable, and not too frustrating. However, many people won't see it this way.

After figuring I was just not good enough, I turned the difficulty down to easy (started at hard, then to normal and now on easy. The cheap death mechanics belong in arcade games).
Now the qte does not even show up in "Blood of his blood'. ( edit: mailed support at witcher.com about this, we shall see)

Ooookaaaay. Figured it out, I dont think the QTE shows up on 'easy', and you have to move,
"S" key in my case, as opposed to just waiting for the next QTE. Very poor mechanics.

The AoE attacks are the bombs... and some traps. I think that in the first one the group attack was a bit overpowerred, and the bombs, traps unuseful... now the things are changes and you need to use all that you have in every combat.

I think that's a good thing.

I agree that the normal difficulty is a bit too hard, but I think that is better to have a difficult game, that require you to learn how to beat it... that an easy game that let you through without problems, like a movie.

I'm at the beginning of act 1, but I want to restart to better learn some combat tricks...
I died over 30 times in the prologue, most of them in the Fire Trial section, but that didn't frustrate me... I knew I have to learn how to fight.

Eh Demon's Souls is fair though, the combat system in TW2 is a bit clunky. Your auto aim randomly switches, the attacks seem to randomly not hit at times and some times he rushes forward when he attacks and doesn't the next time. I would be fine with a hard game but it has to have a riggid set of attacking rules and reactions, I beat Demon's Souls and beat NG+ which was loads of fun as the gameplay is ultra balanced and fair. However TW2 doesn't appear to be as tightly controlled or as skillful, it seems more arcady and as a result I think the action sequences/battle scenes are degraded by it. it's a shame but I think I'll wait till they fix the ATI card problem and balance it a bit more before going through the game, I still have the witcher 1 to finish anyway.

When I started in the camp, it really surprised me that I could not spar with the soldiers - there is this section where all the soldiers are sparring, and I fully expected to be able to duel some of them for the training effect (and some orens).
The situation seems to be set up specifically for this, and it was even shown in one of the trailers ("How to kill a witcher"). But no...
I mean, the player is introduced to arm wrestling there, to dice poker, etc... But not to fighting? Why?


Still, for me the difficulty is about right, slightly too easy (playing on normal. Died twice - once at the first dragon sequence, once in the courtyard) due to overconfidence.

For the auto-aim, you should use the lock-aim key... it helps a lot. I suggest to rebind most of the keys to suite your style.

The attack sometimes misses because (I think) it's a roll-dice combat system like the previous one... you should take a look to the window in the lower right corner of the screen that shows all the stats. To block and use signs you need enough vigor points, so keep an eye on the vigor bar...

Sure, it's not perfect, but it works very well...

Playing on hard, definitely had some growing pains for the first few minutes and died a'plenty, but now rolling through the prologue and first chapter pretty easily. Mostly, Quen and Yrden are amazing in the first part, also Aard. Quen keeps you from dying, use it all the time, and Yrdne/Aard take care of the bigger baddies by stunning. And roll, all the time. Hit once or twice, roll back to avoid being hit, rinse repeat, or roll behind someone and attack.

The UI is a little bit of a cluster though, it could use work. Overall the game is pretty good, but yes, the fighting mechanic feels a little loose, having played Demon's Souls its similar but just not as tight/responsive. Haven't really used bombs and daggers yet, not sure how good they are, but it seems like you need to be far away to use them effectively because it takes a while to bring up the aiming screen, so not very good when you're in the middle of it.

See, some people dont seem to realize masochistic difficulty isnt rewarding or good, because thats an opinion peice. It might be good for some "hardcore" types but that isnt everyones cup of tea. Some people just like enjoying the the immersion in the game world, the story and the RPG experience not difficult combat. So while I respect the opinion of people who enjoy that, they do need to realize its not the gods gospel of truth, its just an opinioln.

There is a reason why most games are dumbed down these days,because in general most people dont enjoy frustrating gameplay. Of course thats not the right way to go about it in my opinion but hardcore is in the minority these days so game companies figure its better to cater to non masochists.

Still I think Normal should have been normal, challenging but not frustrating and save that for Hard and Insane modes, so I have to agree the game is very poorly balanced. Hard should be hard, and insane should be insane but normal isnt normal, and easy is the only one they got right. So I play on easy until they sort this out. Hardcore types dont need 3 levels of difficulty, thats just selfish.

You do not have to aim bombs, just tap "r" to throw one in the general direction you are looking. Sure, you won't hit a fly's eye that way, but a cluster of armed knights (courtyard) is hard to miss.