Yep, just press Esc, go to Options > Gamplay and change your difficulty. Not sure if it will help that much though. Some guy in another thread said it took him about 10 secs to defeat a boss creature, and another one agreed that it was easy too. They did it on Normal. I changed the difficulty down to Easy for the same boss and I was whacked around like nobody's business. Seems like I should have stayed at Normal. =P

I would also beg to differ. He's lying there waiting and in no way mid-combat.

He drew a Yrden sign while inside... From the battle beforehand he has a rough idea but no confirmation that the fight was truly over. This Striga defied the experience of some of the others that he had met, so from my understanding, he still considered the possibility that the fight has not ended. The fight's not truly over until the beast is dead, or the curse lifted, or he leaves the area.

But like I said, you can chose to think that it's at the end of the fight from your perspective. In either case, potions are not just for pre-combat.

Playing that game must've been tedious for you since the whole combat was a huge QTE, and those clearly are never fun.

I was having trouble at the dragon part as well.
30 minutes of cursing and pulling out my hair.

Was playing on normal.

I was frustrated that I didn't have a chance to drink a swallow, as it wasn't the guards that were killing me, but the fire.

I was waiting for it to be timed, but kept having the burning bodies set me on fire.

I figured it out, cast the shield spell on yourself and just run past the burning bodies.

The shield spell also helps IMMENSELY against the guards and taking damage.

Don't complain when you're struggling at the beginning. Later you'll acquired some nice gears and leveling up you'll find the game similar to hack and slash when facing certain enemy such as drowners, nekkar, that spider creature. Even i found it is very easy to defeat Troll, Bandit, Achenes,Ves, Rotfiend, Demon and many more at Chapter II. Only Wraith is a bit harder because they can dodge your attack and they're fast.

That was not my favorite part of the game, no, and many people complained about the twitch mechanics in TW1. So what does CDPR do- they make twitch mechanics the entire focus of the combat system in TW2.

Sorry, never once had to "twitch" or "spam" or antyhing like that. The calm tactical approach to combat works best. I find myself clicking with less intensity the more I play and learn the game.

Now you're just picking at straws. Different QTEs requires different different number of keypresses. Some take one, others like the fistfights, takes several. Do you expect them to list down every possible permutation? They did mention the key points 1) a hint will display telling you which key to press, 2) press it when it does. You argue that the game guide doesn't tell you explicitly that there will be multiple keypresses, well, by the same logic neither does it tell you explicitly that there is going to be a single one and that's it.

As for the arm-wrestling game, I'd give you that; the manual didn't seem to have mentioned it although it took me just a second to realise what to do. After all, your main controls are the WSAD keys to move and the mouse for look, it's either one or the other.

The combat wasn't all that different in TW1 in terms of having multiple skills, stances, signs and things to throw at your disposal. Hence your remark about how "by my logic you weren't playing Geralt of Rivia" does not apply. The main difference in combat in TW2 is how you execute your swordplay. And that, I would say they did a much better job in TW2 than in TW1. In both cases, you click your mouse to deal a blow. But in TW2 you have much better control over each and every stroke, rather than just respond to the rhythm.

Your reply is starting to make me think that you're not so much interested in critically examining the issue at hand but just trying to win an argument at all cost.

EDIT: Seems like I can't even give you a point for anything. For arm-wrestling, it's apparently not even considered a QTE by the developers, and it does have its own dedicated section in the manual that tells you how it works and what peripheral it involves. Same goes for each of the mini-games, e.g. in the text for Fist-Fighting, it describes the possibilities of landing a blow, a series of blows and even counter-attackes via the QTE mechanism described previously.

I'm no longer interested in this game at all.

I've died well over 60 times in the prologue. I assumed there would be some sort of tutorial to explain how to fight or do anything, and there isn't. I should read the manual? Nobody told me that. That's not my fault, that's the developer's.
I honestly could care less if it gets better later on. If the start is literally impossible, I won't waste my time pushing through it to get to the "good part."

It's ridiculous, frustrating, and incredibly poorly-designed.
First game I've gotten for free that I wish I could return.

If you're not understanding the combat then you should reference the manual or the in-game tutorial pages. That is what they are there for, no one needs to tell you that.

Combat is incredibly easy once you learn how to do it. Instead of rage quitting why don't you learn how to play? It shouldn't take that long... the basic tips are all over this thread and others. Or just put it on easy, which is literally so simple you can just mash the mouse buttons.

I'm just disappointed with the developers for not putting in any type of tutorial.
I shouldn't have to exit the game environment to learn how to actually play it. I wasn't even aware that there were tutorial pages in-game. All I learned was to press CTRL, click to attack, and 1 and 2 to switch weapons (which seem to have no difference).

I think it's ridiculous that I'm forced to look up how to play a game. Sure, that's normal if you get stuck in parts, but you shouldn't have to look up the actual controls and how to beat the first enemies.

There's almost no explanation. That isn't a matter of difficulty level, it's a matter of the developers half-assing the prologue and ignoring new players.

This is the best way to put it. TW2 is not hard, it just makes you have to think and plan. Most people do not want to do this. For example the fight I just did in the game this morning was super difficult at first and I died a few times, but then I discovered the tactic that worked on the enemy I was facing. Once I discovered that I beat the enemy on my first try.

People complaining need to stop whacky-whacky tactics and start using their brains. Stay away from enemies, only attack when your position is good and most importantly learn how to fight what you are fighting.

Complaints on forums do not equal some kind of majority you know. People go to forums to complain, hence forums are full of complaints. You don't know that a majority think the game is too hard any more than I know they don't.

And honestly if a majority think normal is too hard why don't they just play on easy? Why should the normal mode which I and many others love be changed because you refuse to learn how to play or to turn it down to easy? That's ridiculous.

The dragon scene frustrated the hell out of me. I was getting burned up no matter where I was standing, either next to the king, behind, or ahead. And if I ran too far ahead the soldiers (who were immune to the dragon apparently) would wipe me out.