pretty much any RPG game before this had more balance to the combat magic loot system then this...I dont know if it was laziness, lack of programming knowledge, time or what...but seriously when rolling/quick attacking are your only 2 moves besides a 1 shot tier 1/2 magic (because one again have you tried tier 4 magic? its POINTLESS and doesnt do JACK due to unbalanced) then you have a shoddy combat system in a combat game RPG game...i understand its a story game, but he's a witcher that's suppose to use magic/combat to remove monsters/bad humans from the world...not very fun for this 32 year old thats played alot of RPG's in his lifetime when all you can really do to survive is roll/quick attack and 1 shot tier 1/2 magic throughout the entire story/contracts/? marks littered throughout the lands. Gets overly repetitive....like i said watered down kiddy stuff.

@bradb2015

You are restating what you have said, which is not what I asked about.

What is the primary example of a well-balanced RPG that comes to your mind?

Edited to specify question to speaker

I don't have nearly as much time for gaming as I used to, so I have to pick my titles carefully these days. The Witcher: Wild Hunt is easily one of the best games I've played in years - a true masterpiece. I had never played W1 or W2, so I was a bit apprehensive about jumping into a world with such a rich history and so much lore, but I fell in love with the game and respect the way it makes itself accessible to newcomers, while also rewarding players who have been with the series since it began.

Full disclosure, I've been lucky enough to do two playthroughs without running into any game-breaking bugs, and the bugs I did experience were relatively minor and did not detract much from my overall enjoyment of the game. The story was superb (though I do share a lot of players' sentiments about the mishandling of the Triss romance path, particularly her lack of content post-Novigrad), the character development was great, the visuals were stunning, and the soundtrack was sublime. The entire game world is meticulously crafted, and nothing felt half-assed on the part of CDPR.

I have a fairly stressful job and gaming has always been a great way for me to decompress after a rough day. The biggest compliment I can pay the game is that it always stuck with me long after I finished playing each night. I couldn't get enough of questing, monster hunting, playing gwent, adventuring with companions, and struggling with one of the most difficult decisions of all: Triss or Yen. (Incidentally, I wish I had Geralt's problems when it comes to that last matter).

I had so much fun with W3 that I decided to quench my thirst for more in the only way I can until the expansion packs come out: I just purchased and started my first ever playthrough of W1 last night. It's already great seeing these familiar faces circa 2007/2009, and I plan on playing through W2 right after. It's rare that a game so thoroughly sucks me into its world; the GTA series, Red Dead Redemption, and Skyrim all made valiant efforts there and are all fantastic games in their own right, but W3 took me back to the good ol' days of LucasArts adventures (albeit with a more cynical but material-appropriate tone).

Well done, CDPR!

Interesting to hear a newcomer also thought Triss was handled oddly. Do you feel like the romantic choice was adequately presented, knowing almost nothing about Triss and Geralt's prior relationship? (Triss and Geralt are a consistent theme in W2, btw.)

I was so steeped in Witcher lore that I couldn't tell if someone new to the series would know enough going into W3. What helped you be introduced to the lore most, do you think? After playing W1 and W2, I certainly didn't feel like I got many scenes which were undisguised exposition about things Geralt would already know.

actually if you back and re-read a little slower this time I stated, "pretty much ANY game prior then this has better balance in the combat/magic/loot/crafting system". I like how you avoided all the facts I stated on how the combat/loot/magic system is totally unbalanced though lol...nice job...go back and play even AC unity...atleast that buggy game knew how to get parrying to work....go back and play any of the elder scrolls, dragon age, dark soul games, all knew how to get better combat, magic, loot systems with working quest, achievements, a decade before this game. Of course they didnt have a beautiful unreal engine 3 to throw it all in to take all the graphics credit. Well some of them did, but you get the gist...in 2015 i expect a better combat system, loot system, magic system...what i got was a waterd down buggy mess and any aged RPG gamer didnt miss what Im saying either...but the kiddy noobs are eating it up with the beautiful unreal engine vistas.

To clarify, I had never read any of the books, and I was a newcomer to the games, but I had read on at least a few forums that Geralt and Triss had a strong relationship prior to the events of W3, and I had watched a 10-minute YouTube video that gave a high level summary of the W1 and W2 games so that I didn't go into W3 completely blind. While I wouldn't say that made me comfortably familiar with Witcher lore or character relationships by any stretch, it would be misleading to say I was diving in COMPLETELY cold.

***SPOILERS BELOW***

I have several issues with the way the Triss romance path was handled, but considering the game's non-linear progression, particularly with respect to side quests, I can't blame CDPR for this entirely, though some of the fault does lie with them in my opinion. Obviously, people have different play styles and choose different ways of completing a game like this. I'm more of an OCD completionist--I like to see everything in the game and I tend to tackle quests as soon as I receive them, rather than progressing the main story and coming back to them later. That's not CDPR's fault, but by doing this, I completed all of Triss' quests (save for Blindingly Obvious) and made my choice before I even met up with Yen in Skellige. I didn't particularly like that the game even let me do that; it wouldn't have been a problem if the final romance choice had been presented in a quest closer to the end of the game, or if Triss played more than a cameo role after Novigrad. I wanted more out of my relationship with Triss than a "Well?" and an aloof "Good luck" before I marched off to face the Wild Hunt.

The presentation of the romantic choice itself was fine--I knew that saying "I love you" was committing me to Triss, and I had no problem with that since I genuinely liked her character, but of course I was also thinking "Hm, I wonder what Yennefer is like." I guess I just didn't expect to to have to make the choice so soon. I knew that one of the series' most talked about features was that decisions actually have ramifications, so I knew I couldn't say I love you to both Triss and Yen and expect to have a happy ending with both. So, I was fully committed to Triss--she was brave, noble, selfless (I hear that's not necessarily the case in the books, but I'm just going off the games here), and certainly not hard on the eyes (though Yen is definitely a looker herself). After the Matter of Life and Death quest, I was sold on Triss. This decision was validated at the ligthouse when she talked about the future with Geralt.

My biggest problem, and I know this has been covered ad infinitum, goes back to Triss' absence from the second half of the game. Even if you pick her, the last two Acts become "the adventures of Geralt and Yennefer," and it is so much more rewarding if the player chooses Yen. My perfect build of the game would have had Triss take Yen's place (to the extent appropriate, considering the Geralt/Yen/Ciri relationship) in the later missions if you choose her, rather than reduce her to scenery with one word of dialogue.

AAA, Spoiler warning.

Thanks for info tho, makes my choice a lot easier - Yen was a major character in books and Triss in games, so it was quite difficult. This makes it easy.

Nonetheless, Spoiler warning!! :D

because in fact there is no counter to how terribly ill-balanced this watered down combat/loot/craft/magic system is and you would be ill-advised to try to debate it...that is all...good day to you good sir..my point has been made...it is a made for the kiddy's game...decent story telling with poor in game physics.

Totally my bad, I'm usually good about that! I edited my original post and I sincerely hope I didn't take away from your experience with the game. For what it's worth, Triss is not completely absent and does play a role later on, so I was embellishing just a bit even though my main point still stands. Also, thank you for addressing it the way you did--not everyone would have been so forgiving :)