Remember when games used to just start with out a tutorial?

Yes, it's not laziness to not have a tutorial that holds your hand through the early stages, when you have all the information and more in both journal & manual. The devs are anything but lazy for giving you a manual that has actual content instead of a few pages filled with ads.

We have a manual, a game guide and the in game journal is filled with all the stuff we need to know. I think people just don't want to read anything longer then 2 lines.

TW2 is extremely responsive though...most of the complaints I see here concerning this aspect would be the "I can't seem to block anymore" which is part of the stamina game mechanic and not the fault of "broken controls", and those that are complaining about the targeting system don't seem to be using alt to their advantage.

Second of all, claiming that it's not a tactical game could be the reason why you're dying so much in game (Assuming you are part of this very vocal minority). If not, you're just a god that managed to go through the whole game without casting a single sign, without dropping a single bomb, without drinking a single potion, without setting a single trap and without kiting a single group of enemies in order to pick em off better. The latter seems unlikely, and to go through the game (If you actually went through it.) you must have used at least a few of Geralt's techniques which by definition makes this game at least a bit tactical.

I don't mind using different strategies, but without the ability to pause combat, and having constantly to roll this way and that and to kite, that's just not fun. They also removed the isometric camera so there is no way to get an overview of the field. That is my complaint- it's twitchy, not tactical.

As for responsiveness, others have said the same- it is probably a question of actions being queued so that if you want to switch to a different action, Geralt first has to finish the animation for what he was already doing. Or simply lag from the keyboard.
Uh.. yes, he auto-attacks, though you have to click at the right time to continue his chain attack. You don't have to click for every sword stroke. Maybe it's been a while since you played? Feh, whatever. Bye.

Long thread...

It seems the tutorial portion of the game was meant to go along with having read the manual. We have gotten used to only reading the manual as a last resort. TW2 manual is quite good. Combined with the prologue, it worked for me.

That being said, the game is harder than TW1.

I am not an excellent player. Normal was hard enough for me. I am not complaining of difficulty, though. (I did all bosses but last on easy. And if easy mode on regular enemies was not easy enough for some folks, I am not gonna flame them. I have found some games too hard to play. I know how frustrating that is.)

It took me AN ENTIRE playthrough to feel like I had a good feel for strategy and combat. On second play, normal difficulty regular mobs seem very easy.

I can understand the frustration this might cause. Some of us like to get on with it and like the feeling that we master things quickly. I, for one, actually appreciate that it took me 40 hours to "figure it out."

On combat responsiveness: I fought that for most of play one. I finally trained myself to work with it. I don't necessarily think it is a bug, but rather a matter of timing (not unlike TW1). Also, I think it fits with the, overall, "realism" of combat. One has to put EFFORT into fighting. E.g. Strike, dodge, parry, strike, roll, sign etc. Seen this way, it is not clunky to me, but "micro-tactical."

Well this is why I have given up on the game, rather than fight through the tedium. It's not that it is too hard, it's that the combat is not fun. That's what makes a combat-heavy game, where even easy mode is not that easy, unplayable versus just something where you get over the annoyance. They need to at least make easy mode actually easy, so that people who don't like the combat don't have to deal with it and can just focus on the story and exploration. I mean, Geralt even looks ridiculous rolling around all the time. I didn't like TW1 combat much, but the game was easy enough so that I could just ignore it and focus on the things that actually made the game fun- the world and characters.

Journal is to remember what we have already learned; electronic manual is for perfection, and can't stand for a paper manual (with which we can learn more easily as we read it in better comfort).
Yes when I play I don't want to work.

Reading a manual or a journal about basics of fighting in a video game is far from work. But you're right some people don't necessarily want to invest so much effort into understanding the game mechanics and it's totally fine, but they should also remember that the easy difficulty is there for them.

The fact that the game requires the player to find information for him/herself, even about some of the more basic matters, through reading a manual or studying the journal is a conscious choice by the developers. It is by no means lazy work, but a choice of style which may or may not please everyone.

He most certainly DOES NOT. Maybe YOU should play it again. You have a chance to increase the potency of your next attack if you click at the right time, but you DO have to click again or Geralt goes back to a "swaying" stance and just stands there. You have to click at the RIGHT TIME to chain your combos, if you click too early, you disrupt the attack, click too late and you are just starting the next attack anew early. The only way to not stop is actually to chain your combos. Otherwise Geralt stops without exception.

I just played it again yesterday to make sure I'm not wronging you before I replied. Always does my homework before shooting my mouth off. You, on the other hand seems intent on lying through your teeth.

I'd tell you to read the following, or better yet, go replay TW1, but by now I think you actually already know and is just still trying to smoke your way through trying to save that lastshred of dignity you might have. You know what, in some cases, it's better to admit you were wrong. At least it shows you're willing to learn from mistakes.

A succesfull single-click attack actually looks like a sequence of multiple manoeuvres, performed automatically by witcher. - Describes how each single-click LOOKS like multiple manoeuvres, to continue you need to start another single-attack or better still, perform a chain combo.

Steam Forums: "...combat in the first Witcher wasn't like Dragon Age. You had to click for each attack, there was no auto attack once you picked your target....and you have to click at the right time to continue a combo."

Yahoo Answers: "click once on an enemy for Geralt to attack it, then click again when the time is right to keep Geralt's assault going."

GameFAQs: "...if you miss a click you break the combo and need to start again" - Describes what happens if you DO NOT chain combo

Gamespot Review: "...Miss your moment at any point and it's back to square one."

Just Adventure discussion: "Click on the enemy once to let Geralt start swinging away...after he has done 3 or 4 swings, you will see that he stops swinging his sword."

Good riddance.

Just to make it clear, in The Witcher for every click you get an attack consisting of a sequence of strokes. For every sword skill level you unlock more powerful attacks (and not only sword strokes but also kicks) that you can chain with devastating effects by timing you clicks correctly. You not only are able to stop your attack at any moment but you can also attack another foe without breaking the combo if you time it correctly.

To sum it up, in TW you don't have a stroke per click but an attack per click.

it does not work as fluidly as it should tho. i know the timing for it but sometimes it refuses to attack, or change targets even if the middle of my screen is centred on the next person i want to hit. also its a pain to swing the camera if they are behind you.

as for cancelling attack yes, but some things will not activate as soon as you cancel. it all just needs to have a more fluid feel too it that it does not just yet.

I was talking about The Witcher (1st game). Sorry if I was unclear. The main point is that you don't have 1 stroke per click at all. :)

oh

well ya.... :P in this game its sort of the same.... sort of. but its only one swing per click... and after some time into it he does something needlessly complex... usually just getting blocked for it.

Yes! The good old days when a player had to figure things out by his/herself. The modern gamer is a drooling, brainless, temper tantrum throwing buffoon.

Tutorial levels in games are such a waste of development time and take away from real, actual gameplay you could have and something I much, ,much prefer instead. Tutorials need to go.

The combat is finely crafted and for once in a game, I had to use ALL my abilities to survive. Don't call it crap or consolised because you don't like it or can't handle it. Just say it's not your style.