Coelocanth: I wouldn't mind finding some cool stuff earlier though, as long as it was tough to get. Greater risk, greater reward and all that.
That's the thing that I found a little odd regarding loot in TW2: none of the loot, even the best stuff at the end, felt in any way as much like a reward to me as finding a new weapon type did in TW1 (even if that new weapon type was utterly useless), never mind how satisfying being rewarded with Aerondight was. They gave me that weapon in TW1, and I KNEW I wasn't going to let that sword go no matter what, and the game bore out that feeling by knowing enough to NOT spam me with incremental upgrades.
I chalk it up to the disposable nature of weapons. Mass-produced anythings never holds as much weight with me as a singular or (hitherto) unique item. The same goes with loot systems afflicted with Incremental Upgrade Syndrome to the degree that a Diablo or TW2 system is. I find it a bit ironic, really, in that by placing so much of the game in loot with such upgrades, they essentially strip that aspect of the game of much of its satisfaction. You're never focused on what you've already got, but are always looking for the next upgrade instead, and are more than willing to toss that previously much-coveted item aside for the next worthless bit of trash. Is a self-defeating system with hollow rewards, IMO.
You
are right, though: there's no way that any company is going to be able to please everyone. Those that like how a system works in, for example, TW1 will be having too much fun enjoying it to praise the devs for it, while those that don't will be complaining on message boards. Those that saw little reason why the system SHOULD be changed for the sequel might be greeted to an unpleasant surprise later on... at which,
that group will pipe up with their "why'dju go an' break it all, mang?"
As far as game-breakingly powerful items go... am personally of the mind that the presence of such things in a game is symptomatic of a rule system that places far, FAR too much emphasis on loot in the first place. It's a useful thing to include from a gameplay standpoint, don't get me wrong -- if you can effectively respec any character at any time by carefully selecting which weapons and armor you're using, you're never going to run into the problem of a gamer creating a useless character build and having to reload a game from 20 hours ago to try it all again -- but my personal feeling is that it cheapens both the character development options AND trivializes loot too much for my liking. Like everything else, though, that's a matter of degrees.
But then, I'm more focused on the story- or lore-related aspects of an object and value those much more than I do massive amounts of damage or a nifty-looking icon. I suspect I'm in a very small minority in that regard, though, even among fans of story-driven RPGs.
vAddicatedGamer: I don't think Kayran armor is that much inferior to Hunter's armor though.
Heh... I wouldn't actually know about that one. I've never actually crafted the Kayran armor. I'm well into my third playthrough of the game now (in Chapter 2), and it's the same old situation: by the time I get all the ingredients together, I've found something better. the only reason I'd personally have to create that armor would be that story-related aspect -- a trophy of my battle with the beast -- but the game already provided me with a Kayran trophy. Didn't feel as if I needed another one, and I was having a hard enough time surviving as it was without deliberately gimping myself with inferior armor (which I'll do, if I like the armor in question enough).
The Ysgith runes... between those you can buy from the Mysterious Merchant (which I didn't have in my first run) and the crafting, I agree... there ARE enough to get by. If you know what you need to save to make them and if you know that there's such a rune to be crafted in the first place. First run, though? I wasn't aware of that.
I'm not the sort to look at game guides until all is said and done and I want to see what I might have missed, so in that respect the mutagen guide isn't of any help either. IMO, the system should be able to stand on its own without meta-game knowledge like that coming into play. Personal feeling is that TW2 didn't stand up in this regard as well as its predecessor.
Anyhoo, to sum up: Thumbs up for TW1 for me, Thumbs down for TW2. Ultimately, though, is not a huge deal either way (not to mention the fact that I'm even bothering to post commentary at all is a testament to how much I
like this game).
Now, if ya'll'll (hooray for contractions!) excuse me, I've got me a blood curse to deal with.