Posted May 19, 2011
Disclaimer: I am not saying that I hate the game, far from it. I love the game. It looks great is very refreshing for an RPG, especially since it was designed with the PC in mind. However, flaws are flaws and I am not the one to let love of a franchise or a developer get in the way with what I believe to be sub-par game mechanics... I buy and play pretty much anything that I come across that interests me, from sports games to fighting games to third or first person shooters to rpg's of japanese and western origin. These are just collective thoughts from a well rounded gamer, and other gamers are encouraged to participate and comment on this thread.
As a note: please comment only on what you feel needs improvement combat wise. If the combat is fine for you, please move on and don't derail this thread. This isn't a complaint thread, but an idea thread to speak out to the Dev's who no doubt read this forum. Let's get some ideas generating people
To set the mood, here's a review from PC Gamer. Notice one of the weaknesses mentioned is indeed combat:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/19/the-witcher-2-review/
Personally, I think simple fixes would improve the combat immensely, such as:
Speeding up Geralt's run speed. If you move the camera to the side, and run at full speed, it looks as if he is doing a hop-trot, not a full blown gallop. I think it has something to do with the fact that Geralt only has two speeds, due to keyboard controls, you hold shift or press capslock to go into run or walk. It would have been great if they implemented an analog system if you are using the controller, controlling the speed based on how much you move the stick. If you can recall from the Witcher 1, geralt uses a tactical run for overhead (power style) sword technique, and a ninja inspired cautionary free-run for his speed style sword technique. Just adjusting the run speed to match his animation would suffice, seems a bit slow right now, even if by a few microseconds. Something just doesn't seem perfect about it, but I can't put my finger on it.
Also, Geralt needs some other sort of evasive maneuvers. The roll just flat out sucks. You can't really use it for escapes (there is a very minute window of time that you can effective use roll to escape being surrounded), and he rolls barely above the speed that he runs, almost negating the usefulness of using it. Witcher 1 had flips, back flips and cartwheels or side flips. It would be cool if they brought those back, but not totally necessary. An easier facilitation would be to adjust stamina/vigor so that the roll uses a bit more vigor, but provides instant acceleration to get you out of a tough spot and give you some distance between yourself and your enemies.
The block needs to be more effective. I don't know if you noticed yet, but you have to "press" the block key or button every time you want to initiate a block, because he effectively resets his stance each time a successful block is made. Even then, the block is finicky, sometimes I die just because block doesn't seem to want to engage. It may make sense from a realistic perspective perhaps, but it does not make much sense from a gameplay perspective. It would be better if he could constant block by holding the key down, and reposition each block automatically from each and every attacker within a 90 degree angle in front of him. Geralt will not be able to block attacks behind him of course. Blocks will still take stamina to use, and health will still be depleted, but this would stave off many a cheap death from being overwhelmed.
Targeting just flat out needs fixing. It seems to have a mind of its own. Not sure what's wrong here, but targeting the wrong enemies is quite frustrating. Even when you hold the key or button down, sometimes the targeting system loses lock, if you change direction or what not. As a gamer, as long as I hold that targeting button down, I expect that target be locked on like missile from a cannon. The camera focus should be on the target as long as auto lock is held. There should be no guessing who your target is, because both the combat system and you know who your target is.
Those are just a few improvement suggestions as far as defensive postures go. I'm sure someone could give a few suggestions as to sword play. I don't know how to describe in words how I would improve sword play, it's pretty good at the moment, but as many of the combat complaint threads show, it's far from perfect. Perhaps animation speed could be sped up just by a few microseconds? I get that you must commit to an attack once you initiate, but other games have approached sword play better.
We aren't arguing the game's aspiration towards tactical gameplay. Tactical gameplay is a good thing, something that some rpg's these days are missing. But tactical gameplay does not equal a lack of balance.
Normal mode is just that: a mode that most gamers will be able to handle with a negligible amount of deaths and setbacks. It seems there is a wide gammut of skill level here and on the steam forums. It's great that there are many gamers playing this awesome game. That said, not everyone is an expert, and expert players should be playing on expert difficulties, while average gamers should be playing on normal difficulty, approximately where 70-80% of anyone who is experienced with rpg's will start. Suffice it to say that for every vocal gamer that makes a complaint or a suggestion on a message board, there are a few that do not. That said, there are those that are "fans" of a game, and look to message boards to express their love for a game, it's lore, it's combat mechanics. Thus, it is easy to get a skewed opinion as to whether a feature of a game is good or not, because for every one common gamer who has an issue, there are anywhere from 3-5 fans that will denounce him or her on their ability to enjoy and play a game "correctly".
In closing, let's not kid ourselves here. We are all here predominantly to watch a beautiful story. The story of a Witcher, set in the world of a tumultuous kingdom. If the mechanics of a game work against the telling of that story, then those mechanics can be considered a weakness of the game.
Thoughts on improvements as far as combat goes? Let's hear 'em!
As a note: please comment only on what you feel needs improvement combat wise. If the combat is fine for you, please move on and don't derail this thread. This isn't a complaint thread, but an idea thread to speak out to the Dev's who no doubt read this forum. Let's get some ideas generating people
To set the mood, here's a review from PC Gamer. Notice one of the weaknesses mentioned is indeed combat:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/19/the-witcher-2-review/
Personally, I think simple fixes would improve the combat immensely, such as:
Speeding up Geralt's run speed. If you move the camera to the side, and run at full speed, it looks as if he is doing a hop-trot, not a full blown gallop. I think it has something to do with the fact that Geralt only has two speeds, due to keyboard controls, you hold shift or press capslock to go into run or walk. It would have been great if they implemented an analog system if you are using the controller, controlling the speed based on how much you move the stick. If you can recall from the Witcher 1, geralt uses a tactical run for overhead (power style) sword technique, and a ninja inspired cautionary free-run for his speed style sword technique. Just adjusting the run speed to match his animation would suffice, seems a bit slow right now, even if by a few microseconds. Something just doesn't seem perfect about it, but I can't put my finger on it.
Also, Geralt needs some other sort of evasive maneuvers. The roll just flat out sucks. You can't really use it for escapes (there is a very minute window of time that you can effective use roll to escape being surrounded), and he rolls barely above the speed that he runs, almost negating the usefulness of using it. Witcher 1 had flips, back flips and cartwheels or side flips. It would be cool if they brought those back, but not totally necessary. An easier facilitation would be to adjust stamina/vigor so that the roll uses a bit more vigor, but provides instant acceleration to get you out of a tough spot and give you some distance between yourself and your enemies.
The block needs to be more effective. I don't know if you noticed yet, but you have to "press" the block key or button every time you want to initiate a block, because he effectively resets his stance each time a successful block is made. Even then, the block is finicky, sometimes I die just because block doesn't seem to want to engage. It may make sense from a realistic perspective perhaps, but it does not make much sense from a gameplay perspective. It would be better if he could constant block by holding the key down, and reposition each block automatically from each and every attacker within a 90 degree angle in front of him. Geralt will not be able to block attacks behind him of course. Blocks will still take stamina to use, and health will still be depleted, but this would stave off many a cheap death from being overwhelmed.
Targeting just flat out needs fixing. It seems to have a mind of its own. Not sure what's wrong here, but targeting the wrong enemies is quite frustrating. Even when you hold the key or button down, sometimes the targeting system loses lock, if you change direction or what not. As a gamer, as long as I hold that targeting button down, I expect that target be locked on like missile from a cannon. The camera focus should be on the target as long as auto lock is held. There should be no guessing who your target is, because both the combat system and you know who your target is.
Those are just a few improvement suggestions as far as defensive postures go. I'm sure someone could give a few suggestions as to sword play. I don't know how to describe in words how I would improve sword play, it's pretty good at the moment, but as many of the combat complaint threads show, it's far from perfect. Perhaps animation speed could be sped up just by a few microseconds? I get that you must commit to an attack once you initiate, but other games have approached sword play better.
We aren't arguing the game's aspiration towards tactical gameplay. Tactical gameplay is a good thing, something that some rpg's these days are missing. But tactical gameplay does not equal a lack of balance.
Normal mode is just that: a mode that most gamers will be able to handle with a negligible amount of deaths and setbacks. It seems there is a wide gammut of skill level here and on the steam forums. It's great that there are many gamers playing this awesome game. That said, not everyone is an expert, and expert players should be playing on expert difficulties, while average gamers should be playing on normal difficulty, approximately where 70-80% of anyone who is experienced with rpg's will start. Suffice it to say that for every vocal gamer that makes a complaint or a suggestion on a message board, there are a few that do not. That said, there are those that are "fans" of a game, and look to message boards to express their love for a game, it's lore, it's combat mechanics. Thus, it is easy to get a skewed opinion as to whether a feature of a game is good or not, because for every one common gamer who has an issue, there are anywhere from 3-5 fans that will denounce him or her on their ability to enjoy and play a game "correctly".
In closing, let's not kid ourselves here. We are all here predominantly to watch a beautiful story. The story of a Witcher, set in the world of a tumultuous kingdom. If the mechanics of a game work against the telling of that story, then those mechanics can be considered a weakness of the game.
Thoughts on improvements as far as combat goes? Let's hear 'em!
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