Sometimes he' ll move one step forward/backwards after hitting/being hit with a sword because you pressed '' forward/backwards'' five seconds ago. And the blocking is unresponsive, signs sometimes don't work. Makes it feel like a half assed game imo. Anyone else notice this?

Why nobody comments on this . it' s the biggest flaw of the game imo

What CDPR did was basically return to the root of RPG games, before action games took over so much that everything had to be smooth and instant. Why you ask?

Well, in the old times when we wanted our character to take an action it would have to dave certain duration - whether in turn based play or not. For example, have you played old RPG classics, like Planescape:Torment, the old Fallout series or Baldur's Gate? There you gave orders to your party members knowing that certain actions require more time.

What this changes is that instead of becoming an action-clickfest (which is fine in games like AssCreed, I enjoy them very much) you have to be quick and decide whether in the current tactical situation you can afford to do a certain action.

For example, if you're surrounded in TW2, you shouldn't try pushing signs or bombs, because before you manage to throw them, at least one enemy will hit you, preventing you rfrom completeing your action. The same goes for fencing - just like you try top get your opponents out of balance and in the middle of their actions, so do they - quite succesfully I might add I was thrilled, surprised and shocked to see a simple soldier stick out a sword while I tried to tumble away from him and I hit the weapon right on!

Tactical aweareness is very important. Know where your enemies are, how fast they can get to you, what you can do about that. Also tremember that blocking and signs are not unlimited, you need vigour to do both, and it drains quickly if you don't keep moving. Never get surrounded, tr to prepare for fights (runes, potions, oil if you have the luxury). Don't click too much - click only, when you feel you have a chance of hitting. Otherwise - gain ground, or fall back.

I think he was referring to the input freeze bug where if you are moving while holding the quick menu screen and selecting something from it Geralt will then not be able to move, fight or even mouselook for 30 seconds, all the meanwhile enemies are omnoming on his butt

It's hard to tell really what he meant ^.^ That's why I've given the broadest advice I could, that has proven to help most people I've talked to, who complained about the combat. If indeed this is about the bug, than yes - there are bugs. They will be exteeeerminated.

combat is perfect as it is, maybe with a few tweaks to the parry system, make it more responsive like overriding move commands so you don't have to be perfectly still to enter parry mode.

It feels like you are Geralt, like you are controlling a fully grown human being that has momentum.

I'm not experiencing any of that.

it just feels buggy . Wouldn't you enjoy the game more if everything happened fluid?Insane difficulty is insane enough, so if the animations were smoother, no input problems, i'd have fun taking all enemies on only using a sword ( that's why i love action games like Ninja Gaiden etc , it really takes skill ) I think i've found the word for the witcher 2's combat system: Action-puzzle, which i don' t like, because you really need to find a '' gap '' in the combat to say cast a sign, block etc. If you do something '' wrong '' ( key input, rolling away at the ''wrong'' time, if you know what i mean) at a given time, that's when the bugs start to occur i have the feeling, it just doesn't feel right. You know what, maybe it IS just a bug which can be fixed. In that case, i would be way happier.But maybe it's meant to be this way, which would leave me really disappointed

And i played Fallout and Diablo ( sorta baldurs gate ) But i don't compare them to the witcher. I compare fable 1 to the witcher which, imho,still has better combat than TW2 maybe it's me having low fps then? doubt it but you could be right. I dont have like 15 fps but 25-35 when in a fight... Read my first post, that's exactly what i meant

I fully agree with this sentiment. This is especially true when you manage to land several hits on your opponents without them being deflected or parried, he gets quicker with every step, the background starts to blur, and each hit, whether light or heavy gains finnese and grace... A subtle effect, but it is so rewarding to see properly led combat to turn into a vicious deadly dance - a methaphore often used by Geralt to describe slaughter. And it's twice as rewarding since it's much harder to do than in the firsdt part, where all hits looked nice, no mattwer if they hit or not. Geralt was dancing to his own music, now he's dancing with his opponents!

I have the same issue.

Its probably just a bug. Gotta remember that CDProjekt isn't exactly a big time developer. They did spend 4 years on this game but this is only there second game I believe. I was expecting some bug on the first day of release. Theirs a patch coming in next week and it should fix most of the problems.

Well, to me Diablo was a clickfest. I used Fallout as an example because it has a turn based combat, making you think about every AP in difficult fights. In TW2 those decisions must come much quicker, so it's naturally harder. Yet I feel I've caught on to something, something *clicked* for me, and now the combat seems oh so much more fluit. I synced with the rythm of it so to say, I click much less often. Of course I stil make mistakes in judgement, but I'm perfectly aware those are my mistakes.

As for fable, didn't play so can't compare :(

It should be fluid all the time , not sometimes. For example load up the save '' at the fore'' where you have to fight 8 guards on easy difficulty using only your sword, then come back and tell me there's nothing buggy. Like i said , it should be fluid everytime , not only when using signs all the time ( which i know is pretty fluid )

I would but I'm stuck at launcher. Can't really play the game again till its patched lol

The animations are as smooth as they can get, going by your definition of action puzzle, I would classify Ninja Gaiden as an action puzzle game too then, both combat systems are extremely similar in that if you make a wrong decision you will expect to be royally buttplugged as a result. Witcher 2 has the most responsive dodging/movement snimation system in any game to date, surpassing even those games that mainly rely on mobility based combat like Assassins Creed or any other third person hack n slash,
CDPR really nailed the feel of what its like to swing a sword and hit flesh and bone or a solid wall.