After Prologue, which frustrated me last night and forced to turn off the computer I still wonder whether The Witcher 2 is still an RPG or simple action game.

One - I have to use my own skills instead Geralt's abilities in fighting and sneaking. Two - QTE which I hate as these are simple clicking for idiots, not RPG fans, especially when the game shows you what part of the mouse you should tap (am I THAT stupid not to get it?). And three - you cannot save the game whenever you want to; that's a huge slap in the face for all the role-playing fans!

It's my first impression. But if I knew all that yesterday I wouldn't buy the game on GOG at least (retail version can be sold again, digital - not).

Sorry, but too many good words were told about the game which in my opinion doesn't deserve it. I admit it may change with the story progress but for now I'm quite disappointed.

You can save the game whenever you want:

You mean even in combat?

Well you can't actually :)
You cannot save during the dragon part in the prologue for example.
Don't know if there will be more non-save parts in the game ofcourse.

Lol. In most of the RPGs I played, you can't save the game while the character it's in combat mode.

1- You're just in the beginning, later you can upgrade and invest in better gears & armors. You must use the signs properly if you want to survive. If your character is almost invincible since the beginning, no point they implemented those complex upgrading tree, potions, armors, formulae, craft, weapons, additional weapons, traps etc.

2- No comment, personally i have no problem with that.

3- It is same as TW1, you can save anywhere you want except in the middle of combat. Not sure about quicksave, because i don't bother about them.

You can save with more frequency later on, it's just that the prologue is full of cutscenes + combat. I still found more than a few places I could save, and meditate.

As far as RPG versus Action, the prologue is nearly all action. Once past it, and into the first town, the quests start piling up and viola, RPG goodness. Also gambling, crafting, exploration, and so on.

the game melee combat is about timing. it actually takes some skills.
in some other rpgs you only have to press hotkey 1 and wait for the animation and cooldown timer and press 1 again.. what is the fun in that.

Well... I expect RPG to be RPG, not action game. So when I am forced to use my own reflexes and skills I feel really disappointed as I want to get into the character I'm playing, not myself. Whenever I want to use my own skill I play football or go swimming.

Although the sequel is definitely more actiony, the first game did have some of that as well. Remember doing the chain combo attacks which required timing?

If you don't like the action parts of it, one thing you can do is change the QTE setting in the options so those aren't as complicated.

Nah, you've been using your own skill even in TW1 and didn't know it. It's just ... More important in second installment and I actually love the approach, makes the combat more tactical and definately makes one feel more like a witcher - they were hardly invincible and had to maneuver a lot. First Witcher did not deliver on that, second does, finally.

I'm in the first chapter so I can't say for sure about RPG part, but it's already getting much more role-playish than the opening part (it was really action-heavy) - and I already felt weight of my decisions, and that's where Witcher shines. It also seems you can actually roleplay a lot more - you can develop your own combat style, first game didn't really let you do that. You also have skills that will increase your abilities in dialogue so that's also a plus.

Oh, and: you can save where you want except in combat, dialogue and cutscenes (as with most RPGs), you can turn off QTEs in game options (first thing I did, the only QTE-based thing in the game I have encountered were brawls)

I already did. But it didn't save me too much nerves in Prologue. I 'll try once again when I get Polish language pack.

The only one I remember you could is Risen. :)

I'm at chapter 1 and currently TW2 is:

RPG with action elements. Neither are gimped and both seem competent.
A very shitty stealth game
Shitty QTE implementations where they aren't needed
Too cutscene heavy. Getting into JRPG territory here

i agree the stealth is a bit poorly implemented, but the qtes work fine. i'm maybe in about the middle of chapter one and messing around a bit and the only qtes i've seen was the little bit about click the mouse in the prologue and the fistfighting (which is much better than it was in tw1).

only the prologue is cutscene heavy afaik, the rest fairly even. if by jrpg you mean demon's souls then yes, and i love it. :D