I tried, I seriously did, but no button anywhere seemed to have any effect on that cut scene for me. Except 'esc'.

i will continue to play though being attentive to see if i find anything new


but i would like them to make the stealth mode a little, make a button to latch to walls rather then doing it automatically, and another button (or the same) to leave it. too much i find myself

latching to a wall when trying to round a corner

but then i leave the wall when i dont want to

there also does not feel like they told us about stealth

Add "N", "S", "E" and "W" points on the minimap

Allow switching to different signs with single keys ( not casting) would be nice. I know there is a next sign function but that is just not efficient.

more active npc's.. they seem to all just be standing around


PAN the camera down its too high right now

maybe pan it back while they are at it

A lot of good points. Personally, I was encountering this weird bug where occasionally Geralt would be unable to roll, block, or attack, and his movement was really strange. I had to spam my movement keys for him to actually move.

I'd really like if they made the map so that you could see yourself on the world map too, not just the area map. Having not read the books and not really grasping the geography of the witcher I find myself confused as to what region am I in currently.

Also the UI feels really clunky, for example I'd like to know how many potions of the kind I have when brewing them.

The inventory above all.

My list:

1. Lack of storage
TW1 provided storage options. One simply needed to visit an Inn to access it. I do not know of ANY RPG game out there that doesn't offer some kind of storage in one form or another. The inclusion of a crafting system in TW2 means you will encounter a LOT of material that take a lot of space. The inventory system is now nearly identical to Fallout 3: you are no longer limited by SPACE like in TW1, but by WEIGHT. I don't care which limiting factor you impose on a player (space or weight), but not offering any storage option is a serious design oversight to me. If Triss is able to conjure up some raw steaks at a party for a princess, there should be a way to bring storage in TW2 in a way that satisfies the immersive quality required for the storytelling.

2. Drinking potions in meditation
This was brought up in my review in more detailed, but simply put, the current mechanic seems to favor plot device over gameplay quality. There is simply no way, other than guessing or dying and reloading, to plan ahead. This is another serious oversight that seems contradictory with Geralt's abilities. Some fans have hypothesized that the devs wanted to make the game feel more like the introductory cinematic of the first game, when we see Geralt preparing for the Striga encounter. In this context, Geralt knew which foe he would be facing in advance, so it made sense to picture his potion drinking habits as a stratagem rather than an on-the-fly resource. In reality, and practically speaking, it's a poor implementation.

3. Lack of highlighting key
This is, by far, my biggest gripe. In TW1 and indeed, in almost every RPG I can think of,
I used a highlighting key to make the names of containers or NPC "pop up". It was useful to take my bearings and make sure I didn't miss on loot. It was an optional button that wasn't forced on you for those who preferred a most authentic gaming experience. In TW2, we now have a medallion that can be activated with a Z key. It unleashes a wave of orange light at a very limited range, and serves to "highlight" loot containers/bodies by applying a distinct red glow to them. Unfortunately, the glow is insufficient in swampy areas, and it doesn't highly NPC names. Furthermore, the medallion is on a timer, which is even more annoying.

A better system would have been to keep the medallion system to highlight loot, but remove the timer and STILL make a highlight button available to identity buildings and NPC. That way, players who wish to stick to more limited highlighting abilities to favor immersion can only use the medallion, and the rest of us could make use of an alternate button that would identify buildings and NPC as in the first game.

The situation as it is leaves the game lacking. The mini-map is unbelievably uninformative and unhelpful, and this lack of feature of greatly missed.

4. Inability to see ingredient types at a quick glance
In TW2, you need to select each ingredient in your list one by one to see their type, whereas in the first game, a color system was used. A colored dot appeared in the bottom right corner of the ingredient's icon, which made it easy to glance at the inventory and see what was worth harvesting and what you had plenty of already. This, I believe, is a symptom of consolitis. I am NOT advocating the game is a console port, but it's clear they wanted to keep the menus console-friendly for potential future expansion in the console scene.

5. Inability to see what diagrams we already have
TW1 provided a clear method to know which book or formula you already possessed. "You've already read this" would appear in the prompt that popped-up when you moused over an item in your inventory. There is no such system in TW2, which forces you to go through your list one by one. It is a huge waste of time, and becomes frustrating very quickly.

6. The inventory in general
It is very, very clunky. You cannot sort your items in any fashion and the interface is not streamlined at all. This is another clue that brings me to believe that the world "console" dictated certain design decisions. I believe CPR 100% when they claimed PC would always be their priority, but the deviation from the more RPG-like inventory of the first game suggests CPR had a console version in mind when they did this. A sorting feature is URGENTLY needed to alleviate the bloated feel of the interface design.

1. Bridge collapse in the Kayran fight - its really unclear that a pathway opened up, leading to silly deaths until you figure it out.

2. Save point in the Draug fight - if you die to this boss, you load the game 2 fights away from the main boss, which clearly arent a part of the encounter. Its tiresome to have to clear the same regular mobs over and over every time you die.

3. Door mechanics - no explanation needed? ;p

4. Too large of a bonus on the Assassins Creed easter egg - a 25% extra damage from backstabs seems like ALOT if you play on harder difficulties, and losing that huge bonus just because you didnt find an easter egg seems silly? Maybe there's other ones that I havent found as well.

5. General consolitis issues - UI improvements on item stats, the inventory, etc

6. An expanded 3rd chapter! Personally, the final chapter of the game felt far too short and slightly rushed to me, this would be something that would require an enhanced edition, but hey, we can dream right :)

the great thing about this thread is with an active first post, we can keep everything front page that is good.

then when the witcer forums ope back up we can move them there

There are a lot things that need to be changed or tweaked in TW2 (especially the tutorial, which is pretty much non-existant, TW1's was much better because it had certain points in it specifically made to teach you how to use signs, how to drink potions, how make potions, etc.), but the main one IMO is combat. It's a really bad sign if I enjoyed the combat system of TW1 more than that of TW2...
After a bit of analyzing the mechanics of combat, I think the three main problems are the inability to cancel actions in-flight, the lack of control over Geralt's attacks, and the lack of proper crowd control.

The first problem is basically this: you see three enemies standing next to each other, none of them are attacking, so you decide to attack the one on the left. As Geralt's leaping at the enemy, you see the one in the middle starting to attack; you want to roll out of the way, but the game doesn't let you, forcing Geralt's animation to complete before allowing you to take any other action. This becomes exponentially frustrating the more enemies you have to fight at once, especially when Geralt flinches from a blow (those 0.5 seconds of extra, uncancelable animation can be very important in a fight).

The second problem's explanation: when you see an enemy and press LMB to quick attack, you don't specifically know whether Geralt will jump at the enemy or just swing his sword at nothing in the general direction of the enemy. I've had plenty of fights where I've died because I thought I would jump at the enemy, therefore out of the reach of four other enemies, but Geralt just lunged forward a bit, allowing the other four to land a total of six blows (two landed, then the second two landed because of knockback, then the third two landed because of knockback caused by attacks landed because of the first knockback).

The third problem: in TW1, Aard and Igni both affected an entire area, while Group style existed to dispatch large groups of enemies. Bombs and Yrden joined the toolset for countering groups later on, as well as improvements to the existing three tools. In TW2, the only tools you have against a group of two or more enemies are Yrden, which early into the game becomes useless if there are more than three enemies, and bombs. The over-reliance on bombs means you'll never have enough of them, even if you keep crafting them. If I'm forced to Igni-kite whenever I'm in combat vs. 12 nekkers in a claustrophibic cave environment, or forced to exploit AI bugs to make sure I'm only ever fighting a maximum of two enemies at once, I'm not having fun, and I'm definitely not enjoying the game.

and then there are the times that you get pushed up against a wall, with 3+ enemies around you making it impossible to move at all. you re Geralt is a pin cushion at that moment you can get out of it but your not getting out with high health

That was exactly my plan. I'll update the op later today.

I have to uh <_< "research" more into this game they call The Witcher 2

Bugs I'd like to see fixed:

1. Heavy attack / left click not working when fighting Rotfiends.

2. Quen counter not resetting if Quen is cast a second time, with only 1 - 2 seconds left on original casting time. The result is the Quen animation stays, but otherwise doesn't work (is just a pretty aesthetic).

3. Reward items to be fixed (i.e. Lasota dice award / fistfight award with Blue Stripes, etc.)

4. Vigor not regenerating after / in combat, while Quen is active.