I haven't read all of the replys i merely read some of the first post. If you choose the swordsman skill tree to level up in you can actually attack multiples foes at once...

And what do you mean you cant tell the difference between your strong and fast attacks? You must be joking.. there is a HUGE difference.... Certain enemies are near impossible to kill with the strong attack because all they do is duck and dodge them. So thats when you need the fast one ( obviously...)

I do agree that it can be exceptionally hard... I have played looooads of games in the past and I have never actually had trouble playing as i have had with the Witcher 2. That aside i still love the game, and since I've gotten used to the combat I rarely die...

All in all its a fantastic game. The atmosphere is amazing!

I love the difficulty. It feels good to get my ass kicked if I screw up. Most modern games are way too forgiving. The game doesn't warn you much, and doesn't tell how to do stuff, though. If you read the manual, you'll be much better prepared for stuff (for example, you'll know how to do stuff like riposte, they didn't bother telling in-game or maybe I just didn't notice).

Thats a prime example of amazing gameplay. I love Mount & Blade - even if the graphics are outdated!

I don't find it difficult - quite easy... but i do admit there are some game-play issues cause of Battle System - most being related to "animation delay" - the combat is far from smooth, does seems to be aimed at a game-pad rather than a mouse and keyboard but that's not the problem....

- hits can have an animation of 1 second and if you hit the button close after that another will come, getting you stuck wile you do those hits...

- then you have the special hit, where the enemy gets frozen in attack mode and as soon as you exit the special auto-animation, you end-up dead cause of those hits.

- and the above ones are fallowed by auto-aim feature, which is probably one of the worst parts when it comes to battle system.... sometimes you run from 5 enemy npc's and you try to hit 1 that in front, but if you manage to kill him and have another hit on the way - in turns back automatically putting you right in the middle of those 5 you were running from...

Definitely a huge difference compared to Witcher 1 - and many fans see it as negative...

The things is - you can't fight groups at first... many hours might pass till you have the gear and the signs to be able to do that... wile in Withcer 1 - this was available since the beginning, the fight system being very simple contoured by those combo hits from signs. But that was changed - and now we have witcher stucked in animation delays... same as the NPC's, but they have only 1 target to hit. :)

Combat systems are often a matter of personal preference. If you liked the Witcher 1's combat system, then that's fine, but some people didn't. I personally found The Witcher 1's combat system to be intensely boring, for example. Click, wait for icon to change, click, wait again, click, rinse, repeat (a lot). In the Witcher 2. I can't just sit there complacently clicking the button occasionally - certainly not in the group fights, anyway. I have to keep mobile, keep an eye on being flanked, and think about using signs (and sometimes traps) to even things out I like that I'll be punished if I screw up - that's how a game keeps me foccused and interested. And while I'm a long-term gamer I also have pretty rubbish reflexes (not great at platform games, for example) and I'm surviving normal level combat fine most of the time, so it's all in how you approach the fights.

I totally don't agree with dodge not doing much, by the way. I use it instead of blocking (unless I'm in a tight space) - it's saved me from being ganged up on by 3 or more enemies tons of times and is especially useful for the large, armoured foes (run in, get a couple of strikes, side roll to avoid their counter attack and to attempt to get a backstab in).

Hmm i died quite a few times during the prologue - playing on normal - but i managed to finish most of it without using potions or parry. Mainly because i didn't read the manual (to see how to meditate or parry) or check my inventory until the escape from prison part.

Mind, i've finished Demon's Souls. Twice. This is easier.

Personally - was generally speaking, can't say i liked 1 better but on forum related to TW2 - i've seen this as main complain from Wither 1 fans.

On the other hand, the animation delays and auto-aim - now that i relay hate... I've had my share of really frustrating moments cause of them.

Should i play this game on hard if l liked the hard-difficulty in the first game (actually it could have been slightly more difficult in my opinion)?

I already posted this in another thread but am still waiting for an answer.

Sodesa, since you can change difficulty in mid-game now, I would suggest starting it on normal, and if you become comfortable with the combat system, you can flick it up to hard.

Personally, I find normal is quite challenging enough for my first run-through, and I played TW1 with increased-difficulty mods.

In the Witcher 2, Normal is the equivalent of the higher difficulties of TW1. You need to use all your available skills and abilities as a Witcher.

I think the reason some people are having so much difficulty is that their playing the Prologue out of order. And the prologue serves somewhat as a tutorial.

If you are stuck obviously ask questions in the forums, but also Read the manual and press "J" to access the journal and select the tutorial tab for more info as well.

I liked the combat.. Frankly is encourages thinking, instead of going in head first.
And ppl have told me that it gets easier after the prologue.

I did find combat engaging but I liked it. And I dont know what op is talking about latency of light and heavy attack being the same. I can confirm that its wrong.

I am playing on medium, but I died only 10 times in combat. Which is pretty impressive for a guy like me who does not like to plan. (Yeah, I play lot of shooters). I didnt really like the combat in TW1 but liked the story.

TW2 offers same intensity of story and better combat and enviroments. So its like I am Bi-Winning

I would try hard. I thought hard in TW1 was way too easy and hard in TW2 is perfect. Besides the fact that you're dropped in the game with no idea how to play, once you get the hang of things its a blast. Its great when you know if you make a mistake you get punished.

That made me laugh :)

Could we agree then that, for those of us who find modern RPGs difficulty to be acceptable, the beginning of TW2 is likely to be a bit on the hard side?

I think our main flaw might just be that we try to like the game too much. It might just not be my kind of game.

Guess I'll sell it and go back to playing Starcraft 2 instead... xD

Starcraft 2. Now that is a game I can say is well balanced. Each unit has its strengths and weaknesses. Each difficulty level makes sense, and the speed and flow of the game are near to perfect as any RTS is going to get. Add to the fact that I didn't get completely destroyed playing the very first mission through on normal.

Can't say the same about witcher 2.