It's not the game itself that baffles me; it's how everyone else seems to think this is the Second Coming of RPGs. Personally, I abhorred it, and I've been enjoying RPGs since the MUD and Ultima days. It's shallow, narratively claustrophobic, still filled with bugs after so many years and a GOTY edition, and the controls are nearly as consolized, abstruse and disobedient as those in a Dark Souls game. I'd *only* recommend this to diehard fans of the prior Witcher games.
I wanted to like this game. No, I wanted to *love* it, seeing as I grew up with the Baldur's Gates, the Icewind Dales, Planescape: Torment, etc. This game had the same feel, but with a fresh new face, great co-op integration, and decent writing. Why don't I like it, then? Well, to be honest, I've never ALT+F4ed in fury in all the RPGs I've ever played combined than I did in DOS:2. Actually, I don't remember ever doing it except when getting physically stuck in Bethesda's "RPG's". And no, it wasn't just the combat; it's some of the ridiculous BS mechanics, particularly around stealth, but also some quests breaking, or not being obvious what order you're supposed to do something in, then failing the quest forever because of this. But the combat feels less impactful, less controlled with the addition of 'surface mechanics' - basically, later on, everything is always exploding, and when it's not, it's kind of a game of rock-paper-scissors. Additionally, the later acts feel haphazardly thrown-together compared to the first two. There's even a bunch of spelling errors - not grammar; sheer spelling errors that could've been fixed with a free spell-checker. Kind of feels like the team who finished the game was about a quarter the size of the one that started it. I wanted to love the game. I really did. You might, too, and probably will if you have the history with Infinity Engine games I do... but if you're like me, you also know how ending a game badly can sour the entire experience. My suggestion - buy this game on sale, get some like-minded friends and play it together. You'll have a much better time.
