Yep I noticed that as well, I was really hoping they would have realistic stab animations with geralt's sword actually going through the foes body, in fact they actually seemed to have them in early builds, but for some reason they were not present in the demos. Really hope they make it to the final game
This is what i mean:
http://www.gameguyz.com/sites/default/files/pictures_images/23.08.2013/1377240568_1.jpg
Also I noticed that in early screens you can see a really interesting wound system in which enemies bleed accurately from where geralt slashes them, hop this makes it to the final game too:
http://cdn2.gamefront.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/geralt-badass.jpg
http://gamehall.uol.com.br/selectga...r-3-01/the-witcher-3-combat-screenshot-01.jpg
Keep in mind camera angle,how close these images are to the the combat and of course,they are still shots. I am hoping the same can be said for the previous trailers we have been shown with the smoother,"slower" attack animations. Another thing we need to remember,Witcher 2 only had around 20 attack animations compared to Witcher 3 having 96+ animations.
My point clearly being we have only seen a very limited,incomplete view of the combat system. I agree that there needs to be some small improvements but from what little we've been shown so far I absolutely like what I've seen.
I've noticed a few people asking for things that are already in the game. I recommend watching the released footage again,pay close attention and slow down the time. You do this and you will notice a few more details that are easy to miss at normal play speed.
A few examples - The bodies do not disappear,blood mixes with water- Blood on Geralt's legs/boot when fighting the drowners. Although the blood on his hair/face? disappears quickly,it does stay on his legs & boots for an extended period of time.,igni does interact with bodies and the environment - tree(s) and grass on fire in patches. One of the cooler things that happens is when Geralt uses the AOE Aard in the water splashing up and out towards these inflamed spots,extinguishing them! The water physics look great as well.
I'm thinking that some of the animations are not registering correctly for a lot of people because of a lack of polish but more likely because of speed and camera angle & distance.That and the fact we have only seen a handful of combat animations out of the near 100 that we will have in the final game. There is still plenty of time left before the game is final and releases in February 2015.
One interview talked about different sword attack animations depending on which sword is equipped - Steel or Silver. This may be the closest we will ever get to the original sword stances from Witcher 1. I miss the stances but at this point, I'll take what I can get
If this is the case,we could have around 40-50 unique sword animation attacks per steel and silver sword.With some overlapping animations between the 2. Not too shabby. Whatever cannot be completed by release could always be implemented via patches and eventually the enhanced editions.
Not advocating an incomplete game or intentional exclusions,which I have no reason to even think CDPR would do. They could continue to update the game with various unique attack & evasion animations. Which is a great idea imo. It would certainly extend the combat variation and keep it fresh.
Along with new combat animations It'd be great for something similar to be done for dialogue. Imagine firing up a 2nd or 3rd play-through coming across new dialogue choices and/or responses from npc's!? I'd love that! Little off-topic but you get the point.
ETA: I am really digging the melee attacks in between sword attacks! I noticed a kick,what appears to be a shoulder bash and an elbow. Everything was happening pretty fast and not with the best viewing angle but that is what it looked like to me. These moves are great for breaking guards and creating space.
