Combat in TW2, how does it look?

[username_2067524]

Combat in TW2, how does it look?

My thoughts about TW2 combat system are below. What do you think about TW2 combat system and maybye gameplay in general?I'm worried. RED officials mention in several videos that they're aiming for a combat system that is both easy and rather "shallow" those that aren't interested in it much and mostly play for the story (it was actually said that you can go though it all with pure "button mashing"), while still offering a deeper level of complexity for those who are interested in it. But can you pull this off RED? I myself found the first game to be very lacking in this, sure there was a deep telnet sheet, a few gear items to look for and some potions (alchemy wasn't deep enough if you ask me it was no different than say oblivion, and in TW world it should be very important) but most of those ultimately hardly made any difference.I'm the later kind of a player (interested both in a complex ,fun, challenging combat system and a great story), I love "building" my char according to my playstyle, I love a deep combat system that is varied and tactical. Now if you ask me its very easy to appeal to those who aren't too interested in combat, thats what "easy" difficulty is for where everything can die in 2 hits and its almost impossible to kill you.. But really how does it look for TW? The combat system in the first game was "cute" but it was hardly complex, engaging, or very fun TBH. Theres lots of potential now that RED are going for a more action oriented system, and the animations looks extremely cool (while a bit too fast if you ask me, but they said its all not balanced yet) but how deep will the character customization go, how important will things like signs and dodges and parrys and blocks be? I have a feeling that while TW2 combat looks funner than your average "not so bad H&S\ Action RPG" it might turn out to be nothing more than a button masher and like the first game, what pulls him down.Little touches like using the Aard sign to turn off torches are a great idea I think, I hope there'll be many more. Other than that I'm also glad the environment is a bigger part of it all, like climbing ledges and such, the first felt rather limiting (jumping could be great but there are other ways to do this I belive RED had figured them out).

 

[soldiergeralt]

the combat looks like it involves more player control in the form of direction, although maybe less control in the timing procedures.imo, it looks more intuitive, more involved, and ultimately, more realistic.

 

[Garrison72]

Tomas Gop has refered to TW1 combat as too hardcore for some players. I don't agree. It had a very simplistic execution: timed clicks. Combat in my opinion was the weakest part of TW1.The new combat looks much better and more sophisticated. They have said it will include parries, dodges, and ripostes, but we have not seen these yet. So lets reserve judgment when we actually see the fully balanced combat system in action. I also agree the animations are a bit fast, but the moves themselves look superb. This is real sword combat, practical and deadly.

 

[wisielec]

They supposed to be that fast. Geralt's altered organism can outperform fittest men in such a way they could not belive their eyes. Imagin the animal world where spider, mantis or whatever attacks in a blink of an eye. Witcher is similar in this...in the end, he faces that kinds of monsters and must come on top or his career reaches dead-end

 

[fchopin]

At the moment Geralt seems to be holding a small knife and waving it everywhere.It does not look real, there are no body movements to suggest that he is using body strength for blocking or stubbing.I know they are working on this but i want it to look more real, body strength has to be realistic depending how heavy the weapon is.

 

[username_2067524]

Well its true they didn't even begin to balance everything, but while Geralt is supposed to be faster than your average bulk its too much really. The average speed for a human to swing his blade isn't very fast. The animations are great and slowing them down can make it look more realistic, you could see how his whole body moves since they are a bit rough right now ( some parts are a bit detached from the body mass). You are right thou I should probably wait longer before I start judging the combat system its heading for the right direction for now..

 

[theunderking]

http://gamerant.com/the-witcher-2-interview-part-one-eurogamer-expo-2010-phil-43929/" You can just mash your button and you will swipe through the combat if you want to."If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger."Well, it is but… The first one was dynamic, totally, but for some people, they said it was too hardcore. Some players are mainly about story, some RPG players, and there is a huge niche of these guys, and they said “Don’t burden me with this!"Seriously? The people who said that was the ones who are not RPG gamers, who are used to play shallow pseudo-RPGs like Mass Effect or Fallout 3. I though you were the last developers making a mainstream RPG for RPG gamers. I think I'll have to rely on indie developers from now on.

 

[fchopin]

If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger.

As long as they have the just mash the buttons for the easy levels and more complex moves are required for the higher difficulties it should not be bad.If players just want story and easy fights then they should play an easy game but the normal game should be much harder than this.I hope they have a hard difficulty that really tests the player out and makes use of all the talents.One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

 

[theunderking]

If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger.

As long as they have the just mash the buttons for the easy levels and more complex moves are required for the higher difficulties it should not be bad.If players just want story and easy fights then they should play an easy game but the normal game should be much harder than this.I hope they have a hard difficulty that really tests the player out and makes use of all the talents.One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

This would be fine, I guess. The developers should be more careful while giving interviews. I'm worried because I really miss the Gothic-like challenge in today's RPGs (acutally in gaming as a whole).

 

[fchopin]

If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger.

As long as they have the just mash the buttons for the easy levels and more complex moves are required for the higher difficulties it should not be bad.If players just want story and easy fights then they should play an easy game but the normal game should be much harder than this.I hope they have a hard difficulty that really tests the player out and makes use of all the talents.One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

This would be fine, I guess. The developers should be more careful while giving interviews. I'm worried because I really miss the Gothic-like challenge in today's RPGs (acutally in gaming as a whole).

Try Risen if you like gothic, the first 2 chapters are as good as any rpg ever made.

 

[theunderking]

If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger.

As long as they have the just mash the buttons for the easy levels and more complex moves are required for the higher difficulties it should not be bad.If players just want story and easy fights then they should play an easy game but the normal game should be much harder than this.I hope they have a hard difficulty that really tests the player out and makes use of all the talents.One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

This would be fine, I guess. The developers should be more careful while giving interviews. I'm worried because I really miss the Gothic-like challenge in today's RPGs (acutally in gaming as a whole).

Try Risen if you like gothic, the first 2 chapters are as good as any rpg ever made.

I bought Risen last year. The first two chapters are as good and immersive as Gothic 2, but the rest of the game feels too much like Gothic 3, the far worse game among the first three Gothic (soon to be replaced by Gothic 4, hehe).

 

[wisielec]

E-hem. I repeat Geralt is a mutant, with far greater and superior strenght, agility and reflexes. Weaving the blade that fast suits him in my opinion. Compare this to yourself swinging wooden sword...and maybe you'll be close to witcher's speed There are people that are not into action games. They play for the story, enchanted by the world created for us. Some people that will love the witcher for its story progression will have a hard time to master swordfighting as complex as using both keyboard and mouse, choosing direction, tapping all the buttons/keys for movement, action, abilities and attack...No wonder REDs decided to include the easiest difficulty. But at the same time we, the hungry old wolves, will have whole range of tactics to choose from in battle (I hope). For now I'm calm about the quality, I'll start worrying when the game ships and wont live up to my expectations

 

[Yumemi13]

I'm one of these people who are not into action games. And I'm really glad to hear that the fights won't stop me from discovering the story (now you can start to throw the stones . It was very annoying when I had to repeat some fights because my level was too low - go to swamps or at the graveyard, mash some monsters, level up, save game, try to beat the boss, die, load game, mash some more monsters, win the fight... Of course I didn't have lots of such problems on easy difficulty but later I wanted to try harder fights.And that's how it should be - easy fights on easy difficulty and hard on hard

 

[soldiergeralt]

If you can do this, what is the point of using the complex features the developers promised? I'm worried CD Projekt, very worried. You said it was not going to be an action game and now this? Bioware influence is growing stronger.

As long as they have the just mash the buttons for the easy levels and more complex moves are required for the higher difficulties it should not be bad.If players just want story and easy fights then they should play an easy game but the normal game should be much harder than this.I hope they have a hard difficulty that really tests the player out and makes use of all the talents.One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

This would be fine, I guess. The developers should be more careful while giving interviews. I'm worried because I really miss the Gothic-like challenge in today's RPGs (acutally in gaming as a whole).

they are careful. but people still take it out of context. the pr person must make the game look good for the long standing fans, as well as draw in crowds that would not normally play such a game due to difficulty or inaccessibility. part of the reason for the button mash comment was to highlight the difficulty features of the game, easy being a mode for people who are not into complex fighting.i don't understand why people despise the idea of options. these options are obviously not designed for you. they are designed for new potential customers. cd project still needs funding and profit. so it is their obligation to pander. as long as harder difficulties still exist and the option to engage in more skillful combat is intact, why does it matter that they allow easier difficulties?

 

[username_2067524]

Theres nothing wrong with more options, I support this, why limit people? However the reason me and some other fans are worried is mostly because TW1 quite failed here, while it was still "good enough" overall. I hope they release a demo when TW2 gets out instead of waiting like the first game, I'm definitely buying this game but ill want to see how they balanced combat until the game itself arrives (I pre-orderd it from the interentz)

 

[Duduris]

I think it's good that you can mash through combat on easy difficulty, it helps attract a wider audience without affecting the more hardcore players.But I would like them to do the same on the opposite direction.As I saw in one of the gamescon vids there are four difficulty levels, at least for the moment.I hope they make the last one extremely hard so you are actually forced to use dodges, parries ,signs ,alchemy and tactical positioning in every fight!Every RPG I have played the last couple of years is easy even on the hardest of difficulties ,including The Witcher (without FCR mod).As i see it you can't actually feel like Geralt if you can two-shot every enemy, I prefer dying a couple of times (or even more) but then have a feeling of accomplishment that you perfectly executed your battle plan rather than just run through enemies like they are made of paper.

 

[Garrison72]

One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

I actually like how Fallout 3 did this. You up the difficulty, you get greater experience as a reward. In regard to combat, the early clips - one of the first released in fact - where Geralt is battling the elves in the forest, that clip got me real excited about the combat in TW2. The latest clip is so blindingly fast with sword swings I'm still not sure what to think of it. The sword seems to be too light.

 

[vilgefortze]

One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

What's your problem with that? It is possible a guy starts out on one difficulty and then finds it hard to progress, and opts for a lower difficulty. Games exist (my opinion, shockingly) to entertain gamers, and not become a source of frustration or a measuring stick for your key mashing abilities. If someone is stuck at a level, what is the problem with letting him cross it with a difficulty level he can handle? It's infinitely better than him giving up on the game for sheer frustration. This feature works the other way too. If you played the game in "normal" and wanted to experience a certain fight in a harder difficulty, would you replay the entire game till that point with the new settings? Some might have the time. Others may not.

 

[dkjammin]

One thing i hate in games is being able to change the difficulty while in game, if it was up to me i would never allow that.

Whoa! Look it's Captain Hardcore Gamer! Rofl, what is wrong with versatility in games? Especially if you have the option to not even use whatever it is that the developers added? Does pressing Esc and seeing that you can change difficulty make you feel mad that random people can enjoy the game whatever way they want?

 

[username_2067524]

I actually don't like dying very much lol. Its *almost* dying that gets me excited.. Combat should be challenging, it should force you to use your tools wisely and I'm extremely satisfied when I come on top, I don't need to die a few times I just need to feel like "man I did good, that and that was smart to do and the fight was pretty hard". Its more satisfying for me to *almost* die or be close to death but to ultimately win because I put my build and tools to good use. Thats why even games that are "detach" you from the action, say Final Fantasy, can get you that good sense of accomplishment which lacked in TW1. I have a feeling this will be good thou in TW2.