Hi,
I just finished W2 and tell my opinions, maybe it helps you to design W3. It's just one opinion but still.
-The 3 development branch is cool.
-I like there is fewer type of equipment and the junk label on useless items.
-I liked the battle system, the 2 styles using simply the left and right mouse buttons. It is more reasonable than in W1.
-I liked the quests in stealth mode.
-Using renaissance clothing and armors was a very good idea. I like them all. The gambesons and hats (e.g. Roche) are cool and they are rarely seen in other games.
-It was good there were some other weapons not just swords. Sometimes I used a glaive in the first chapter for a change.
-It is very good the metagames are optional. Personally I skipped them all. Arm wrestling was impossible for example due the slow mouse.
-Control was terrible in W2. My keyboard and mouse were very slow. For example I hit the key to dodge many times but only the 6-7th was successful and I dodged too late. The same with the shortcuts. I had no chance in arm wrestling of course. Even the inventory was slow regardless of low or medium settings. I tryed 30-40 times to remain on the kayren's tentacle until I succeed. I'm not kidding with the number. I never experienced such a bad control with any other games or programs so far.
-W3 map is crap. I cannot understand why there is a difference between the small map (menu map) and the bigger map (with 'm' shortcut). The bigger map changes to the world map and I cannot see the bigger picture. Annoying.
-The chapter3 city in W2 is very bad. It was very annoying to find the way from a location to another. It's a labirinth and the map didn't help at all.
-The colored (R-Y-
/> ores are needless. One can have good or even better weapons skipping them entirely. It's not a bug but they are needless.
-Dark places were far better in W1. Cat potion was a must and it was good that way. In W2 there are many fires underground, they are meanningless and makes the cat potion unnecessary. I think handling darkness was better in W1. Torches were cool as well.
-Main characters were better in W1, they had ... character
/> . W2 characters are average and boring. Only Letho is well-built, partly because of his voice. In W1 the professor, Azar Javed, the detective, Thaler and many others were all unique, memorable persons and gave the game a cool feeling.
-I needed to check the internet too many times if I can sell certain items or not.
-Quest items should be deleted from the inventory after they are not needed anymore. For example I had the kayren trap to the end of the game I wasn't able to drop or sell it. (Using Yrden was far easier than bothering with the trap with slow controls.)
-Cooking potions at campfires had a cool feeling I missed in W2. However I missed the possibility using stoves in W1.
-It was a cool feature in W1 when I could brew a better potion using the appropriate combination of ingredients. In W2 using metagenes could have been such a possibility.
-I would make a bigger emphasis in W3 on quests killing big monsters. I would pay more for the player for such contracts and far less for monster parts. After all this is Geralt's job and this feature would make a better emphasis on such contracts. The hunting master in W1 was a bit strange as a role but this person can be a mayor, a captain or anyone else.
-There are too much money in W2. OK, it's good because one can change his sword or armor anytime without hesitation but still.
-More f*ckable women. W1 was good in this, 1/chapter if I remember well. It was fun to hunt them down.
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-Geralt's armors look quite the same. Some difference would be better. OK, I know one was a bit more red another more blue but basically they look the same. Implementation is beatiful but the concept is boring in this case. I have seen some W3 screenshots and I see there is some hope for W3.
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-Enviromental art is fantastic in W2!
-It would be better if we could see which abilities can be mutated before advancement.
-There should be at least 1 such a memorable decision like the werewolf case in W1 or the witch-peasants conflict. I missed them in W2.
-Crafting is rather annoying than interesting.
-The most annoying thing was the kayren battle. I almost gave up due the slow keyboard-mouse reaction. And the cutscenes didn't help me either. At the first time I cannot decide if I control Geralt or it is still a cutscene. But watching on youtube what to do helped me finally. It was the most terrible bossfight of my gaming experience. Fighting the 2 spider queens in the first chapter was also hard but that fight was a good feeling because there was more possibility to win not just a single scripted method.
-Trophies. I liked both ways, the W1 and W2 methods. W1 has a more better style as the witcher brings the trophy proving he defeated the big monster and gets the big money for it.
-Why are there lesser mutagenes? They are needless. But if someone use them making a potion they might improve that potion adding their bonus until the potion expires.
-It was a good event when I needed to lead king Henselt to draw the sign in the curse removing process.
-The inventory system was good in W2. I liked the herbs had no weight.
-I liked the guy with harpy feathers.
/> At first I thought he will make wings from them trying to fly like Daidalos and Ikaros and dies. I like such jokes in games.
-The hanging part of Geralt's belt is jumping here and there constantly during meditation. Bad rigging.
-I missed the drinking part as well! Another memorable feature of W1.
Finally, W1 was a great game, W2 was rather average.
I tryed to replay W1 but lost my interest. I would love to play W2 on the potionmaker path and supporting nonhumans but there are too many annoying parts.
Compared to Dragon Age I replayed both DA1 and DA2. DA has more unique characters and their dialogs are brilliant.
I can help if you need ideas making memorable characters.
Good work for the staff!
Bye,
Zoltan of Budapest
