zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
- 110,514
- 29,100
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Forgive me if this has been answered, but I'm considering getting this and I'm curious if it's a good choice for me. I really tried to get into the Witcher 2 because of strong reviews, but I could never get into the combat system. Is the combat system in this more n00b-friendly (something more like Skyrim, which I loved, but recognized that it was far less hardcore as an RPG than something like the Witcher). Or am I just going to be turned off by the fact that I can't figure out how to kill anything and give up?
Also, I have an older machine, and while it beats minimum specs, I'm wondering if a GTX 680 is enough to really power this game with any eye candy whatsoever (I've heard that it doesn't run particularly well on Kepler GPUs)? I'll admit that I'm a bit of a graphics whore, but I'm willing to sacrifice max visuals when I know that isn't feasible. Still, I think if I'm limited to "Low" settings or substandard textures, I'd probably pass until I can afford a hardware upgrade.
I find the combat to be best of the series so far. It is more fluid, more active, and more forgiving than before. It is very physics based--you learn to dodge and position yourself, and it is very satisfying. The previous games, especially Witcher 2, took pre-battle prep very seriously, and foes were very punishing if you weren't properly prepared.
This one allows you to survive most any fight without proper oils and potions, but high level foes can still punish you if you let them hit you.
No longer any meditation--you can equip potions and change oils in the middle of fights, and use potions with hotkeys in an active manner. There are also more types of potions/decoctions with more interesting behaviors.
I find the alchemy and enhancement system far more interesting than before--I always completely ignored speccing into those in the earlier games.
You can even argue that this combat is a bit dumbed-down than previous games, but I find it more fun, more rewarding, and more suited to active play. It's not nearly as simple as Skyrim, but in some ways I think it's a fair comparison--swing sword and stab, but add in a nice dodge/parry mechanic.
Honestly--if you loved Skyrim, you should love this game. It's certainly my favorite game since Skyrim.