Witcher 1 combat is terribad!

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
All this talk of playing old Elder Scrolls games made me give Witcher 1 another try. I was in chapter ..3... ? with the swamp area when I wandered away from playing the first time years ago.

I just finished the intro / tutorial and combat is even worse than I remembered, it makes me long for the smooth, more polished (as opposed to more Polish) melee in Morrowind or Oblivion. (That's a joke, but as clumsy as Morrowind sword fighting is, it's still better.)

Click on your enemy. Maybe you attack, maybe you don't. If yes, swing-swing-quicktime event! If no for some unknown reason then try again.

I don't think I can take it even on easy.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
470
126
The combat was the reason I never finished the game. Same exactly moves, same exact timings. Tedious doesn't even begin to describe playing the game.

That being said, I am a massive Witcher fan and I've read all the books and played the other two games, but I just can't force myself to complete the first game. It's too boring - even if the story is outstanding.
 

Borealis7

Platinum Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,914
205
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it was okay 12 years ago on my 8800GTS 512mb, we have evolved a species since then and we expect different things from the games we play. remember how a long time ago in quest games you had to type the commands for the character? (which also meant you had to know english pretty well - not trivial for 8 year old me), it would be unacceptable these days.
its the same with Witcher 1 combat.
 

BSim500

Golden Member
Jun 5, 2013
1,480
216
106
They may be popular but I couldn't get into the Witcher games either for the same reason. It's like every single strike of every single encounter is a mini-QTE. Then Witcher 2 came out with actual QTE's. I'm sure they are otherwise great games, but out of all the potential dislikable game mechanics, the one strong personal burning hate of mine is... QTE's...
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
17,575
9,265
136
After loving The Witcher 3, I tried W2. I didn't get past the tutorial, just a case of nope nope nopety nope nope nope.
 

maniacalpha1-1

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2010
3,562
14
81
Yeah, I keep quitting Witcher 1 2 hours in. I try it every few years and that's as far as I get.

After loving The Witcher 3, I tried W2. I didn't get past the tutorial, just a case of nope nope nopety nope nope nope.

Wait, so I have to skip Witcher 2 also?
 

DeathReborn

Platinum Member
Oct 11, 2005
2,743
734
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Witcher 1 indeed does have (and always has had) crap combat, Witcher 2 was a little better but still not good and by 3 it was good enough for me.

Couldn't get past the swamp on 1 anyway due to glitches, probably saved me new keyboard & monitor after I would have thrown the former through the latter after much more.
 

repoman0

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2010
4,442
3,280
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This is exactly why I forced myself through 1 and 2 before playing 3, even though 3 was out by the time I got to these games and clearly the best in the series. Combat in 1 sucks but I got to the point where I learned exactly how it worked and it no longer felt like a die roll. It was a memorable game in the end and worth the ~30 hours.
 

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
17,575
9,265
136
Wait, so I have to skip Witcher 2 also?

I wouldn't go by some random guy's word on the Internet if I were you :) Maybe I'm being spoilt by modern games; I like to think my head isn't turned by pretty graphics (though christ I loved the subtlety of facial expressions in W3, but I'm sure I can live without that in a game), but due to steaming turds like Tomb Raider - The Angel of Darkness I know that my head is turned away by shitty control schemes, and maybe I'm sensitive on that point.
 

Stg-Flame

Diamond Member
Mar 10, 2007
3,494
470
126
Wait, so I have to skip Witcher 2 also?
Absolutely not. It has, hands down, one of the best stories I've seen in a video game and the controls are vastly improved from the first game. It's more open and the combat is completely redesigned. Not to mention some of the quests can be completed in various ways which affect the story.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
I was hoping I could endure it on easy mode, but I don't think I can.
This is exactly why I forced myself through 1 and 2 before playing 3, even though 3 was out by the time I got to these games and clearly the best in the series. Combat in 1 sucks but I got to the point where I learned exactly how it worked and it no longer felt like a die roll. It was a memorable game in the end and worth the ~30 hours.

I'm pushing forward for now. On the easiest mode the fact that half the time I trigger a swing it does nothing is OK so far since I don't take much damage. I wouldn't say no to an insta-kill mod so I can experience the story with less flailing.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,716
7,004
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Witcher 1 had a great story and the nudie cards, literally the only reason I beat it all those years ago.

Tried starting Witcher 2 recently: the game is still gorgeous and I can run it on Uber settings... But Jesus the combat is so bad I can't make it past that first seige level.

Stopped playing and fired up New Vegas instead, now that's nostalgia done right!!!
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Witcher 1 had a great story and the nudie cards, literally the only reason I beat it all those years ago.

Tried starting Witcher 2 recently: the game is still gorgeous and I can run it on Uber settings... But Jesus the combat is so bad I can't make it past that first seige level.

Stopped playing and fired up New Vegas instead, now that's nostalgia done right!!!

I'm waiting until after the first patch or two to the New California prequel mod before playing New Vegas again.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,716
7,004
136
I'm waiting until after the first patch or two to the New California prequel mod before playing New Vegas again.

-Oh, it's my first time ever playing NV.

I can't stand Bethesda's 200 hours of procedureally generated crap either. I know NV was made by Obsidian, who are a talented bunch, but they had to work in the confines of the Gamebryo engine that Bethesda insists on.

I played several hours of FO3 and had to quit because it just didn't feel like the old Fallouts, but NV is really a better intro into the new Fallout gameplay. Feels like the real FO3...
 

hardhat

Senior member
Dec 4, 2011
422
114
116
Yeah, I could never get into the witcher games when I tried. I was modding Oblivion crazily when W1 was out, so I ignored it. When W2 came I tried it, and couldn't stand the quick time events and combat. I also have W3, but never even installed it. Maybe if the combat's better I'll give it a go...sometime.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,092
146
It's definitely very hard to get back into at this point, they way this type of combat has standardized over the same type of games.

And it was very divisive when the game was new, so there's that to consider, lol. And I quit about the same area when you quit--the swamp area with the one biggish town. Not because of combat, I just got bogged down with item hoarding, bag sorting, keeping track of quests and such.

I hadn't yet learned how to manage expectations and needs for item collecting in those type of games (I forced it in order to keep playing Skyrim; and, as for questing--I quit Morrowind for the same reasons because I didn't realize that the actual scope of such games is that you really do not need to do every little thing, and you should not--on a primary, main playthrough, anyway)
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,092
146
They may be popular but I couldn't get into the Witcher games either for the same reason. It's like every single strike of every single encounter is a mini-QTE. Then Witcher 2 came out with actual QTE's. I'm sure they are otherwise great games, but out of all the potential dislikable game mechanics, the one strong personal burning hate of mine is... QTE's...

All legitimate complaints...but I hope these assumptions haven't kept you away from Witcher 3, because none of that exists in W3. It's a phenomenal game at every single turn and you should seriously consider giving it a whirl if you haven't yet.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,511
29,092
146
Yeah, I keep quitting Witcher 1 2 hours in. I try it every few years and that's as far as I get.

After loving The Witcher 3, I tried W2. I didn't get past the tutorial, just a case of nope nope nopety nope nope nope.

Wait, so I have to skip Witcher 2 also?

yep yep, I had the same problem with the early QTE and then the first big boss fight, about 10 hours in, and that the game is completely on rails....but with a 3rd attempt at W2, some years later, I managed to get past all that and the first big obnoxious boss fight, and it became much less of a problem. It also manages to still look great compared to games today, but that's also because everything is more or less fixed: you're essentially playing on a stage the entire game so all of the backgrounds aren't dealing with LOD and variable texture resolutions and all that.

I tried 3 separate times to get into W1, each time I quit earlier and earlier. I think the last attempt was about 3 hours in.
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
Yeah never got into the witcher games, played the first one for a few hours many years ago, then tried once more years later and it still sucked and decided this BS combat just wasnt for me and proceeded to ignore the rest of the series. Its to bad i hear #3 was great game but ive got so much backlog of games i decided not to risk buying sequels of a game i knew i hated.
 

maniacalpha1-1

Diamond Member
Feb 7, 2010
3,562
14
81
yep yep, I had the same problem with the early QTE and then the first big boss fight, about 10 hours in, and that the game is completely on rails....but with a 3rd attempt at W2, some years later, I managed to get past all that and the first big obnoxious boss fight, and it became much less of a problem. It also manages to still look great compared to games today, but that's also because everything is more or less fixed: you're essentially playing on a stage the entire game so all of the backgrounds aren't dealing with LOD and variable texture resolutions and all that.

I tried 3 separate times to get into W1, each time I quit earlier and earlier. I think the last attempt was about 3 hours in.

I like starting with the first game in a series. It feels like not getting into W1 is making me lose out on so much in W3
 
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GoodRevrnd

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
6,803
581
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I remember it being pretty awful, but actually recall disliking W2 even more for some reason.

Anyone starting W3 these days should use either Ghost Mode (truer to vanilla) or Enhanced Edition (harder combat, but finer control). Both clean up combat animations and flow significantly and both are highly customizable for difficulty.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,054
12,241
136
Heh, it's been a long time since I played it too, felt like I played it for a while, but seems like I quit around that swamp forest area too.
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
3,656
60
91
Witcher 1 combat certainly makes some encounters much harder than they should be.

I'm currently in Chapter 5, finally going to finish it after owning it for so long. The rhythmic nature of the combat isn't so bad, I mix it up every now and again with Aard so I can get insta-kills. It's a wonky game all around, but I'm glad it was good enough in its time to spawn the other games.

I can't say I've hated my time with it. Definitely some frustrations, but I've enjoyed it more than not.
 

Mem

Lifer
Apr 23, 2000
21,476
13
81
It's not that bad, main thing to remember is use the right sword ie silver or normal depending on enemies, also use your magic and buffs for harder mobs, did not take me long to get use to it, finished it 4 times in a row from start to finish and I'm over 50 years old lol.