The Witcher 2 has to be the hardest game I've ever played.

[Niode]

Seriously, how obtuse does this game try to be? Even with the advent of Version 2.0 with a spangley new Tutorial mode, (which hand holds you every step of the way). I'm still getting absolutely destroyed in combat. What am I missing? This game is probably one of the nicest looking games of this year, it looks beautiful and I want to love it but this combat system is just kicking my ass. Even on easy. I don't understand what I'm missing.

[J T]

I've only just begun to play the Witcher 2, so I'm a bit late to respond, but I do think this is the only game I've ever played where I failed the tutorial and had to go back and play it a few more times before I ever even started the quest.

I actually don't think that the game is necessarily all that hard (separate from its interface), I mean its gameplay fundamentals are similar to other action rpgs where you have to attack, parry, block, get combos, cast spells, etc. It's just that the controls don't feel natural and the interface is unnecessarily obtuse. All of the spells are weird symbols that I'm unfamiliar with, so I have to remember which squiggly-doodle is my fire spell, and which is my shield, and hovering over the symbol is only going to give me some weird Gaelic word like "Yrden" instead of an English word that I might actually be able to pronounce and understand. And then I have to wade through pages of inventory that all controls nonintuitively. A poor inventory management screen is really sucky in agame where you can collect ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. My current Geralt barely has enough room to carry a blade because his pockets are so stuffed full of tinsel, random pieces of cloth and leather, garlands of flowers, mushrooms, and fluff. It's ridiculuous just how much unneeded crap you can pick up in this game.

And yet, I love the game. The game settings are equal parts grimey and beautiful, the characters are fascinating and complex, your choices actually matter for once, and the fighting is actually fun once you learn a few things well enough that your hands don't feel like spaghetti noodles slapping randomly about on a keyboard. I've only finished the prologue and a bit of chapter 1 so far, but this is looking like it will be one hell of an adventure.

[MrPopo]

I was going to mention Demon's Souls, but then I remembered you don't like Sony.

Really, Witcher 2 gets much less obtuse once you realize there's only one spell worth using; the shield. Since then the only tough fight I've been involved in was the one against the guy who had the same skills as me, but with computerized reflexes.

[brunoafh]

Is it really that hard? I quite liked the first game and have been dying to upgrade my PC and try the second game. Is the difficulty comparable to Demon's Souls? If so, that would be incredibly awesome.

[Niode]

I was going to mention Demon's Souls, but then I remembered you don't like Sony.

Really, Witcher 2 gets much less obtuse once you realize there's only one spell worth using; the shield. Since then the only tough fight I've been involved in was the one against the guy who had the same skills as me, but with computerized reflexes.

I imported Demon's Souls, I bought it from Hobie in fact. I love Dark Souls as well. That game is hard for different reasons. I just can't figure out what I should be doing. I basically just flail uselessly and get owned even at the beginning of the game.

I actually don't think that the game is necessarily all that hard (separate from its interface), I mean its gameplay fundamentals are similar to other action rpgs where you have to attack, parry, block, get combos, cast spells, etc. It's just that the controls don't feel natural and the interface is unnecessarily obtuse. All of the spells are weird symbols that I'm unfamiliar with, so I have to remember which squiggly-doodle is my fire spell, and which is my shield, and hovering over the symbol is only going to give me some weird Gaelic word like "Yrden" instead of an English word that I might actually be able to pronounce and understand. And then I have to wade through pages of inventory that all controls nonintuitively. A poor inventory management screen is really sucky in agame where you can collect ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. My current Geralt barely has enough room to carry a blade because his pockets are so stuffed full of tinsel, random pieces of cloth and leather, garlands of flowers, mushrooms, and fluff. It's ridiculuous just how much unneeded crap you can pick up in this game.

This is exactly my issues with the game. Yet as much as I keep trying to play the game and love it I just can't. Annoying...

[MrPopo]

Is it really that hard? I quite liked the first game and have been dying to upgrade my PC and try the second game. Is the difficulty comparable to Demon's Souls? If so, that would be incredibly awesome.

Nahh, Demon's Souls is harder. So far there've only been two things that I've gotten stuck on, both boss fights. The first is against a giant monster and I was noobing out on dodging the one-hit-kill attacks. The second is against someone with Witcher abilities, and he's better at using them than you. Once I got the right strategy to deal with his pattern I was fine.

[J T]

Oh man, I had Geralt spend the night drinking with some soldiers and placing bets on knife throwing and arm wrestling matches. Wrong crowd. They drank me under the table and I woke up on the side of the river with all of my possessions stolen. Bloody hell! Now I have no armor, no swords, no nothing, save for a little bit of coin that some asshole wants from me to get an explanation for what happened.

The game is certainly hard now. I can't withstand more than a wee bit of damage while I wear nothing but boots and trousers, and I only have my fists to fight with. I thought I could sort this out while wondering the town, but then I happened to run into a bounty hunter on the street that was after me for a murder I've been framed for. Died.

It's cheap and unfairly difficult, yet there's something kind of awesome about the fact that this sort of stuff can happen to you in this game. I had no idea the soldiers would rob me blind while I was passed out drunk. Now I'm trying to build myself back up, but I have to keep the bounty hunters off my ass.

[J T]

So far there've only been two things that I've gotten stuck on, both boss fights. The first is against a giant monster and I was noobing out on dodging the one-hit-kill attacks.

Was this the Kayran (tentacle monster)? I just finished killing that beast recently. That was an epic battle. I really enjoyed it. I died a bunch trying to figure out what was going on, but once I knew what I was doing, it was easy. I even reloaded a save and did it once more to get a few screen grabs.

I've also found that after you play for awhile and become accustomed to the layout and interface, the game isn't as difficult to play. It just takes some getting used to.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, the Kayran. Once you learn his tells and don't try to rush things he's not hard.

[JC48573]

Good, I like my games hard. I mean HARD.