One of the unique and enjoyable features of the Witcher was the combat system. It was different from almost all the other games I had and I thoroughly enjoyed that difference.

Sadly the Witcher 2 went with the button mashing combat style, abandoning a feature that set the first game apart. Just pushing the mouse button rapidly is all you need to do now, I wish they would have incorporated a toggle for swinging the sword, so all you need to do is point to a target. It would save wear on the mouse buttons.

I hope the next Witcher game will feature a way to select the combat system so that players who liked the first game's combat can play it.

You don`t play on hard difficulty i take it?

I didn't find this to be true at all... whenever I just tried to mash the mouse button I was very quickly killed. Instead I had to think carefully about when to strike and I had to use lots of dodging. I was using the highest difficulty setting though; you might try that if you haven't yet, and see if you like the combat any better.

I agree that the system in The Witcher 1 was unique, but in the end I felt it made the fights rather boring, even at the highest difficulty setting. There were tactical considerations before the fight, like whether to apply an oil to my sword and which potions to imbibe, but the actual fights were very simple. Just pick the right sword style and then click at the right times. It felt like I was just watching the fight instead of actually guiding it, and there weren't really any tactical considerations other than continuing through the sword sequence. I guess I might occasionally throw a sign in, but otherwise it was just timed clicks.

In the Witcher 2, by contrast, I was worrying about positioning, parrying, waiting to strike so as not to leave myself vulnerable, throwing bombs, and using signs more often. I did kind of miss Geralt's crazy kung-fu sword mastery, but I found the combat system was far more satisfying to actually control. It did take some getting used to though.


EDIT: I should clarify that I was playing on Hard, not on Dark Mode... I played before the 2.0 patch that introduced Dark Mode.

Try Dark mode; mashing wont get you much of anywhere. You still use buttons, but you mash more than just LMB like in the Witcher 1.

OP must be joking, W1 combat was one of the sillier ones, I mean it was tolerable because the rest of the game was so awesome it overshadowed the silly combat but on its own it was NOT an enjoyable system in any imaginable way. W2 combat on the other hand is probably the best action-based RPG combat I've ever seen and I've been playing RPGs since the early 90s.

Of course I much prefer tactical turn-based combat (Wizardry 7/8, Betrayal at Krondor) in my RPGs but now that the 20 years old kids reviewing games at IGN and GameSpot insist it's "boring" and developers therefore don't dare to implement tactical combat in their games, I have no other option than action-based combat. But W2 at least does it well.

Well, Witcher 2 is more toward ARPG, so button mashing might be one of many ways that you can approach the game. But the consequence might be different, in this game your enemy doesn't line up one by one to attack you.

Althogh I see where everyone is coming from, I used to like the combat system from Witcher 1 where you needed to time your clicks. It took me a while to get used to the new system, and I thought the old one made sense. I also thought it was fun too to have a combat style to use against groups of enemies.

That said, I like the new system too, after a long while. And yeah, button mashing won't take you far.

Well, closing on 66 years old, not being a typist and getting along with arthritic fingers, I am not able to manage the higher difficulty levels. Also in the mix is spinning the view quickly makes me want to throw up. Playing Shooters is out for me, I get dizzy and want to throw up after about 3 minutes.

So I play RPGs like the Witcher on the lower settings and for me the first games combat style was a lot more fun.

You gotta be kidding right? I'm playing on NORMAL and the game is already hard enough, I gotta use lots of dodging and rely on my Igni sign a whole lot. I take it OP must be playing on easy.