The only problem during rock throwing part is that the broken pillar/ platform section ones on right side, it feels as if Geralt can actually "climb" with mouse action... but it is not so.

I played it in hard mode and did not die as many times. It was a good fight and I really had fun. Compared to this, it took me around 4 hours to kill Queen Endrega... and I knew I was messing up while rolling.

I love game like these, where once you are able to learn and execute its controls and gameplay elements efficiently, clearing challenges are just so gratifying!

The only problem I had with the Kayran was the total apathy on the part of Flotsam's residents as to my outstanding job in defeating it! I mean, what's it take for a cheering crowd . . or, hell, at least one guy saying "That was incredible - good work! Let me buy you a beer!" ? I got a reward from the merchants, nothing says "thank you" like orens, but, damn, people.

As for the fight itself, I died about seven or eight times the first time I faced it. Each time I learned a little more and progressed a bit further. On Hard I killed it on the first try. I'm a decent gamer, I think, bordering on good. I think anyone who dislikes Boss battles can look 'em up on Youtube or walkthroughs. I don't as I enjoy the challenge.

The title of this thread, OP, is a bit insulting, which is why some take offense. TW2 is an outstanding game. I understand your frustration. We can always ask game developers to try think outside the box, and come up with dramatic moments not requiring a Boss creature, or ways around it, perhaps. ( I think a wonderfully weird turn would be if we could actually talk to the thing and try some diplomacy!).

Truthfully, though, if there was a way to avoid the kayran - say, Geralt shrugs his shoulders and says, "Not my problem" - would we? Could we? How would it feel to know we, monster-slayers, left behind a huge menacing creature like that.

Those are some real nice thoughts. Even I expected huge cheering and celebrations after defeating Kayran. But, those stupid townsmen will never understand. It would have been good to see the whole town going gaga over Geralt's victory!

Kayran is just a mandatory boss that needs to be defeated to go ahead in story. However, It will be great if, we as players can choose to completely ignore the Monster situation, like you say! Just that, such designs are complex and hard to weave into games.

Can people finally stop confusing bad design with being too hard?

For the guy who said that he also died a lot in Super Mario, actually this is exactly my point. When I play RPG I don't want to have obligatory Super Mario sequence built in game, which is exactly what Kayran fight is.

I really liked when Geralt says in the prologue in a response to the Foltest's question on how to fight a dragon: "You don't fight, you run!" And then the game designers decided that Geralt will fight a dragon and win and of course the dragon should land and stretch her head so that Geralt can chop it. The second worst decision ever right next only to Kayran. The fight should have been a big squish with a paste out of former Geralt's body spread evenly on the top of the tower (like in the scene with a knight of the flaming rose few moments before the dragon fight).

I can understand, of course, that people, whose most developed part of the brain is their spinal cord need to have their entertainment and think that arcade-style boss fights is the best part of the game but why not to make it optional then and let them play Super Mario as much as they want not inside the RPG.

In general the boss encounters are badly designed.... But not because they are hard (they are not hard they are easy). But because they are all scripted encounters. If you think outside the box... It wont work... If you try something new... it can bug the boss.

I dont consider bosses like this to be fun in general.

Even worse when the are HUGE safe zones on the boss encounter. When he go berserk for example... You can stand on quiet a huge area... Go afk... Get something to drink and not have lost a single life.

You have some valid points. But the problem is more from your side, maybe this game isn't suited for you. Well consider the $49.90 as a lesson, painful lesson. I have been in your shoe many time before. Bought some games, later i get bored or not my cup of tea, feel wasting my hard earned money and find them overhyped (FIFA, Star Assault, C&C4, Project Snowblind, DMC4, Infernal, CoD, Battlefield). But that probably my fault because i didn't do enough research about those titles i bought.

But i don't agree with your idea about boss skipping. Even $5 edutainment game won't let you pass certain level if you haven't solve the riddle or puzzle. If they implement your idea, i must say it is very 'fresh' and 'innovative'. If you're looking for recreational this is not the game.

I just don't know what my problem is with the Kayran, I have rode the tentacle for 3 freaking hours trying to ckick my mouse just right and still have yet to go all the way!

Don't be arogant. It's not for you to decide what kind of games are meant for other people. If the game was meant to be played by hardcore gamers they should make a statement on the box.
I found kayran to be easy but my wife had a really hard time with it (the hardest game she ever played was solitare). On the other hand she loves Sapkowski's novels and was very eager to play it. There should be a really easy mode for gamers like her.

Bad game design? I think not.... The Kayran fight is a challenge... and a damn good one to boot. I enjoyed every bit of it. Right now I try to beat the game on Insanity... which is going to be very very very difficult.

I enjoy the challenge...

I don't think I agree with the easier easy mode nor with the bad game design opinion.
I'm 53 and while my reflexes are not what they once were I have completed the game once and have started again. I had a bit of trouble with the fist fights until I picked up on the pattern and can not win the more difficult arm wrestling matches, mostly because of the type of mouse I use(Trackball).

There may be those who can not play some games because of physical issues and I feel for them. I this world though, developers can not address every issue that a player may have and still make a game most RPG lovers will play.
I have what is called Dupuytren’s contracture in my left hand and it is pretty rough to fist fight after playing for a hour or so. I just carry on and deal with it.

Good luck with your up coming battle, I'm sure you will do fine, after all, us old guys make up for our lack of youth and speed with cunning and experience.
You shouldn't have said anything at all as you didn't read what the OP wrote and your reply had nothing to do with his point.

It took me a full hour to kill the kayran (normal) i felt fantastic after that boss fight, realy happy :)

I wish there were more fights like this, i think the difficulty is an added bonus.

Thinking about difficulty though, in my experiance playing any modern game, it seems to get easier, maybe thats just my choices of games but from what i have seen the better graphically, the more newer, the game is just more easy, going near enough a button mash. If you go back to playing retro games after these modern ones you get your arse kicked quite a few times as they were unforgivably hard.
Witcher 2 reminded me of modern game with a retro difficulty. For most games today easy you can litterally walk through it, normal...meh, hard...mehx2, very hard provides a challenge a wee bit.
I know i will never do Insane however some people will. Hard mode will be the most difficult setting i will play.

Having said all this, everyone realy just wants an easier mode, or a mode that they won't die in?

Fortunatly there are modders and i did see a mod for GOD mode, why not download that, everyone who is whining, is whining because they are dieing, if you just wish to immerse yourself in the story and not have to worry about anything other than movment, slashing your sword and speaking to npc's then go download the mod for GOD mode.

Final note from the OP

I ask the devs, if you were really Geralt and you were pinned behind the bridge rubble and the Kayron was hurling bolder's, would you run left just in the hopes you could climb up a narrow exposed platform to the Karyron avoiding boulders and tentacles in the hopes that maybe you could do something once you got there. I call that suicide. The only believable way geralt could get close to the Kayron is if the Sorcerss pins down the tentacles for a few precious seconds as Geralt closes on the creature.

The Witcher 2 is a great game so far and I am the first to admit that the Kayron is a great part of the game. It just isn't nearly as good as it could be due to design flaws that interfere if you are really trying to roleplay the Geralt. This part just needs some tweaking to make it flow better and be more believable.

I agree with a previous poster that the Kayron, like a dragon is far too powerful a creature to beat the way Geralt did, but changing that is asking too much of the devs.

As I said before the tentacle part is quite clever and only needs a minor change of having the middle tentacles trap and immediately break free, or the sorceress needs to say "Gerault, the middle ones are too strong". Doesn't make the game any easier, just more clear and immersive.

The rock hurling part is the biggest problem but it could be fixed with minimal changes. There is no logical reason to go left and get even closer to the creature. Even at a distance Geralt is getting pummeled and going closer would be assured death as you enter the open level walkway to the left of the Kayron.

Here would be an example of good game design fitting for a tier 1 game like the witcher 2

1) Geralt is pinned to the rubble as the Kayron hurls boulders
2) The sorceress realizes Geralt is in trouble and scans the situation and tells Geralt to run left on her mark

3) Geralt runs at the exact moment of the last boulder throw and the sorceress uses the last of her power to pin the last 2 tentacles long enough for Geralt to close in on the Karyon from the left. The tentacles break free as Geralt reaches the creature Geralt does a QTE dodge and drops his bomb and it is over.

Flows better, more clear, just as hard and much more believable.

PS

Also, there needs to be some explanation as to why Geralt has that bomb. My Geralt had no bombs at that point. The easy answer that makes the whole thing much more believable would be that the sorceress gives it to him and it is magic but must be delivered at close range.

PPS For those who think a skip function is so terrible ...... how would it affect you in any way if it could only be enabled at game start. Do you get so much false self worth from a computer game that it offends you that others can enjoy the game without having your Godlike skills.

A skip function is simple courtesy from the developer for people who are paying for their product. Lack of one is just plain discourteous. The augment that skip functions are hard to implement is a lie for BOSS encounters like those of the Witcher 2. In games with no bosses and an even difficulty curve, skips are hard to implement, but a skip for the Kayron would not be, if it just assumes that the Karyon was beaten.

But that said: The Karyon was clearly a beatable enemy and with a bit more polish it could be much more exciting and interesting to beat IMO.

Bad game design because you have to use your brain and try different ways to find weak points on a creature?

I think you should think twice before creating a thread about "bad game design", even more when a lot of players enjoy so much the difficulty and challenges that this game makes you experience.

You have a lot of easy games for casual gamers out there.. don't try to change the only one that is making things different for real hardcore rpg players ;)

you aren't entitled to skip parts of the game just because you paid for it, deal with it

I died 4 times at the Kayran before I figured it out, it was easy.. probably took me 20 minutes overall

"you aren't entitled to skip parts of the game just because you paid for it, deal with it I died 4 times at the Kayran before I figured it out, it was easy.. probably took me 20 minutes overall"

Actually yes I am .... I am entitled to skip any part of any game I find tedious. As a matter of fact I take great relish in tossing crap tedious games into the dust bin and never buying from that dev again and I am proud of it.

BUT that said Wither 2 is no where near the garbage bin. It is a great game with even greater potential. With a patch comparable with what the Wither 1 got it could be the best game of this type ever made and that is the only reason why I bother to post. this dev might even give this game the attention it deserves after release day. They are the only dev I have ever known to improve a core game after release.

Difficulty and repeated death for its own sake is not good game design. I have played and quite enjoyed games far harder than the witcher 2 but that is a very fine line which only a few devs can walk. A classic example of a good difficult game was Prince of Persia Sands of Time 1

This brings me to another area of W2 that needs work....The controls. If you don't button mash you quickly notice that Gerald doesn't always respond to your commands and sometimes just runs at the enemy instead of attacking. This is most evident with the Axii knockdown attack. After Geralt casts that spell he just stands there even though he is told to attack when the enemy is stunned or down. This is a very standard attack that often doesn't work either due to bug/lag or by design. If it is design it would be a good example of crippling to artificially increase difficulty and would be an example of bad design