[Sparrowhawk]

Yes, I agree the combat in the Assassin's Creed games ventures into "too easy" territory pretty often. I bring it up more because of the mechanics. I think a similar system could be made more difficult. Also, it needs to not venture down the path of simply constantly triggering counter-attack animations.

As for the problem with the number and type of sword, I think it's okay to just have Geralt find a few "milestone" swords throughout the game rather than a huge amount of them.

[Guy N'wah]

Kallelinski said:

Jup, he is indeed a knight, but it is just a title. ›››

Vesemir encouraged his proteges to adopt such names; Geralt chose "of Rivia" even though he had no connection to Rivia (and TW1 mocks it, with locals saying "You don't sound like you're from Rivia"). Later, he was knighted by the Queen of Lyria and Rivia, making the title legitimate. There's probably a long "Honey do" list waiting for him in Rivia.

Anyway, moves. There's a whole tradition of swordsmanship around the two-handed swords Geralt is seen to use in the games, and a lot of it is on exhibit in TW1. I think this was attenuated for TW2, so as to make control of Geralt in combat more immediate without forcing all of us to find a Liechtenauer school. But in so doing, they also took away a lot of control of positioning and footwork, and I agree with Sparrowhawk that this is essential and needs to be made more of.

[Kodaemon]

I'd guess his knighthood was revoked when he, you know, deserted queen Meve's army.

[Lurtz_Of_Orthanc]

Costin Moroianu said:

Don't bring up bloody Batman. Taking down 30 enemies with ease without getting hit is quite bad. The strength of Batman isn't it's combat system rather it's stealth system. ›››

Your points about fighting are interesting, and I would like to see Witcher 3 take Geralt back into the wild, fighting less Mooks and Elite Mooks and more single opponents - encounters like the duel with Berengar, or trolls/etc - but of course with a more nuanced fighting system. Quen should be reworked to have a slightly different function, so that blocking is more useful and varied.

But don't bash Batman. Arkham City's combat system is glorious and fluid, and kicks the hell out of any of the Assassin's Creed games (Brotherhood/Revelations was getting pretty good - as good as the inherently lame counter/kill system of those games could be, but then AC3 came in a the derpery was undeniable). Getting over a 1000x combo on the Joker's Carnival map is one of the most adrenaline-filled memories in my gaming experience. One tiny slip, one missed reaction, and it all comes crashing down. Batman's stealth is indeed solid, but Dishonored's system has more potential in that regard.

[Costin Moroianu]

slimgrin said:

Well this thread went ape shit. Since when does it make sense to jettison everything they built up in TW2? Just let them tweak it and I'm sure we'll get something better. Radically overhauling it would be a mistake.

Because radically overhauling TW1 combat was a mistake as well right?

Quote

I haven't played dark souls and from the look of it is not about skill but about remembering where things are in a level which means you have to die a lot before you remember where shit is or just don't have a life and play all day.

As you say you haven't played Dark Souls, so you really don't know how it is exactly.

Remembering how things are in level is enough to get you throw? Good luck using that against the bosses.

[pomor]

Sparrowhawk said:

Yes, I agree the combat in the Assassin's Creed games ventures into "too easy" territory pretty often. ›››

I am giving AC series a try right now. Finished AC1, about half-way into AC2. The combat system would be decent (in AC2) if not that gigantic health bar. I mean, at one point I blundered a little, got spoted, so I wanted them to kill Ezio, so I start from the last checkpoint, and try to mantain stealth. I kid you not, I let off the controls, and waited about 2 minutes, Ezio in the middle of group of enemies, and they still did not managed to kill him. Finally I lost patience, put my hands on mouse and keyboard again, and won the fight.
If the big guys with two handed axes were able to one-shoot you, and others were able to kill you in two or three hits, so you'd be forced to use all the tricks possible, it could be fun fighting system.

[Thor666Arise]

Well i can agree that the roll evade doesn't feel very natural at all. I would love to see some evade moves as they are described in the books (step back, pirouette...). But I also see the problem making the game combat more "realistic"/book like. It would make sword combat feel more natural thats for sure but it would have very negative effects for players who like to focus on magic. Bring some space between you and your enemy use a sign and attack again with the sword. For the "bring some space between you and your enemy" part the roll evade was very very useful. With more realistic moves as some (including me) would like to see the combat focusing on magic would be way more difficult (at least I think that).

Please don't try to copy any other combat system from AC, batman or anything else. Usually that doesn't work out and the copy is always worse then the original or/and feels misplaced in the game.

Finally a word about group combat: The witcher defiantly needs group combat. Maybe combat with just one enemy works out for other games but not for this one.
Geralt could easily defeat a single common soldier or thug (at least in the books). Things only get interesting when he fights a larger group of enemies.

[Sparrowhawk]

Group fighting for humans, individual fighting for monsters. I think it would be cool to have the monsters feel rare and dangerous...after all they are monsters. Coming across something like a Manticore in the forest or a Basilisk deep in a ruined dungeon should have a nice build up and payoff to it. Of course...I'm not a game designer and I'm basically just gushing about things I'd love to see in a game in this universe.

[arkblazer]

agreed he should pirueting, sommersaulting and throwing backflips all around the battlefield

[Your Mom is a Mom]

He really needs a pirouette move. He uses it A LOT in the books, it's a witcher move! It would be really neat if that made a return.

[Sparrowhawk]

I always imagined his pirouette to be where he advances toward the person *very* quickly, slashes upward hard while doing so, rotating to the side and slashing downward hard while coming out of the spin.

A lot like this move actually:



at about 00:17 to 00:18 is what I imagine his pirouette to be like, only much faster (have to show off that Witcher speed) and with a two-hander.

[Umair2012]

Gilrond said:

Yep, this constant rolling is one of the annoying and unnatural things in the Witcher 2. I hope CDPR will improve evasive moves in the Witcher 3. ›››

But the question is that how we will be able to dodge bombs .?

[Random drowner]

Regarding group combat, I think that if Geralt uses his full range of skills it should be doable although, a very tiring practice to perform - especially for extended periods (I would love to see Geralt being visible tired after exerting himself in battle).

You can get a long way with signs, witcher-reflexes and a good sword as "normal" swordplay combat conditions and dangers no longer applies.

[Daywalker30]

Well you can have different evasive moves depending on your style, for example a fast (group) style for multiple enemies where you use rolling and a slow (strong) style for a single enemy where you step away und such like you did in the first Witcher.

So yeah I think there should be for each fighting style a different evasive move.

[slimgrin]

arkblazer said:

agreed he should pirueting, sommersaulting and throwing backflips all around the battlefield ›››

I could do without the back flips and somersaults. I always thought that was a little over the top in TW1.

[Eldanon]

Oh my! I think I would absolutely hate the combat system if they take their cues from most of you guys =(

I love the TW2 combat, I love Geralt's ability to take on 8 guys and beat them. I don't necessarily want realism. Reality makes for rather dull games quite often.

*sigh* guess I better get used to the idea that TW3 is going to be inferior to TW2 if CDPR takes a lot of notes from whining users.

[Sparrowhawk]

I don't recall saying anything about realism. I just want it to be more varied and closer to the source material. Jumping around doing the same tuck and roll move fifty times in one fight makes Geralt look desperate, panicky and less skilled than he actually is. Roll, hit. Roll, Quen. Roll, bomb. Run run run, roll, run run, strike, roll, blah blah blah.

I don't care how "realistic" the combat it. I guess you better get used to the idea that TW3 is going to be whatever the hell CDPR decides to make it.

[BlavikensButcher]

Random drowner said:

Some swords already affect speed in witcher 2 (Espandon). ›››

Wait, what?

[Guy N'wah]

BlavikensButcher said:

Wait, what? ›››

Espadon [Spanish, literally "big sword"]. Described as "extremely heavy", and usable only for heavy attacks; there are a few to be found in the game. IRL, the espadon was a foot soldier's or executioner's weapon, something for swinging so hard that whatever you hit doesn't get up and hit back.

[Tuco Benedicto]

mastone said:

I haven't played dark souls and from the look of it is not about skill but about remembering where things are in a level which means you have to die a lot before you remember where shit is or just don't have a life and play all day. ›››

People should really avoid to comment on things they don't have the first clue about.
You haven't played it, you said it yourself, so what about trying and then commenting it knowing what are you talking about.
Because you are just wrong.