Hello fellow Witchers,

Overall, I'm enjoying Witcher 2, however, there are some things that annoy me, that I'd like to share with you. I'm interested in seeing if others feel the same way (or not), have run into the same problems (or not), etc.

Note that, overall, I am enjoying this game and there is a lot more that I like about it than don't like.

1. My Sign hotkeys, which are bound to 4,5,6,7, aren't always responsive during combat. I usually have "spam" (keep pressing really fast) the key for the Sign I want to use, then there's a delay of about a second before it casts.

When this issue happens, the game isn't choppy or anything like that. Geralt just "stands there" while I spam the key and he eventually, finally, casts the Sign. This seems to happen more with Quen than the others, granted I pretty much use Quen and Aard exclusively, so I don't have as much experience/feedback with the others.

And yes, I do have enough vigor to cast the spell, so that's not the cause of this issue. It shouldn't be due to my PC being too slow either because I have a i5 CPU and a GTX 260 (the "recommended" video card, according to the system requirements). My FPS walking around outside is around 45. In combat, it drops down to about 30 at the lowest and is usually 35 or so, depending if I'm indoors out outdoors.

In comparison, I do not notice such "delays" when left clicking or right clicking (doing both kinds of sword attacks).

2. During the early stages of the game (Prologue, I guess?), the popup help/tip windows seem to appear at the worst possible times, i.e. when you're in the middle of a big fight and when there's a lot of action going on. In addition to that, they disappear too quickly, and they appear on the side of the screen where they are hard to see (granted I'm running a real high resolution). This doesn't bug me any more, because they don't appear any more, but I remember this when I started the game. IMHO they should appear during periods of "downtime" (like when you're just walking around in between "events" or what-not) and they should remain on the screen until you click on them to close them.

3. I could be wrong here, but, from watching my XP bar, it looks to me like you get zero XP for killing random mobs, and the only incentive is loot. I understand and appreciate this philosphy, which differentiates this game from most other RPGs, but I still think you should get SOME (even very minor) XP for this. When you kill lots of the same enemy, you get mostly the same loot and it becomes so common that you have too much of it to carry (and yes, I make plenty of potions). I usually end up just running past random mobs because I have no reason to fight them. Since combat is one of the fun parts of the game, I'd like another incentive (some XP) to spend time fighting them.

4. When you're crafting or doing alchemy, that window should show you how many of the selected item you already have in your inventory. I resorted to using a notepad and a pen and paper to keep track of my inventory, so I know what to craft.

5. Inventory management is a pain, just like with most RPGs where you have a limited weight of the stuff you can carry. I want to spend time playing the game (combat, quests) more than playing the inventory management metagame. I am OK with weight restrictions and can (sort've) understand the reason for them, but I would like to see other systems implemented to assist with the process. For example, if there was an area in your inventory where you could put a "max" number of each item, that would be helpful. That way, you pre-define what the max # of items you want your inventory, so when you pick up new items, from loot, barrels, whatever, it would not put more than your max. With a system like this, you could run around, grab all the loot you want, and not have to worry about keeping an eye in your inventory. Just an idea. I'm sure there are other ways to help with this.

Even better, in addition to the above, it would be slick to not have to right-click / space over loot. Set your max inventory values then simply walk near loot and it gets picked up automatically (if your max inventory value is full then it doesn't pick up that item). The manual process of running close to each item (sometimes you have to angle the mouse/view the right way) gets repetitive and tedious and doesn't add fun to the game.

6. When in combat, I wish that holding down one of the mouse buttons (for the light or heavy attack) would be equivalent to "spamming it". The CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK sound, and process of doing so, gets annoying. I know that I could instead click slower to be more realistic (1 click per attack) but I sometimes feel like I "missing" attacks using that method, as opposed to spamming the mouse, which ensures I attack as much as possible.

7. What's with the vendors who sell food only? What is food used for? I don't see any mention of food in the manual.

8. About the medallion and cool down, I'm OK with that being used to help you find those special areas where you get a powerup (I forget the exact name of them) but it gets a little old having to use it to find crates/barrels/etc just for loot. I'd prefer for them to just glow on their own. Again, seems like a lot of "work" that doesn't add fun to the game.

9. Maybe I'm being lazy here, but, considering all of the other voice acting in the game, I wish the books that you pick up also had voice acting. I am not much of a reader in real life so I don't have an interest in reading most of the books that I find in-game. If there was a voice actor that would actually read them when you double-click them, that would be cool.

10. I think the story aspect of this game is a bit too much. Take some of the cutscenes, for example. I feel like I'm watching a movie sometimes when I want to *play* a game. Story is good and having characters and places with depth and so forth makes the world seem more realistic, but it gets overwhelming trying to keep up with all of that stuff, especially during late night gaming sessions that I don't remember the next day when I continue where I left off.

This is intended to be constructive criticism. I look forward to thoughts from anyone interested in replying.

Cheers,

-mod

I agree on everything except point 9. Very well collected thoughts!

LMAO @ #10.no complex stories we need more off, dont want devs dumbing down games, already too much of that going on.

#9, WTF? no.

Some valid points there as well, some pretty lame.

I'll address point by point, as I agree on some and disagree on others:

1) Are you doing this after rolling/dodging? There's a delay after doing that, which has been complained about by others. While I also find it annoying, for the nonce, it's a matter of adjusting your tactics (i.e. make sure you roll/move far enough away from the mobs to give you time to cast).

2) You can access the tips in your journal. There's a Tutorial tab that will allow you to read them at your leisure.

3) You do get XP for mobs, although it's a pithy amount compared to quests. Overall, I think it's a better system than a static moderate to large award for trash mobs. As well, I believe if it's a mob you've not encountered before, defeating a few of them gives you knowledge about them in your journal.

4) Yes, the alchemy window is annoying, as it often also defaults to using your more expensive and rare ingredients. This has been complained about before as well. As far as figuring out how many of the default ingredient you have, you can just double click another ingredient of the same alchemical substance. This puts that one in the 'mix slot' and moves the default to the inventory. This allows you to see how many you have. A pain, to be sure, but it's what I end up doing in order to see the amount I have available.

5) A 'max' like you describe would mean you'd have to drop what you don't want and pick up that new, better item. Not much better than the system as it is now. What I did is just use a mod to give items zero weight. I find it too annoying to keep running back to merchants just to sell trash, so I just opted to carry it all and sell when I feel like it.

I also agree that looting should be a simpler process. Not a fan of auto-loot, but a one-click process would be welcome.

6) I'm not positive on this one, but it seems to me from what I've played in the game that spamming attacks is much less effective than going slower and timing them. I seem to find if you time them, you'll be hitting more and doing better damage. Could just be an illusion though.

7) No idea. Think it's a holdover from the first game and there's really no use for food in this one.

8) Honestly, I like it better the way it is. At first I thought it was a pain, but I find now it makes more in-game sense to have to use an item to find things. I can certainly see your point though.

9) Might be nice as an option, but that would mean a lot of VO work, which becomes a cost concern for the devs and also means much larger game files.

10) This is an RPG, which is all about story. While I don't agree with the basis of your complaint (too much story), I do think that some games rely too heavily on cutscenes to tell their story, which gives the player far less sense of control over events. This game isn't that bad though. So far (I'm only just nearing the end of Chapter 1), I think they've done fairly well with the use of cutscenes.

My 10 orens.