Post by Steve Farrelly @ 04:37pm 27/05/15 | 15 Comments
Joaby and I are on odd pages in the same book. It's like one of us is reading upside down, but we both accuse one another of being that lopsided weirdo.
I play games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Batman, The Evil Within and most shooters on the hardest difficulty setting available, but I hate the Souls games -- games he relishes the challenge from, as well as other games like Civilzation, but he also likes playing most of the aforementioned on settings that allow him to just sink into the world. We're the original odd couple!
I don't wholly agree with a lot of what he says here, particularly in combat, but his case is thoroughly thought through and meticulously articulated, so we thought we'd hand him a soapbox and let him run with his shocking suggestion of playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on easy.
Click here for his The Witcher 3 opinion piece -- complete with narrated video.
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Posted 05:07pm 27/5/15
Posted 05:29pm 27/5/15
Human opponents with narrow direction attacks (Swords, spears)? Alt-key to side-step when they strike then immediately counter attack. This same strategy needs to be employed against werewolves (anything that regenerates) in order to keep the damage up.
Larger creatures with wider angle attacks? Roll away, cast a spell to stun, attack, roll away again. Dive in an out of attack range to keep yourself alive while still dealing damage. Focus on rolling behind the creature, where most of the damage can be done.
Blocking and reposting only really works against single human opponents; the block needs to be timed right before their attack, so you are helpless if someone else attacks you from the side or rear.
Don’t lock on to opponents, especially in group fights. Roll and dart between multiple opponents, slash or stab one human/monster then dart to the next before they can counter. Rinse and repeat and you will lower the collective health of the group little by little.
For me, this is a real highlight. I love having to mix up my strategies as well as plan in potions and spells. I haven’t played batman, so I couldn’t comment on how this combat relates to that, but for me, it’s challenging and fun. There is a real strategy to it.
Posted 06:01pm 27/5/15
Posted 06:14pm 27/5/15
Posted 06:49pm 27/5/15
Posted 06:54pm 27/5/15
Posted 06:57pm 27/5/15
Particularly about health. I'm playing on B&BB, at first I was very nooby and got hit a lot in combat and chewed through lots of food and was searching for wolf meat all the time. Then I realized two things:
1. I was seriously undergeared because I accidentally skipped almost all of White Orchard and I hadn't put my ability points in my slots. Sun and Stars was a game changer.
I rarely find myself needing to eat to replenish health, which seriously cuts down on having to loot everything, I hardly use potions. So that argument, in my play through, simply doesn't apply.
The argument about the combat being in-between contextual and button-bash I also find to a bit off. I find I can pretty much predict which attack I'm going to do based on the contextual information given to me, I regularly interrupt enemy attacks by hitting them first.
There is a skill that essentially gives you i-frames, it's the reduce-damage while dodging. Rolling isn't a dodge, it's a get the f*** out move, it should only be performed when you dun goofed.
Now I do however present a different argument to support your claims.
The combat is fairly simple really. Most enemies are killed similar to Dark Souls (but simpler). That is you know their animations and attacks, and perform the relevant moves to make the combat happen. The problem is, the difference between fighting a easy-mode enemy and a hard-mode enemy is mostly the length of the fight. You do the same things, but the easy-mode one dies earlier on. It also lets you get away with much sloppier play.
IF the enemies behaved differently in hard-modes that would be much better.
That being said, I found easy-mode to be really unsatisfying with any combat situations, it was just too easy. Playing on hard mode is much better for me.
Posted 08:32pm 27/5/15
Is there something in between story-mode easy and tough-as-nails in witcher 3? Only ever hear people talking about playing it at one extreme or the other.
Posted 10:42pm 27/5/15
Yeah, Junglist told me about the i-frames dodge roll thing. I abandoned dodge as a move anyway because it traps Geralt in one motion for far too long in the heat of battle, so yeah it's pretty much always just a 'oh crap i'm surrounded' thing for me now.
The thing about the combat is that I don't want to 'pretty much' predict what I'm going to do -- I want to know or not know. Knowing 9 times out of 10 sucks when that 10th time costs you a huge chunk of health.
And for Sun and Stars, I feel like an ability which exists as essentially a must pick shouldn't be sequestered away in the ability tree, which I suppose is the same attitude that lead to the eventual dumbing down of World of Warcraft, but it also lead to the game getting a bit smarter again (before being dumbed down again).
There are four difficulties, I started out on the second hardest, dropped to second easiest and am currently playing on easy because ultimately I'm just not interested in the hassle when what I really want to be involved in is the story.
Posted 11:00pm 27/5/15
Have you crafted custom gear and buy or craft better swords Joaby? Also crafting the bombs and greater bombs make the game so much easier.
Nothing wrong with playing a game on an easier mode. I do it with difficult games when I just want to play through the game and move on quickly.
Being a game reviewer I can see why Joaby might want to do this or he won't have an income for the next 6 months.
Posted 12:10am 28/5/15
Posted 08:10am 28/5/15
And Vash, I'm a hardcore souls fan! I actually think I might have some bad habits from Souls games that exacerbate my gripes with the Witcher 3, like my habit of blocking and backing away when I should be dodging forward and behind.
Posted 08:24am 28/5/15
it felt really satisfying last night when I took down a wyvern that was 6 levels higher than me.
Posted 09:57am 28/5/15
You mostly use side dodge, back dodging isn't that useful for most enemies and forward dodge is suicide in most cases. Part of being surrounded is choosing when to dodge and when to attack the correct enemy, when you play on easy mode it doesn't really matter what you do in combat, just spam and you win.
I agree the Sun and Stars ability should just be part of being a Witcher, it's silly as it pretty much is a must have for B&BB and above.
Posted 12:28pm 28/5/15
I might try cranking it back to Easy and see if that improves my experience, if not I can bump it back up above normal as penance.