u/KGBTrump

https://preview.redd.it/objqi4ylum1h1.png?width=2630&format=png&auto=webp&s=c980f73ea16c3020b1ccac58ab5b06541ff31014

It's an Ursus knife Tiger Tooth 0.0076. I got it for around ~143 USD and I'm super happy with it. I'm honestly really surprised that a tiger tooth could be this cheap especially considering it's not something like shadow daggers or gut knife. I was considering getting a skeleton rust coat or navaja gamma doppler but I think I hit the sweet spot in not getting a bad knife or a bad skin. Next thing I want to get is probably moto transports to match the knife or maybe a sleeveless agent for CT.

My original post got removed bc I exaggerated a bit with my language so I'm reposting this here while trying to be more constructive. I also want to restate that I am by no means "dunking on" TW3 if you love it/hate it thats all fine by me I just want to have a bit of a discussion on what makes certain combat system better than others. Also some tips I got from the og thread that I thought were really helpful(and I want to highlight for anyone having similar complaints to mine):

1. turning down the difficulty to enjoy the story. In hindsight this is obvious but if I don't like the combat I can just do less of it.

2. Don't treat TW3 like souls. In all honesty this one could've been completely avoided by me. I heard open-world dark fantasy rpg GOTY winner and just automatically assumed it would be an ER like experience but, TW3 excels at completely different areas to ER. TW3's story is 1000x more accessible and enjoyable than souls-like item description reading. Questlines in TW3 are actual quests and not convoluted save-reload dialogue dumps that you can miss super easily. The RPG elements in TW3 are much more fleshed out compared to souls which is really just character creation, leveling/build creation, choosing fits, and choosing an ending.

Now on to the bitching and moaning

For some context, I'm a lifelong souls-player and I've completed many a challenge run in DS, ER, LoP, and BB. I bought TW3 earlier today as it was on sale and ofc I had heard of how great it is. B/c I had also heard that to really engage with the mechanics of the game you need to play in death march, i selected that difficulty.

Now suffice to say, as soon as I started the combat tutorial with Vesemir I became frustrated at how poor the combat mechanics felt. Now I understand that TW3 is a story-driven open world rpg first and foremost, but I didn't think a GOTY winner could have combat that felt so bad.

My main complaints for the combat basically narrow down to these points:

1. Random feeling/distance based animation selection.
2. Every attack/dodge having Geralt lift or lunge off the ground and always moving forward when attacking
3. Controller keybinds make no sense and are unchangeable

Before I start elaborating on what I mean by each of these, I feel that its important to know that I am by no means an expert on The Witcher. The range of my knowledge extends simply to the point of someone who's played many games and many third person combat action rpgs. Moreover, I want to highlight the fact that by no means do I intend to tell anyone how they should feel about the game nor do I intend antagonize anyone who enjoys TW3. I really just want to spread some insight on what I feel are it's flaws and hopefully gain some insight to help me find a way to still enjoy this game.

Alright without further ado, the animation selection. For some reason when I attack the animation that plays can vary in length, speed, and movement wildly even if I performed the same series of inputs. I read elsewhere on Reddit that the animation is selected based on the distance between Geralt and the enemy, but even so it feels impossible to get the animation you want with consistency. Sometimes even the light attacks can be slower than heavy attacks and to me this just makes no sense. In a game where timing attacks and dodges is an integral aspect of gameplay having it tied to some sort of lottery out of my control seems like bad design Compare this with souls where every weapon/weapon type has a consistent moveset. If you know the boss and weapon well you can time combos and dodges to an extreme degree and it makes the game actually feel like a skill check.

Secondly the lunging/jumping/floaty feel. Geralt seems to always want to be off the ground for some reason. Obviously souls has its share of jump related problems, especially for a game with so much parkour/traps/level navigation based challenge. Side note: Seriously don't understand whoever decided that jump would be hold-b to run then quickly press b. I kind of have a similar complaint to the lightsaber combat in new SWBF2 if anyone remembers that. The constant jumping forward makes it really hard to position yourself how you want and the movement doesn't feel like it has intention. That combined with the random animations makes me feel like I'm just mashing buttons not really knowing what I or the enemy will do.

Last and definitely least: keybinds. I just want to make the triggers attack pls. Also why is there a dodge and a roll when they both do basically the same thing and most people that I've seen only use dodge.

For some context, I'm a lifelong souls-player and I've completed many a challenge run in DS, ER, LoP, and BB. I bought TW3 earlier tdy as it was on sale and ofc I had heard of how great it is. B/c I had also heard that to really engage with the mechanics of the game you need to play in death march, i selected that difficulty.

Now suffice to say, as soon as the combat tutorial with Vesemir I felt the actual sensation of needing to throw up. Now I understand that TW3 is a story-driven open world rpg first and foremost, but this level of quality is simply unacceptable of a game that some people call the greatest of all time.

My main complaints for the combat basically narrow down to these points:

1. Random feeling/distance based animation selection.
2. Every attack/dodge having Geralt lift or lunge off the ground
3. Controller keybinds make no sense and are unchangeable
4. Always moving forward when attacking.

Before I start elaborating on what I mean by each of these, I feel that its important to know that I am by no means an expert on The Witcher. The range of my knowledge extends simply to the point of someone who's played many games and many third person combat action rpgs. Moreover, I want to highlight the fact that by no means do I inted to tell anyone how they should feel about the game nor do I intend antagonize anyone who enjoys TW3. I really just want to spread some insight on what I feel are it's flaws and hopefully gain some insight back to help me find a way to still enjoy this game.

Alright without further ado, the animation selection. For some reason when I attack the animation that plays can vary in length, speed, and movement wildly even if I performed the same series of inputs. I read elsewhere on Reddit that the animation is selected based on the distance between Geralt and the enemy, but even so it feels impossible to get the animation you want with consistency. Sometimes even the light attacks can be slower than heavy attacks and to me this just makes no sense. In a game where timing attacks and dodges is the integral aspect of gameplay having it tied to some sort of lottery out of my control seems like bad design at the least. Compare this with souls where every weapon/weapon type has a consistent moveset. If you know the boss and weapon well you can time combos and dodges to an extreme degree and it makes the game actually feel like a skill check.