I've used the Blizzard potion multiple times, and fuck me if there's been any discernible difference in the results whatsoever. Even when you know to anticipate a difficult enemy encounter it's basically a guessing game as to what buffs are useful.
And the combat you do know is ahead is most times so easy it's not worth the trouble. Except the game hardly ever properly signifies to you when a difficult combat scenario is coming up, so you really have no way of knowing if potential combat even warrants preparation. Different weapons you get can inflict status effects, but since they don't affect enemy behavior in any way, what's the point?Īnd lastly, there's the element of preparation.
THE WITCHER 1 COMBAT HOW TO
The game doesn't signify how or what enemies inflict these or how to avoid them, so it's basically a random chance. Most are basically unnoticeable, but one or two make Geralt stop for a 40-minute soliloquy while the enemies pull his lungs out through his nostrils, ending the combat possibly in seconds once inflicted. They display damage numbers, but since witcher swords only say "damage varies based on combat style" you have no point of comparison and therefore no way of knowing if a weapon is good or not. Oh, the game gives you different weapons, but you never use them. The dodge move is so badly executed it's almost comical. He switches targets seemingly on his own, letting enemies whale on him while he tries to circumnavigate one simple enemy. It's unresponsive too: multiple times I've had Geralt simply not do what I've wanted him to. It goes like this: test whether enemy is weak to strength or speed, and switch to group style if more than 3 enemies surround you. And since the whole thing is essentially just a timing minigame, you're not even looking at what's happening, but at the mouse cursor to time your clicks right. It doesn't matter if you're fighting humans, giant spiders, ghouls or the guy you spend half the fucking game chasing, it's always the same click-click-click with no variety aside from throwing a sign or two in there. It's repetitive, shallow, simplistic, repetitive, unresponsive, boring, repetitive and repetitive. The combat sucks a big floppy donkey dick. No, fuck you! I don't want or need to read about goddamn generic town #237, I want to track my quests! Sometimes when opening the menu, it's switched tabs without your input to display some insipid lore.
Oh, and let's not forget the fucking quest tracking! Being only able to track one quest at a time is bad enough, but when the tracking repeatedly just plain misdirects you you can no longer say "well some people like different things". It's overdesigned, poorly laid out, the inventory is a mess, and the symbols displaying your status effects fade to the background almost completely, making the whole affair basically pointless. I'm 23 hours in, and not once can I say I've had fun. How in God's name did this game ever get any scores above 4/10? Has everyone on its Steam page showering it with positive reviews collectively lost all their critical faculties? The game is just stuffed to bursting with bad design, poor gameplay and shockingly inept storytelling.