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Witcher 3 Combat and Movement

• Gollum

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  Here's a video review by "Worth A Buy" on Youtube, giving his opinions on the combat of Witcher 3.

  Pretty much my thoughts on the game now that I've spent more time on it. Nobody is going to claim TW3 has bad graphics, characters, or lore. But the combat is a chore. It really is. Same with movement.

  Horseriding in TW3 is frustrating. Just walking around in TW3 is stupid... I can hardly maneuver around in buildings well enough to keep from constantly getting stuck on walls. And riding on Roach in the woods is even worse. 

  The instant lock-on mechanic TW3 has in combat is awful. It slows your walk speed and doesn't let you turn around. Coming from games like Bloodborne where you could sprint around in full circles while being locked on to enemies, this feels really restricting. The combat is slow, boring, and clunky in my opinion.

  I just played Red Dead Redemption today for the first time (on the Xbox 360), and from a mechanical standpoint, it does everything TW3 does and better. It easily has the best graphics I've seen on the 360 and the movement in and out of combat is easily better. Coming from a guy who thinks GTAV was boring as heck, I was really surprised to find that I enjoyed RDR. I only have a few hours into RDR, but I can actually see why people would call it "the best video game ever", unlike The Witcher 3. 

  What are your thoughts on The Witcher 3's combat and movement? For me they're just way too clunky.

  Here's a video review by "Worth A Buy" on Youtube, giving his opinions on the combat of Witcher 3.

  Pretty much my thoughts on the game now that I've spent more time on it. Nobody is going to claim TW3 has bad graphics, characters, or lore. But the combat is a chore. It really is. Same with movement.

  Horseriding in TW3 is frustrating. Just walking around in TW3 is stupid... I can hardly maneuver around in buildings well enough to keep from constantly getting stuck on walls. And riding on Roach in the woods is even worse. 

  The instant lock-on mechanic TW3 has in combat is awful. It slows your walk speed and doesn't let you turn around. Coming from games like Bloodborne where you could sprint around in full circles while being locked on to enemies, this feels really restricting. The combat is slow, boring, and clunky in my opinion.

  I just played Red Dead Redemption today for the first time (on the Xbox 360), and from a mechanical standpoint, it does everything TW3 does and better. It easily has the best graphics I've seen on the 360 and the movement in and out of combat is easily better. Coming from a guy who thinks GTAV was boring as heck, I was really surprised to find that I enjoyed RDR. I only have a few hours into RDR, but I can actually see why people would call it "the best video game ever", unlike The Witcher 3. 

  What are your thoughts on The Witcher 3's combat and movement? For me they're just way too clunky.

• Chris

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  I like the combat, since I´ve played Witcher 2, as I was used to the combat, but yeah, it can get frustrating at times. I liked GTAV, though Red Dead was a lot of fun. We don´t get too many Western games now adays

  I like the combat, since I´ve played Witcher 2, as I was used to the combat, but yeah, it can get frustrating at times. I liked GTAV, though Red Dead was a lot of fun. We don´t get too many Western games now adays

• Matt Feeney the New Guy

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  It's alright. I wouldn't put it anywhere near the same level as the Souls series or the Platinum games. But I thought it did its job.

  That being said I've noticed open world, third person games often do a shitty job with movement. I'm including RDR and Witcher 3 in this statement. Trying to turn around and having your character walk around in some wide-ass berth like a moron can be infuriating sometimes. Just turn around!

  Still had great fun with both games, but clunky controls are annoying and sometimes seem like a deliberate design choice. Though I think Witcher 3 has an alternative movement system now where Geralt reacts to your inputs quicker (thank fuck).

  It's alright. I wouldn't put it anywhere near the same level as the Souls series or the Platinum games. But I thought it did its job.

  That being said I've noticed open world, third person games often do a shitty job with movement. I'm including RDR and Witcher 3 in this statement. Trying to turn around and having your character walk around in some wide-ass berth like a moron can be infuriating sometimes. Just turn around!

  Still had great fun with both games, but clunky controls are annoying and sometimes seem like a deliberate design choice. Though I think Witcher 3 has an alternative movement system now where Geralt reacts to your inputs quicker (thank fuck).

• Chris

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  I´ve rarely had trouble with turning in these kind of games. True, sometimes it does go into that ¨wide ass berth´, but other times, the character just....turns around

  I´ve rarely had trouble with turning in these kind of games. True, sometimes it does go into that ¨wide ass berth´, but other times, the character just....turns around

• Matt Feeney the New Guy

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  I've never had John Marston simply turn around. Also it's not really 'trouble,' it's just annoying and clunky, for me anyways.

  I've never had John Marston simply turn around. Also it's not really 'trouble,' it's just annoying and clunky, for me anyways.

• Gollum

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  The amount of trouble you have with turning around might depend on the setting, too. I don't remember having that problem in Shadow of Mordor, but there are barely any tight spaces in that game. In The Witcher 3 it always feels like I'm surrounded by walls or trees, and I'm always bumping into them. 

  The amount of trouble you have with turning around might depend on the setting, too. I don't remember having that problem in Shadow of Mordor, but there are barely any tight spaces in that game. In The Witcher 3 it always feels like I'm surrounded by walls or trees, and I'm always bumping into them. 

• Matt Feeney the New Guy

  

  Member
   

  March 27, 2016

  I also don't remember having any movement issues with Shadow of Mordor and it was one of my first games played with a mouse and keyboard so I wasn't even accustomed to it..

  I also don't remember having any movement issues with Shadow of Mordor and it was one of my first games played with a mouse and keyboard so I wasn't even accustomed to it..

• SpookyBorn2021

  

  Member
   

  March 28, 2016

  I never had any problems with the Combat really, I actually found it to be a fairly smooth combat style once I got a bit more used to it (which was at the 4-5 hour mark, but I didn't play any other games while I was playing through). The lock in mechanic to me made more sense, not only is it fairly logical (I don't know about you, but in a sword fight that's kind of what I'd expect to happen when your circling someone) but I never found it to be that much of a pain, the game is about quick timing and planning your moves right, and the lock-on lends itself to that aspect of the game.

  I wouldn't say clunky, but perfectly designed for how combat works. But I totally get your problems with Roach, that's why I just straight up stopped using Roach for anything but cross country travel. If I needed to fight in the woods (or at all) he stayed behind.

  I never had any problems with the Combat really, I actually found it to be a fairly smooth combat style once I got a bit more used to it (which was at the 4-5 hour mark, but I didn't play any other games while I was playing through). The lock in mechanic to me made more sense, not only is it fairly logical (I don't know about you, but in a sword fight that's kind of what I'd expect to happen when your circling someone) but I never found it to be that much of a pain, the game is about quick timing and planning your moves right, and the lock-on lends itself to that aspect of the game.

  I wouldn't say clunky, but perfectly designed for how combat works. But I totally get your problems with Roach, that's why I just straight up stopped using Roach for anything but cross country travel. If I needed to fight in the woods (or at all) he stayed behind.

• Gollum

  

  Member
   

  March 28, 2016

  The combat just restricts movement way too much for me. In Bloodborne and Dark Souls, playing unlocked is a very viable strategy that I make use of very often, especially against multiple enemies (even while locked on you have freer movement in the DS series than The Witcher 3). I would be fine if every fight in TW3 was a 1v1 duel, but it's not. Almost every battle in The Witcher 3 is like 1v3, 1v5, 1v7 and so on. Couple that with the slow walk speed during combat and I have trouble enjoying the game.

  In the Dark Souls series, if you're good enough, you can play through the games without getting hit once (unless there's a scripted event). I would like to see someone try that in TW3... It doesn't seem possible. Maybe I shouldn't compare The Witcher 3 to other games so often, but it's hard not to given the fact that it seems to take inspiration from other games a lot.

  The combat just restricts movement way too much for me. In Bloodborne and Dark Souls, playing unlocked is a very viable strategy that I make use of very often, especially against multiple enemies (even while locked on you have freer movement in the DS series than The Witcher 3). I would be fine if every fight in TW3 was a 1v1 duel, but it's not. Almost every battle in The Witcher 3 is like 1v3, 1v5, 1v7 and so on. Couple that with the slow walk speed during combat and I have trouble enjoying the game.

  In the Dark Souls series, if you're good enough, you can play through the games without getting hit once (unless there's a scripted event). I would like to see someone try that in TW3... It doesn't seem possible. Maybe I shouldn't compare The Witcher 3 to other games so often, but it's hard not to given the fact that it seems to take inspiration from other games a lot.