Ok, so I have been playing this game for a while now. So far, I have received the pass and entered Oxenfurt. There are a couple of gripes I have with this game that I feel compelled to vent about.
1. Unfair difficulty spikes.
While roaming, I encounter a guarded treasure that's guarded by a level 10 Forktail (I was level 5 or something low like that) and when I engage the beast I feel like I am hitting it with a twig. I do miniscule damage even with the Thunderbolt potion. On top of this the Forktail does a tail sweep attack that causes bleeding and there is no reliable way to avoid this other than rolling away and making space between yourself and the beast. Couple this with the miniscule damage and this makes the fight even slower. Even abusing Axii does not work because of the low damage. The final option is to break away from the fight and retreat, which really sucks. You are Geralt of motherloving Rivia, hunting monsters is his literal job and he has to run away like a little b***h simply because a number next to an enemy's healthbar is larger than a number next to your healthbar. This is incredibly stupid and cheap. It would have been better if the mechanic was that you cannot defeat certain enemies or even high level enemies unless you do some prep, you know, drink certain potions, apply certain oils, etc. so that you can stand a chance. But the game literally nerfs your damage against high level enemies, so you don't stand a chance.
Compare this to a game like Dark Souls, which also has it's share of difficult and tanky enemies. If you encounter these are a low level, you will do miniscule damage here as well, but even then it is still viable to defeat such enemies at low level because there are reliable mechanics to crit them even with mediocre weapons. You can either backstab them or hit them enough times to stagger them for a crit, or you could exploit their blindspots and chip away at their health. In other words, there are reliable ways of crit-ing an enemy instead of whacking at an enemy hoping to get one crit every ten or so hits. And the enemy soaks it up anyway, so tough luck there.
Sometimes the game forces you in such a situation as well. There is a scene where a couple of bandits are burning a house with a woman inside, right on a street. I was level 3-4 I think when I encountered this scene on the road. When I approached them, a cutscene played out and my options were "F*** them up" or "P**** out and leave". Being the noble knight in shining armour I was, I chose the first option. Now I am facing four bandits, three of whom were level 7. Needless to say I got my a$$ handed to me time and time again. Given the scenario, I don't think you have the luxury to say "Just hold on a sec while I farm a couple of hundred drowners and return after levelling up" when there is someone being burned alive. If these lowlife bandits can make Geralt of Rivia, professional Witcher, the butcher of Blaviken, who defeated the King of the wild hunt in W1 and huge monsters in W2, into their b****, these bandits could and should single handedly conquer the whole continent instead of harassing peasants on the streets. I did beat them though after abusing Yrden and Axii, but my point is how absurd is it that you have to put so much effort to beat a bunch of lowlifes? Hell, lowlife bandits shouldn't have have this much level ffs. It would have been okay if it were some Nilfgaardian knights or something understandably high level like this but bandits? That's just absurd.
More gripes to come in following posts.
1. Unfair difficulty spikes.
While roaming, I encounter a guarded treasure that's guarded by a level 10 Forktail (I was level 5 or something low like that) and when I engage the beast I feel like I am hitting it with a twig. I do miniscule damage even with the Thunderbolt potion. On top of this the Forktail does a tail sweep attack that causes bleeding and there is no reliable way to avoid this other than rolling away and making space between yourself and the beast. Couple this with the miniscule damage and this makes the fight even slower. Even abusing Axii does not work because of the low damage. The final option is to break away from the fight and retreat, which really sucks. You are Geralt of motherloving Rivia, hunting monsters is his literal job and he has to run away like a little b***h simply because a number next to an enemy's healthbar is larger than a number next to your healthbar. This is incredibly stupid and cheap. It would have been better if the mechanic was that you cannot defeat certain enemies or even high level enemies unless you do some prep, you know, drink certain potions, apply certain oils, etc. so that you can stand a chance. But the game literally nerfs your damage against high level enemies, so you don't stand a chance.
Compare this to a game like Dark Souls, which also has it's share of difficult and tanky enemies. If you encounter these are a low level, you will do miniscule damage here as well, but even then it is still viable to defeat such enemies at low level because there are reliable mechanics to crit them even with mediocre weapons. You can either backstab them or hit them enough times to stagger them for a crit, or you could exploit their blindspots and chip away at their health. In other words, there are reliable ways of crit-ing an enemy instead of whacking at an enemy hoping to get one crit every ten or so hits. And the enemy soaks it up anyway, so tough luck there.
Sometimes the game forces you in such a situation as well. There is a scene where a couple of bandits are burning a house with a woman inside, right on a street. I was level 3-4 I think when I encountered this scene on the road. When I approached them, a cutscene played out and my options were "F*** them up" or "P**** out and leave". Being the noble knight in shining armour I was, I chose the first option. Now I am facing four bandits, three of whom were level 7. Needless to say I got my a$$ handed to me time and time again. Given the scenario, I don't think you have the luxury to say "Just hold on a sec while I farm a couple of hundred drowners and return after levelling up" when there is someone being burned alive. If these lowlife bandits can make Geralt of Rivia, professional Witcher, the butcher of Blaviken, who defeated the King of the wild hunt in W1 and huge monsters in W2, into their b****, these bandits could and should single handedly conquer the whole continent instead of harassing peasants on the streets. I did beat them though after abusing Yrden and Axii, but my point is how absurd is it that you have to put so much effort to beat a bunch of lowlifes? Hell, lowlife bandits shouldn't have have this much level ffs. It would have been okay if it were some Nilfgaardian knights or something understandably high level like this but bandits? That's just absurd.
More gripes to come in following posts.
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