Is this game hard… or what?
 

I know that many people here are not that into action games, so I won't feel so embarrassed saying this. ;) I had to switch to Easy when fighting Letho in chapter 1. Boss fights in which you can't afford to make 2 mistakes and that you need to keep hitting for a solid 5-10 minutes straight in almost-perfect timing apparently just are not for me.

It's a hard game. Or was this boss fight just particularly hard?

P.S. Yes. I'm still in chapter 1 and I bought it close to release. :)

P.P.S. Reviving a dead forum from the dead win!

That one is a bit hard for TW 2, but the game is very easy overall even on hard. If you think that one is hard never try dark souls :D

D.S. you don't need to keep hitting for that long, bring some traps, and throwables and such, they'll hurt him, you're a witcher after all not only trusting in your swords.

What she said, traps make this fight way easier.

TW2 is definitely not an easy game. Although I should mention that I've only played the original release version and not the Enhanced Edition. From what I understand, the difficulty was toned down in the EE version.

I only finished that game ones just when it came out but from what I remeber it had a bad difficulty curve, not hard in the start to easy in the endgame.

Great game though, definitely worth playing though to the end.

I'll play it on normal, and hopefully won't have any end of chapter 1 moments of frustration like I did on the first Witcher….

I only played 9 hours so far (with a couple restarts) but didn't find it too difficult before EE. After EE I thought the beginning was a little easier though.

I found you just need to keep moving, standing toe to toe trading blows was a sure recipe for disaster. Lots of rolling, get a few hits in and roll away. Also, don't get cornered and don't try to take on multiple enemies at once.(there's no group style like in witcher 1) Keeping good spacing helps a lot.

Also make liberal use of signs,potions,bombs and traps.

I'm currently about 3/4 ways through the witcher 1 then I'm going to do a complete play through of 2.

I've been a bit side tracked with Blackguards though.

I found it hard! I played it on release and gave up shortly after because of the frustrating scripted fights that you couldn't avoid. Getting cornered was fatal because you just couldn't roll out of tight spots, even if it was just a small ledge b/w you and freedom. And I recall having control issues when the heat was on, it was all very rage quit inducing.

Maybe it's better now.

Yes, getting cornered was frustrating.

I always wondered why you didn't have the ability to flip over them like you could in the first game.

For the original release, I'd say it was a challenging game.

It's hard until you learn the intricacies of the combat system, and then it becomes much easier.

I had my ass kicked repeatedly in the beginning - but towards the middle of the game, it was another story.

I played on Hard in the original release.

I don't know enough about EE to speak about the differences in difficulty.

Flipping over enemies like Bruce Lee in the first one did not make a lot of sense considering Geralt was not able to jump over a 10cm high fence in this game!

Yeah, that was annoying - hopefully such issues won't exists in Witcher 3, with it's open world?

That's true, I don't generally require my games to make sense though as that would ruin the expierence of most of them.

I find the battles really hard too. Somehow, i liked the battles in the first Witcher. I Hate them at the second installment

I am so surprised people think this game is hard, my biggest complaint is ( just like the first game ) that it is way way too easy even on hardest setting. In EE it is even easier. Of course the combat system and character development are not the best either, so it might not have been that much fun even if it was a bit of a challange.

Don't people want any challange in games these days? Perhaps they should just include story mode where you can't die.

Your much more hardcore and extreme when it comes to combat than probably any other player on this forum. I don't think you're in the position to make generalizations about what constitutes a challenge for other people.

I found TW2 difficulty to be very inconsistent. I played on normal and some parts were to easy and some mundane parts way to hard. Changing to Easy difficulty made the game to easy thus not challenging at all. While its a good game I still haven't bothered to finish it.

I like some challenge, but I freely admit that I have lost the art of figuring out exact tactics by trial and error to succeed in games. I'm not complaining, I just found it very hard to dodge Letho's attacks, of which three could easily down me if they connected full on with Geralt. After trying for about 20 times, I simply wanted it over with. Somehow I've lost the enjoyment of figuring out a fight and sticking with it until I succeed, over the years.

Part of it is wanting to enjoy the story and world, and not having the flow of the game be interrupted too much that I get stuck. I'm thinking of adventure games these days, where I resort to looking at a walkthrough for a solution much sooner than, say, when I was playing Space Quest. :)

I guess I wasn't properly prepared, neither, but that's how TW2 plays; if you didn't have your stuff together before the fight, got your bombs, traps, potions, etc. in order, you better load a previous save. And I rarely enjoy going back to an earlier save to replay content I've already played through.

So different play styles, I guess. I used to be pretty bad ass at Giana Sisters on the Commodore 64, which skill I attained through repeatedly playing through the same levels MANY times until I perfected them. Where has the time gone… :)

Anyway, I'm enjoying the game a lot. Something like this does not dissuade me from that. :)

I'm playing on Dark Mode now, despite what I thought before. Can't miss extra content. It's not too bad so far. Still in the prologue. And already bugs. Ugh. But the trial of fire part was ridiculous. Took a few reloads until I figured to keep Quen up for the duration. So embarrassing.

*sigh*

Anyone with a good hint for the fight with Letho in Chapter 1? I'm just using Aard on him and when he's stunned I hit him. When Vigor is out, I just try to avoid. Works ok, but he manages to hit me every now and then so I go down. :(

I threw grapeshot bombs at him when he was at distance. Unfortunately, I don't remember the fight that well, but I think that bombs not only dealt good damage, but prevented him from casting spells. I was particularly afraid of his Igni.

Aard is good to stun him, then wack him with your sword. Avoid his attacks at all costs.

I addition, igni helps to kill him at range.

Grapeshot bombs stun him, too, as far as I remember. Sorry for being so unsure, but there certainly was a reason why I used those particular bombs. Because either they or their components were rare to come by.

P.S Bad memory really helps when you decide to replay a game, btw, it's as good as new ;)

What's bad is when you can't remember if you played a game or not. I haven't reached that stage yet. ;)

I've managed to beat him with 2 or 3 attempts after I've learned that I can use the right mouse button for strong attacks. ;)

Well, I did it like this:

-I used Quen as a defense. It's good against his fireball attack which is nearly undodgeable.
-I had some bombs crafted that I threw at him.
-I parried his attacks.

In other words, I was mostly on the defensive against him. It'll take a few tries but you'll get there. IMO, this fight is one of the worst parts of The Witcher 2.

~Lapoon!

The EE definitely makes the game easier though I think it might be more because of the starting equipment I got to keep from the earlier game/bonus material. The Blue Stripes coat is FAR better than anything I've found and, at the end of chapter 2, I haven't found a better steel sword either. The Fate sword was a little better than the one I had but only just a little.

I've been playing on normal difficulty but I just hit a horrible difficulty spike for the Eternal Battle sequence. I don't get to use any spells. I don't get to use any bombs. I don't get to use any potions or oils. I can't even roll in battle. Basically, I'm just a typical fighter. I'm up against three guys in armor plus one of those earth elemental guys with a shield. Oh, and archers and a ring of fire that's very easy to wander into.

This hasn't even been close. All the enemies have no interest in anything but cutting me down. There's no terrain to use. They all seem smart enough not to wander into fire. The only way to win seems to be to dumb it down to Easy which cranks your regeneration so high that you can just flail away at anyone and win.

Regarding Loredo… sheesh. The first time I fight him the game pretty much kills me off before I even get to do anything. On reload (when more assets are in memory) I do better but die. After a few more attempts I get a lucky stun in early and kill him… except he doesn't die. He keeps going through his script and now I can't hurt him because he's already at 0 health! Eventually he kills me. After a couple more tries I defeated him the way I was supposed to and the game moved on.

Honestly, this game still has some pretty hefty bugs even with all those updates. Playing Witcher 3 on release day is probably not a good plan.

You're probably right, but who's going to be able to resist? ;)

I know I'm not.

I know this is an ancient comment but I’m just playing The Witcher now. I got pasted by that dog the first time but knocking it down with Aard and clearing the mob and then focusing on the boss ended the fight in 30 seconds. It was pretty funny.

Yeah, the hellhound fight can be weird. It's a very difficult battle at that point in the game, but Aard allows you to one-shot him if you get lucky.

Is it your first time playing TW?

Yes Aard is the key to that fight.

That Letho fight is the hardest one in the game IMO.

I love Dark Mode in TW2, think it feels bang on in terms of difficulty, but that's THE fight when I occasionally switch the difficulty down.

Well it’s my first time getting past the beginning of Chapter III. I’m partway through chapter IV this time and still going. I’m more patient this time around which makes it far more enjoyable. I have to say I’m very impressed so far. The only thing I didn’t like so far was the boss battle at the end of Chapter III. After dying a few times Trying to dodge and move I realized the best option was to stand and tank hoping to outlast his cheesy lightening attack spell. I’d much rather face a skill based battle like Ramsmeat which was a nice challenge and felt like a real battle. Either way I plan to finish it and start Witcher II.

The Chapter III boss battle, was that the Salamandra alchemist? I haven't played TW in years so I don't quite remember all the encounters.

I remember key parts of the story like it was yesterday though. TW has one of the best plot twists I've ever seen in a game. I hope you've avoided any spoilers. :)

I only remember one hard fight - near midway - some critter that as a pia. Rest of the game was pretty easy. Fun game - meant to replay sometime as there are two different endings - but alas been distracted… and new games keep showing up.

Go for the replay mate. The story is literally only half told if you've only seen 1 POV of it.

Flotsam is pretty much the same, but choosing the opposite side to what you chose at the end of Chapter 1 before gives you an entirely new perspective on it all.