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[samn]

So, could you spam light attack and Quen and power through 95% of the content? Yeah. But it wouldn't surprise me that if you're not using all the tools that you don't find the combat very interesting. It has its flaws, though as a real time action RPG system I think it does better than most outside of like Dragon's Dogma and Dark Souls. It has far more interesting melee combat than Horizon as well, which I understand is not the focus of Horizon but I simply have very little interest in bow combat.

I have never agreed with the argument that if the game gives you the option to do something boring to succeed the most then it's your fault for picking it.

I am most immersed in a game when I am doing everything in my power to succeed at it. I cannot start putting arbitrary restraints on myself mid-combat to make it more difficult. It goes against every instinct. It also pisses me off that I'm essentially taking on the role of game designer by picking and choosing mechanics to use and ignore to maximise enjoyability when I thought I'd paid someone else to do that for me.

Anyway, I never minded the controls, I just hated that I never got a challenge even on hardest difficulty. And i'm usually awful at combat in these kinds of games.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

All of the Witcher 3 shit posters on Neogaf:

This is definitely a pretty common opinion. Even a lot of people who love the game recognize that the controls are the worst part.

 

[Artdayne]

I have never agreed with the argument that if the game gives you the option to do something boring to succeed the most then it's your fault for picking it.

I am most immersed in a game when I am doing everything in my power to succeed at it. I cannot start putting arbitrary restraints on myself mid-combat to make it more difficult. It goes against every instinct. It also pisses me off that I'm essentially taking on the role of game designer by picking and choosing mechanics to use and ignore to maximise enjoyability when I thought I'd paid someone else to do that for me.

That's the thing, you're actually putting an restraint on yourself by spamming light attack and Quen every fight. That is a less efficient way to kill enemies than what I mentioned.

This is definitely a pretty common opinion. Even a lot of people who love the game recognize that the controls are the worst part.

Nah, you're in the Gaf bubble. The game is the most highly awarded game in history, sold 10+ million copies, highly reviewed by critics and players, high influence on the books popularity outside of Eastern Europe, highly influential in bringing about a Netflix Witcher TV series. The combat is the "worst" part, it's still a combat system that can be fun to play otherwise the game simply would not be as popular as it is, no f'ing chance.

 

[pablito]

Been a while since we had one of these.

I like the gameplay, but I can't lie and say it controls perfectly. Here's hoping Cyberpunk shows improvements.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

No it doesn't, otherwise it wouldn't be probably the highest regarded game of this generation.

I actually agree with the OP and I love Witcher 3. Fine, precise movements give you an “Assassin’s Creed on a roof” seizure where Geralt will not go properly in the right direction.

 

[Neo_MG90]

Soo... have you tested the alternative movement option?

I also found weird the character movement in the beginning, but I changed to the
alternative setting and from then on it never bothered me again.

 

[I_D]

I wouldn't blame the animations, but I agree overall.

Trying to pick up an item next to a torch sounds like such a simple concept. Not with the Witcher!

GTA suffers from a similar issue. This is one of those situations where going for realism makes the game less fun.

 

[Latvian Hitman]

Controls are very snappy and fluid on PC at 60fps or better. Definitely is a lot rougher on consoles.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Agreed that it feels like a chore, especially getting through combat. A shame as I like the setting and story, but I get frustrated playing it, even with alt controls.



People defend it saying it's "realistic" animations, but I don't turn like a garbage truck, and watch the boy jump. I just want a "fuck it, make it fast" control setting.

 

[neojubei]

This is one of those complaints I'll never understand, I can't find any fault in how the Witcher 3 controls or plays.

I feel the same way. I never had any issue with the controls.

 

[samn]

That's the thing, you're actually putting an restraint on yourself by spamming light attack and Quen every fight. That is a less efficient way to kill enemies than what I mentioned.



Nah, you're in the Gaf bubble. The game is the most highly awarded game in history, sold 10+ million copies, highly reviewed by critics and players, high influence on the books popularity outside of Eastern Europe, highly influential in bringing about a Netflix Witcher TV series. The combat is the "worst" part, it's still a combat system that can be fun to play otherwise the game simply would not be as popular as it is, no f'ing chance.

well I think I mostly did it by spamming potions.

either way I felt like I was doing far too well in combat considering how little I was thinking about it.

 

[Erban1]

Gotta agree, particularly in regards to combat in the game. I think if you're going to have a real-time combat system then animation priority needs to be at the top of the list of things to nail. As much as i was enjoying the quest design, story and atmosphere i couldn't get past the feeling that i was never truly in control during fights. I get what CDPR was trying to do to make combat "look" more exciting, but if Geralt is going to bust out in a spinning attack it should happen because i entered the input to do that rather than the game picking an attack animation seemingly at random.

Granted i haven't played for long with the alternate controls, but if it yields a more consistent and readable set of combat animations i may have to jump in again.

 

[Shahed]

Witcher III is one of the best games I've played this generation. The open world immersion and quest design. The little details that make the locales feel alive. The story and side content. In those regards it's arguably the best game I've ever played.

However the controls are abysmal, even on Alternative. It's like Geralt is a lumbering mule that with the manoeuvrability of a brick. Simple walking, slight turns and even picking loot is far more awkward than it needs to be. Controlling MGSV, Horizon and Breath of the Wild shows how good things could have been. It's a shame since a game of that caliber deserves better.

 

[Alastor3]

any mod for PC that fix the controls?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

One of my favorite games from recent years, but that stems almost entirely from the stories, characters, world, and visuals. I agree that the controls definitely do not feel very good at all. They were worse at launch before they patched it with the more direct/loose option.

 

[Abilidebob]

While the controls aren't superb, it's quite funny to see there are still people that haven't seen the light and agree that TW3 is literally the game of the generation. As in, no other game this gen, so far, is better than it.

 

[Oublieux]

As someone who enjoyed the The Witcher 3 and clocked in over 100 hours, I admittedly also feel that the movement system and combat are probably the weakest aspects for me in the game irrespective of the original or alternative movement scheme.

The best analogous example I can think of is with that of GTA IV and V. It's a very animation-centric movement system; most animations have to play out and complete before the next command registers. I don't think The Witcher 3 is as egregious, but it can cause some frustrations. I can't count the number of times I had to carefully maneuver Gerald to open a chest sometimes.

That being said, I still think it's a great game. The movement and combat systems' weaknesses are just accentuated by the fact that everything else is so well executed.

 

[obeast]

I have never agreed with the argument that if the game gives you the option to do something boring to succeed the most then it's your fault for picking it.

I am most immersed in a game when I am doing everything in my power to succeed at it. I cannot start putting arbitrary restraints on myself mid-combat to make it more difficult. It goes against every instinct. It also pisses me off that I'm essentially taking on the role of game designer by picking and choosing mechanics to use and ignore to maximise enjoyability when I thought I'd paid someone else to do that for me.

Anyway, I never minded the controls, I just hated that I never got a challenge even on hardest difficulty. And i'm usually awful at combat in these kinds of games.

I'm of mixed opinion about this. On one hand, I do think that quen + light attack + roll is too effective for how mind-numbingly boring an approach it is. On some level, the game's designers should steer you toward rewarding methods of play by making boring ones less than effective. Quen is a very appealing safety net, and it probably should have been reworked between TW2 and 3 (a damage reduction rather than a full cancellation?).

On the other hand, I get the sense from reading some "TW3's combat sucks"-type posts that some players didn't really put all that much effort into figuring out interesting and rewarding builds that, by the by, kill most enemies far more quickly (i.e., they're overall better than quen spam, even if they're somewhat riskier). And many, many RPGs have degenerate ability combinations that the player can use to cheese through nearly any encounter (although this is admittedly a more common issue in less action-style combat systems).

That said, I agree that death march is too easy once you've figured out what you're doing. TW3 is almost never all that challenging, with the exception of a couple expansion bosses.

 

[ChrisInCali]

I never had fun playing this game. Which is crazy because this game on paper is like my fantasy of exactly what I want to play. I really enjoyed the story and quests, but it was an absolute chore to play. Terrible control, terrible combat, poor camera during combat. Felt way to floaty for me, no impact on anything. It's like the anti-Dark Souls in terms of control and feel.

I actually like Skyrim's combat and feel more than this, which is pretty sad. I wish there was a game with the tight controls of Dark Souls, story quality of Witcher 3, and with Skyrim's openness.

 

[TheRedSnifit]

You don't become a GOAT controlling like /shit/.

REmake
Resident Evil 4
New Vegas
Metroid Prime

 

[xviper]

Witcher 3 is my favorite game this generation and i highly agree with you

Geralt's movement is fucked up

 

[obeast]

if Geralt is going to bust out in a spinning attack it should happen because i entered the input to do that rather than the game picking an attack animation seemingly at random.

Granted i haven't played for long with the alternate controls, but if it yields a more consistent and readable set of combat animations i may have to jump in again.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure Geralt chooses his animation based upon his distance from whatever enemy you've soft-locked on (and the soft lock is determined by a combination of distance from the enemy and your camera's orientation - i.e., if you want to hit one guy but not the other, point the camera at him). It's not random, it's just kind of weird, and the game never bothers to explain how it works. I also suspect it's easier to control with a M+K rather than a controller - I've only used the former.

 

[Ricky_R]

To be honest, it was one of the reasons why I stopped playing the game. It felt way too clunky for me to get satisfaction out its gameplay.

I tried to keep up to let the characters and stories win me over, but I quit before they did.

 

[Nuno Pinto]

Especially after playing open world games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Metal Gear Solid 5, which controls like heaven, The Witcher 3 feels like a fucking chore.

Just walking around is a suffering activity. And the animations are so poor. Not even going to discuss combat, but you can be sure it is not highly regarded for the most part because of the terrible controls.

It is such a pitty, because I want to experience the world and the story, but Jesus Christ, everytime I have to walk it is so slugish and bad.

Yeah playing this game after those two is a rough experience lol

The controls are bad but like people said switching to alternative movement makes things a bit better.

Personally I also like to disable the auto-rotation camera movement (can't remember the option name), basically it gives you the camera control instead of it being adjusted by the game all the time. It sucks when you are on horse though since to give speed (X iirc on PS4) you need to let go of the right analog stick.

 

[zoukka]

Yeah coming straight from Bloodborne I remember the game feeling like some PS2 budget title in terms of control and character movement.

 

[Seganomics]

Like shit? Maybe not. Mediocre? Probably. The fact that its still the GOG for me thus far despite that, shows how monumental CD Projekt Red's execution was in pretty much every other aspect of the game.

 

[Chao]

It really does. In fact I stopped playing it because it was so frustrating to control and wasn't having any fun. Don't know if I'll ever pick it up again, it just feels so dated and clunky. And this game came out in 2014, there's no excuse.

 

[Niceguydan8]

"Controls like shit" is probably a little far.

It could use some work, sure, but I still think it's more than serviceable.

 

[OniBaka]

I'm generally not effected by these and I coped for 30+ hours but after that I just got tired of it. A shame really because I loved the characters and lore but usually in games it's the game play that is important for me.

Will give it another shot when pro patch comes and try alternate controls.

 

[Ahasverus]

While the controls aren't superb, it's quite funny to see there are still people that haven't seen the light and agree that TW3 is literally the game of the generation. As in, no other game this gen, so far, is better than it.

Preach

 

[xDUMPWEEDx]

I couldn't even make it an hour into the game. I turned it off and never played it again. The controls felt horrible, but I'm sure trying to learn them simultaneously made it worse. Either way, the game was a complete waste of money for me but I should have known better. My own fault.

 

[Drackhorn]

While the controls aren't superb, it's quite funny to see there are still people that haven't seen the light and agree that TW3 is literally the game of the generation. As in, no other game this gen, so far, is better than it.

And nothing will come close for a long time probably. GOTG indeed, no hesitations.

 

[galv]

And nothing will come close for a long time probably. GOTG indeed, no hesitations.

In this camp too, regardless of the minor gameplay faults. GOTG, in the running for GOAT, and it even has two expansions that elevate it beyond anything else this generation. It's untouchable for me right now.

Cyberpunk 2077 when?

 

[Ascenion]

Witcher 3 is a pretty good example of half-baked gameplay mechanics you shouldn't emulate. It's simply not fun to play. But it's an amazing experience. If your game isn't making me become skilled utilizing all tools at my disposal then why are the mechanics there?

 

[Raptor]

Horse controls are the ones that are trash, on foot ones you get used to it after a coulpe dozens hours.

Combat is decent with some awesome gore and blood.

 

[GamingPheasant]

As one who just 100%-ed the Complete Edition on PS4, the controls are less than ideal on consoles, but bearable.

The game is good.

My only nitpick is that one fight in Cabaret, where suddenly all you items are inaccessible and current buffs/statuses are inexplicably cancelled and your close-combat parries are suddenly laggy.

 

[Rellik]

Yeah coming straight from Bloodborne I remember the game feeling like some PS2 budget title in terms of control and character movement.

Sure it did, Captain Hyperbole.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

I love the world but yes, traversing it feels like shit.

 

[Nameless]

"Plays like shit" is hyperbole. Does it set the world on fire with its combat? No. Is it up there with your Souls games, Nioh, Horizon in the ARPG space? No. But it's perfectly playable and the mechanics never detracted from my enjoyment of everything the rest of the game excels at.

 

[LotusHD]

Literally the only game I've played where I did not hesitate to put it on the easiest difficulty setting just so I could focus on enjoying its marvelous storytelling. Did not care at all for the controls/combat. Aside from that admittedly big issue, I loved the game.

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I never had fun playing this game. Which is crazy because this game on paper is like my fantasy of exactly what I want to play. I really enjoyed the story and quests, but it was an absolute chore to play. Terrible control, terrible combat, poor camera during combat. Felt way to floaty for me, no impact on anything. It's like the anti-Dark Souls in terms of control and feel.

I actually like Skyrim's combat and feel more than this, which is pretty sad. I wish there was a game with the tight controls of Dark Souls, story quality of Witcher 3, and with Skyrim's openness.

This is literally my exact opinion on TW3. I love the books and action RPGs so I was expecting this game to live up to its reputation and be my GOTG. Probably my biggest gaming disappointment of all time. People called me insane for saying Skyrim's gameplay was more fun, but I stand by that opinion.

 

[bahamut zero]

Controls is to Witcher as is Frame-pacing to Bloodborne. Both totally irrelevant problems invented by people who couldn't accept the game in question is flawless.

Spoiler

Remember, A lie told often enough becomes the truth

Spoiler

/s

Spoiler

...or is it?

 

[Dream_Journey]

This is one of those complaints I'll never understand, I can't find any fault in how the Witcher 3 controls or plays.

.

Sorry for who found shit.

 

[Head.spawn]

Can we stop pretending melee combat in H:ZD is good?

 

[Tovarisc]

Can we stop pretending melee combat in H:ZD is good?

Witcher 1 has deeper melee combat system than HDZ has. You just do heavy melee for knockdown and then stabbystab for critical damage.

And I played insane amount HDZ and like it a lot.

 

[Neo_MG90]

Controls is to Witcher as is Frame-pacing to Bloodborne. Both totally irrelevant problems invented by people who couldn't accept the game in question is flawless.

Spoiler

Remember, A lie told often enough becomes the truth

Spoiler

/s

Spoiler

...or is it?

 

[dab0ne]

No problems with the combat but traversal can be pretty clunky. Super annoying when you're looting 50 sunken treasures in skelliga and you have to be in the perfect spot to loot the chest.

 

[Head.spawn]

All of the Witcher 3 shit posters on Neogaf:

Hyperbolic thread titles and descriptors like "its bad" are their rallying cry.

 

[leng jai]

It certainly doesn't control well, that's for sure. Fighting indoors is embarrassingly bad. Playing on PC makes a huge difference though, I couldn't stand playing it at 30fps but 60fps made it tolerable. Normally I don't mind playing at 30 as long as the game has inherently responsive controls, which obviously is not the case here. The Witcher 3 is my favourite game ever, but if I'm being honest, I would have dropped it half way at launch if I played on console without the original controls.

 

[msdstc]

I hear this so often... I don't get it. The game played so outstanding for me.