Or do I just suck at games?
Decided to jump into the Witcher series and start with 2. Tutorial threw like 100 mechanics at me in 5 mins. Doing like the first side quest I stumbled on in chapter 1 and these wraiths are fucking destroying me.
I’ve noticed, for me, the difficulty level is not at all what I expected. Hard is fucking brutal and normal feels harder than 90% of games I’ve played.
My ego won’t let me play on easy. Not sure what’s going on here. Combat system is a bit wonky so maybe that has something to do with it.
Also on a side note something is off with the sound mixing. I can barely hear people talk at times. Turned down music and game sound levels while leaving dialogue at max and it seemed to help a little.
Besides that game seems great so far.
I still haven’t finished 2, although I’m in the second half of the game. Probably 3/4.
The start of the game is definitely not friendly, and it took years for me to stick with it. I knew it was there, it just wasn’t clicking. But then it did, and I love it.
If you’re on PC, you might want to look into mods. There’s a few routes to go, but the general consensus is that the perks need augmenting. One of the devs made his own overhaul mod that changes a LOT (including animations), importantly that he condenses all perks into one tier (halving how many are needed) and many other perks allow you to increase the perks per level (I have it at two). One is quite limiting on your build. I also have an unlimited weight limit and auto-loot from enemies, to keep the focus on the gameplay.
My advice lines up with others’ for gameplay: get to know the signs and use oils and potions.
I stopped for a while one time because I couldn’t beat a cave full of Nekkers (IIRC). Just come back later if you hit a wall like that, it’s not necessarily something you have to do right now if it’s a side quest.
Stick with it though, it’s a great game despite its moments of clunk.