I don't know when this trend started, but it's something I just can't understand. Quality > quantity. The Witcher 3 did a lot of things right, but it was also extremely bloated with filler and superfluous additions.
The Witcher 3 is all about the quality
and the quantity, but the quality is its claim to fame. Every single side quest has a narrative and an arc, nothing feels like busy work. There are no "kill 15 wolves" quests in this game. Every quest feels like it was handcrafted, and sadly that is a rarity these days.
It wasn't frustrating to play, since the combat never really requires precision so the game is built around its limitations.
I don't agree with the apologists though. They have a great world, but the moment to moment mechanics is something CDProjekt should definitely invest in for their next game..
I agree, the combat is about knowing your opponents ( and the appropriate measures to use against them), reading them, and then timing. Once you grasp the controls and know the enemy you're facing, it's easy to dance out of the way of enemy attacks and strike at the right moments.
On the subject of the mechanics, immersion in the world is such a big part of the experience. I think the controls were intended to play into that; I don't think having proper twitch controls would work in the context of the game. Personally I thought the alternate controls were worse than the standard ones for that reason, so I worry that proper twitch controls would ruin things... but I could be way off base. After how good Witcher 3 was I tend to trust CDPRs design decisions though.
Witcher 3 with the MGSV engine would be heaven
I don't understand the comparison to MGS V at all, and I say that as someone who loved MGS V and platinumed it. It's like saying MGS V with the Witcher 3 story would be perfect... it's just a bizarre mashup to me.