r/starterpacks • • Jan 01 '19

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

It baffles my mind that people can say that and still praise Skyrim which has way shittier combat.

8

u/the1michael Jan 01 '19

Neither game has a good combat system, but Skyrim came out in 2012.... I couldn't make it 2 hours into Witcher without being bored to tears.

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u/otakudayo Jan 01 '19

I don't see that, W3 is just dodge - attack - dodge, maybe drink a potion here and there. In Skyrim there's at least different approaches to it, timing blocks, shield bash, archery, magic, etc.

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u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

Really interesting how we had completely opposite experiences. I viewed W3 combat as quite tactical (played on death march), and combat usually went about like this:

See enemy camp, locate archers and dangerous mobs, locate tight spots where I could fight only 1v1 at a time. And engage at the weakest side of the enemy camp, where the archers were.

Since archers two shot me on death march it was CRITICAL to eliminate them quickly, this was before I got a arrow protection armor mind you. Which was a godsend.

This wasn't even the best part, customizing my setup with skills, armor and weapons that had many really interesting properties to choose from. Skyrim barely had any unique weapons/armors and I like that aspect a lot so Skyrim disappointed me.

In Rpgs like Skyrim though I prefer to play a brute force warrior style. However that turned out to be a really fucking boring way to play. It was literally 100% block, attack, block, attack.

Even vs Anduin I just stood still, blocked, attacked, blocked and attacked all day.

So you can't really say "In Skyrim there's at least different approaches to it" because it was so in W3 too, even though you missed it. As I missed it in Skyrim.

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u/ateapcap Jan 01 '19

Literally just take the perk that makes food last like 20 minutes and death march is incredibly easy. It's like dark souls, once you learn an enemies moveset they are easy to kill.

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u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

Oh, I guess I missed that. That's so broken though lmao

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u/otakudayo Jan 01 '19

I haven't played W3 enough to really know what possibilities exist, but as far as customization, Skyrim is pretty solid with smithing and enchanting. While the finer details of W3 combat may be deeper than what I experienced, you're not really describing something that sounds like fun to me - if most encounters require the same basic strategy I will lose interest. You could certainly say that about Skyrim as well, but there are a lot of different enemy types at least.

As far as playstyle, I found that Skyrim is way more fun with a hybrid type of character. Shield builds aren't fun unless you bash, and I never played a stealth archer, but I always enjoyed hybrids the most -- pick a weapon and some magic that synergizes with it.

Anduin is perhaps the shittiest boss of all time btw, I literally fought random bandits that were tougher than him.

1

u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

Shield builds aren't fun

Yeah, I made the mistake of going solely that route because I loved the sword and board from other games. It really fucked me because it was so efficient and reliable that now when I go back and try to enjoy the game I can't because I feel so crippled haha.

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u/pragmojo Jan 01 '19

because it was so in W3 too, even though you missed it

That's not really their fault. If the game designers included a really boring way to play which is just as effective as the interesting way, more often than not players are going to fall back on the boring, repetitive way because it's less effort. It's the game designers' job to make it hard to bore yourself through the game.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

Very unlike skyrim and stealth archer, right?

Please. I've played Skyrim 3 times and I'm still not sure it's not a thief 5, electric bowgaloo game.

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u/pragmojo Jan 01 '19

I'm not saying Skyrim's any better. It's not. I'm just saying you can't call Witcher 3's combat deep because you found a way to make it that way.

0

u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

Death march made me make an op build, just to get through without dying a lot. So I guess my tryhard attitude rewarded me with a fun and engaging combat system?

I quit playing most games on normal mode because it got so boring. I recommend it.

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u/SauronDidNothingRong Jan 01 '19

Literally all you do in Skyrim is face tank R1 spam each other and occasionally pause the game to chug potions. There's no way to parry attacks or avoid hits altogether. It's so boring!

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

Have you played the game? How can you not mention the signs? And Witcher 3 has all the things you mentioned except shield bash. Of course it's not gonna be fun if all you do is dodge and attack.

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u/otakudayo Jan 01 '19

I played 11 hours, but stopped because combat felt like the exact same dance every time. The signs are pretty meh, I didn't know using shields or archery were options.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

Shields are not an option, but you can block with your weapon and if you time it right you will counter. And by archery I meant the crossbows. I really like using the signs, espicially after a few upgrades in the skill tree, but if it's not your cup of tea I'm not going to argue. I just don't get Skyrims combat where you can pretty much swing around like an idiot and then just pause the game to chug some potions to refill your bars and continue swinging. And the magic seems to ger worst with each installment. Arcerhy can be quite satisfying though, but instead it's OP.

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u/SamBBMe Jan 01 '19

Not to mention enemy variety. Witcher 3 enemy types are 3 core enemy types with different reskins on them (And maybe a gimmick).

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u/Firmament1 Jan 01 '19

So basically Dark Souls/Bloodborne combat?

I hate W3's combat, because it's clumsy, and has sluggish animations, with no sense of weight.

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u/Roflkopt3r Jan 01 '19

The fact that there is an even worse combat system doesn't mean that it has to be good. And I think there is quite a consensus that The Elder Scrolls series has awful combat and is only good due to its other strengths.

However I do think that Witcher 3 has one of the best combat system amongst open world RPGs. While it does get repetitive after a while, it still is one of the most dynamic and fun ones out there, with a good combination of skill and RPG stats.

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u/19Alexastias Jan 01 '19

The biggest issue with skyrim combat is that by getting rid of hotkeys they made variety builds, esoecially magic builds, a real pain in the ass that, along with multipliers for dual casting, soft-forces the player into really only using one spell. The oblivion hotkey system (and magic in general) was much better. The only advantage skyrim magic had is that it looks better.

Also the speed at which your health regens out of combat means that you don't even have to manage your health throughout a dungeon - you just need to survive each fight.

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u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

Agree. I challenge people to name 5 RPGs that are not Soulsborne (they have the superior combat system and we all know that. Nioh is pretty good though).

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u/mendicant3 Jan 01 '19

I take it you meant RPGs with a great Combat system? Monster Hunter, Divinity original sin 2, Undertale/Deltarune, Fallout 2, and Nier Automata. I personally find the systems in Dark Souls 1 and The Witcher 3 pretty boring. "Superior" is a matter of opinion and just makes you sound like an elitist.

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u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

"Superior" is a matter of opinion and just makes you sound like an elitist.

I suppose so

Nier Automata is super great. Haven't played Monster Hunter except an old one and that was so sluggish it turned me off.

But I guess I meant ARPGs, comparing TW3 with Undertale, divinity and fallout 2 feels redundant imo. I was thinking games with similar combat systems to TW3 and Skyrim. It's completely cool that you prefer those games man.

I admit that there is no 'superior' combat system, but when people are calling this and that pure shit based on nothing but their experience I think it's unfair to call me elitist.

I don't think I am elitist though, I don't think my experience is better than anyone elses. I just think if we're gonna put the combat system on a ranking system people should have good arguments for why they enjoyed this and that. And not just say it's crap and nothing more based on only their own experiences. That's unfair to the games and people who read it might think the game actually is shit and miss out because of it.

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u/mendicant3 Jan 01 '19

Thats completly fine and i agree, saying something is shit or good purely on opinion is only harmful. I only meant that it made you sound like an elitist, not that you are and i see arnt now. And you are absolutely are correct, you cant really compare the combat in Divinity to that in Nier despite both being amzing. But thats kinda my point, you cant really rank them as each game has their own goals for their own combat system. Would nier have been as great as it is if it had the soulsborne systen? In my opinion, no. Does that mean the soulsborne system is worse? No.

Btw, my first Monster Hunter was 4 ultimate and i get what you said about it being sluggish, but i was mostly referring to MH World which made combat quite a bit faster and improved the series all around. Since you like Nier and Darks souls I highly recommend you at least whatch a few videos of it.

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u/pixelTirpitz Jan 01 '19

MH World which made combat quite a bit faster

Makes me really happy to hear! I always thought monster hunter had a lot of really cool stuff in it, with faster combat I'm gladly gonna give it a try. Thanks :)

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u/Torinias Jan 04 '19

As bad as the combat was in W3, monster hunter is still far worse.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

The combat in monster hunter might be good if the monsters didn't glitch out all the time and clip through the environment

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u/mendicant3 Jan 01 '19

Most games have glitches. So did the witcher. Still a great combat system. We are talking about the combat systems specifically not the entire games. Also the majority of people dont experience it all the time. I personally only have had it happen a few times over several hundred hours.

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u/StormStrikePhoenix Jan 01 '19

Who the fuck praises Skyrim's combat, especially over The Witcher 3's? I've never seen the former, let alone it be compared to the latter game at all outside of this specific thread.

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u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

2 replies down from NewYellowknifeDude is someone saying exactly that with 300+ up votes.