hulahula32: My reaction was completely different. It was holycrap, what am I doing wrong? Let me figure it out. And then after I learned a bit I really appreciated the combat. I even praise it. This is such a great game. I now think it's pathetic and lame that other games like Assassins Creed, Dragon Age have such pathetic AI that stand around twiddling their thumbs waiting their turn.
Agreed. TW2 does not forgive your mistakes. You have to learn from them, otherwise the enemy will take advantage. The game does not force enemies to do something stupid (wait around and attack in turn) just to give you a more "awesome" experience.
Which is exactly what AC2 does, for example. Is it awesome? Slaughtering half a dozen soldiers is pretty fun, yes, but I prefer TW2's style as being more fun. I feel much better after winning a tough fight in TW2, whereas AC2 slaughtering hordes is simply routine.
That said, Dragon Age never did that, either in DAO or DA2. They attack all at once, and surround you. But being a standard "round and dice based" game (both use internal "rounds" as it were, calculating time to attack with random rolls determining hits and damage), the effect of being surrounded is not as dramatic (you don't get interrupted by standard attacks, and so forth). It is a totally different beast from TW2's or AC2's combat style.
Indeed, I think TW2'[s combat is much more "action" than either of those games, relying far more on player skills and reflexes. I don't mind, of course, as it's great fun, but it does make for a very interesting mix. The only RPGs I can think of that are this "action" based would be the Mass Effect games, which also almost completely rely on player skills for combat (with stats used only for damage and special moves and such).
But at the same time, TW2 is mixed with a very deep inventory and RP system, with a fun crafting and deep alchemy component. It's all good. :)
Itkovian