The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 10 Glaring Flaws That Immediately Cripple It

6. Animation Takes Priority Over Everything

In both general world traversal and combat, you're forever at the mercy of whatever motion Geralt is playing out before he'll respond to your next input - with them not being 'queued up' either. Get the timing wrong on bringing up your inventory if you're still 'recovering' from a roll and it simply won't trigger - nor will things like dismounting the horse if you're too quick to hop across the buttons instead of waiting for the game to be 'ready'. Your crossbow too is given to Geralt as a quick-fire way of felling airborne beasts and keeping others at bay - but in practice with all the other elements in play it's very rare that you'll get a shot off when it's needed most. This isn't to mention that the very run you'll do into a pack of enemies takes priority over pulling out a blade, so chances are the start of many encounters will be you getting hit first. In terms of getting around the world you do now have a jump button - a first for the series - but if you were expecting to simply run around and tap X/A to pick up the spoils of war from the ground like before, Wild Hunt insists you stop, look close to the spot where the item itself is, and then tap pick it up. It's these minor things that stick out far more than anything more immediately game-breaking, as when your previous title didn't have such issues it's going to be the first thing fans notice, and the reason newcomers get instantly put off.