The Witcher 4: 10 Things It Needs To Surpass The Witcher 3

9. Improve The Combat

It took a while for the Witcher series to settle on combat mechanics that were deep, challenging and rewarding, but it ended up in a pretty good place with Wild Hunt. Dodging is responsive in Witcher 3, adrenaline points can make you a momentary killing machine, and for newcomers there€™s a welcome description for each of Geralt€™s magical abilities to make them easier to use in combat. But fighting in the game rests in something of a nether region. It shares some similarities with the sublime stamina and timing-based fighting of Dark Souls, but ultimately feels less precise and skilful. Conversely, it€™s not nearly as spectacular as the more cinematic fighting in something like Shadow of Mordor. In The Witcher 3 you€™re often pitted against several enemies at once, but the targeting system isn€™t well equipped to deal with them, often leaving you confused and taking cheap shots from enemies that you should be avoiding. The Witcher 4 needs a larger arsenal of combat moves. A wider repertoire of combos - based on speed, power, defensiveness, and so on - would allow players to better hone Geralt towards a fighting style that suits them. It would also make one-on-one sword-fighting more intriguing than limited variations of light and heavy attacks. At a high stamina cost, special moves based on simultaneous button presses could trigger area-of-effect moves that damage all enemies within a radius around Geralt, or risky finishers that would or wouldn€™t work depending on the enemy€™s health and your skill level. With a more diverse array of move and improved targeting mechanics, The Witcher 4 could finally bring the series€™ solid but superficial combat up to par with the rest of the game.