This really pisses me off. Not only do I find gear that's beyond my lvl but I have been crafting gear beyond my level since the first smith! I only recently was able to don the gloves I had made 8 levels ago and still have four more levels to make before donning the armor I made at the same time. Now I've just gotten to Novigrad and forged about six different swords, three silver swords and three steel swords, EACH AT A LEVEL WAY BEYOND where I am now. One sword sells for over 250 coin. I've always played games like Skyrim and DragonAge and the previous Witcher with an eye for crafting and equiping the best possible gear to accomplish the most difficult missions. The idea that he's carrying around dozens of pieces of equipment that he can't use is ridiculous at best and a controller-smashing-pain-in-the-ass at worst. Also, why the hell is the beastiary empty? I understand that you want us to explore and read documents to gain insight for killing monsters, but the character is supposed to be a world class monster slayer, already playing through two different games "learning" as well. Why is he a dummy to start with? Shouldn't he already know how to make bombs and potions and have at least some knowledge on EVERY SINGLE monster in the game. I'd love to just know what something is when it appears because I did the reading through an exhaustive Beastiary! The game is designed, with intent, for the gamer to "prep" for battles by appling oils and choosing bombs and magic signs for that enemy but doesn't let you apply oil after being engaged from an unknown enemy. You have to run away, disengage, then go back after prepping. Shadow of Mordor had a much better fighting system, Geralt feels slow and weak, unable to break from attacks or even dodge with user ability but is instead forced into a pedantic fighting rhythm which forces a reliance on aforementioned gear. In short, this might be an "open world" but the ability to play outside the given quest in your ability range effectively curtains the luxury of having an open world map. The strict appliance of dress code forces the player to stay inside of a small box of available quests. This is pseudo-open world, open play at its most convincing.
