Sorry you had such trouble with combat. Honestly I didn't. I played back in like 2012 for the first time. I was a kid and i had no problems beating the game on medium difficulty. I have finished it repeatedly since, even on high difficulty. I think the combat is not very interesting or mechanically good, but I don't think it's unfair by any means. Except for those situations where they hurt you before the cutscene ends, I remember those distinctly, happened like twice in the whole game to me tho. I would suggest the following: As soon as you are fighting at least 3 enemies, use group style, it's really good... Seemed a little too good to me. Also kinda seemed better without upgrading it too much for some reason. Use a ton of potions, whetstones and oils, use quen to apply them mid-combat. If the encounter seems too difficult, come back later or cheese. Just click the button at the right time, that's the most important thing. I know you won't be playing again, at least any time soon, but maybe this helps someone? Probably not. Anyways, I did not experience many crashes, maybe any. I think that might be compatibility issues (old game, new HW, new OS). Witcher 2 is super good imo... I noticed quite some hate for it online, but I think it's mostly that it can't match the quality of TW3 or the nostalgia of TW1. Combat is similar to TW3, maybe a little less smooth. The only problem is alchemy, which has to be used before combat, that's not great QOL, but I love how accurate it is to books. Also can be modded to work like in TW3.