I'm not saying the game shouldn't have the piss taken out of it where piss taking is due (it was kind of a disappointment), but parts of the article just seem misleading, even in their humour. Sure, maybe I'm being too nitpicky, but...
The Witcher had a very old school interface that was too busy and too distractive, with portraits of monsters, key NPCs, and various descriptions. Maybe, just maybe such journals were all the rage when games had wire-frame graphics, but as we’ve mentioned the game is absolutely gorgeous and there is no need to clutter the journal with crude drawings.
Humourtrons at ambient levels, so I'll bite. TW2's journal has pictures and descriptions of key NPCs and monsters in it as well. Maybe not the same style as in TW1, instead going for a darker look. So I don't see the point in only showing TW1's journal to back up that claim. The UI itself of course is ugly and consolized.
The fist fighting tests your reflexes, practically removing the boundaries between you and your character. As Geralt watches his opponents, you’ll be watching flashing letters and quickly pressing A or D or even W and then quickly A, to be rewarded by mini-cutscenes of Geralt kicking ass.
I believe you forgot about the all important S. While you suggested the arm-wrestling is easy enough, all the QTEs are devoid of real challenge unless you have fine motor skill problems (not to belittle those who actually do). Besides the fact that QTEs universally suck in one way or the other, the real point is that it's just a prolonged waste of time. You could exploit the animation timings in TW1's boxing, but at least they tried to make it its own unarmed combat system. Thankfully they didn't keep using those button mashers to fill up a bar, which I personally found the most egregious. You might infer the QTE easiness from what was written, but it's too vague to really say anything useful unless you've experienced it yourself already, besides "QTEs. 'Nuff said."
Spirit Oil, for example (useful against spirits like wraiths, etc), did bestow +100% damage vs spirits in The Witcher, but in the sequel it does merely +20% damage, which means that a sword with 12-20 points of damage will be doing 14-24 points of damage instead.
Theoretically anyway. In reality there's a bug preventing silver swords from doing the extra damage. Should be fixed in the upcoming 1.3 patch, but meh. It's not like it was essential, but it stops people from trying to rebalance the combat themselves in that direction, which is overall easy enough to mod at least.
Some skills can be further enhanced by mutagens. Think Diablo 2’s item sockets. Some skills have sockets and you can shove there some mutagens dropped by monsters to increase your strength, which increases your armor since there is no Strength stat anymore, damage, vitality, spell range, and so on. If you like the idea, you should invest in Impregnation – an Alchemy skill that can increase the mutagens’ effect up to 500%. Sweet!
My math could be off, but did you mean 50%? Just looking at the GameBanshee chart quickly here, unless you're somehow saying that's the total effect over multiple mutagens... And you'd have to invest 5 to 6 points in the alchemy tree, no? And it isn't retroactive. Also, you can't loot another skill tree to put more powerful mutagens in it. It could be considered another flaw (in fact 1.3 is going to allow alchemy with mutagens), but most people seem to wait until they have the most powerful mutagen instead of wasting a slot on a lesser one.
While some opponents are fairly easy, be warned that some opponents are almost impossible to defeat even on Normal without the use of advanced tactics. Take the shield bearers, for example. The only way to beat them are either to hit the spacebar, roll behind them, and while they look around wondering where you went, stab them in the back, or to hit E to block, wait for him to attack you getting staggered in the process, then quickly hit him twice, rinse and repeat. It’s a bit too complex and we are well aware that many people have found it very challenging, being thoroughly confused as to whether to press E or spacebar in the heat of a battle, which, of course, is completely understandable. It’s clearly a case of too much catering to the hardcore audience.
Slight elevation in humourtron levels detected. Not that it's suddenly becomes all perfect, but there's always the Yrden and Axii signs as well, if not also Igni and Aard. Although I will say shield bearers felt artificially challenging. More just a thorn when there's a group of other enemies you need to dispatch first to have more leeway to take the shield bearers on.
I’d say that the group style is gone, but that would be incorrect. First of all, now that the artificial restrictions are gone, nothing stops you from attacking several enemies at once. However, if you’re a hardcore role-player who only acknowledges abilities that have skills, you can unlock a skill that does damage to multiple enemies. Voila! The problem is solved.
Care to elaborate? I think it was patch 1.2 that allowed you to hit multiple enemies without investing in the whirlwind skill, but supposedly the "splash damage" is zero although you probably get other effects (like stun maybe): (geralt_basic.xml:group_hit_mult->min/max = 0). Still, it's mildly annoying they did that. But the game does become easy mode when you get whirlwind and an upgraded Quen.
trolls evah. 
