I've have not been this frustrated at a game in years. I even kind of threw the controller at one point.

For the record; I'm playing on Hard and while the game overall is not that hard, there are some sections where it becomes a nightmare to get through. This is all due to bad design, in my opinion. It's clearly one of those cases where the game was 'balanced' on Normal and for the Hard mode they just gave you half the hit points. And while that works for most of the game, it will skyrocket the difficulty in some scenario's.

You also don't have a lot of options when in combat. When playing The Last Of Us, I died a lot as well, but could always try some different approach. In the case of The Order 1886 you just go through that door again and hope the AI won't get a lucky hit this time.

For the people that have not played the game yet; I'll give 2 examples of those 'uber frustration' sections in the game, so spoilers:

I just wish there were more options available in combat. Priming a grenade, let the AI lose sight of you, jump through a window, distract the guards, etc. But all the fights take place in such straightforward enclosed spaces, your only options are either to fire or fire later.

I guess I'll have to wait for Uncharted 4..

Only played on normal, but for the werewolves I just stayed in with my back to corner and waited for them to charge at me. Which turned out to be pretty unfun with each successive encounter.

The hardest parts for me on hard were the bit where you are setting fire to the crates and the slums at the beginning. I might have gotten lucky with chapter XV (video), but it feels balanced for the most part. It can be frustrating to get knocked about by a shotgunner, but it's far less frustrating than many other hard modes.

The wolves are piss easy. I have no idea why anyone is having any problems with them. Hit X when it prompts - shoot them when they run at you... simple.

I know the parts you're talking about. Use blacksight headshots and the lethal grenades if you aren't because they'll help a bunch. I also found it usesful towards the end to use the dragoon revolver whenever available since it does so much more damage. I cleared the part you're talking about with the main automatic rifle and the dragoon pistol. Killing the regular dudes fast is essential. As for the half-breed stuff, I just put my back to a corner and waited for them to come to me.

I thought the combat felt great.

@dussck: As a heads up, if you haven't solved it yet, the best way to deal with that fight in XV is to use your blacksight mode as soon as you burst in, then use your primary weapon to take out any stragglers until blacksight is full again, then repeat. Save the special weapons in the armory (Arc Gun, shotgun, etc) until the special weapon-wielding enemies come out, then blacksight some more. Especially the grenadier.

@dussck: Just finished the game for the first time, was playing on Hard, only died twice throughout the course of the game, both times due to shotgunners. The game seemed pretty easy.

The only problem I have with the combat is that the cover mechanic isn't as good as it should be. Sometimes you don't stick to a spot you think should be cover, sometimes you stick to something you don't want to use as cover. It needed better cover-to-cover movement, something like what was in The Last of Us.

^ This. To that I would add that cover doesn't always seem to protect you when it should. I've been killed a few times by bullets that seemed to come straight through the pillar I was hiding behind.

These problems were really apparent in the last combat room. The inability to move around a corner in cover was consistently frustrating, and I had several instances of the game moving me form cover --> cover when all I really wanted to do was get out of cover entirely so I could move to the other corner of the room.

@sasnake: Well, there is also the possibility that I just suck :)

I've completed the game as well in the meantime. The only parts I had problems with were the 2 I described, but the whole point of this topic was just that I was frustrated trying again and again. I've been playing tons of games and had a lot of parts that 'blocked' me and where I had to keep on trying, but it never made me so furious as The Order did. Probably due to the reasons I stated in the OT.

Also; goddamn this game looks so amazing, let them make a sequel that's a little less linear in it's design.

I think the worse thing that is for me is that character keeps popping out of the cover when I don't intend to. Other than that I quite enjoy the combat.