1. The combat is still timing based. You have to wait for the right moment. They just don't show it to you when that is anymore. But you are right, the combat is frustrating. I would start button mashing way too often. Also, the dragon in the prologue killed me a dozen times before I realised I had to use Quen/Shield.

2. I didn't think the characters looked that bad. They looked on par with the environment. It might be a settings issue. The graphics of the game are unoptimised though. Too often, I would walk into a tavern or a room, and it would take a few seconds for textures to load. I could actually see them loading. A bit annoying.

3. Also who did you side with? Roche or Iorveth. You get a almost completely different second act depending on who you choose. On my second playthrough now. Gonna take Iorveth's side this time.

All in all, a pretty good game.