Is it that much better than 2? I tried to like 2, but 2 or so hours in I just couldn't take it anymore. I just can't understand why people hyped it so much.
Depends on why you didn't like Witcher 2. There is a significant difference between 2 and 3 in that it went from these limited/staged "zones" to Skyrim open world freeroam. However other than that, the story, the amount of dialog (in the main story) , the combat is pretty much the same. The combat is different, but i wouldn't say the combat in W2 was that bad compared to W3 . It is still the whole silver/steel sword with oils melee combat and the odd sign. I would actually go as far as sayin Witcher combat in general is too limited for the world they provided, it is kinda like giving you Skyrim and telling you, you can only be 1 specific melee class and the only weapon you will ever use is a 2H-Sword (and maybe a crossbow here and there).
Amusingly with everything said and done. I felt Witcher 2 "forced" you into the story (you couldn't really just wander off) and at times it would feel like you're being railroaded down a path, yet decisions made in the story was BIG and you felt it immediately (quest areas change completely, working with different characters etc), so much so that you would feel compelled to replay it with different choices.
In Witcher 3, the story was made like Skyrim's story (with almost zero consequences if you followed it, the ending is the only difference ) , so you could play bits and pieces of it and then freeroam and do random sidequests. I've actually hoped for more serious decisions to be made in W3, on par with W2, but i guess they had to sacrifice this in favor of an open world to explore....but this is where Skyrim starts to shine, character building in Witcher 3 is NOWHERE near Skyrim, so when i finished the main story, i felt zero reason to continue playing..why? At least in Skyrim i can continue to build my character, change skills, change classes (which in turn change your armor requirements) and gain ranks in different factions....
I can't say i was very excited with the character building options in any of the Witcher games, the story was my main interest.