Posted on: October 19, 2023
Nidhoegger
Verified ownerGames: 412 Reviews: 5
Cyberpunk inverted
Let me preface this with that, by and large, I enjoyed Phantom Liberty and 2.0. The new area is decently designed, the new fixer quests are fun and the new mechanics, while sometimes directly borrowed from existing user mods (hopefully with permission...) are by and large enjoyable. In terms of gameplay, it is a solid experience. Unfortunately, in terms of story, it is not. Phantom Liberty suffers from a dissonance between the player's capabilities and V's actions in prior quests required for the DLC. Little things like changes to the side quests if one, say, fought and won the boxing championship are excellent. Unfortunately, this does not translate to the main questline. In one particular case, you meet with a faction you clashed with previously and have to watch your character make the same mistakes all over again for no reason. There is no option to learn from these mistakes, no option for growth, not even one to opt out. You follow the railroad, whether it makes sense or not. In the main game, the rails made sense. In Phantom Liberty, in many, many choices, there is a real choice missing which severely detracts from the narrative. In other words, while the DLC is superb in terms of performance and gameplay, in terms of story it very much is not. You make exactly one choice in the entire narrative. And that is simply not enough, compared to the myriad of small consequences your actions have in the main game. Phantom Liberty is the inverse of CP 2077's launch, and as a result, just as flawed: Great gameplay, few bugs, sub-par story.
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