Posted December 19, 2020
Edit: Updated my review to be inline with the review I posted on Steam.
Before I start the review I'd like to clarify a few things:
- My system specs: Intel i7-8700 / RTX 2070 8GB / 16GB RAM
- This review is only for the PC (Steam) version of the game.
My Steam Profile is: https://steamcommunity.com/id/ryanyth/ to prove I own the game.
- I bought and played this game on Launch Day and this review is based soley on my experiences so far.
After playing over 100+ hours, completing my 1st playthrough of the Main Story and starting my 2nd playthrough, I feel I am now ready to provide my honest review for this game.
I'll start by saying Yes, at launch, the game is definitely buggy, but other than Animation / Texture bugs and a few random CTDs, I haven't encountered anything major and did not lose any major progress. For me, the game ran almost perfectly. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
The Graphics for the game is fantastic and mindblowing, and based on some Youtubers comparison of the E3 Reveal Demo and Retail, the retail version actually looked much better, so kudos to that. Again, like CDPR's earlier game Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that you would buy to show off your new PC or Graphics Card.
The Music soundtrack is another Masterpiece. From the non-vocal themes to the cool electro punk / metal tunes on the ingame Radio, to the rediculous crazy ingame Advertisements, all of them do a really good job in immersing you into the world. Gun sounds, and Sound Effects in general are equally good.
The whole game is an open-world not unlike the GTA series where you can roam about doing whatever you want, jack whatever vehicles you want and tackle whatever side quests you want with a main story at the background. The only difference is, the setting which is of course a near-future Cyberpunk world.
This game is how I felt Deus Ex Human Revolution should have been. I liked that CDPR took the time to consider how a Cyberpunk City would look like not only at Night, but also Daytime. I especially love the Rural Badlands outside of Night City that are filled with Junk and Garbage bags that you can actually explore. The world is so beautifully crafted with attention to detail, its insane!
One very important thing I need to mention is that almost the entire game is played in 1st Person View and while I initially did not approve of this direction, I wasn't actually bothered by it at all when I actually played the game. In fact some scenes in the game actually worked better for 1st Person View. Still, I would not mind if a 3rd Person View mode is included.
On top of all this, it is a full fledged RPG with a proper character creation, leveling systems and perk trees, and your dialogue choices actually do matter. Despite it being an RPG, combat feels smooth and all damage calculations are done in the background. If you want to be Guns Blazing, using only Violence to resolve situations, you can do it. If you want a No Kills No Guns using only Stealth and Hacking, the game allows you to do that too. I'm not kidding. On my 2nd playthrough, I have not shot a single bullet nor thrown a single punch, and the game is still perfectly playable. This is how flexible the game system is.
The main story in my opinion is well-crafted and well worth your time. It has a certain urgency to it, but there are no time limits in completing it. The story isn't all punk and violence, and as a Gamespot Reviewer mentioned it has some beautiful scenarios in its quieter moments. Every voice-actors does a good job and its really fun to play the game alongside Keanu Reeve's character Johnny Silverhand who acts like a 2nd Protagonist. While the player is certainly important, personally I feel the main story is more a story about Johnny, and your character is just the player's eyes into this world. And yes, you can still continue to play the game after the Main Story has concluded.
I also liked that the optional Romance Sub-Quests were surprisingly beefy with their own lore and some of them actually takes you to very different areas in the game and out of the Night City urban environment. Not only that, some of them actually do have an impact on the Main Story.
Now on the the sections that I did not like:
As good as the game is, there were parts where I felt CDPR had cut or shortened the content. The most jarring one is a "6 months timeskip" cutscene right at the beginning of the Prologue. I was really disappointed we were not given the chance to play this out as this would've made some scenes later in the game that much more impactful and emotional.
Another gripe I had was that Jackie was your starting companion for all lifepaths. I mean he was fine for probably Nomad and Street Kid, but he looked totally out of place in a Corpo Life Path. I wish they at least had a different starting companion for each of the Life Paths.
The AI for NPCs needs alot of work. Sometimes they are brain-dead, sometimes they cheat. (Especially when you're sneaking around them)
There are no vehicle customizations or even an option to change your appearance after character creation which felt very strange considering how much the ingame universe puts a heavy emphasis on being able to modify your body to whatever you desire. Jacking vehicles while fun, aren't of any use when there is no garage to keep them.
There are many other such examples that seem common place in other Open-World games, that are strangely absent in this game. Hopefully a DLC or a QOL Patch will bring these in later.
Overall Rating: 9 / 10
Despite it's buggy launch, this is a very ambitious game and is very well made. Had it not had such a bad launch, it would have been the Gold Standard by which Future Open-World Cyberpunk games would be compared to.
If you don't mind enduring some bugs, I highly recommend to buy it, especially if you enjoy Sci-Fi or the Cyberpunk genre. If you enjoyed Deus Ex Human Revolution, you will enjoy this game. (Note: Your experience may be very different from mine depending on the specs of your computer.)
If not, I would recommend to wait a couple of months until it is better patched before you delve in. Either way, do not miss this game. It is a Masterpiece!
Before I start the review I'd like to clarify a few things:
- My system specs: Intel i7-8700 / RTX 2070 8GB / 16GB RAM
- This review is only for the PC (Steam) version of the game.
My Steam Profile is: https://steamcommunity.com/id/ryanyth/ to prove I own the game.
- I bought and played this game on Launch Day and this review is based soley on my experiences so far.
After playing over 100+ hours, completing my 1st playthrough of the Main Story and starting my 2nd playthrough, I feel I am now ready to provide my honest review for this game.
I'll start by saying Yes, at launch, the game is definitely buggy, but other than Animation / Texture bugs and a few random CTDs, I haven't encountered anything major and did not lose any major progress. For me, the game ran almost perfectly. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones.
The Graphics for the game is fantastic and mindblowing, and based on some Youtubers comparison of the E3 Reveal Demo and Retail, the retail version actually looked much better, so kudos to that. Again, like CDPR's earlier game Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that you would buy to show off your new PC or Graphics Card.
The Music soundtrack is another Masterpiece. From the non-vocal themes to the cool electro punk / metal tunes on the ingame Radio, to the rediculous crazy ingame Advertisements, all of them do a really good job in immersing you into the world. Gun sounds, and Sound Effects in general are equally good.
The whole game is an open-world not unlike the GTA series where you can roam about doing whatever you want, jack whatever vehicles you want and tackle whatever side quests you want with a main story at the background. The only difference is, the setting which is of course a near-future Cyberpunk world.
This game is how I felt Deus Ex Human Revolution should have been. I liked that CDPR took the time to consider how a Cyberpunk City would look like not only at Night, but also Daytime. I especially love the Rural Badlands outside of Night City that are filled with Junk and Garbage bags that you can actually explore. The world is so beautifully crafted with attention to detail, its insane!
One very important thing I need to mention is that almost the entire game is played in 1st Person View and while I initially did not approve of this direction, I wasn't actually bothered by it at all when I actually played the game. In fact some scenes in the game actually worked better for 1st Person View. Still, I would not mind if a 3rd Person View mode is included.
On top of all this, it is a full fledged RPG with a proper character creation, leveling systems and perk trees, and your dialogue choices actually do matter. Despite it being an RPG, combat feels smooth and all damage calculations are done in the background. If you want to be Guns Blazing, using only Violence to resolve situations, you can do it. If you want a No Kills No Guns using only Stealth and Hacking, the game allows you to do that too. I'm not kidding. On my 2nd playthrough, I have not shot a single bullet nor thrown a single punch, and the game is still perfectly playable. This is how flexible the game system is.
The main story in my opinion is well-crafted and well worth your time. It has a certain urgency to it, but there are no time limits in completing it. The story isn't all punk and violence, and as a Gamespot Reviewer mentioned it has some beautiful scenarios in its quieter moments. Every voice-actors does a good job and its really fun to play the game alongside Keanu Reeve's character Johnny Silverhand who acts like a 2nd Protagonist. While the player is certainly important, personally I feel the main story is more a story about Johnny, and your character is just the player's eyes into this world. And yes, you can still continue to play the game after the Main Story has concluded.
I also liked that the optional Romance Sub-Quests were surprisingly beefy with their own lore and some of them actually takes you to very different areas in the game and out of the Night City urban environment. Not only that, some of them actually do have an impact on the Main Story.
Now on the the sections that I did not like:
As good as the game is, there were parts where I felt CDPR had cut or shortened the content. The most jarring one is a "6 months timeskip" cutscene right at the beginning of the Prologue. I was really disappointed we were not given the chance to play this out as this would've made some scenes later in the game that much more impactful and emotional.
Another gripe I had was that Jackie was your starting companion for all lifepaths. I mean he was fine for probably Nomad and Street Kid, but he looked totally out of place in a Corpo Life Path. I wish they at least had a different starting companion for each of the Life Paths.
The AI for NPCs needs alot of work. Sometimes they are brain-dead, sometimes they cheat. (Especially when you're sneaking around them)
There are no vehicle customizations or even an option to change your appearance after character creation which felt very strange considering how much the ingame universe puts a heavy emphasis on being able to modify your body to whatever you desire. Jacking vehicles while fun, aren't of any use when there is no garage to keep them.
There are many other such examples that seem common place in other Open-World games, that are strangely absent in this game. Hopefully a DLC or a QOL Patch will bring these in later.
Overall Rating: 9 / 10
Despite it's buggy launch, this is a very ambitious game and is very well made. Had it not had such a bad launch, it would have been the Gold Standard by which Future Open-World Cyberpunk games would be compared to.
If you don't mind enduring some bugs, I highly recommend to buy it, especially if you enjoy Sci-Fi or the Cyberpunk genre. If you enjoyed Deus Ex Human Revolution, you will enjoy this game. (Note: Your experience may be very different from mine depending on the specs of your computer.)
If not, I would recommend to wait a couple of months until it is better patched before you delve in. Either way, do not miss this game. It is a Masterpiece!
Post edited December 20, 2020 by ryanyth
