Cyberpunk 2077

This game has all the bones in place to be a great game, but it feels lifeless. We were promised our actions would directly affect the world and they don't. Character creation is meaningless as we effectively do not get to see the V we create. The lifepaths (background) we choose at the start is also meaningless, having no impact other than some background-specific dialogue choices which don't materially affect the outcome of missions. So much of what was promised from 2018 onward is either outright missing or is only technically present (as in it's implemented just enough so CDPR can say Feature X is in the game). Then there is the story. It's not really our story. It feels too much on rails (and isn't really focused on the main character), it's rushed, and actually discourages players from investigating side quests, if players want to take the main quest seriously. At best, this game is average or below-average; it's an okay-ish game that leaves one frustrated for what might have been.

I thought this game would be phenomenal but I put my expectations too high. Character creation system is based on sliders not really as advanced as to what they led us to believe(hitting randomize creates abominations). They also tout about NPCs having life-like routines but from what I had seen is they just walk from point A to point B back to back. Cops are corrupt to the point they spawn in the walls. No laser guns\swords come on man. Vehicles are a bit hard to maneuver(its like driving on icy roads). Have not seen a single NPC drive a motorcycle. Gunplay is alright I guess(need more guns). There is only TWO hookers in big night city. Some features got gutted like hacking with mono-wire, active camo and some. Multiplayer is unnecessary(the only feature that needs to go). The list goes on... I had bought andromeda, anthem, fo76, and marvels avenger($60 MMO). ALL of these are refunded. There is two reason why I did not ask for a refund for this game 1. Panam is hot 2. I still have some faith in you CDPR. Fix this PLEASE.

Game shouldn't be released in this state when it comes to bugs. But there are bigger problems, marketing was at best misleading, at worst you can even easily make a case about false advertising. Lifepaths don't matter, there's no features developers talked about in interviews, open world is shallow, driving is horrible, main story is too short and character development is inconsistent in places, there's a disconnection between main story being super time sensitivie and having a bunch of side quests in the world that you're supposed to do. There's only really one quests with multiple endings and consequences based on your decisions. Many perks are broken. Feels like a step back from Witcher 3, in other areas it's the same but that's not good enough for a game of this caliber 5 years later. Still, visuals and music are great, the story got me interested and I couldn't stop playing at times wanting to find out what will happen next, gameplay can be fun with different playstyles. But there's no real reason to replay it, you can do all endings in one playthrough. It's probably worth to try out a year from now once it's patched, maybe has some DLCs and costs half the price or less but don't have huge expectations.

There's actually a fair amount that's good about this game, despite it being popular to hate. (It's not much of an RPG though. Less Fallout NV and more Mass Effect 3 in terms of narrative descisions and their depth.) The main story and the major companion questlines are quite good. The game looks *incredible,* especially at middle to long distances...if you have a quite powerful PC. The combat is ok to good depending on what you're doing, and some of the weapons and abilites feel incredibly good to use. The soundtrack is good. The level design is good. But, the game is like, half a game. The gameplay loop outside of those main story and main companion quests is MMO tier kill loot repeat loop. No narrative interactivity at all, and all the missions (with rare exceptions) basically boil down to 'kill everyone' or 'kill everyone and get the thing.' The clothes are much more limited than you might hope and unless you level heavy into crafting you're basically stuck in a clownsuit. So much for 'choose your style.' The generic NPCs don't react properly to anything. The bugs. Cops spawn litterally 3 inches from you if you accidentally shoot a civillian and then 2 shot you before you're even fully aware that they're there. No visual customization. TL:DR If you can't shoot it, and it isn't a quest objective, you can't interact with it at all. In most games that's not really a big deal, but for a game that presents itself as an immersive sim, to the point of doing all the cutscenes in 1st person so you feel more immersed, it is kinda a problem that 95% of the vending machines are fake, especially in an era where RDR2 exists.) Obviously the promised character customization didn't make an appearance. There's a good game in here somewhere. It's just buried under generic open world design and broken promises. I have hopes that it can live up to it's potential at some point. But I'm rating the game as it is, not as it might be. It's no Sonic Boom...but it's no VTM:B either.

Cyberpunk 2077 launched near the end of 2020, and at that time, it was buggy, unfinished, unpolished, crash-prone, and failed to deliver on much of what was advertised. More than a year has passed since then, with multiple patches and multiple hotfixes, so let's take stock. What is the game like currently? Pros -The visuals are immersive. Night City shines like a neon-soaked jewel. -The characters are likable and memorable. -The soundtrack of actual BGM is phenomenal, and the in-universe radio music is fun. -The storyline features branching paths. Even a secret one. -Character customization is deep and can impact the options you have. -Numerous language/accessibility features. Cons -Night City, and the game as a whole, will greatly vary depending on your platform. Crowd size, traffic, frame rate, and overall stability are all dependent on platform. -Romance options, as of Jan 2022, are limited. Once romanced, it has little impact on day-to-day gameplay. Some romance options are locked-out depending on character customization. -The selected life path can influence dialogue choices, but it has almost no impact on the storyline post-prologue. -You rarely see your character in third-person, which calls into question why the character customization options were so deep. -Despite the many fixes, the game can still pause, stutter, behave strangely, or yes, even still crash entirely. Even on PC. A year later, the main focus of the multiple patches and hotfixes has been to increase stability and fix bugs. A year later, the game actually "feels" like it should have at launch. It took an extra year. There have also been numerous roadmaps for future content, but those have changed. A lot. The only "DLC" shown on GOG is that Piggyback map. More jackets are not DLC. Johnny's second skin is not DLC. Another car is not DLC. Those all should have been in-game at launch, but "launch" should have been at LEAST one year later than when CP2077 released. (Beat on base PS4).