Playing now in 2023 this game is a joy to experience. A faithful update of the original setting from Cyberpunk 2020 it gives you the chance to explore that world at depth. Everywhere you go Night City screams character at you. The loading screens (usually only seen when loading the game at start) provide news updates regarding your most recent major missions. I had no issues expressing my character through taking or not taking missions, failing them deliberately to achieve a different result, or going above and beyond. The game met me halfway almost every single time I did this. You can choose to kill or simply incapacitate enemies (through cybernetic implants or weapon mods that make attacks nonlethal unless you shoot their unconscious body deliberately) and the game remembers who you killed and didn't. You have a lot of leeway in how you approach any mission, hacking and stealth or going in loud. Towards the end of the game I started beating up gangs with my bare fists to prepare for a boxing questline I had been putting off and it felt very different from my careful stealth play to that point. In short, I had a great time with this. The depth of worldbuilding really let me spend a huge amount of time in this world before I cleared everything. I truly hope there's more chances to explore this world in future games or DLC.
