I got this game for free when I built my PC along with GTA V. Never heard of it before, or any of the books or other games. Started playing GTA V (loved it) and then switched to this game out of curiosity. After two weeks of playing it, I stopped. Instead, I bought every Witcher book that was released at that time, started reading through them and once that was done I bought the first and second games and played through them (albeit, only once). Only after ALL that was done, and it took me about a year, did I start a new game and started playing. The Witcher 3 isn't a game, it's really a whole world. The characters, locations, concepts, they're all connected to eachother in such a way that going from the books to the games is a flawless (and encouraged) experience. The sidequests are indistinguishable from the main in terms of quality, and, while I haven't finished this game, I think it's more of a fear of it ending then one of non-enjoyment. The only downside I have to this game is the combat. It does get a little repetitive and I think that there are a few optimizations that could've made this slightly better. For example, I've seen a mod that automatically applies oils and poitions if you have them/can make them to enemies you know how to fight against. That's pretty nifty, and would prevent the slowdown of having to open a menu. Overall, if you like RPGs, if you like good, questioning stories, no doubt you should pick this up. It can be a little slow/confusing at the start, but I still remember almost every quest I've done in this game and it's well worth the investment in both time and money.
Tl:Dr - Temper your expectations and you'll have a good time. Put this on a pedestal and it will disappoint every time. Is this a good game? Yes. Is this a great game? No. CP2077 has a lot of good, fundamental gamplay aspects. It's world is extremely detailed, and there's no reason why this shouldn't be a masterpiece like The Witcher 3. So why isn't it? I think it comes down to three main points: 1 - What was promised is not there. There was a lot of things cut or just outright not presented. This wouldn't be a huge issue, but expectations were not tempered so users are confused between the publisher and online reviews. 2 - Scope. I think the scope was huge! Too huge. The detail I mentioned earlier is actually to a point of annoyance. There's only so many useless items you can pick up before you turn from, "Hey this is really cool." to, "On look, another pack of useless cards to scrap". A perfect example is the trash the lies outside the city. An important piece of the backstory, every single piece of garbage is crafted. Every. Single. Piece. It's a nice touch, but it also inhibits the player from traveling. You can walk on top of it, but risk clipping through and getting stuck. Again, nice, but too much. 3 - The main story is amazing! I've haven't completed it, but what I've seen has touched and moved me. The other side objectives at usually 'meh'. It's not about challenge, but rather story. Oddly, some side missions are really, really good. One had me stealing info from a ripper doc. I went through the back, but ended up finding him on his couch. He tried to haggle with me, but as a altruistic non-lethal fixer, I decided against it. He ended up fleeing his apartment, and I chased him until he got into the passenger's side of a car and a ghost drove him away. Great stroy (save the ending) and something that I think adds to users' mixed opinion on this title.
