Honestly, the hype was so exaggerated that a bit of a let down was to be expected. Especially when judging retrospectively from the shoulders of masterpieces like The Witcher 3 (and Blood and Wine). I finished the game and all of the gigs/secondary missions in about 63 hours. The game is buggy, yes. But honestly, nothing off putting or that does not allow to complete quests (I only had one bug on a secondary gig that prevents me from completing it). Actors, music, voice overs are top notch. Where the game falls short (as many noticed) is in its RPG element. Not many choices, and these choices pretty much lead to the same conclusion with few variations. The world looks fantastic and diverse, but there are few interactions and some really need to be polished. Character development (in terms of ability trees) is very well made and fresh (a mix of standard skill trees + perks + skills advancing the more you use them). Combat can be made a bit more interesting. The moment I unlocked a decent revolver with a silencer and overwatch (the sniper rifle), that was it. Pretty much every enemy goes down with a single headshot (I'm playing at "hard"). Crafting is a pain in the arse (you cannot craft multiple items) and I had to tweak the config file in order to be able to craft raw materials, and is also unbalanced (upgrading clothing items costs way too much compared to the actual improvement the particular piece of garment provides). Skill progression is a bit slow (after 63 hours, level 43, completing the game mostly using handguns and sniper rifles, I have reached half of the skill progression for both). If I were to vote based on the let down from the hype, I would give the game 2/3 stars. But that's unfair. The game is still a great game. It needs polishing and will surely improve with patches and DLCs, but it is still a diamond (albeit a raw one) that can be easily turned into a masterpiece.
