At time of writing, the rumor mill suggests there's some big patch on the horizon. Still, when the game released, it was enough of a mess that I let it lie. Now, over a year later... It's okay. I have no idea what the team was doing for four or five years. There's nothing in this game that another game hasn't done better, aside from maybe ray-tracing. The city is big and (graphically) beautiful. The soundtrack is really good. Beyond that, it just doesn't stand out. That same big, beautiful city is largely an empty shell. It's hollow. There are enough bugs and oddities that, while not game breaking, are annoying and immersion breaking. The story is okay, but nowhere near as good as the Witcher 3, and it doesn't flow nearly as well. You can blast through the main arc quickly, and little of the side content does anything to reinforce it, and frankly, I don't care about these characters nearly as much as those in CDPR's Opus Magnum. I can't help but see this game as a cautionary tale in bad software engineering. CDPR had a bunch of cool idea's, went full steam ahead, then realized there was no way they could deliver, and either cut or severely curtailed what's there and it shows. Everyone already knows about how origins don't really mean anything for instance... Cyberpunk isn't a bad game per se, it's just not revolutionary. In some ways, it's barely mediocre. Character customization is severely limited. I'm not a fan of the Skill/perk system, gun play is passable, not amazing. There aren't even ways to customize appearance or respec (main stats at least) in game. It's depressing, because given what's there, I could envision a stellar implementation. As it is, the story has been told, so even if every bug gets squashed, it still just comes across as half baked. Very disappointing.
What can one say about this game that hasn't been said already? The Witcher 3 isn't just a game, it's an experience. The story is top shelf, the characters are varied and engaging, the landscape is breathtaking, particularly Kaer Morhen and the Skellige Islands, the soundtrack is astounding... There are very few games I rate 5 stars. After all, nothing is perfect, but in my not so humble opinion, this is damn close. Even at full price, your money is not wasted here. If you haven't tried the Witcher 3, I envy you greatly. I would love to experience it all over again for the first time. Do yourself a favor and dig in.
