Like many others I avoided Cyberpunk when it first came out - lots of bad reviews, plus I'm getting too old to play games when they release, prefer to pick them up later after DLC releases etc. A little while back Epic had it on sale so I picked it up, and was blown away by the experience. The game just oozes atmosphere, walking (or driving/running/shooting) through Night City is an experience I've rarely had in game: near complete immersion in the story. I did run into a few bugs, most of them very minor; and there are a few places still rough around the edges. But that's not what I remember - I remember V's journey, the fully realized characters, the hidden stories and easter eggs, on and on. Plenty of (very) adult content, so keep that in mind - hopefully no one picks this one up thinking it's aimed at kids. And while I realize that kind of content is sort of a staple of the genre, I do wish there were more options to avoid it so I could recommend it more easily to a wider range of people. But setting that aside, I definitely recommend this game, and I'm looking forward to more content from CDPR!
To a huge fan of the Myst series, Myst V (and Uru, for that matter) were giant letdowns. The first four games were, as most of you will know, point and click adventures where you moved through static, pre-rendered environments, exploring increasingly fantastic worlds (ages) and occasionally interacting with FMV characters. The stories were engaging, the characters memorable, the gameplay simple yet refined. By the time Myst IV rolled around, they had it down to a science, with full 360 degree panoramas to explore, huge lush ages to puzzle through, etc etc. Then for some unfathomable reason, they decided to take Myst V, the finale, in a completely different direction. A full 3D environment that was a massive step backward in terms of visual fidelity from Myst IV (which was a photo-realistic world, if still a pre-rendered slide-show). The gameplay had you regularly interacting with other characters (where the previous games were largely a solitary experience). The story was... bizarre (and not bizarre like the other four games...bizarre like I had no idea what was going on and still have no lasting memories of the plot other than how disappointing it was). I could go on. Even taken on its own terms, this wasn't a good game. Graphically it was subpar, the controls were clunky, the characters were ... ok at best ... A big letdown to a great series. For me, the Myst games end at IV, and I'd still recommend them to anyone who wants to experience a fantastic fictional world and play through a great story. But skip this one.
