Cyberpunk 2077 is a big game with a deep and involved story. There is a lot to do and many different ways to do it, and the game lets you chart your own path through it all. You can customise your character to a very high degree for both their appearance and their abilities. The imperfections in this otherwise great game stem from entirely inconsequential dialogue options in certain scenes, the ability to accidentally miss entire subplots and characters, and the limited romance options. The game features excellent gunplay, stealth, brutal hand-to-hand combat, and hacking. Vehicles can be a little hard to control at times, and the average Night City citizen will happily step in front of your vehicle faster than you can say 'choom'.
This game is loyal to the game books that inspired it; this is both a blessing and a curse. First, the blessing. If, like me, you played the game books when they came out and sank untold hours into exploring this beautiful and mysterious world that the authors created, then it will hit you right in the nostalgia. The same scenarios are present, the world evokes the same feelings, the art and music do justice to the original gamebooks, and the many little touches are there that make the world feel interesting and lived in. Second, the curse. The mechanics that were necessary for a pen and paper solo game don't always lend themselves well to a computer game. Unlucky dice rolls can condemn you in an instant; you can lose all your items and money without recourse to getting anything back, or lose an opportunity that occurs only once in the entire playthrough. Progress is already glacial, and a single setback will undo many hours of hard work.
