This could be the best RPG I've ever played... if CDPR have fulfilled their promises but instead of that they decided to take all the trust they built over the Witcher 3 and use it against players and f*** us with corpo d***. All the proud I had for CDPR being Polish company turned into shame.
Environment: 5/5, story: 3/5, gameplay 3/5, promised and then cut content: -5/5.
I never pre-order games but at very last moment I decided to do that as I thought CDPR, after what they were saying, will deliver without any doubt. I was very wrong.
Well the gameplay is fun, when it works. The story is incredibly short and has no time to develop other characters than Johnny.
It sadens me like you would not believe. Wait a year or two and buy the Enhanced edition or complete edition.
CDPR, if you read this. Please do not anaounce a game until you are ready to show gameplay. Than take your time and finish a game for once.
This review will contain spoilers.
This game as it has been said was unfinished in many ways. The bugs were annoying, with some quests so buggy that I had to reload the game often. The bugs can be fixed and I am sure they will be, given enough time.
My review however and the reason for the low score, is the game itself. The world does feel empty. It's beautiful but ultimately the gameplay is not that great.
There is no way to play the game for example and get a happy ending. In the end V dies. Either right away or over the next few months. No matter how well you play and how much effort you put in, it's hopeless. This kills any chance at replayability.
The AI is terrible with cops spawning immediately on top of you whenever you so much as sneeze.
I waited for 5 years for this game. They rode on the success of their previous game. CDProject Red, you were the last gaming company I trusted and I preordered the game from you. I don't do that for any other company because one by one they all lied to us and delivered bad games. Now you too.... This game needed a few more YEARS in development at the very least. It was rushed and it shows. This should have been a 2025 release.
CDPR was the only company left that I was willing to pre-order due to their reputation of respecting their consumers. But with the launch of this game, they throw all that goodwill into the garbage.
Surprisingly, I had a somewhat "bug-light" experience, only the occasional graphic glitch, missing voiced dialogs, but not one game breaking bug. But the way CDPR handled this launch is outright dishonest, to say the least, especially for the console players.
But bugs aside, the game itself is very generic. It's the run-of-the-mill generic assassin's creed-esque open world, where there's a ton of markers on the map with the same activities. There's little point in exploration, since the loot is so boring that you have no incentive to exciting things to find. You just kills baddies to upgrade your gear.
Crafting is such a slog. I decided in my first playthrough to focus on crafting, and I tell you, who design this should be fired. I mean, really? you want me to hold mouse click to craft without the ability to choose the amount? And if I want to convert my 1000 uncommon upgrade components to the higher tier compontents, I have to click-hold for, like 10 minutes? It is so bad that I had to create a AHK script to craft these things.
About exploration, it's a shame really, because Night City is freaking beautiful with amazing details. It would be very immersive if not for the lack of common activities (like drinking or eating), braindead NPCs and bugs.
The story is okay if somewhat very short (20h I guess), the characters are good, but not Witcher 3 good. It's the only thing bringing the score up.
What a waste. It's the personification of the terrible year of 2020.
