So, if you have trouble like many people here check if your CPU is not overheating like mine. Leaving this 3/5 (avg) until I fix my PC and see it all. Base game was great.
Let me preface this with that, by and large, I enjoyed Phantom Liberty and 2.0. The new area is decently designed, the new fixer quests are fun and the new mechanics, while sometimes directly borrowed from existing user mods (hopefully with permission...) are by and large enjoyable.
In terms of gameplay, it is a solid experience.
Unfortunately, in terms of story, it is not. Phantom Liberty suffers from a dissonance between the player's capabilities and V's actions in prior quests required for the DLC. Little things like changes to the side quests if one, say, fought and won the boxing championship are excellent. Unfortunately, this does not translate to the main questline.
In one particular case, you meet with a faction you clashed with previously and have to watch your character make the same mistakes all over again for no reason. There is no option to learn from these mistakes, no option for growth, not even one to opt out. You follow the railroad, whether it makes sense or not.
In the main game, the rails made sense. In Phantom Liberty, in many, many choices, there is a real choice missing which severely detracts from the narrative.
In other words, while the DLC is superb in terms of performance and gameplay, in terms of story it very much is not. You make exactly one choice in the entire narrative.
And that is simply not enough, compared to the myriad of small consequences your actions have in the main game.
Phantom Liberty is the inverse of CP 2077's launch, and as a result, just as flawed:
Great gameplay, few bugs, sub-par story.
To be clear, Cyberpunk 2077 is likely my favourite game of all time.
It was deep, well crafted, and filled with real characters. I adore it.
Then we get the most horrific update patch ever issued, and now this expansion.
I'm not gonna harp on the pathetic perk changes in the game: you either like childish, power fantasy, class-based shooters or you don't I do not.
The expansion pack managed to be worse.
In Cyberpunk, you play V, a kick-ass, hard-bitten killer who becomes the literal scourge of Night City. You are the best of the best. Nothing can stand in your way.
In Phantom Liberty, you are instantly hacked and invaded by someone who trashes your brain and forces you to spend the next 5 hours in a relic-malfunctioning haze, performing the most dull, boring and illogical tasks imaginable.
V has *no response at all* to someone violating them, lying to them and nearly getting them killed a million times. Every one of the benign, asinine, trite phrases you are *forced* to trot out, makes V faun and whimper over the president (a basic human, who can also kick V's super-charged ass anytime she wants, cos 'gameplay).
You then spend *literal hours* trapped in a corridor wave shooter, being yelled at to 'turn the generator on, V' over and over, before spouting yet more fawning garbage, then being attacked by a tank.
The game CONSTANTLY seizes control from you, disables all powers, stops you doing anything at all.
IN AN RPG WHERE CHOICE IS KING.
I have given up. Unless in the next hour of gameplay I can shoot this President (as V would have done at the start, as she represents the reason the world is a wasteland), or Songbird for what she did to V, then this is getting refunded.
I have seen better writing in episodes of Neighbours and had more freedom of gameplay in side scrolling SHMUPS.
A total farce of an expansion that sits atop a hideous patch, now hung around the knock of my favourite game like an albatross.
CDPR should be deeply ashamed at what they have done.
So many bugs we had at the start of cyberpunk have returned. The new driver IA is not helping the traffic and the police system is questionable. Still a nice game, but i guess we need about half an year to get a stable version again. Sad.
I cried. Many times i have wondered about the decisions i made. About who is telling the truth, and who's trying to play me. And those consequences you have to face only make things more touching. The whole climate and this thrilling vibe is further enhanced by amazing sound effects and music. Thats a shame its the only expansion for this game, which made me reconsider my life values and helped me through a hard time in my life. Just waiting for your next cyberpunk game, love you guys for making this not only popular again, but also well used.