The reworked combat and levelling plus improved traversal and performance are all well done. Cyberpunk 2077 has always looked next gen and runs beautifully which is all accentuated in the stunning and responsive combat, environment, as well as midnight drives with improved vehicles throughout the dense, lively streets of Night City. Update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty marks an amazing comeback for CDPR but not without flaws:
Crashing due to cloud saves / cross progression saves every few seconds is a headache;
Achievements not triggering properly or for pre 2.0 characters makes pursuing 100% pointless or tedious;
Lack of a setting change preview hampers fine tuning settings for better performance;
Certain side content not being properly tested leads to impossible tasks.
All in all, Cyberpunk 2077 is as it should be, just held back by a few issues albeit nitpicks.
This is an amazing addition that fits the base game well, adds a boatload of interesting new characters and settings. Expands the lore and just makes an already fantastic game just that much better.
It's a little bittersweet that this is the last DLC for the game, but I am definitely looking forward to the sequel.
Full disclaimer, I didn't even finish the DLC. Not even close, because after what felt just like hours I just wanted to be done with it and return to the base game. To say I didn't enjoy my time would be an understatement as I've never seen a game take agency away from the player like this. I left such a sour taste that when I was finally able to return to the main game, I didn't touch it for months.
1. The intro missions
They kept dragging on and on and on. From scripted combat encounter to scripted platforming section to scripted chase scene to scripted action set piece to scripted stealth section to scripted city introduction so on and so forth. I swear there must be at least 10 scripted instances of opening doors or clearing a passageway, it's that bad. I was waiting for hours for the dialouge option to say "Hey, I don't know any of you and I'll not continue to risk my live for you. I'm out."
2. The gameplay
Just awful. Beyond everything being scripted, CDPR decided to what felt like quadruple enemy health and damage from the base game. My build used the strongest smart gun in the game with guaranteed headshots, automatic crits and any headshot multiplier and crit multiplier I could get and it would still take several magazines to take out single enemies. Get ready to cheese some encounters if you are a netrunner. But wait, the first major boss is a robot, so they will shine there with their quickhacks, right? Nope sorry, you need to shoot the glowy parts.
3. Characters and Story
They never had a chance with me as I just hated how the story is forced on to the player. You are taken from one absurd and deadly scenario to another simply because one character forced their way inside your head and made vague promises. Once again, there is no player agency, you just have to accept this and risk your life over and over again for these new characters.
After the chimera fight I started skipping all dialogues as I knew I would never finish this DLC.
Cyberpunk 2.0 and Phantom Liberty fix a lot of the problems with Cyberpunk 2077 thus far. Even things I thought would never get fixed like the weapon levels. This is much more the game it always should have been. They got rid of a lot of the restrictions on using items and skills, which results in a game that has you engaging with its systems quite actively. It's incredible. This is my fourth playthrough of Cyberpunk and it is by far the most fun.
