This game has been an absolute surprise to me. I adore CD Project Red's Witcher series, so when I first heard that they're planning to develop this game, I wasn't very happy about that. I wanted more Witcher games, not some random future thing.
When they released the first 45 mins gameplay trailer, I was impressed but i still didn't really care. I didn't have much interest, I never even heard of Cyberpunk before, and i felt that even though the game had a beautiful presentation, it would probably not be that special. I continued following the development and there were a lot of things I didn't like, just judging from their marketing. One of my biggest issues were the general tone of the in game dialog and that they casted Keanu Reeves' face into the game. Did not like that at all but I still kept my eyes peeled, I started to get the feeling that it might still turn out to be interesting at the very least. So, as you can tell, i wasn't part of the hype but i trusted CDPR and that they'd deliver a game as impressive as their Witcher games, at the very least. Then, the game released and everyone just lost their shit.
I gotta be honest, i thought it was hilarious, the glitches and bugs, it was a delight to see all these YouTube videos bashing the game. However, i felt a little disappointed. I actually thought, they'd make something competent. Who knows what happened during development and what possessed them to release the game in such state but it was not something I'd expected CDPR to deliver. So I decided to wait and see once again. A year later, the big 1.5 patch wass released and I decided now was the time. All I can say is something in the lines of "oh my fuck".
This game has been the most impressive, thought-provoking and unique experience I've ever had the pleasure to encounter. Not only is the story out of the mind of a cyborg madman, the characters, the city, the tone and presentation, it all comes together beautifully, immersing you into this strange yet familiar parallel universe where corporations rule the earth with iron fists and people live their lives, knowing that someone might kidnap them to steal their brainchips or robot arms on the way to the corner store.
The story kicks off with a slow day in Night City, just trying to get by in this strange new world, and with each mission, everything just gets weirder and weirder until you're not even sure what you really want anymore. Survival? Principles? Friendship? Or nothing at all?
I could go on and on about how impressed I am but obviously, there are also downsides. It is not a perfect game and even after a year of bug fixes, there are still plenty of issues. I personally experienced mostly visual glitches, which, to be fair, are still pretty funny but it did take away from my immersion. My love interest was absolutely broken (I went for River) and I couldn't even interact with him after his quests, making me feel robbed of any meaningful interaction with him.
That being said, even if the game ran as intended, I felt like there was a deep issue with Night City itself. There is this huge, bustling city you find yourself in and you can barely do anything. No clubs, no pubs, no restaurants, no animations for eating or drinking unless it's scripted, no cinema or any other form of entertainment. Sure, there are some food stands, a few clubs you can actually visit because of some quest givers, and some buildings that are available thanks to gigs but I often found myself wishing that there was just a bit more to experience than work and the main quest. Even if it's shallow, it would have been better than nothing. That and the fact that the main story line is actually pretty fucking short made it still feel like a bit of a let down.
If you don't want to play this game, that's absolutely cool. CDPR fucked up and they should pay the prize for that. But you can also tell that the people working on this game are absolutely talented and passionate and despite its shortcomings, they still managed to create something I've truly never seen before. Cyberpunk is what you want it to be, if you're willing to give it an honest shot, you might fall in love with it or hate it, but i think it deserves a second chance simply for being so strange and special, and truly one of the funniest botched releases of our time.
When they released the first 45 mins gameplay trailer, I was impressed but i still didn't really care. I didn't have much interest, I never even heard of Cyberpunk before, and i felt that even though the game had a beautiful presentation, it would probably not be that special. I continued following the development and there were a lot of things I didn't like, just judging from their marketing. One of my biggest issues were the general tone of the in game dialog and that they casted Keanu Reeves' face into the game. Did not like that at all but I still kept my eyes peeled, I started to get the feeling that it might still turn out to be interesting at the very least. So, as you can tell, i wasn't part of the hype but i trusted CDPR and that they'd deliver a game as impressive as their Witcher games, at the very least. Then, the game released and everyone just lost their shit.
I gotta be honest, i thought it was hilarious, the glitches and bugs, it was a delight to see all these YouTube videos bashing the game. However, i felt a little disappointed. I actually thought, they'd make something competent. Who knows what happened during development and what possessed them to release the game in such state but it was not something I'd expected CDPR to deliver. So I decided to wait and see once again. A year later, the big 1.5 patch wass released and I decided now was the time. All I can say is something in the lines of "oh my fuck".
This game has been the most impressive, thought-provoking and unique experience I've ever had the pleasure to encounter. Not only is the story out of the mind of a cyborg madman, the characters, the city, the tone and presentation, it all comes together beautifully, immersing you into this strange yet familiar parallel universe where corporations rule the earth with iron fists and people live their lives, knowing that someone might kidnap them to steal their brainchips or robot arms on the way to the corner store.
The story kicks off with a slow day in Night City, just trying to get by in this strange new world, and with each mission, everything just gets weirder and weirder until you're not even sure what you really want anymore. Survival? Principles? Friendship? Or nothing at all?
I could go on and on about how impressed I am but obviously, there are also downsides. It is not a perfect game and even after a year of bug fixes, there are still plenty of issues. I personally experienced mostly visual glitches, which, to be fair, are still pretty funny but it did take away from my immersion. My love interest was absolutely broken (I went for River) and I couldn't even interact with him after his quests, making me feel robbed of any meaningful interaction with him.
That being said, even if the game ran as intended, I felt like there was a deep issue with Night City itself. There is this huge, bustling city you find yourself in and you can barely do anything. No clubs, no pubs, no restaurants, no animations for eating or drinking unless it's scripted, no cinema or any other form of entertainment. Sure, there are some food stands, a few clubs you can actually visit because of some quest givers, and some buildings that are available thanks to gigs but I often found myself wishing that there was just a bit more to experience than work and the main quest. Even if it's shallow, it would have been better than nothing. That and the fact that the main story line is actually pretty fucking short made it still feel like a bit of a let down.
If you don't want to play this game, that's absolutely cool. CDPR fucked up and they should pay the prize for that. But you can also tell that the people working on this game are absolutely talented and passionate and despite its shortcomings, they still managed to create something I've truly never seen before. Cyberpunk is what you want it to be, if you're willing to give it an honest shot, you might fall in love with it or hate it, but i think it deserves a second chance simply for being so strange and special, and truly one of the funniest botched releases of our time.