Have you ever played something that you can critique for days, see faults in at nearly every turn, but still end up loving through and through? That's me with Cyberpunk.

I love so many things about this game. The writing, the way scenes are composed within the limitations of the first person perspective (it gets SO good!!!), the gameplay is so much fun, and oh my god don't get me started on how much I enjoyed the romance.

But but but, that's a word that comes up again and again when I think about each of those aspects that I so thoroughly enjoy. The writing can sometimes be messy, the story doesn't really do that much in regards to being a "cyberpunk" story, there are characters that just disappear when you want to see more of them and more.

Whenever I think of the open world activities that I so enjoyed, there is always the reminder of all the bad ones. The cyberpsychos are boring, there are way too many gigs for Regina, some of the side jobs are just a short scene that doesn't result in anything except for a useless discount for some beer.

The romance, as much as I love it and the characters you can interact with in that, just left me wanting so much more out of it. Let me tell you the disappointment I felt when there were maybe like 2 dialogues with Judy after I had romanced her (the texts do help tho). Why can't I hang out with these people V supposedly calls friends and loved ones?

That yearning for more, that is what ultimately made me both love and despise moments of this game. Who knows, had CDPR released this 3 years later this could have been one of the best pieces of media in at the very least the mainstream space. Alas, we don't live in that reality, and 3 years after the game has shipped, I can finally bid adieu to characters that I will hold dear to my heart, but will ultimately be reminiscing of what could have been, rather than what is here.

Do better CDPR. I love you CDPR. See you in a couple years to talk about the sequel...

The game is fixed - Idris Elba

If this is just a taste of what's to come in the sequel, it might just live up to the promises of the original game. Songbird's character and her dynamic with V were a special highlight for me. The performances from the voice actresses behind those roles are just on another level. The pain in their voices when they talk about their conditions. It's just so good.

Overall even, the DLC has some of the best missions in the entire game. The spy charades Phantom Liberty focuses on are such an enjoyable riff on spy movies of yesteryear, with all of the familiar tropes being repeated, but with a few twists and turns that spice things up quite a bit. Most importantly however, V's character is a lot better here, and that is saying something considering femV might be one of my favourite video game protagonists. The stakes have never been higher for her, and so the tone of this dying merc becomes more sombre than anything in the main game.

To close off my thoughts - the side content here gets really good, with some of the side gigs shining more than some side missions in the main game. My favourite was the sports academy mission in this regard. Just 10/10 gig no notes. However, the dlc also adds the worst new mission type to the game that HONESTLY doesn't make ANY sense for this DLC. I'm talking about the cars you have to hijack for Reyes. Why is this here? Dogtown is small enough to walk through it, especially with all the cyberware you get throughout the game. Why they thought adding more cars through this system was a good idea is beyond me honestly.

So yeah. CDPR this is good more of this please I need this franchise in my life k bye