I have to preface this by saying that I only started playing this game after the 2.0 Update, so I cannot judge the game for its state before that. I have seen videos of old gameplay and I'm really glad that I did wait for the game to be fixed.
I'm gonna split this up into two parts: The Meh and The Good. You might ask why I don't write the bad and the good? Because I don't really have anything really negative to say about this game.
The Meh:
- Gigs
- Pedestrians
- Police
The Good:
+ Vehicles
+ Storytelling
+ Graphics and Performance
+ Gameplay
+ Game World
+ Characters
- Gigs:
I think the biggest gripe that I have with this game are the gigs, which are not to be confused with sidequests. They give you essentially mini missions, which oftentimes can be solved by just simply shooting your way through them. They often lacked any sort of depth, both in their story telling and their mechanics. But I have to admit that they at least tried to give every single one of them a bit of a backstory and there were actually a few that I quite enjoyed. Ultimately they are pretty meh but completely optional.
- Pedestrians:
Okay, this will sound strange for why this is a single point of criticism but pederstrians will for some reason always try to jump infront of your car while trying to dodge it. I know it is not a big deal and I'm just mentioning it because it was the only form of frustration I ever encountered in this game, so don't take it too seriously. But the consequence of this is that I had to deal with police more often than I wanted to, which brings me directly to my next point.
- Police:
For me personally the police never really posed a threat and was more of a nuisance rather than a fun game mechanic to engage with. But it is pretty easy to evade the police on lower heat levels, which makes this fine with me, as I didn't have to actively engage with them most of the time.
+ Vehicles:
There is a wide range of vehicles to choose from and I actually think all of them handle uniquely and have their own characteristics, which makes them feel noticably different from one another. For the purpose it serves in an Open World RPG, driving actually feels pretty good, apart from motorcycles, which I personally didn't like. But personally, I am glad that CDPR actually put the effort into the vehicles and the driving rather than making cars soley as a means of transportation. It made me (together with the game world) travel from A to B seemlessly by car, rather than constantly using the quick travel option. I finished this game without ever really using quick travel, which helped greatly in the immersion into this game world.
+ Storytelling:
Speaking of immersion, I liked that we see this whole game and its story play out in the first person view rather than in cutscenes. I know this is not a groundbreaking concept but it made the player really feel like being the main character 'V'. At points I just felt like, that the ratio of gameplay to talking might have been too much on the talking side. But at least the dialogue options were pretty fleshed out, which I know do not change anything in terms of the outcome of most conversations but it felt nice to always be able to say what was on your mind.
+ Graphics and Performance:
There is no way around it but to call Cyberpunk 2077 absolutely stunning... if you can afford it. It is a very demanding game if you want to enjoy it in all of its glory but with a decent setup and DLSS I actually got it to ruin pretty smoothly outside of very busy areas. But I want to acknowledge that consoles and mid to low performence PCs might struggle. Graphicswise I want to especially highlight the work of lighting in this game. Every scene in this game feels perfectly lit and cinematic, which I am completely amazed by. It feels like every light in this game has been placed with a purpose.
+ Gameplay:
I have to say, that I am amazed how well thought out this game is in terms of its shooter gameplay and its variety in how to engage in combat. You can either be a netrunner, who hacks everything and everyone they see or a stealthy ninja moving quickly through the shadows, taking out enemies with a precise throwing knife to the head or a heavy with machine and shotguns on your hip dealing out heaps of damage. All of these gameplay styles (and more) are supported by a wide range of skills that are available after every level up. Furthermore bodily modifications, with their added passive effects and sometimes special abilities, help you to tune your combat style even more. I personally loved a stealthy + reflex approach, where I was crouch sprinting with throwing knives until I got detected. After that I started using double jumps and speed to close the gap with a shotgun to then make a mess out of the nearest enemies. Guns feel actually powerful in this game and seem to have a real impact on the enemies that you are shooting. Shotguns or heavy machine guns, for example, just tear chunks out of people. I'm not someone who has the opinion that shooters have to be necesserily graphic or overly violent but I think it fits perfectly into the world this game is set in.
+ Game World:
Cyberpunk 2077's approach to the game world lies completely opposite of something like Starfield or many other open worlds nowadays, where the decree is: "Bigger is Better", where there are vast and seemingly infinite areas to explore but all of these areas hold just the bare minimum of content to justify their existence. Night City isn't huge but every single corner seems so detailed and hand made, with a wide variety of landscapes, like the megastructures (which are essentially towns in and of themselves) slums, suburbs, corporate monoliths, red light districts and many more. Even without an objective in mind it is sometimes nice to just stroll through the streets and explore every nook and cranny while clever NPCs exchange random but seemingly genuine conversations. The city seems like it still exists even after you turn off your PC and feels almost like a character in and off itself.
+ Characters:
This is the point, where I think the game shines the most. All of the characters in this game feel like real people. All of them have their own motivations, mannerisms and views on life. Jackie, Misty, Vik, Panam, Judy and of course Johnny Silverhand, to name a few, come to life through amazing writing and phenomenol voice acting. All of them receive their own time to develope themselves from mere colleagues/contractors/associates to genuine friends through a string of side missions. The side missions are small amazing self contained stories, where, for example, at the end of their arc I even had sympathies towards a vending machine and a self driving taxi. I genuinely formed connections to some of those characters and deeply cared about their success in life and was grateful for their support in difficult situations. At the end of the day they will remain in the back of my head whenever I will think of this game.
All in all, I deeply enjoyed my time with Cyberpunk 2077, with its amazing gunplay, immersive world and authentic characters and would recommend this game to anyone who is willing to put the time into it.
I'm gonna split this up into two parts: The Meh and The Good. You might ask why I don't write the bad and the good? Because I don't really have anything really negative to say about this game.
The Meh:
- Gigs
- Pedestrians
- Police
The Good:
+ Vehicles
+ Storytelling
+ Graphics and Performance
+ Gameplay
+ Game World
+ Characters
- Gigs:
I think the biggest gripe that I have with this game are the gigs, which are not to be confused with sidequests. They give you essentially mini missions, which oftentimes can be solved by just simply shooting your way through them. They often lacked any sort of depth, both in their story telling and their mechanics. But I have to admit that they at least tried to give every single one of them a bit of a backstory and there were actually a few that I quite enjoyed. Ultimately they are pretty meh but completely optional.
- Pedestrians:
Okay, this will sound strange for why this is a single point of criticism but pederstrians will for some reason always try to jump infront of your car while trying to dodge it. I know it is not a big deal and I'm just mentioning it because it was the only form of frustration I ever encountered in this game, so don't take it too seriously. But the consequence of this is that I had to deal with police more often than I wanted to, which brings me directly to my next point.
- Police:
For me personally the police never really posed a threat and was more of a nuisance rather than a fun game mechanic to engage with. But it is pretty easy to evade the police on lower heat levels, which makes this fine with me, as I didn't have to actively engage with them most of the time.
+ Vehicles:
There is a wide range of vehicles to choose from and I actually think all of them handle uniquely and have their own characteristics, which makes them feel noticably different from one another. For the purpose it serves in an Open World RPG, driving actually feels pretty good, apart from motorcycles, which I personally didn't like. But personally, I am glad that CDPR actually put the effort into the vehicles and the driving rather than making cars soley as a means of transportation. It made me (together with the game world) travel from A to B seemlessly by car, rather than constantly using the quick travel option. I finished this game without ever really using quick travel, which helped greatly in the immersion into this game world.
+ Storytelling:
Speaking of immersion, I liked that we see this whole game and its story play out in the first person view rather than in cutscenes. I know this is not a groundbreaking concept but it made the player really feel like being the main character 'V'. At points I just felt like, that the ratio of gameplay to talking might have been too much on the talking side. But at least the dialogue options were pretty fleshed out, which I know do not change anything in terms of the outcome of most conversations but it felt nice to always be able to say what was on your mind.
+ Graphics and Performance:
There is no way around it but to call Cyberpunk 2077 absolutely stunning... if you can afford it. It is a very demanding game if you want to enjoy it in all of its glory but with a decent setup and DLSS I actually got it to ruin pretty smoothly outside of very busy areas. But I want to acknowledge that consoles and mid to low performence PCs might struggle. Graphicswise I want to especially highlight the work of lighting in this game. Every scene in this game feels perfectly lit and cinematic, which I am completely amazed by. It feels like every light in this game has been placed with a purpose.
+ Gameplay:
I have to say, that I am amazed how well thought out this game is in terms of its shooter gameplay and its variety in how to engage in combat. You can either be a netrunner, who hacks everything and everyone they see or a stealthy ninja moving quickly through the shadows, taking out enemies with a precise throwing knife to the head or a heavy with machine and shotguns on your hip dealing out heaps of damage. All of these gameplay styles (and more) are supported by a wide range of skills that are available after every level up. Furthermore bodily modifications, with their added passive effects and sometimes special abilities, help you to tune your combat style even more. I personally loved a stealthy + reflex approach, where I was crouch sprinting with throwing knives until I got detected. After that I started using double jumps and speed to close the gap with a shotgun to then make a mess out of the nearest enemies. Guns feel actually powerful in this game and seem to have a real impact on the enemies that you are shooting. Shotguns or heavy machine guns, for example, just tear chunks out of people. I'm not someone who has the opinion that shooters have to be necesserily graphic or overly violent but I think it fits perfectly into the world this game is set in.
+ Game World:
Cyberpunk 2077's approach to the game world lies completely opposite of something like Starfield or many other open worlds nowadays, where the decree is: "Bigger is Better", where there are vast and seemingly infinite areas to explore but all of these areas hold just the bare minimum of content to justify their existence. Night City isn't huge but every single corner seems so detailed and hand made, with a wide variety of landscapes, like the megastructures (which are essentially towns in and of themselves) slums, suburbs, corporate monoliths, red light districts and many more. Even without an objective in mind it is sometimes nice to just stroll through the streets and explore every nook and cranny while clever NPCs exchange random but seemingly genuine conversations. The city seems like it still exists even after you turn off your PC and feels almost like a character in and off itself.
+ Characters:
This is the point, where I think the game shines the most. All of the characters in this game feel like real people. All of them have their own motivations, mannerisms and views on life. Jackie, Misty, Vik, Panam, Judy and of course Johnny Silverhand, to name a few, come to life through amazing writing and phenomenol voice acting. All of them receive their own time to develope themselves from mere colleagues/contractors/associates to genuine friends through a string of side missions. The side missions are small amazing self contained stories, where, for example, at the end of their arc I even had sympathies towards a vending machine and a self driving taxi. I genuinely formed connections to some of those characters and deeply cared about their success in life and was grateful for their support in difficult situations. At the end of the day they will remain in the back of my head whenever I will think of this game.
All in all, I deeply enjoyed my time with Cyberpunk 2077, with its amazing gunplay, immersive world and authentic characters and would recommend this game to anyone who is willing to put the time into it.