This game is one of those games that was sent to development hell, and many worried about it living up to hype. Before I started playing there was a couple worrying articles. First was the SJWs in games media trying to act like this game is horrible, racist and transphobic. CD project red, please disregard these people. they probably didn't play the game and hate everything anyway. Second were the articles talking about the issues on consoles with crashes and bugs. It's always worrying and well horrible for this to happen. Leaves a sour taste in peoples mouths and should be worked to not have happen ever.
Now the review. when I began my pc also had to have a quick driver update as it kept crashing. clearly this game is a beast, and despite other opinions that I saw on the internet, it looks beautiful. After rebooting my pc I got back to the game and here is my opinion.
RPG elements
First thing that struck me was the character creator. The game allows you to choose a body type, and has all sorts of ways to customize the character. Even down to privates and if you don't care about it just don't mess with it. Eyes were also another cool part. Sadly, height, name, and a class were not among these. Though with the ladder it does allow for you to build your own class. I went for a more hack/sniper build. basically the Mass Effect Infiltrator. You also are given one of three backstories, these will impact some dialog choices you have in game. This also affects your intro. Like mine was nomad and starts with you trying to smuggle goods into the city with a merc named Jackie.
The choices and Dialog seem to change where your story leads but in a way that I cannot say only having played through once. This is kind of annoying since I cannot immediately tell if there is a difference. I know side quests matter for the endings, however IDK how many pivotal choices there are. Kind of like the Witcher in this regard. Though this diverges from the Witcher by being a shooter, first person and hacking existing. as role playing goes I was able to do that pretty well. Not the best I have seen but really fun. The leveling system also works by what you use most and also leveling up. For me XP came mainly from fire arms and hacking people. but my health was lacking as I had half the health points you could have. the city has a great feel to it. the ambient noises, having a telephone, and the general design of the city makes it feel alive. Plus some fun side quests with interesting content can be found if you search hard enough. Most side quests are just jobs, and you could be forgiven at times for thinking your playing GTA or watchdogs. Cyberpunk 2077 defiantly took some tips from those games. But it some how mixed well to me. It is not as heavy as some RPGs are but is still enough of one that it can be enjoyable.
The Story
This is actually the part that has the most issues I think. It begins very fast, throwing lingo like gonk, corpo, and more. Talking like I already knew what it all meant. It was sort of like my experience reading my first star wars EU book. Also if your like me and have no knowledge of the lore for the table top go and google it or find youtube vids on it. You will be a little lost otherwise. But it doesn't stop there it propels you into a montage of events with Jackie after the first part of the game. It gives you this rushed feeling, showing you and Jackie becoming like family and getting into trouble as your character gets set up in night city. Ultimately I was left thinking "man I wish I could play this". Thankfully before the actual start (the heist) you get a bit more control and context, but still propels you further. One moment you get shot and wake up in a dump. Then see the corpo body guard and next you see your in a car getting chased by terminators. I know they aren't literal terminators but man they sure look the part with bladed arms and glowing red eyes. Plus the fact they are stopping at nothing to kill you and the cooperate samurai. Honestly, I only got a hold on what was going on after it was explained in the later scenes. Its a simple story of survival and glory. But if you look harder you find a story involving a corrupt world, one not unlike our own. With people who can do little against the powers that be, trying to find a way to live and a path to follow. I will say this is not a game where you defeat the corps at the end, you don't topple the corps. They rule and will do so long after your gone. But also they don't necessarily win either. But the game isn't as profound as some probably would like. It makes no grand political takes. Most of what you can gleam from the subtexts other than the obvious is largely based on how you personally see it. Ultimately this game doesn't have a grand odyssey of a story like the Witcher does but is by no means bad. Main story in short is, your dying from a piece of tech you stole, find a way not to die. Honestly most of my characters motivation was ideas I crafted in my own head.
Gameplay
I would say this games best area is the gameplay. it has a lot of content and it's all playable from first person. which helps for immersion, but kinda stinks when you can't see the awesome clothes you chose. The game is structured around main quests and side quests and gigs, as well as cars you can buy.
Exploring the city and doing some side quests feels like a crime simulator, even has the ability to go to brothels and bars. just for reference it is not a game for kids even more so than GTA.
I am also annoyed faction alignment doesn't really have an effect on jobs you get. I killed so many gang members and some police accidently, but didn't really have an impact on my jobs.
You have a lot of random events spread throughout the map and get jobs and cars as you do jobs. the gun play is similar to other RPG, building a good character and knowing where to his is key. Otherwise it feels like bullet sponges. It has the industry standard of stealth vs guns blazing. There is a bunch of enemies that you are presented with. Most interesting is the cyberphyco, they are boss enemies. lots of health and really dangerous. Run and then turn and shoot is the best option. But the game loop is pretty tight and fun to play. But can be boring at times and unclear with its objectives and pathfinding.
As for bugs, the game has various bugs, I saw animation errors, UI getting frozen. The car also has strange physics. so it isn't glitch free. especially on console. But ultimately I did not experience to many game breaking glitch's. Others have, especially using older PC and consoles.
conclusion, Cyberpunk 2077, may not live up to the hype but is a great game in its own right. If you have updated computers strong enough to run this game, its a good buy. Otherwise I would wait till the game situation on last gen and next gen consoles gets figured out. It's not perfect but its in the top five most functional games I have played in the last 4 years at launch.
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