Anyone who's read this blog for a while probably knows that I am a so called patient gamer. It's rare that I jump on a game on release day, though it happens. Instead I prefer to wait, and that usually pays off.
Today I want to talk about:
Created by CD Project Red, or CDPR, the makers of the Witcher games as well as the good folks who operate GOG, the best place to get older video games that actually work.
Cyberpunk 2077 (CP2077) is based on the old tabletop RPG Cyberpunk 2020, both written by Mike Pondsmith. This ensures that the story and lore are accurate, which is awesome.
CP2077 is a first person action RPG, where you play as V. You can't change the name, but you can change most other aspects of the character. Included in character generation is your life path; Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo. This life path explains your background and gives some insights and speech alternatives in the game, but don't have too much overall impact.
The game is basically split between two parts; the main story and everything else. You can run countless smaller gigs, race cars, fight in arenas etc. These smaller gigs pay well and can even unlock iconic weapons and grant you vehicles. Merely exploring Night City is extremely rewarding. CP2077 is ridiculously immersive and detailed, there is always something going on, and on this level alone, CP2077 blows every other game in this vein out of the water.
But lets look at the main story. As usual, I'm not spoiling anything, so bear with me. In V's quest for fame and riches, you go on a mission that turns everything on its head and sends V on a spectacular journey. The main story is emotional, epic, and awesome. It can be heartrending, it is sometimes really funny, but always pulse pounding. It is up there in the top five best stories I have played. But sure, it has a few flaws.
First off, I do think the game throws the Main Story at you too quickly. I would have liked to learn a bit about how the games plays, and figure out what kind of build I want before being thrown in to the deep end. I'd like to say so much more, but alas, spoilers.
Mechanically, CP2077 is great. It had a very rocky launch back in 2020, but since then CDPR has done a ton of work and taken a shaky game and turned it into a masterpiece. Again, there are some things I wish were different, but they are small stuff. My biggest pet peeve is the Journal, or quest log. Every time you exit a gig, it automatically activates whichever mission is next in the main quest, complete with waypoints on the minimap. If you want to do another gig, you have to go and manually change that every time and it is annoying. I also dislike how loud V's footsteps are. But hey if those are my biggest complaints, it's pretty damn good!
One thing that threw me off at first is the fact that CP2077 throws a lot at you in the beginning and it can be hard to try to remember it all. Hacking, fighting, blocking, stealth etc can set your head spinning, but the good news is that you don't actually need to use it all at once. In time you'll start using more and more elements, but until you do, you can get far by just shooting enemies in the face.
Building your character is a bit of a headache at first, but if you read the tooltips, it becomes easier in time. The game even has a free one time use re-spec, if you want to redo your talents. I will say that trying to be a jack-of-all-trades really makes you a master of none, and that is not a good idea.
What else can I say? The games is gorgeous, the voice acting is brilliant, and even the smallest side jobs are incredibly well written. The game can be quite raunchy, but there is a so called streamer mode, which if switched on, eliminates most of the sex, but not all!
I know I'm rambling a bit, but I'm trying to go though this enormous game in my head and remember everything I wanted to talk about. I guess I'll just wrap up and say that if you like well written stories, and cool action RPG's you owe it to yourself to play Cyberpunk 2077. There is a DLC, Phantom Liberty, but I haven't played it yet so I know nothing about it. Of all the games that I have played, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the few that have left a real mark on me.
Oh, and the soundtrack is spectacular!
That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!
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