Cyberpunk 2077 is an imperfect game, but a perfect experience
I spent 80+ hours playing Cyberpunk 2077 and I cannot stop thinking about that experience
Yes, it is buggy as hell. I played it on a decent gaming PC. Still had bugs and issues. Nothing game-breaking, only emersion braking.
I do not want to focus on that. Enough has been said in the past month about this.
Was Cyberpunk 2077 still fun? Was it still immersive? Was the world well crafted? Was the story good?
To all these questions the answer is HELL YEA!
I had so much fun!
And that is the most important thing. This is the only important thing to me.
There are different ways to have fun with a game.
Some games are fun just because they are bad. It is amusing to make fun of them.
Is Cyberpunk 2077 one of those games? No.
Technical issues aside, the world is well-realized, believable, and a really fun playground. Interactions with NPC’s throughout the world are well-realized, and they all have a point of view and unique personalities.
I loved V’s (the main character) interaction with the fixers. For those who haven’t played the game, fixers are in-game characters who give you side missions to complete. The missions they give you have their own storylines and do not feel like chores.
Although there are mainly a few types of side jobs, they are unique as some of them can really develop into beautiful stories.
I remember doing a simple job. V is hired by the husband of a murder victim to help him assassinate her killer, who is being released ahead of time. This quest, based on player choice, can turn into a deep story, a metaphysical discussion about faith, redemption, martyrdom, forgiveness, and a rebellion of ideas.
The quest was really well written and realized.
I enjoyed interacting with all of the characters in the game.
And then, there is Johny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves.
Some say that he has been miscast. It kinda felt like that in the beginning. But later, as your relationship grows it becomes more believable. I guess it could be a part of the performance. Having a second personality in your head should feel unnatural at first. ( I guess by now this is not a spoiler)
I know people have mixed opinions on this but I really enjoyed the character of Johny Silverhand. He is an asshole. However, during the game, you get a chance to find out why he is such an asshole. By the end, I felt sorry for him and even liked him.
It made it so much more emotional to chose a fate at the very end of the game. Although it is a “pick a choice” ending, the choices you are presented with are influenced by your other choices throughout the game. From the beginning to the end. You cannot just reload a save game closest to the endpoint and pick a totally opposite ending.
Based on my one playthrough (80 +hours), your choices matter.
Cyberpunk 2077 works as a story-driven RPG, and to me, that is what matters the most.
The story (both main and side story) kept me immersed, it was all believable, the characters were interesting, and it engaged me on an emotional and sometimes on an intellectual level.
The topics of personality, freedom, morality, justice, and personal sense of right and wrong, are worth exploring, especially in 2020 and 2021.
I tried to role play as the only decent guy in the city where everyone is corrupt, where morality is relative, and conscience is up for sale and purchase.
This resulted in some interesting dialogue with Johny and other characters. It was fun watching how they react to the choices I made.
In conclusion, Cyberpunk 2077 is a game with two different sides.
On one side the developers overpromised and the game as a whole feels like an overly ambitious project that needed a lot more refinement to shine and live up to its potential.
On the other side, as a role-playing experience, Cyberpunk 2077 is surely one of the best.
For now, I will give it some rest and will not start a second playthrough immediately.
I never do that. Especially if I enjoyed the story.
But a second playthrough is definitely coming down the line when most of the bugs have been patched, and some other features or additional content has been added.
If you are a fan of story-driven RPGs, Cyberpunk 2077 is a must-play.