Cyberpunk 2077 User Reviews & Impressions

[MrGuyton]

Probably an endangered species, but I'm a relatively satisfied PS4 player
Don't get me wrong on launch day having sat patiently by my letterbox for my preorder to arrive, I was more than a little peeved when it crashed every 40 mins but after 1.04 it's not broken anymore. I'm playing on a base console, so what if it lags a bit when I go down the lift or drive into a new area. The environment is beautiful and so vast.
The story is great so far and I'm loving the gameplay, I'm only half way through act 1 because I've been exploring and doing a lot of gigs on the side. Was into act 2 on my first play but a non opening ripperdoc door forced me to restart.

Is it what I was expecting? I don't really know, I played a lot of the pen and paper rpg and whilst I wasn't expecting that level of versatility I think it would be nice if the unscripted world were a little more interactive. There are so many vendors and street gangsters just crying out for an inventory and a line of dialogue. Hopefully some of them will get it in a future patch.

As some of the other posts have said, there seem to be areas in the game where mechanics are missing or not finished. I should be able to sell that arm I just severed from that gangster to the nearest ripperdoc.

I don't know what pressure CDPR were under to make a release this year, but I do hope they continue to develop the title and realise the vision they clearly had and satisfy some of the criticism they're facing.

I'd love to see Mr Pondsmith's honest opinion on whether it meets his expectations. Also a clear list from the devs of what features they had to drop or are hoping to implement in future. At least we'd have an idea what to look forward to or legitimate gripes then!

As an aside, if there is content that was taken out so it would run on ps4 then please give it to the next gen and pc editions as it seems a shame that the vision isn't fully realised and hard work is scrapped so my fluff lagged old machine can run it. I think most gamers would understand that.
I'm loving it, my son who blasted through it on very hard in 23hrs without doing a side mission on PC is also loving it.

Thanks for the game, have a lovely holiday then code like madmen till its finished, also no pressure but I expect some excellent dlc ready for me when I can finally get hold of a ps5

 

[Retro-_-]

By no means is the game terrible and I enuinely enjoyed playing it, connecting with the characters on a real world level. But it cannot be denied that it is a slight let down. A look back at the 2018 gameplay video they released and the statement 'everything is possibly subject to change' is a bit of a kick in the teeth. And strangely the comments section of the video echoes what many are saying. Fingers crossed they pull out some epic updates and DLC, and we get the game we've been sold for 8 years.

 

[WOLF666HIM]

Cyberpunk this best game of ever. Thanks you all for this amazing experience. You are best of the best !!! I see how many a lot of work has been done. You are a very talented studio, always be true to yourself. everything will be fine with you. to be honest, no one knows how to make such games. Thank you again.
p. s. play on ps5

 

[Rawls]

Was it the one on the top floor of the tower?

Indeed it was!

 

[jerp77]

My impression is that this is currently a "good" game that failed to reach my expectations in a variety of ways. I'll list a few of the most crucial below:

1) fidelity - the world is big and there are a lot of little nooks and crannies. HOWEVER, I was expecting a "next-gen experience." So many (98% ???) doors are sealed shut and buildings, mostly, seem like set pieces that look great on the horizon, but have no guts. The game constantly fools you with all the neon lights and store fronts that have zero playability.

2) the complete lack of character individuation in the game - there are no hair-dressers, tattoo artists, piercing studios, plastic surgeons (hell, just add features to the ripperdocs for Christ's sake).

3) marketing gave the impression that this game was going to blow the doors off the notion of "what's appropriate in a video game." As is, this game is super tame. Ok, you put nudity and pubic hair in; not exactly what I expected in a game that was self -promoting as gritty and "adult" by industry standards. I was expecting a array of strip clubs (catering to hetero-normative and non-hetero-normative folks alike). Yes, I wanted more than a few edgy advertisements in the game. I guess I am a deviant in that way.

4) The NPC AI is not great. It's serviceable, but lacks complexity.

5) I am angry and appalled that a dildo (sex toys in general) is designated as "junk" and are completely non-functional in game. V has a bed, shower, and a couch where these items should be accessible and have some gameplay tied to them. Why not a masturbation buff (with obvious complementary fatigue debuffs of course)? Labelling sex toys as "junk" is anti-sex and fundamentally puritanical CDPR!!!!! I demand that this designation be changed in the next patch (the added gameplay can come later).

6) Please please please add functionality to the menu and map systems. 1) Allow me to preview clothing items, 2) show me pictures of the cars that are part of purchase missions beyond the initial phone call, 3) when I scroll over a store or bar in the map PLEASE tell me the name of that F'ing establishment (especially after I've already been there), 4) Im tired of typing. . .

Anyway, I "really like" the game. I am glad that I bought it. But I am also not going to pull punches. It has fallen short for me in some key ways. I certainly do not see this as a "next step" in open world experiences or a "next-gen" game even. It is, however, a very good game. I can appreciate the way it kind of mashes Borderlands, Deus Ex, and GTA into a singly experience. In fact, if I were to articulate what it adds to the industry at this point, that would be it; it combines those experiences together into a game with good lore and compelling characters and story. Maybe push the breaks on the hyperbolic marketing though. Go back to being the little guy that nobody sees coming (or maybe that boat has sailed).

 

[kanival]

very good game, i like it. I hope they put more content and fix all the bugs.

 

[Millionaires]

The game, on a baseline level, has potential. However, the sheer deceit, the stripped features without clarity, the marketing lies, the sheer predatory behaviour the company took when marketing the game, and releasing a product that is clearly not even thirty per cent finished soured many people and I really doubt the game will bounce back. The sheer EA level of deceit should break all trust people have with the company. A business is a business, understandable, but when you buy a pie from a store, you expect the pie to be more than just a shell of pastry.

Mods will fix the game, like they did with Skyrim. Rest in peace to all the console players.

 

[marxduck]

This is a semi-review, of sorts. I'm not going to describe the game here though - I will presume that readers have played it for themselves.

Firstly, I don't want to shit on the opinions that people might have of the game, but the reviews I've seen are just off.
I'm not talking about the lack of mention of bugs in the initial reviews. On the contrary, many of the reviews I have seen speak almost exclusively of the bugs with one hackneyed caveat that they all make sure to hammer home - that the issues are just for the console players and that by and large the PC version is outstanding. It's an interesting take but one that seems at odds with what I'm reading in forum posts, and somewhat denialist about the actual gameplay.

The gameplay is what makes this game mediocre at best.
In more general terms, the world feels for me - as others have expressed - lifeless. This is not the same thing as saying it isn't detailed, wonderfully rendered, and populated. The problem is that what it is populated with is a static, lifeless collection of generic NPCs. Most NPCs you see will be standing around doing literally nothing, or otherwise walking aimlessly at a synchronised pace with no hint of personality.

You will hear the odd conversation here and there, but this comes with no accompanying animations or scenes that draw your attention. Much of the time the dialogue isn't lip-synced, and so I have no idea where it is even coming from. You can 'talk' to any NPC, but it would be more accurate to describe this as pushing a button (the f key) to get a randomised one-liner response.

The apparently 'dynamic' scenes you will come across that are usually in the form of a 'crime in progress' mission, are more or less from the same two or three scenarios. Honestly, I can hardly tell the difference. In one scene it's cops arresting some gangsters (by standing around looking lifeless), in the other scene its some gangsters mugging some citizens (by standing around looking lifeless).

What about the story-NPCs? Well, they're better as you would expect. Animated well, voiced well, and good dialogue, but they occupy the same dead world that fixes them to the one spot you will find them in. There's never a sense that they move about the world, and rather, it's clear that they just wait for the protagonist to show up to progress their meaningless existence. They have that distinct impression of existing for your sake and nothing else.

Many of the buildings and areas, as beautiful as they are, suffer from this cut and paste system too.
The phone calls and texts you receive hardly make up for this social deficit, as the only function they really serve is to give you more generic missions.

The shops you can visit have this same dead feel as you predominantly interact with purchases through a menu. The store front might as well not exist, for all the personality and charm it adds to the transaction.

Your own character is another major let down. The origins stories have next to no bearing on the world and are shockingly short.
The character's voice and diction remain the same no matter what your origin is or what kind of character you're playing, the only difference being a masculine or feminine voice. This is really jarring when no matter whether I'm a ninja-styled Japanese corpo hitman, or a street kid cyber punk net runner, I sound like generic movie good guy Vinnie from Jersey.

The fact that I can't change my hair style or colour, that I can't adjust piercings, tattoos, or visual representation of cyberware, or even that the installed cyberware has no bearing on my appearance is just mind-boggling. This Cyberpunk - a hyper-consumeristic future where idiosyncratic expression is the name of the game; wtf were CDPR thinking?

This extends to the vehicles. Why can't I modify my vehicles? Forget visuals, you can't even modify the stats on your chosen ride. And this is to say nothing of how unenjoyable the actual driving us. Even on gamepad it's just no good.
Likewise, your residence, while looking soooo awesome, is static and cannot be customised.

Then there's the bizarre choice with reflections.
Do you all remember when CDPR announced it would be first person exclusive and they copped a bit of backlash? Their response was interesting and I was totally into it. They said that they had chosen to go first person because they wanted CP2077 to be an up close, visceral experience; that they wanted you to feel like you were looking through the eyes of your character. They insisted that there would still be all these ways that the character would see themselves, from the inventory to the reflections in mirrors and surfaces in the world. I love that idea because that's how real life works. I catch my reflection in RL all the time, and sometimes there's an existential feeling that comes with it as it does for all self-aware creatures gazing on their visage. But what did CDPR do? They gave us 'smart' mirrors that have to be activated.

Some have said this is a graphical limitations thing... Which is just a bit silly given how reflections have become pretty standard in games for the last decade, but even more damning is that you can see reflections clearly in car windows - but your character is conspicuously absent from the scene!

The story itself is really interesting and I'm enjoying the better-told aspects of it, but I can't see how it has any replayability. I haven't finished it yet but there's not even a semblance of choice here.

I feel like there was more that bothers me but this is all just my thoughts from about 30 hours in.

I'm really saddened to say this, but I think we've been had. The darling of the industry has gone the way of every other big dev. Sure, they're no duplicitous Bethesda or EA, they're no self-cannibalising Ubisoft or Blizzard, but nor do they seem to be the CDPR that brought us the Witcher.

This is about so much more than the bugs - of which I have made no discussion. Telling others that they are overreacting because CDPR 'will fix it' is just disingenuous and kind of a little delusional. I sure as shit hope that they do 'fix it', but they've a hell of a lot more to fix than bugs. I fear some of these issues are fundamental to the game, but I hope I'm wrong.

At this rate, I very much regret paying full price of this game. It was a hefty purchase for me (yes, some of us have pretty legitimate reasons for being poor), but I felt that I could justify this because it was our beloved CDPR. I really didn't expect this!

To be clear, this isn't the worst thing in the world. I've noticed the way gamers obsess over the next big release, acting as if 'this is it - everything is going to be different now. My meaningless pedestrian life will finally have purpose!'. I'm not this kind of person. It's just a game, the money was relatively minor, we'll all move on.

But it has to be said: Cyberpunk 2077 is mediocre at best.

 

[Silariell]

Animated well, voiced well, and good dialogue, but they occupy the same dead world that fixes them to the one spot you will find them in.

Personally this was the biggest letdown for me. I expected a sandbox game with sandboxy activities such as territory control / joining gangs or corps / etc;, but what I got is a watered down ubisoft game with a side of Call of Duty: Cyberpunk.

It looks nice and it has all the parts it needs to be a good game. It just needs... A lot of work to put these parts together. As is, I'm inclined to agree. It's mediocre. Less than the sum of its parts, some of which are actually pretty great (graphics, etc.).

 

[Ðarkstar]

I recommend people use this as their avatars for this forum.

 

[virtualkill1432]

This is a semi-review, of sorts. I'm not going to describe the game here though - I will presume that readers have played it for themselves.

Firstly, I don't want to shit on the opinions that people might have of the game, but the reviews I've seen are just off.
I'm not talking about the lack of mention of bugs in the initial reviews. On the contrary, many of the reviews I have seen speak almost exclusively of the bugs with one hackneyed caveat that they all make sure to hammer home - that the issues are just for the console players and that by and large the PC version is outstanding. It's an interesting take but one that seems at odds with what I'm reading in forum posts, and somewhat denialist about the actual gameplay.

The gameplay is what makes this game mediocre at best.
In more general terms, the world feels for me - as others have expressed - lifeless. This is not the same thing as saying it isn't detailed, wonderfully rendered, and populated. The problem is that what it is populated with is a static, lifeless collection of generic NPCs. Most NPCs you see will be standing around doing literally nothing, or otherwise walking aimlessly at a synchronised pace with no hint of personality.

You will hear the odd conversation here and there, but this comes with no accompanying animations or scenes that draw your attention. Much of the time the dialogue isn't lip-synced, and so I have no idea where it is even coming from. You can 'talk' to any NPC, but it would be more accurate to describe this as pushing a button (the f key) to get a randomised one-liner response.

The apparently 'dynamic' scenes you will come across that are usually in the form of a 'crime in progress' mission, are more or less from the same two or three scenarios. Honestly, I can hardly tell the difference. In one scene it's cops arresting some gangsters (by standing around looking lifeless), in the other scene its some gangsters mugging some citizens (by standing around looking lifeless).

What about the story-NPCs? Well, they're better as you would expect. Animated well, voiced well, and good dialogue, but they occupy the same dead world that fixes them to the one spot you will find them in. There's never a sense that they move about the world, and rather, it's clear that they just wait for the protagonist to show up to progress their meaningless existence. They have that distinct impression of existing for your sake and nothing else.

Many of the buildings and areas, as beautiful as they are, suffer from this cut and paste system too.
The phone calls and texts you receive hardly make up for this social deficit, as the only function they really serve is to give you more generic missions.

The shops you can visit have this same dead feel as you predominantly interact with purchases through a menu. The store front might as well not exist, for all the personality and charm it adds to the transaction.

Your own character is another major let down. The origins stories have next to no bearing on the world and are shockingly short.
The character's voice and diction remain the same no matter what your origin is or what kind of character you're playing, the only difference being a masculine or feminine voice. This is really jarring when no matter whether I'm a ninja-styled Japanese corpo hitman, or a street kid cyber punk net runner, I sound like generic movie good guy Vinnie from Jersey.

The fact that I can't change my hair style or colour, that I can't adjust piercings, tattoos, or visual representation of cyberware, or even that the installed cyberware has no bearing on my appearance is just mind-boggling. This Cyberpunk - a hyper-consumeristic future where idiosyncratic expression is the name of the game; wtf were CDPR thinking?

This extends to the vehicles. Why can't I modify my vehicles? Forget visuals, you can't even modify the stats on your chosen ride. And this is to say nothing of how unenjoyable the actual driving us. Even on gamepad it's just no good.
Likewise, your residence, while looking soooo awesome, is static and cannot be customised.

Then there's the bizarre choice with reflections.
Do you all remember when CDPR announced it would be first person exclusive and they copped a bit of backlash? Their response was interesting and I was totally into it. They said that they had chosen to go first person because they wanted CP2077 to be an up close, visceral experience; that they wanted you to feel like you were looking through the eyes of your character. They insisted that there would still be all these ways that the character would see themselves, from the inventory to the reflections in mirrors and surfaces in the world. I love that idea because that's how real life works. I catch my reflection in RL all the time, and sometimes there's an existential feeling that comes with it as it does for all self-aware creatures gazing on their visage. But what did CDPR do? They gave us 'smart' mirrors that have to be activated.

Some have said this is a graphical limitations thing... Which is just a bit silly given how reflections have become pretty standard in games for the last decade, but even more damning is that you can see reflections clearly in car windows - but your character is conspicuously absent from the scene!

The story itself is really interesting and I'm enjoying the better-told aspects of it, but I can't see how it has any replayability. I haven't finished it yet but there's not even a semblance of choice here.

I feel like there was more that bothers me but this is all just my thoughts from about 30 hours in.

I'm really saddened to say this, but I think we've been had. The darling of the industry has gone the way of every other big dev. Sure, they're no duplicitous Bethesda or EA, they're no self-cannibalising Ubisoft or Blizzard, but nor do they seem to be the CDPR that brought us the Witcher.

This is about so much more than the bugs - of which I have made no discussion. Telling others that they are overreacting because CDPR 'will fix it' is just disingenuous and kind of a little delusional. I sure as shit hope that they do 'fix it', but they've a hell of a lot more to fix than bugs. I fear some of these issues are fundamental to the game, but I hope I'm wrong.

At this rate, I very much regret paying full price of this game. It was a hefty purchase for me (yes, some of us have pretty legitimate reasons for being poor), but I felt that I could justify this because it was our beloved CDPR. I really didn't expect this!

To be clear, this isn't the worst thing in the world. I've noticed the way gamers obsess over the next big release, acting as if 'this is it - everything is going to be different now. My meaningless pedestrian life will finally have purpose!'. I'm not this kind of person. It's just a game, the money was relatively minor, we'll all move on.

But it has to be said: Cyberpunk 2077 is mediocre at best.

its a good game, very good tho, but people expected Jesus to walk the earth again when cyberpunk2077 releases, its cdpr first game on this scope, their first FPP game too, so its a game and far better for me than rdr2 boring ass game with best graphics and detals i have seen, but again its boring,slow, same repetitive missions..etc. needed one year to make myself finish that damn thing..

 

[Kikinho]

Very well said and I agree with every word in it, and have beef with even more than that.

Funnily enough I was definitely one of those people who was dead certain that "this is it" This title will be a game changer for the industry. It will tick all the checkboxes and I probably won't be able to stop playing for weeks.

But here I am, after having a relative good time during the main story, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
And the more I linger on these forums, and the more I look into things I realise that this game is a skeleton more than anything. A barebone game that has a good fundamental, but in order to earn back the same kind of enthusiasm and respect I had for it, it has to do a lot more than bug and performance issues.

We need all the cut features in the form of free updates to begin with, and they need to listen to the community feedback regarding to the story.

And once those are taken care of, then I will be interested in expansions and multiplayer.

 

[Shemgrave]

I don't agree with your review, especially about Night City feeling lifeless. I don't get that vibe at all; it has a lot of culture and character to me. The NPC conversations going on all over the world are pretty neat, too. I mean, the AI can make the NPCs feel a bit generic at times, but overall I think the city feels pretty neat and unique.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2020

Very well said and I agree with every word in it, and have beef with even more than that.

Funnily enough I was definitely one of those people who was dead certain that "this is it" This title will be a game changer for the industry. It will tick all the checkboxes and I probably won't be able to stop playing for weeks.

But here I am, after having a relative good time during the main story, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
And the more I linger on these forums, and the more I look into things I realise that this game is a skeleton more than anything. A barebone game that has a good fundamental, but in order to earn back the same kind of enthusiasm and respect I had for it, it has to do a lot more than bug and performance issues.

We need all the cut features in the form of free updates to begin with, and they need to listen to the community feedback regarding to the story.

And once those are taken care of, then I will be interested in expansions and multiplayer.

I think this might actually be the problem. Your expectations were unreasonably high. There's no way for a new game franchise without a few patches of bug fixes/etc and quality time and feedback to fulfill expectations like that.

 

[Kikinho]

I don't agree with your review, especially about Night City feeling lifeless. I don't get that vibe at all; it has a lot of culture and character to me. The NPC conversations going on all over the world are pretty neat, too. I mean, the AI can make the NPCs feel a bit generic at times, but overall I think the city feels pretty neat and unique.

Post automatically merged: Dec 16, 2020

I think this might actually be the problem. Your expectations were unreasonably high. There's no way for a new game franchise without a few patches of bug fixes/etc and quality time and feedback to fulfill expectations like that.

The thing is it actually wasn't that high. I actually didn't follow much of the marketing over the years so I didn't know much about the promised features.
I play on PC so bugs were minor, probably the most annoying ones were my char being bald in the mirror while wearing a bandana.
What left me super dissapointed was the ending of the story, only then I started to look into things and realise how much this game is simply not what it was promised. And the dissapointment just keeps building up.
I loved CDPR, it didn't even cross my mind they would back-pedal on anything they said in interviews and promised. But their shady moves, like hiding console previews and not being upfront about feature cuts... I have to see if I can trust their words again.

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

After 30 hours I must admit the game is growing on me.

The criticism I have hasn’t gone anywhere... more interactivity, more skills (interactions, driving, social), improved existing charactersystems, expanded lifepath interactivity and useability, etc... all that still stands, and so does that the beginning of the game is poor both narratively and gameplaywise.

But doing the missions is kinda fun, albeit choresome for the afore mentioned reasons. And likewise for the same reasons I see absolutely no point in exploring the city beyond where the missions take me.

CDPR needs to breathe some life into this game, and preferably RPG life at that, because the game is still far from being even a decent RPG. It’s just a kinda fun, but weirdly handicapped open world immersive sim/adventure.

It’s clearly visible that the intent to create something good is there, but somewhere a left turn was taken and the high bar dropped.

I think the Cyberpunk franchise deserves a bit more than what’s there now (in line with what I said). And I don’t believe it’s an unreasonable nor undoable thought (even with the percieved bugproblem at hand).

I said elsewhere already, that there is a good game under there somewhere that raises its head occasionally, even an excellent one (possibly). It just needs - it cries for - all the smut cleaned out, a few bolts and screws added and some tuneups done.

 

[Kikinho]

It just needs - it cries for - all the smut cleaned out, a few bolts and screws added and some tuneups done.

Why would you clean out the smut? There is barely any in it as it is for a place like NC.

 

[AndreM]

I am nowhere done with the first playthrough and I am having a blast.

The world! The possibilities! The graphics! The crowds of people minding their own business! The feeling of being in a true cyperpunk world!
Somehow my FullHD setup on PC seems to skip all the major bugs that I see in the forums. RT on and looking awesome.
And regarding the expectations, when I preordered a very long time ago, I was pretty aware of what was going on with the witcher series regarding bugs on release. But after seeing what they did with Witcher 1-3, I am sure they will get this gem polished (pun intended) as well.
Uh and, one point besides the police thing, make it obvious in decisions if an answer will lead to an instant firefight. Or ar least more obvious than "drawn gun"
And the respec token is a bit too expensive, but I just had to get rid of the convert junk perk.
Oh and comparing to EA, come on guys? EA would have not announced paybacks, return options or patches. They would have anounced new MTX chests and skins.

 

[Ultrafunktional]

I love it, but I need a lower dead zone under 0 on analog sticks for better aim.

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

Why would you clean out the smut? There is barely any in it as it is for a place like NC.

Technical (and proverbial) smut, was the meaning. In how I continue, I also don’t mean bolts and screws literally.

 

[overhyped2077]

This is a great watch: