Hmm, if that is true then it sounds like once again this is all about getting the game back on the console game stores. That to me means performance & stability fixes, and much less done to fix bugs or add content. Disappointing but expected given communications and patches since release.
Well, I look at it this way:
When they work out the kinks with performance on consoles utilizing mid-range, 5-year-old hardware -- many of those same tricks can probably be adapted to options on present-gen and PC. Thus, we may get more balanced and robust visuals out of the same package. (Graphical settings are a balancing act, in the end. It's usually not very efficient to simply try to "brute-force" more FPS. Rather, finding the right balance.)
And we don't have any confirmation about what will be included in the next update yet. However, based on all of the things that stand to be improved upon in the game, I wouldn't be surprised to see other things included if they're ready. (But that's speculation. All I know is that people are still working their toofuses off.)
Well, yeah. It's hard. I think we all get that. But the comparisons to other AAA open-world games of the last decade that took similar amounts of time and money to produce are almost universally not flattering to CP2077. And I think part of the players' frustration is that there seems little acknowledgement of that fact. When we hear phrases like "the game that was launched on PC is a version we are very proud of", it feels like we're being gaslit a bit: "There's nothing wrong with the PC version, you're just crazy and have unrealistic expectations." Even though the expectations were 100% set by CDPR.
There's more to the game than graphical fidelity, resolution, and intricate AI. I am also very proud of the work the devs have done on the game. It's a magnificent story. The characters are incredible. The visualization of the Cyberpunk universe is amazing in its detail. I love the pacing of the game, and have no problems with either the shorter, more concise length, nor the tragic endings. I feel the theme of "immortality" is beautifully established and explored. I loooved the way Johnny was handled. Combat may have been a little easy and lackluster at times, but it got the job done and I'm sure it can be improved upon noticeably. Variety and identity of locations were as distinct as they were full of life and character...
I think a LOT of the game worked absolutely beautifully and the studio has every right to be proud of what it achieved -- even if there are some significant issues as well. On PC, as I've mentioned elsewhere, my playthrough only encountered minor bugs (none of which interrupted my experience in any great way). Although, that being said, intend to wait for a few more patches to come out before diving in again. I am very much looking forward to playing it again, though. I enjoyed every minute of it!
Okay, these are the most problematic comments in your post IMO. Sure, bugs experienced vary by platform and system configuration. But many of the real problems in the game *are* Universal and not "bugs" at all. The UI is 1990s era clunky and simplistic. The NPC and Police AI are so bad as to be almost non-existent. There is no meaningful interactivity with the game world other than fighting and visiting a few shops.
But it sounds like the stance you take (and I understand you are not CDPR) are these are simply "things we don't care for" and thus unlikely to be changed -- "working as designed, no matter how bad the design is." Again, this feels a bit like gaslighting, like all the promises that were made were never really made, and we all just read incorrectly between the lines of what was actually said. Even when what was said was very clear and explicit.
If this is the case, and CDPR decides that the company really just needs to fix the bugs and leave the systems within the game as is, I really fear for CDPR. The backlash will be severe and not something a company is likely to recover from. People are generally tolerant of mistakes, but they are very intolerant of what they view as lies. If CDPR cannot change the perception that they have lied and continue to lie about this game, it's not going to go well for them.
While I think the focus of my message is clarified further in my post above, I'll add here as well that I'm not talking about the issues -- I'm addressing posts that attempt to insult others or treat their subjective opinions as facts simply because the opinion may feel "popular" to them. That's not how it works.
Let me be real, though, and simply say I'm not talking about obviously wonky elements like the police and traffic AI. My belief is that the NCPD teleporting into existence feels like a placeholder. As in: that's not how they wanted it to function, but maybe because of time-constraints or some unexpected issue that cropped up, they simply put it in the game that way so it didn't result in gamebreaking issues or crashes. (
I don't know for sure, I'm just speculating.) These are things that I'd bet the farm on being addressed and likely expanded upon in the future. (I mean...look at The Witcher 3. Just look at the environments...the crowds...the way the cities go about their business in such a fluid way. Obviously, the devs know how to create awesome world environments. I'd say these AI issues are most likely fallout from the effects of working under the pandemic.)
I outright disagree about anything people would call a "lie". There were no lies. There were plans, demonstrations of
work-in-progress, and then, like almost any creative venture using any medium under the sun, there were things that were altered or cut for any range of reasons:
- a feature upset the gameplay balance
- a feature was no longer viable because of story elements
- a feature was technically problematic, and a call needed to be made on time / resources to sort it out
- a feature was decided to be too far outside the vision of the game
- a feature was deemed as too abstract or convoluted
- a feature was deemed as redundant to some other feature
- a feature was specifically created as a placeholder and was never intended to be in the final version
- devs decided they just didn't like it
I'm not claiming to know what happened specifically with CP2077 -- I'm just talking about what I've seen, personally, on every theatrical production, film, writing project, or game I've ever worked on. All of them. Always. Every, single time. Between conceptual phase, planning and production phase, and post phase, a lot will change. Just because someone has an idea and tries to incorporate it, that doesn't mean it's going to work. No matter how cool it sounds. Calls are made, and we eventually wind up with a final result.
Sometimes, it works out amazingly and everyone loves it. Sometimes, it falls flat on its face. Sometimes, it's polarizing.
But sharing progress is not "making promises". A creative piece is not defined until it is released.
And I still think CP2077 is magnificent. (As good as TW3? Maybe not!
But I'll say again, TW3 was a hard, almost impossible act to follow. That doesn't make CP2077 any less of a success, though. I think the core of what it is already nails the Cyberpunk universe down brilliantly -- despite some
pretty noticeable bumps along the way.)