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.
Music is just epic! Every radio channel is full with super good tracks. Voice acting is also really good, I like the male V raspy voice.
