I've played for over 400 hours now, but this is the first time I completed a game to an ending. Got frustrated with it often when it first came out, and then just always wanted to try a new angle before I got there. Gotta say, the game as a whole is way different from 3/4 of a game.
The ending(s) kind of defines the way the game was designed. I got irritated often that I couldn't do this or make that choice, but this is more a story of Night City and trying to find hope in a hopeless world that's constantly dragging everyone down. V's stuck in that mess and is only going to rise up so far no matter how hard he tries. As an article I read stated, Cyberpunk isn't a game about becoming a hero. It's more about getting by day to day. Which is much closer to what we do in real life, but can be frustrating if you're used to games where you Do become the hero. In any case, it made me feel better about my V when I (FINALLY) understood that.
As for the game itself (here comes someone's opinions again, as if anyone needs them, but I need to type them), there is so much to like here. The environment is amazing, and by that I mean the look of the city, set up of the streets, and the lighting. Especially the lighting at night. AND the amount of detail; that part is pretty mind boggling, and what was done to give it a Cyberpunk feel. Yeah, the city could be a bit more interactive (shops, bars, etc) but it is what it is.
I don't know if it had to be quite as big as it is. Nothing wrong with it, but I didn't really relate so much to the 6th Street gang and neighborhood. And the Wasteland seems overly huge and mostly empty, but again, it's there at that size, and I can't really complain about somewhere else to snoop around.
I enjoyed the major questlines quite a lot. Most had interesting, well defined characters, and a fair amount of variation. The jobs from the fixers, not so much. They were okay, but more like munching on the same chips over and over between the real meals. Something to pass the time. Then again, you don't have to do them, either.
Combat is okay. Not great, but not really bad, either. It did take a lot of fiddling with settings to be able to aim well, and crosshairs in scopes could be clearer. And not a huge fan of how hacking feels nerfed. But all in all, I can live with it.
Overall, if that was that, just storytelling, characters, and environment, I would give the game a solid A- (especially if I could get my head wrapped around what a modern rpg is compared to a retro one where you make more choices). And I think maybe it could still get to that A- or above. Unfortunately, there are also problems that take away from the experience (mine, anyway).
My biggest gripe (and gonna try and go in order) is how the game is structured. Because V dies or at least the way the game ends, I felt like I needed to do as much as possible before I advanced far into the main questline. This meant hours and hours of fixer jobs, chasing rogue taxis, scanning tarot cards, etc, without a lot of great story telling. It also meant that most of the cool things you get from the main quests you don't get to use before the game ends. V really needs endings where you can continue to play, and not by going back to a previous save. Maybe once I look at the quests again I can see how to play a better mix leading up to the point of no return, but I didn't enjoy the first 3/4 nearly as much as the last 1/4.
I would have kind of liked it if you started off doing fixer quests (and a few with your buddy Jackie) and exploring Night City, then upon hitting a certain street cred, you gained the attention of Dexter, and you could embark on that questline. Would've given you more freedom at first; the game is so restrictive out of the box.
Which is my second complaint. Once we've finished a game, for the love of everything, please give us a way to start a game that doesn't involve doing all of the same things AGAIN. So much pre-destined gameplay. Make us a little comic or 'puter shard or whatever with a few basic choices (I mean, how much in the first 6-8 hours of the game really changes?) so we start the game in Victor's chop shop with the chip in our head, or our apartment with Misty. Bad enough we'd still have to go and listen to Goro drone on and on laying out what we are going to do next. But I just plain dread starting a new game.
The phone. Ugh, and more ugh. I'm not saying stop the fixers from calling us constantly; not going to happen, I know. But first and foremost, if we are in a conversation with someone already on a mission, NO CALLS PLEASE! We can't talk while in battle, surely these overlapping conversations can be stopped, too. I'm in some big, dramatic scene, and all of a sudden I HAVE to talk to Panam on the phone first to finish it. Poor design. And really, some editing and deleting would help as well. I don't need to hang up the phone with Goro and instantly get a text from him, too.
Is it just me, or my game, or does the rain finally start to fall about half way through? (love the rain; it's when the game looks best). I know it's scripted in places, but it seems like the odds change and it gets wetter and darker as time goes on. Speaking of which, The sky is white in my game at 3:30 in the morning. Game looks better at night, so how about moving sunrise to 6 am and sunset to about 6-8? I really only have about 7 hours of night in my game.
EDIT: Yeah, the more I think about it, as people have replied here, the driving's not that bad. If anything, I get more annoyed by the other drivers unpredictability (can't even stay in their lane sometimes) but in a way that makes them the same as all the crappy real life drivers. And it would probably help if I wasn't doing 165 downtown.. But I do get tired of getting run over crossing the street, mostly since they usually speed away before I can get up and shoot them.
And the NPCs (pedestrians). I tried to think of them as Matrix glitches. If I have a shoot out inside a building, they shouldn't be cowering on the sidewalk for two blocks in every direction afterwards. How about running away, like they do if I shoot the sidewalk? The cowering is really bad; runaway, runaway.
One small thing, it would be nice to have a setting for which radio station V listens to so we don't have to keep changing it every time we jack a new car. Just make it like that's the first thing V does; change the channel.
There are still a few bugs ( had to reload at times) and cars floating in the air (especially in Pacifica) or stuck in the cement. Those things I'm not worried about. I think they'll get fixed. It's more about constant happy sunshine, constant happy phone calls, constant bouncing and overturning autos, etc. Tweaks.
Overall I'm happy with my purchase, and will play again. Sounds like a boring sum up, but that's kind of the point. I'm glad I played Cyberpunk and will do it again. But I do hope it keeps getting better, too, so the whole game is great and not just parts of it. Because the high points are way up there and deserve more.
