[Feedback] 50-50 full complete - letter to the developer

+
I am currently clocking in at around 140 hours and maxed out V Level 50 and 50 Street Cred. I also have maxed almost every Skill available to my build which focuses mainly on hacking and crafting (20INT/18TECH). I believe I have played through all of the content entirely, as the Side Gigs have stopped populating. I have also cleared 4 versions of the ending and believe; I have 2 more to do. Here’s my feedback as a PC player and I will try and keep it brief.

[Current State]

There is a lot of negative feedback and I believe the majority of these people are on console. There are some technical issues with stability but, CDPR developed the engine and whenever you do that beyond the development of a massive game, it takes years to fine tune. Given I have decades of experience playing beta/alpha versions of both PC and Console games, I get what was delivered in the time span is quite remarkable. Unfortunately, most less experienced players will not recognize the sheer scope of accomplishment CDPR delivered in CP2077, and that is truly unfortunate. I am familiar with deceptive and corporate/shareholder driven companies that push lack luster releases, content-poor, recycle assets, and unhealthy amounts of micro transactions but, CDPR is not one of those companies. I think the danger of having a publicly traded company on top of ambitious goals as a creative studio, is all to metaphorical in the personality of Johnny Silverhand and CDPR’s relationship with its investors. It honestly would be best to purchase the majority of its shares while the stock is low and take back control of its ownership. If it wants to really not get absorbed by the corporate environment, it needs to maintain as much ownership and creative control of its release dates, direction, and development.

[Headwinds]

I loved Witcher 3. I rated it the best RPG of all time – and I am an RPG fanatic. I am reaching all the way back to Ultima 4 on Commodore 64 so, when I say Witcher 3 was good, that is a f****** accomplishment – a Rembrandt. Now, that being said, it is CDPRs achilles heel because, like a great comic, no one wants to follow one up on the stage. This is why they splurged on a A-list actor in Keeanu Reeves, an new engine that opens up creative control with years of new content, and 100 hours of voice over talent. Like, really great talent. The check-list things, they got right. Its like making a cake, you got all the right ingredients to make one and the oven to bake it but, why is it the previous cake was better? It was less technical, was it the story? Was it the interruptions of immersion? Was it the Fallout 76 “looting everything in the room” junk hoarder style? Was it the fact the game felt like a mash-up of 5 other games? Was it the already retold story of “Ghost in a Shell” redux? In either case, Witcher 3 felt like an original composition and CP2077, does not.

[The Feels]

Honestly, technical issues prevented many folks from actually playing the content but, if they were able to, they would find that unlike Witcher 3, CP2077 didn’t “feel” like an original soundtrack. As soon as I got past the prologue, it felt like I was playing GTA5. I honestly, couldn’t tell the difference between the 2 games for literally 50-70 hours of my play through other than the fact, I didn’t have to travel as far to have some action. I would go between these amazing NPC interactions and story arc’s and then bounce between experiences that I have had in the past almost carbon copied. Its not that the systems or experiences were bad, they just were not original. Do I like the crafting and looting system? Yeah. But, it also felt like Fallout 76 – which has a thorn in my side. So, CDPR inherits the PTSD of its experiences along with the design. Unintended consequence for sure. The GTA 5 stylistic cityscape of NC. I know CDPR developers are thinking, “hey we did almost this same style in Witcher 3 except your on a horse and not in a car.” and to them I would say, “I know but… W3 didn’t feel like GTA5, and that’s the difference”. What did feel original was the acting and voice over work. These writers and acting talent need an award. Absolutely felt like I was binge watching some Amazon Prime or Netflix series. I just wanted more of that. So, in essence, the game bounces you between these experiences (in-betwen technical issues) that are mixed. Some experience like the GTA 5 and FO76, that you are god-awful sick of because we played the hell out of those games and the amazing original work in CP2077.

[Conclusion]
I feel the scope was too big to tackle and likely, numerous departments working on aspects of the game that from the macro experience it wasn’t painting the picture based on solving to the user experience but, more technical requirements.

All that being said, I absolutely loved the game. The endings were done so well, it leaves you falling in love with the game again after any filler content you did to grind out those last few levels. I mean, I must have deconstructed 50,000 grenades for god sakes! So, when we got to the meat of the game, holy smokes did it take off. I mean s***, I wished Panam was real! Wowzers, what a woman! Characters like her that gave me ambitions! That’s a feat. There are certain story arc endings (that I wont spoil) that when I experienced, I literally cried. Just, emotionally gripping and moving. Judy’s video voice mail message… oh my god. I had to step away from the PC.

[Lastly]

CDPR never give up, this was a solid 4 stars out of 5 but, don’t let all of this rocky start give you pause. Most games released are in much worse shape, its just everyone looks to CDPR as the last great gaming development company for the RPG space. We all want you to continue succeeding and we know you will so, whatever you do, do not give up, in 3 months and a few patches, this will all be forgiven. Lean forward and keep making timeless memories and the best games on the planet.

Lastly, here’s what I am running the game with. I built it in 2016. Truncated to most relevant DxDiag system information.

------------------
System Information
------------------

Time of this report: 12/21/2020, 14:05:58
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 19042) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7885
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6800K CPU @ 3.40GHz (12 CPUs), ~3.4GHz
Memory: 32768MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 32668MB RAM
Page File: 9342MB used, 28189MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DirectX Database Version: 1.0.8
DxDiag Version: 10.00.19041.0546 64bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 1070
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Problem Code: No Problem
Driver Problem Code: Unknown
Display Memory: 24421 MB
Dedicated Memory: 8088 MB
Shared Memory: 16333 MB
Current Mode: 1080 x 1920 (32 bit) (60Hz)

photomode_20122020_025359-1.jpg
 
Top Bottom