Interesting reading, but...been down this road a few times too many. 
The main story is good but rushed.
I mean, you have no background, really. One mission as a corpo, few errands as a Nomad, a quick job as a Street Kid.
I expected 5 or more hours as a shitty merc before I can access high class jobs and gigs, but no.
The whole city and every fixer are seeking me, the "Legend", after a botched job which I obtained because...
Because it was the stroke of the century and the greatest fixer of Night City needed me, a no-name lowlife merc, to perform it. Great.
Then, you got a decent introduction of Johnny Silverhand. The main story is now launched, I will experience the rich RPG experience promised by CDRP.
But no, instead I get multiple copy-pasted missions (hey see that place ? go inside steathly but you will be discovered anyway at a point andyou must shoot your way out and maybe kill a bossin the process), a quick sex session or two (I mean...a "romance", lol) and there it is: V is dead anyway, more or less. And no NewGame+.
What could have been a masterpiece is a rushed average cyberpunk story.
I mean, you have no background, really. One mission as a corpo, few errands as a Nomad, a quick job as a Street Kid.
I expected 5 or more hours as a shitty merc before I can access high class jobs and gigs, but no.
The whole city and every fixer are seeking me, the "Legend", after a botched job which I obtained because...
Because it was the stroke of the century and the greatest fixer of Night City needed me, a no-name lowlife merc, to perform it. Great.
Then, you got a decent introduction of Johnny Silverhand. The main story is now launched, I will experience the rich RPG experience promised by CDRP.
But no, instead I get multiple copy-pasted missions (hey see that place ? go inside steathly but you will be discovered anyway at a point andyou must shoot your way out and maybe kill a bossin the process), a quick sex session or two (I mean...a "romance", lol) and there it is: V is dead anyway, more or less. And no NewGame+.
What could have been a masterpiece is a rushed average cyberpunk story.
You're not alone.
But I don't think the story is shallow because of it's plot is similar to other sci-fi.
There is too much sci-fi to avoid the plot similar.
Which make the story deep is about what it shows, the question they try to talk, the standpoint and the conflict.
In CP2077, they have a great start, a terrorist ghost in your mind, it's strong conflict at almost everything.
It's a great base to show, but in the end... only little side quest have done their jobs.
But I don't think the story is shallow because of it's plot is similar to other sci-fi.
There is too much sci-fi to avoid the plot similar.
Which make the story deep is about what it shows, the question they try to talk, the standpoint and the conflict.
In CP2077, they have a great start, a terrorist ghost in your mind, it's strong conflict at almost everything.
It's a great base to show, but in the end... only little side quest have done their jobs.
No, a happy ending was never on the cards, this is cyberpunk, it's not about happy endings, it's about telling your own story in this world.
I feel the story was greatly hamstrung by the writers wanting to visit their favourite fluff characters from the rule book rather than letting the player character actually be the protagonist.
Happy endings are relative.
However, in most cyberpunk themed stories I consumed, the protagonists get a chance to retire or transcend.
Logical and closed ending however, would have been very nice.
It's also a AAA game, which means it would be sold to almost every game player over the world.
It's a public product and have a huge press of revenue.
Whatever you like or not, a happy ending is necessary, because most of the player would felt loss without happy ending.
If people findout they can't find happy while playing a game, that would be a disaster for any game-company.
Look at Hollywood, think about why the high-investment-movie always have a good ending.
The worst arts would have it's own fans, the best arts would also have it's dissenter.
The truth is, sometimes you can't recognize if the arts are good or not, personal teast is dominated.
So it just, CDPR need something make most of people feel good.
At FO3, they use DLC to turn it back, at ME3, they change their original ending, so the answer is clear.
If they really want to bring series to a valuable IP, or even just keep a good reputation.
Do not touch only yourself.
I didn't have a bad experience overall, but among other things I think the story is fundamentally built on a lie and as such I would call it badly executed for the medium in question. See the thing is, you're dealing with a medium - a video game, where the player has agency and the story is trying to make you think you have limited time to "save yourself" thus should feel compelled to act a certain way, yet that isn't actually the case. You can faff about and do whatever you want while the story pretends like you're on a timer but still patiently waits for you to be done. It's understandable why it was done like this, but if you have to compromise on the story on such a fundamental level for the sake of making the game decent and fun, then maybe the story idea itself is flawed and needs to be reworked to fit the medium. It's immersion breaking.
It really didn't help matters that it skipped over a huge part of the story as a fast forward cut scene which is the same for all 3 life paths. That's probably what pissed me off the most about the game right at the start. It's like watching a movie you like, but failing asleep for most of the character building part what is arguably the most interesting - the part that's gonna make you care.
Didn't really care about the ending one way or another. From a gameplay perspective the ending is more or less saying "I will do this quest so I don't have to play anymore". Or "I have nothing else left to do". Whichever you prefer. You get a cool jacket from doing it, I guess. At least that's where I think I got it from. I don't think the ending is really the problem here.
It really didn't help matters that it skipped over a huge part of the story as a fast forward cut scene which is the same for all 3 life paths. That's probably what pissed me off the most about the game right at the start. It's like watching a movie you like, but failing asleep for most of the character building part what is arguably the most interesting - the part that's gonna make you care.
Didn't really care about the ending one way or another. From a gameplay perspective the ending is more or less saying "I will do this quest so I don't have to play anymore". Or "I have nothing else left to do". Whichever you prefer. You get a cool jacket from doing it, I guess. At least that's where I think I got it from. I don't think the ending is really the problem here.
The main plot was a bit boring and the ending lacklaster IMO. I did like all the characters though, especially jackie. And, certain parts were incredibly well done, such as the first meeting with johnny in your apartment, judy's braindance lessons, the heist quest. I wish there were more of those moments.
i expected much more from the main plot, someone living in your head trying to take over isn't original. last time i remember the exact same plot happened was in arkham knight.
Cheat is actually one of the normal method to build the twist.
The most important is what happened after the twist.
Writter cheat the player, the plot is out of control, but it still ok because player can fix it.
Look at the Heist, they cheat about the visiting of Saburo, shit happened, but the story goes healthy.
But at the twist they told you V can't survive more than 6 months
They left everything out of control, erase the hard work of player, and there is no way to fix it.
The story ends, left a hole of failure that not any responsibility of player but only the ill will of writter.
Anticlimax is not rare, but still danger. They give player pain with no reason.
I believe the story is mess at this point.
You can cheat the protagonist but you should never cheat or trick the audience.
Such things tend to be taken personally.
Such things tend to be taken personally.
On my first playthrough I really loved the story. It was intriguing and the characters were great.
Currently I'm on my second playthrough. I still like it but I recognize the more linear approach to the story. I'd wish there were more choices that affected the story in the long run. I still try to pick all the options I didn't go for in the first run or trying to find some hidden iconic items, so there are still a few new things to see.
Not sure though if I wanted to go through it a third time. At least not in the near future.
Currently I'm on my second playthrough. I still like it but I recognize the more linear approach to the story. I'd wish there were more choices that affected the story in the long run. I still try to pick all the options I didn't go for in the first run or trying to find some hidden iconic items, so there are still a few new things to see.
Not sure though if I wanted to go through it a third time. At least not in the near future.
I thought the same. The biggest disappointment for me was the story for sure. Not to mention those horrid endings but I'm not going to get into that. They had so many opportunities to create something interesting with the cyberpunk genre but they tossed that out the window.
I wouldn't say the story is weak, I'd say the story is known (as in nothing new). And I definately wouldnt use a dozen of shows to 'illustrate' the weakness because that has nothing to di with eachother. Thats like saying every CoD is weak after the first one. Or Battlefield is weak because MoH. Useless argument.
If you didn't like Cyberpunk because you expected it to be entirely different, thats fine. It can be that CP77 wasnt your taste afterall. But dont go out and smudge it because you felt differently.
Dont get me wrong CP has its issues, there a topic where we discussed the endings to death. And that lead into followup discussions that the game also didn't seem complete. Biggest cliffhanger/unresolved state of any game I've seen ever.
But the story MQ +side stuff, its rich enough and good enough. I personally would've preferred more of it playable and also less bookreading.
Too many subjects were touched.
They should have concentrated on fewer topics and questions but should have explored them deeper.
It's nice to ask questions it's better to make you think about you answer.
They should have concentrated on fewer topics and questions but should have explored them deeper.
It's nice to ask questions it's better to make you think about you answer.