Do you know everything from the first Game of Thrones book? Did the follow up book about Harry potter fill in things just briefly touched on in the first book?
I wouldn't have read through 6 books of Frank Herbert's masterpiece if the first one didn't catch me with its intrigue and story. If I couldn't connect to characters or get interested by the action or by the goals of the protagonists.
I will repeat what I've said. Exposition isn't a way to get a player's attention. Not in a game. Not when it's done via that mess of a shards collection. That doesn't catch. Also, let players choose stuff, instead of giving them the bland "Yes", "Mhm", "Okay" dialogue options. Or, like in Thompson's case, have the option to punch the media guy or just see the game punch him for you. It breaks immersion. It gives less reason to read through the conversations. The fact that you can pick 3 lines of dialogue designed to have 3 different... tones and then just use the only other dialogue to move the convo forwards is also weird.
I could hardly wait to see Saul's deal with Biotechnica go haywire. It didn't. Saul went out with a bang though. Buried plot.
I was curious of what happened between Rogue and Adam. Something-something, she regrets, out with a bang. Plot buried.
How come no one touched the VDBs? So stronk and yet... out with the bang without doing anything to stop it. The gang that made NC pull its PD out of that district. Story threads left to rot. Of course, by the end, I ended up caring a lot less.
In the first playthrough, I played a woman, had Judy ask me at every step of the main story about my progress, so to speak. Sure, didn't get much interaction after the diving session, but it was something. Played a man on 2nd round. Radio silence from Panam through and through. Sure, her absence, along with the absence of anyone else, did help more in passing the wheel to Johnny - even more so when the (Don't Fear) arc offered what was probably the dumbest ending for me. 'Cause, you know, money, rep, blah-blah. I wasn't planning on going against Jefferson in the next elections.
No time to chew the bigger questions, because they didn't have enough time to form... kind of. And the consequences of any choice are wiped clean by "One more gig". Not really the way to make the player give it another round, to take different paths. Dig deeper.
This. The game asked so many questions, leaving answers to players themselves. That's how it should be done, at least in my book.
Yeah, so does the ME trilogy. But friendship there meant something. You had a lot of time to build on any relationship and serious side effects of not doing it. You had big questions about AIs and their soul, about the fate of the quarians and of the krogans. Of what's right or wrong to do to a species... But all of them were kept in your scope long enough to care. Be it through multiple quests, dialogues, cutscenes, backstory...
CP2077 doesn't keep anything in your scope for long enough to care. You have to... force yourself to do it. Like was the case with Jackie. One mission. together, 1 conversation - and not even that about us, just about the gig... That's not how you make people care.
What is soul?
What will soul be in the future?
How much of myself would I be ready to give up in exchange for immortality?
With immortality being one of the biggest dreams and goals of humanity - is the cost worth it?
How much of myself am I giving away to tech corps?
What is the cost of becoming one with technology?
Is it worth it to rebel against the system? Would I be capable of it?
What would I choose - saving myself or saving others? Am I capable of altruism?
What is family?
What is friendship?
How far will media & corps go to sell controversy?
What is faith?
Can you go too far with escapism and detach yourself from reality? What are the consequences?
What would I do if I found out I'm gonna die soon? Would I change anything about my life?
What are the ethical consequences of technological advancement in fields of Artificial Intelligence and brain-computer interfacing?
What does it mean to be human and when do we stop being one?
Do I need real love if I can just buy it?
Altered carbon makes you ask the first few questions too. Falconchrist is essential in pushing those questions to you.
Corps? Do they even exist in CP? I mean, sure, I keep hearing about them... But I don't see them do stuff. Good or bad. They're background noise.
Family? Friendship? Love? Those questions could be asked, if I had a family to care about. But you see... the Nomad lifepath is no different than the Corpo one
Panam's story arc is good. up to the point where important decisions about their future is left in the air, with the passing of Saul. Could've been a moment where Corps would show how evil they are. Wasted. Friendship? I sure hope you talk, again, about either Panam's family or about Johnny. Cause you have no other friends, not really. And my gf pretty much disliked Panam's arc, even more so when quests overlapped each other (Mitch's call with Panam's train heist).
However you did hit the nail on its head with a few topics. Sinnerman is a great example of a wonderfully made quest/story bit. So is the Peralez arc with questions galore. River's arc also makes you ponder a bit. All in all, it's not the main story that asks questions - that one's on rails. And it's a pity, 'cus it could've been deep. Also, the delivery was pretty bad, of all quests. All popping up on the map at the same time - some triggering at the same time over the holo: I never had 1 task for either Goro, Judy or Panam that wasn't interrupted by another one of these guys'. Would've been nice to have you choose whom to help, so there would be consequences of prioritizing one over the other... But as it were, their urgency, my own race against the clock... ugh!
All I'm saying, all I keep saying is that CP2077 has... had immense potential. But... time is a cruel mistress. Or the management is...