What has changed since the 2020 launch?

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Greetings,

Recently I've been thinking about this game again; more so then usual, and part of me wants to revisit the game to see what has changed; but another part still feels quite uneasy and conflicted with the experience i walked away from during the PC launch.

To give an idea of the page I'm on mentally with this game and my expectations for it's improvement; I played through the main story via Nomad path; and i had very little technically issues when it first launched on PC.

My conflictions:
[c1]
Johnny Silverhand playing such a interwoven role that it made the player ' V ' feel like a spectator; compounded by end-game choices that gave the player not much hope for the future; making me feel like "what is even the point of future DLC if this is how the journey ends? - Thus, why the developers probably changed the description of this game from a 'Roleplaying game' to a 'action game' at the 11th hour right before launch. my experience in 2020 was hardly one of a roleplaying game, so that's just something I'll have to accept and just try to make peace with if i ever have any hope of enjoying Cyberpunk ever again.

[c2]
The Nomad path i played; i really liked it, in fact i enjoyed it a lot, but it ended in a way that suggested (and this may just be me misunderstanding the suggestion) that there was more to the Nomad storyline, much like so many other parts and corners of Cyberpunk 2077, things always ended in a very unresolved ambiguous fashion, with some slight suggestion that there was something more to be said.

My expectations:
It's simple, i wanted Cyberpunk 2077 to be and deliver what was originally promised back in 2012; i know that there is going to be some things that will never happen; like this being an actual Roleplaying game- again, i have to make peace with that. But what can be done and what has been done up to this point?

Question: So 2023, what is the actual state of the game? What is different today versus the 2020 version?
- I remember with No man's Sky, someone on Reddit made a spreadsheet listing all the changes that had occurred since it's launch to show how it had grown and improved; does anyone know if something like that exists for Cyberpunk 2077?

Thank you for your time. :)
 
Question: So 2023, what is the actual state of the game? What is different today versus the 2020 version?
If you had a pretty smooth and quite bug-free experience at release, no much have change since.
A lot a bug fixing, some game rebalances, some slight gameplay changes, some DLCs... But overhaul, it's the same game as it was at release (story side, nothing have changed at all).
 
If you had a pretty smooth and quite bug-free experience at release, no much have change since.
A lot a bug fixing, some game rebalances, some slight gameplay changes, some DLCs... But overhaul, it's the same game as it was at release (story side, nothing have changed at all).
indeed on story and side quest ther's no upgrade but all fixing bug patch and technical issues ( there's steel a room to improve performance game ) change my overhall experience in game . running the game on a mid tier range pc i'm now enjoy the game on a more immersive way than at launch .

to be honest for 2 years when it come to add contents , we get not really huge contents , all was about to fix the game ;(
but perfomance improve a lot
at launch even at 30 fps can't running any ray tracing feature
now i can run this game on ultra setting oover 60fps and if i want a good lokking game i can now active some ray tracing feature even at 40/45 fps

for old player , launching the game now , it may feel they'll discover a new game or at least play the game at intended ^^
 
for old player , launching the game now , it may feel they'll discover a new game or at least play the game at intended ^^
In fact, I was referring to [c1] and [c2] in the OP. If you had some griefs with the story at release, you will have the same now in 2023... Nothing have changed at all.
But indeed, playing at release and now is not the same experience. Bug fixes, improvements and gameplay rebalances make the game feel quite different than what it was. Better if you ask me :)
 
The truth is, if you couldn't stand the bugs and overall lack of content back then, you won't stand them right now. Same bugs, same lack of content. After 2 years of patching, the game became tolerable at best. I would recommend waiting for Phantom Liberty and see if it brings improvements or just more bugs. If you waited 2 years and so many great games so far, playing Cyberpunk 2077 right now, before the DLC, would be simply a disservice.
 
For conflict 1, Johnny still is and always will be integral to the story, we'll have to wait and see what the upcoming expansion does concerning story endings, might be a lot, might not be anything, but fundamentally this is more or less the same game we played at launch.

There have been a lot of changes/updates/additions but nothing that altered the substance of the game; some new cyberware, hairstyles, weapons, cars, apartments, Fixer Gigs, some tie-in stuff with the anime, changes with some perks, heaps of bugfixes, and some new bugs.
 
The game will never fundamentally change. Be it the writing or the core mechanics. Phantom Liberty isn't likely to change that. There isn't any spreadsheet to be made a la No Man's Sky because the two cases are terribly different.

NMS was missing so much of what was said to be in the game. CP2077's biggest problems were technical and that's has been largely fixed. Sure, some of the systems were underwhelming (looking at you police system) but the game was still largely complete. Being disappointed in a game =/= the game not delivering what they said it would.

If you're expecting the game to change to become what you wanted it to be back in 2012 (before anything about the game was even revealed - but that's the date you chose), you'll most likely never get it. The sequel may turn out to be what you wanted but this game isn't going to fundamentally change, ever.
 
The game will never fundamentally change. Be it the writing or the core mechanics. Phantom Liberty isn't likely to change that. There isn't any spreadsheet to be made a la No Man's Sky because the two cases are terribly different.

NMS was missing so much of what was said to be in the game. CP2077's biggest problems were technical and that's has been largely fixed. Sure, some of the systems were underwhelming (looking at you police system) but the game was still largely complete. Being disappointed in a game =/= the game not delivering what they said it would.

If you're expecting the game to change to become what you wanted it to be back in 2012 (before anything about the game was even revealed - but that's the date you chose), you'll most likely never get it. The sequel may turn out to be what you wanted but this game isn't going to fundamentally change, ever.

The version of the game i was referring to from 2012 was a completely different version of the game a small cdpr team was tasked with while the core Witcher group worked on finishing Witcher 3 - there is a lot to unpack in that story and not really worth revisiting- that is what i am pretty much referring to when i say i have to make peace with, it's not easy, but i have to accept that because it's impossible and unreasonable for anyone to expect that old version of the game to magically just appear. :)

The only reason i brought that old skeleton up, is because my hope (or magical thinking) was that the team would perhaps go back and look at some of that stuff they threw out from the 1st version of the game, and maybe incorporate it.

I still believe some of the core roleplaying mechanics from the pen-and-paper version of Cyberpunk still has lots of untapped potential, and i know it's wishful thinking, but there is still so much that can be done.


I am probably not going to reinstall the game until Phantom Liberty launches. Thanks for all the feedback.
 
My expectations:
It's simple, i wanted Cyberpunk 2077 to be and deliver what was originally promised back in 2012; i know that there is going to be some things that will never happen; like this being an actual Roleplaying game- again, i have to make peace with that. But what can be done and what has been done up to this point?

Question: So 2023, what is the actual state of the game? What is different today versus the 2020 version?
- I remember with No man's Sky, someone on Reddit made a spreadsheet listing all the changes that had occurred since it's launch to show how it had grown and improved; does anyone know if something like that exists for Cyberpunk 2077?

Thank you for your time. :)

It is a roleplaying game as much, as you want to roleplay. I currently decided to max out the gunsmith skill and I feel really cool being able to headshot for 15-30k dmg. But as well, played a little as a corpo and will follow much different path - less bare knuckle and vulgar headshots, more a mantis and MGS styled stealth game.
I've finished this game 3 times already, and yeah, some parts feel a bit pushed. Especially in the chapter 1 before that first gig, and later on, would love to utilize corpo skills a bit more. I know stock market is a game in itself, but feels like traditional inventory full of items is kinda meh. Would love to be able to actually trade inside the game.

Main changes are mentioned already technical improvements. Though, after first few patches, game went from running on Ryzen APU to demanding a proper GPU.


What most changed for me, is how the citizens are less of a dumb NPCs, despite being dumb NPCs - they stare back, fight back, run, counterattack and such.
A lot of places are populated with buildings, spots, nooks and crannies of the city to explore.

Still waiting for the cinematic train rides hahaha xD
 
what has been done up to this point?

What is different today versus the 2020 version?

1) Win7 support is gone. [...]

2) Geforce 700-series support is likewise gone

3) Side gigs in Pacifica are completely borked because 1.5 introduced a "get 2-3 gigs, complete them, then go back to the fixer for 2-3 more" system that doesn't work with Mr. Hands because he doesn't have a physical location on the game map

4) 90% of lootable stuff has been removed from the map. However, the removal was random/indiscriminate, rather than targeted at the loot that was superglued to the ground, so there's still a ton of stuff that you should be able to pick up but can't

5) CDPR claimed to fix weapon/armor tooltips, but didn't

6) New characters now get a free katana when you first arrive at your apartment after rescuing Sandra Dorsett

7) You can now skip ONE of the game's twenty or thirty slow, torturous, useless braindance segments

8) There are all-new apartments for you to buy and then never visit again

In other words, things slowly got better up to about version 1.31, then rapidly got worse starting with 1.5
 
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1) Win7 support is gone. [...]
Yeah, and CDPR announced it a long while ago and mainly because Microsoft abandonned Win 7 first :)
Windows 7: future support
3) Side gigs in Pacifica are completely borked because 1.5 introduced a "get 2-3 gigs, complete them, then go back to the fixer for 2-3 more" system that doesn't work with Mr. Hands because he doesn't have a physical location on the game map
Lol, GIG(s) in Pacifica are not "borked" knowing that there is only one GIG for Mr Hand :D
6) New characters now get a free katana when you first arrive at your apartment after rescuing Sandra Dorsett
Which katana ? Black Unicorn ?
If yes, it's one of the GOG rewards and like that since day one... (added with The Witcher 3 jacket, shirts,... if you link your GOG account to the game)
 
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Okay, I checked and it looks like you're right about Pacifica. After doing everything there is to do in Watson and then doing The Heist, Pacifica has 2 Cyberpsychos, 1 Love Rollercoaster, 1 Mr Hands gig, and a bunch of NCPD scanner hustles. I don't know if more gigs become available at higher character levels or street cred levels but I doubt it.

Nonetheless, the new fixer reputation system doesn't work well with Mr Hands, and draws attention to how few gigs Mr Hands has to offer. It's not a bad system... we just need more Mr Hands gigs.
 
If you had a pretty smooth and quite bug-free experience at release, no much have change since.
A lot a bug fixing, some game rebalances, some slight gameplay changes, some DLCs... But overhaul, it's the same game as it was at release (story side, nothing have changed at all).

I've mentioned this before, but for me the game has visually and bugs wise become worse with every patch from launch. On launch RTX looked amazing and performance was great on my 2070S. No game or progress breaking bugs, no T-posing, no weird items in cutscenes (like the Relic chip replaced with a gun etc).

Cue several years of patches, lighting is all fucked up. Can't drive during the day because I'll go blind. Can't open the map because I'll also go blind from a crazy bloom (and no I don't mean the impossible to read map bug caused by a Nvidia driver update. My problem is similar except it explodes whenever I open and close menus). Characters look like they're permanently bathed in light and sparkle like they're Edward from Twilight.
LOD is terrible. There's like a two meter bubble around the character where details very noticeably increase and decrease in a pop-in-pop-out. That might be tolerable, but this affects some lights. Walk down an alley and boom suddenly a light turns on right in front of you, then shuts down once you walk a few meters past it. Very noticeable and irritating. And a string of who knows how many more irritating little things. And I've done both thorough deep clean driver and game installs, no help there.

Nowadays I've disabled DLSS+RTX because it just looks bad compared to what it was at launch. Make do with AMD FSR now.

---

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not all bad. The game itself has actually gotten a lot better with crafting and plenty of other QOL improvements that I truly appreciate when I can wrangle my attention to graphical detail into submission. I'm just so frustrated that the game looked and worked incredibly well for me at launch, and now its just... Launch last-gen console experience I guess?
 
Okay, I checked and it looks like you're right about Pacifica. After doing everything there is to do in Watson and then doing The Heist, Pacifica has 2 Cyberpsychos, 1 Love Rollercoaster, 1 Mr Hands gig, and a bunch of NCPD scanner hustles. I don't know if more gigs become available at higher character levels or street cred levels but I doubt it.

Nonetheless, the new fixer reputation system doesn't work well with Mr Hands, and draws attention to how few gigs Mr Hands has to offer. It's not a bad system... we just need more Mr Hands gigs.
Pacifica is underdeveloped for now. It looks like the expansion will take place also in Pacifica and they will probably add more gigs as well.
 
I've mentioned this before, but for me the game has visually and bugs wise become worse with every patch from launch. On launch RTX looked amazing and performance was great on my 2070S. No game or progress breaking bugs, no T-posing, no weird items in cutscenes (like the Relic chip replaced with a gun etc).

Cue several years of patches, lighting is all fucked up. Can't drive during the day because I'll go blind. Can't open the map because I'll also go blind from a crazy bloom (and no I don't mean the impossible to read map bug caused by a Nvidia driver update. My problem is similar except it explodes whenever I open and close menus). Characters look like they're permanently bathed in light and sparkle like they're Edward from Twilight.
LOD is terrible. There's like a two meter bubble around the character where details very noticeably increase and decrease in a pop-in-pop-out. That might be tolerable, but this affects some lights. Walk down an alley and boom suddenly a light turns on right in front of you, then shuts down once you walk a few meters past it. Very noticeable and irritating. And a string of who knows how many more irritating little things. And I've done both thorough deep clean driver and game installs, no help there.

Nowadays I've disabled DLSS+RTX because it just looks bad compared to what it was at launch. Make do with AMD FSR now.

---

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not all bad. The game itself has actually gotten a lot better with crafting and plenty of other QOL improvements that I truly appreciate when I can wrangle my attention to graphical detail into submission. I'm just so frustrated that the game looked and worked incredibly well for me at launch, and now its just... Launch last-gen console experience I guess?
It looked good on launch because NVIDIA partnered with CDPR on the RTX technology, as they knew it would be a huge selling point.
All of your listed problems... Isn't that general shader issues and driver setting overriding game settings causing those light problems? I had same issues on older games where I was forcing AMD driver to override game presets like texture settings. Note: modern textures contain alpha and weather data so it's not only "it looks like metal surface of a used drum barrel" visual data. It's also info about reflecting and light shattering, bumps, scratches & etc. surface damage information.
 
The only reason i brought that old skeleton up, is because my hope (or magical thinking) was that the team would perhaps go back and look at some of that stuff they threw out from the 1st version of the game, and maybe incorporate it.

the team is already gone… many of them left CDPR because of reasons…

i dont think there are many devs left who could/would fight for concept ideas or cutcontent if at all.

im like you hoped for a game like the E3 trailer suggested… played 1,5k hrs in rage & hate just to accept it will never be „my“ Cyberpunk. Left before 1.5 on ps4 - rejoined a month ago on ps5. Made 2 runs on VH (Melee & Netrunner) to get an idea of the edgerunner update and 1.61.

Like many other said its a bit better balanced, missing items were patched in, bugs were fixed like new introduced. some early bugs still remain.

its the same game after all. looking for PL now.

until than i cant wait to get my hands on RE4 Remake 2morrow, HFW DLC burning shoers in april, LoR - Gollum in may and FF16 in june. I hope after that PL is going to drop and give me a reason to revisit NC once again.
 
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