Cyberpunk 2077

[JaySevenZero]

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Cyberpunk 2077 for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.

[Wesali1996]

I was a victim of the hype cycle for this game and was there for it day 1 with a big smile on my face. That smile didn't last too long unfortunately. Even playing on a Ps5 at the time, the ps4 version of the game really didn't feel too great to play in terms of performance and bugs.

However, I soon discovered that the bugs were the least of the problems. It is one of the least immersive games I've played, made worse by the fact that it was aiming to be one of the most immersive games.

The AI was terrible in almost every way, npcs were always performing vanishing tricks every time you turned the camera. The systems in the game were also seriously lacking, for example police spawning next to you instantly after committing a crime.

I did play the game through to the end and will admit there are many engaging side quests to discover (talking handgun and rogue AI taxis being my standouts). The game may be much improved now, but unfortunately for me it's too little too late.

[Tolkientaters]

CD Project Red's strength are it's writing and Atmosphere. That didn't change in Cyberpunk, the atmosphere in each area of the city is incredible and is still probably my favorite open world game to be in. The characters and their writing are stellar with great performances all around.

The best character in Cyberpunk 2077 is also it's first major character Jackie Welles. On paper he's pretty typical, big slightly dull gangster with a hear of gold. But the writing and excellent performance Jason Hightower just brings do much to the character. Even with the other great characters in the game Jackie Stands out.

I do have some issues with the ganes biggest character Jonnhy Silverhand. It feels like there's a pretty big gap between generally compassionate Johny in the DLC and main game Johnny who shoot down the plan to help the moxs take over clouds by "sticking your neck out for a bunch of whores." Other than that the writing fir him is usually pretty solid and I eventually warmed to Keanu Reeves performance in the main game but I don't think the performances he gave for the flashback sequences ever really worked for me.

Cyberpunk has a pretty compelling main quest (albeit one that's a little out of place for an open world game), but the real star of the show are the sidequests. The Serial Killer Quest, Clouds Moxie takeover, the extreme brain dance, the mayor's quest, pretty much everything in the DLC, all really stand out with some great moments. Also the characters are pretty great across the board. Someone like Takemura isn't likable, but he is compelling and his texts about not being able to find food in Night City were great. Honestly the character texts were always pretty fun.

Bit of a sidenote, River's a fine enough character, but the best part of his relationship was hearing Johnny's disgust about fucking a cop.

I really enjoyed Cyberpunk, it has most of the strengths that the Witcher 3 had with writing and Atmosphere, but in Cyberpunk I had a lot more fun with the combat. They really improved the general movement in a way that made running around like a psycho more enjoyable. As it is now I think it's a great game I recommend to almost anyone.

[Nicktendo]

I got it day 1 for PS4 back in December 2020 and it was a colossal disaster. An unplayable game with overrated hype of epic proportions. I felt bad for the developers because underneath the layer of bugs and issues was the game that was advertised.

I returned to Night City only last year, 2023, with the arrival of Version 2.0. I could only muster 10 hours of gameplay as the gameplay simply didn't hook me and I was worn out by a flurry of large open-world games in recent years.

Perhaps in the future I will revisit again and connect with the game as I had originally intended. Maybe in 2077? Hopefully they got it all wrong.

TWR: 404 Not Found

[Alex79]

I played most of this game on the Series S prior to the big update patch they released last year. As it was, I enjoyed the game, but it never really looked as incredible as some of the screenshots I'd seen - perhaps a combination of playing it on a less powerful console and my budget, albeit supposedly 4K TV.

As with previous CDPR games, the best stories are found away from the main quest, and I really enjoyed the brain dance mechanic which played a little like the detective mode from the Arkham games. I felt this was a little underused and could have been implemented more.

I thought Night City felt like a really interesting place, and the supporting cast in the game was great. It was only really Johnny Silverhand who felt out of place, and I'm a fan of Keanu Reeves, but his performance felt quite wooden and phoned in at times.

I'd highlight the driving as an aspect of the game that never really worked well for me. It was functional at best, but I never got the same thrills from speeding along highways as in, say for example, Grand Theft Auto. I tended to stick to the motorcycles, and crashing in to anything rarely resulted in anything other than simply coming to a halt. There didn't seem to be any real physics at work with the driving at all.

Ultimately I liked what I got from Cyberpunk, and I was happy with my ending.

Spoiler: show

Playing as a Nomad and riding off with Panam in to the sunset was the perfect finale for my character.

I may play the DLC at some point, but I'll probably save that for a full replay on PS5 with a better TV at some point on the future.

[Rhaegyr]

Sadly I've not finished the game (currently 60 hours in) in time for the podcast but I do have to mention one thing.

The sense of immersion and atmosphere in general is incredible and possibly the best I've experienced in an open world game. Night City is an absolute marvel.

[DeadpoolNegative]

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the best games of 2011.