I just finally finished
Cyberpunk 2077 and even played through all the endings (the secret one being my favourite). I went in with neutral expectations, expecting neither a masterpiece nor a disaster.
I can't say that my opinion has changed much if at all from my previous posts. I still stand by what I said earlier and agree with the reviews of
@Ginger Piglet and Stardusk's video. The shortest way I'd describe
Cyberpunk 2077 is as a raw diamond stained with shit.
The writing itself was good enough for me to give a shit about the plot and the characters. It may have been a bit sketchy in some parts, but in others it was good and in some cases outright brilliant. I do not know if I belong to a minority if I say that I liked Johnny as a character and the interactions he has with V. Maybe it's just my personal misguided soft spot for dilapidated rock stars way past their prime who just don't give a fuck anymore. I'm actually miffed that you couldn't pick being a Rockerboy as one of V's pasts. I'll be honest,
Jackie's death did sting, with getting brutally friendzoned by Panam being a close second.
The main campaign is indeed short and a bit too short for my taste. The so-called gigs are mostly fillers with gimmick missions that I thought
Saints Row IV did better. The other side quests however are indeed fun, entertaining and memorable like the ones where you re-connect with Johnny's old friends, Panam's entire arc, reenacting Mel Gibson's
The Passion by literally crucifying a guy called Josh and especially the whole arc with the mayoral candidate that ended in a frustrating cliffhanger. I was even positively surprised with the tranny given the disasterous potential that story line had.
The soundtrack BTW was top notch! Samurai is as of now my favourite fictional band.
Regarding the game play I don't know what I can say that others haven't said already. It was pretty good for what it is and I had fun. The AI had its share of problems and the sloppy way of how the cops are programmed has already been thoroughly discussed. The bugs and the glitches can be funny at times, but can sometimes be annoying, especially when they make finishing a quest impossible or don't trigger the beginning of a quest at all. I'm not going to menstruate over the fact that I easily missed the opportunity to save Takemura, it's kind of a neat secret bonus if you ask me. Bes Isis however not calling me to continue a side quest because of shitty programming on the other hand is indeed a problem. The quest said you have to wait a day, but in actuality you have to go somewhere near the Arasaka plaza in Watson because Night City has more bugs than Klendathu. At least in my playthrough.
By no means do I think that
Cyberpunk 2077 is objectively a terrible game, but it is not a masterpiece either in its current state. Minus the bugs and the cut khantent it is still an enjoyable experience and even helped me cope with the fact that
Oni is dead and we'll probably never see a good
Ghost in the Shell game. As things stand now I would not recommend
Cyberpunk 2077 yet, that is if you don’t intend on becoming a “nakama” on the Thousand Sunny. But if they fix all the bugs and release new or reintroduce some of the cut khantent that enriches the gameplay - in other words, if they pull a redemption arc like
No Man's Sky - then
Cyberpunk 2077 does indeed deserve a second chance, because the potential for it to be a legit masterpiece is there. That is
if it happens. At least the PC version. I’ve heard a lot of horror stories regarding the console versions of the game, but I’ve said it so many times and I’m more than happy to say it again: The wages of console peasantry is eating shit.
Overall I still stand by what I said. Right now, at the time of me writing this, I consider the game a solid 7/10. If they had the time to fix all the bugs and bring back some of the cut khantent, or alternatively if they pull a
No Man's Sky, I would have easily given it a 10/10, but it is what it is.