Cyberpunk 2077 reviews are trickling in...

[GodisanAtheist]

Playing the game now and it's been an interesting read through this thread.

The game is stable as a rock for me on my main system, FSR4.0 and FSR3.1 framegen are fantastic and deliver ~150fps with everything but PT maxed with very clean image quality.

The game narrative seems to be my biggest issue so far, and yeah couldn't really expect CDPR to "fix" it over time.

- V's Background seems to largely have a cosmetic impact on conversations.

- Dialogue shifts back and forth between angry V and calm V within the same conversation are jarring. Funny how Bioware figured out to do the little "emote" symbol next to the dialogue line over a decade and a half ago.

- CDPR should have had the balls to go for real cutscenes instead of the "trapped in first person" thing so many FPS games are married to nowadays. W3 had these great dynamic cutscenes, while CP2077 it's all someone standing (or wow sitting) and talking at you. It just loses a lot of its narrative oomph.

- The "urgency" element of the plot is a self inflicted wound. If this was a linear game, that would be fine, but open world games need to have storylines to match. I wish companies would stop doing this to themselves. A simple fix would have been to set a "completed side job/gig" threshold before the next stage of a story mission triggered, instead of simply allowing you to sleep.

Alternatively build in a side mission that has some McGuffin that "indefinitely postpones" V's fate so there is a narrative reason we can wander a bit more.

- Despite all the mechanics present in the game, unfortunately there are no real alternative play styles that work better than "kick in the front door and start blasting". I consistently find myself Tech/Sneaking through a level until inevitably someone spots my toe between a crack of two boxes from 500 ft away and then it's murder hobo time.

Anyhow, it's still a fun game, I''ll probably spend the next 4 months playing it to do the various gigs and side missions and such, but it's a clear step down from Witcher 3 in terms of story and narrative strength.

 

[Burticus]

Yeah there's a hacking skill called psionic shock or meltdown or something like that, once I got that and maxxed it out, I could basically just walk into any fight with a pistol and finish them up

 

[MadMummy76]

Playing the game now and it's been an interesting read through this thread.

The game is stable as a rock for me on my main system, FSR4.0 and FSR3.1 framegen are fantastic and deliver ~150fps with everything but PT maxed with very clean image quality.

I hate the fact that it only works with scaling at an acceptable frame rate. Even on highest quality DLSS it looks like crap compared to native 4K. I fully blame nvidia for ruining gaming forever with this crap.

The game narrative seems to be my biggest issue so far, and yeah couldn't really expect CDPR to "fix" it over time.

For me too, but that's not saying much since I love the game anyway. My biggest issue is their crown jewel, Johnny Silverhand himself. I wanted him to die so badly, there should be an option for that. The game should've been like the prologue for much longer, at least 2/3 of the way, of V just climbing the ranks as a mercenary. That's what I signed up for, the way it is done now it feels like a rugpull.

- V's Background seems to largely have a cosmetic impact on conversations.

There are a few side missions where the background offers unique solutions or dialogue, but overall the background has very little impact on the game, I agree.

- Dialogue shifts back and forth between angry V and calm V within the same conversation are jarring. Funny how Bioware figured out to do the little "emote" symbol next to the dialogue line over a decade and a half ago.

I haven't really noticed this. For me Mass Effect felt much more of a "guess what am I going to say" type gamble.

- CDPR should have had the balls to go for real cutscenes instead of the "trapped in first person" thing so many FPS games are married to nowadays. W3 had these great dynamic cutscenes, while CP2077 it's all someone standing (or wow sitting) and talking at you. It just loses a lot of its narrative oomph.

I think it took more balls to not do cutscenes the traditional way, initially I was skeptical of it but didn't bother me one bit while playing the game.

- The "urgency" element of the plot is a self inflicted wound. If this was a linear game, that would be fine, but open world games need to have storylines to match. I wish companies would stop doing this to themselves. A simple fix would have been to set a "completed side job/gig" threshold before the next stage of a story mission triggered, instead of simply allowing you to sleep.

I fully agree, open world games with an exploration element are shooting themselves in the foot by adding an urgency element to the main story from the start.

Alternatively build in a side mission that has some McGuffin that "indefinitely postpones" V's fate so there is a narrative reason we can wander a bit more.

Funny that you say that as that's exactly what they did with Phantom Liberty.

- Despite all the mechanics present in the game, unfortunately there are no real alternative play styles that work better than "kick in the front door and start blasting". I consistently find myself Tech/Sneaking through a level until inevitably someone spots my toe between a crack of two boxes from 500 ft away and then it's murder hobo time.

I don't see this as a problem, there is always an easiest build, you do the others not because it is easy, but because you thought it would be easy

Anyhow, it's still a fun game, I''ll probably spend the next 4 months playing it to do the various gigs and side missions and such, but it's a clear step down from Witcher 3 in terms of story and narrative strength.

I tried all 3 witcher games, couldn't get into either one. So to me it's not even worth comparing them.

 

[Riccochet]

Not sure about the "rushed" main story. You don't have to do those missions in any timely manner. You can leave Hanako waiting at Embers indefinitely to complete every other missions/gig.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Not sure about the "rushed" main story. You don't have to do those missions in any timely manner. You can leave Hanako waiting at Embers indefinitely to complete every other missions/gig.

-I know, but the narrative is structured like there is a rush, even if there really isn't.

So if you take your time to explore things after the game makes a lot of noise about V dying, there is some dissonance there.

 

[MadMummy76]

Not sure about the "rushed" main story. You don't have to do those missions in any timely manner. You can leave Hanako waiting at Embers indefinitely to complete every other missions/gig.

It's not that the game forces you, it just feels wrong and breaks immersion to wander around doing petty stuff instead of looking for a solution for the ticking bomb in your head.

 

[Riccochet]

It's not that the game forces you, it just feels wrong and breaks immersion to wander around doing petty stuff instead of looking for a solution for the ticking bomb in your head.

That's, literally, every RPG. The main quest always leads you to side quests and fk-off stuff to do. Honestly, you can spend as little or as much time as you want on those and speed run the main quest line if you want.

You're kind of forced to grind the petty stuff if you want to stack eddies and components for all the upgrades, cars, apartments.