Cyberpunk 2077 is broken on last-generation consoles. That doesn’t mean you can’t see the finer details of the game, but you simply cannot enjoy them because of that brokenness. Where the game succeeds is in story, beautiful RPG elements, and a strong amount of customization that makes it feel like ‘your’ game and story. At the same time, Cyberpunk isn't unique as the game feels like an amalgamation of Fallout and Bladerunner.
Ultimately, aside from the game-breaking bugs, the game has good aspects that could have been great with a little more time in development.
Before Cyberpunk came out, people, myself included, were ready to call this the greatest game of all time. Since its release, it has become one of the most interesting cases in videogame history. You will see some people saying that this is the greatest game of all time, while on the other side you will see others saying this is a terrible game. There are a lot of good things that Cyberpunk does and there are a lot of bad things that Cyberpunk does which makes the case extremely difficult to nail down where Cyberpunk lands on the rating scale. Just when you get into the experience and start having fun, it beats you down and destroys that enjoyment. It’s hard to say whether I like this game or not. I had a lot of fun in my time but I also got frustrated with what was going on. I had to fight with the game many times to make it work. Whether it was reloading a save, closing the application, or simply pressing start to remove the invisible wall. I should not have to fight with my game to be able to play it.
The most frustrating thing to me is that CD Projekt Red is known for the Witcher series which is a great series and the Witcher 3 is arguably one of the best games of all time. Cyberpunk is far removed from feeling complete like that series, rather it feels more like Fallout 76 in terms of its completion. I played the game on the PS5 but despite having a better console, it still didn’t run that well. That leaves me wondering how in the world PS4 owners are feeling right now with the game. Anyway, let’s not dwell on the most obvious negatives that have been the talk of the town, rather let’s shift to some of the positives.
Your character is breathtaking!
You will hear about the many bugs and glitches in the game, but you need to know about the good things that Cyberpunk does. The character customization is exciting and it is the first thing you will encounter. When the game begins, you choose from the three: Nomad, Corpo, and Street Kid. Your choice of path determines your background. These paths have a different beginning but eventually, all lead down the same road. You can go pretty in-depth with your character customization and how they look and feel, though maybe too in-depth with genital manipulation. While the genital manipulation is quite unique to gaming not with the AO ESRB label, it is inclusive and I think that’s a step forward in the right direction for gaming and customization. The customization of your character makes you feel more immersed in the world. Whether you go all out and make your character look super robotic or if you keep your character plain Jane, the unique options and detailed customization help to create an immersive world.
After you change the look of your character you can then put points into your character’s build in typical MMO/DnD fashion. If you want to be a super stealthy character, you can put points in cool. If you want to be a super tech character, you can put points into technical. The skills are versatile and have interesting branches that do not make your character one-dimensional. With those points in place, you can grow out your skills tree. Inside each branch of said tree, are two smaller branches. For technical there is breach and quick hacking. Both relate to the technical tree but are different enough where you could be 100% in quick hacking and have nothing in breach. This makes your character and skill set unique. Combine those with another skill set like reflexes and your character could be a quick hacking sharpshooter. You could also do something different and make them sneaky, strong katana wielders. The mixing and matching of skills with the points opens a lot of possibilities.
Much like in a Fallout game, your skills and your background will affect your choices in the game. If you choose Corpo you will have access to Corpo dialogue options. The same goes for the skill trees as well if you have a lot of points in strength therapy strength options like punching someone or using an intimidation tactic. Not only in dialogue options but when you’re out in the world and you’re adventuring these options will come up as well like forcing open a door using strength or using your technical ability to open it. Again, there are a lot of possibilities to uncover.
The Cyberplot
Cyberpunk 2077’s story is an emotional rollercoaster. Regardless of how you customize your character as you play as V. V is trying to make it among the legends of Night City. What starts as a really slow intro, rushes into months later where you are ready to perform a large heist with your partner. Once the heist is completed, the twists and turns take place, and you are finally introduced to Johnny Silverhand, aka Keanu Reeves. You learn all about Silverhand playing through his memories, but he lives in your head much like the Joker in Batman’s Arkham Knight (could be a spoiler — apologies). You also go through the same balancing act with him just like the clown prince of crime. There are a lot of emotions in these scenes. When you find out what Johnny has been through and experience his pain, it’s touching. This is where Cyberpunk succeeds.
The story keeps you on rails for an absurd amount of time. It isn’t like about 3-4 hours into the story where you can finally explore Night City on your own. The only big downer to the story is the amount of dialogue the story pushes through cutscenes (though, you’re still in first-person view). These dialogue portions are extremely slow and drag on. You can skip lines but if you do you miss a lot of exposition. It feels like there is no sense of urgency in any of the characters. The main story shift from the chosen path to the background feels incredibly rushed. The dust doesn’t settle slow enough to get you into the story, as it wants to get you there quickly without much development. This feels like Venom, if it were a video game, where the first act seems to be thrown to the wayside in hopes the second and third act entice you. It’s a common mistake for bad movies to ignore the development of the world and characters. Cyberpunk seems to have followed that suit.
Overall, I enjoyed Night City which is the setting for Cyberpunk. Like New York has the boroughs of Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens, Night City has Watson/Pacifica, and more. These give the world a diverse feel and help to expand it and make it a larger world. You will notice the poverty and homelessness in areas like Pacifica while you travel deeper into the city, and you’ll see the elites traveling their way to work in their fancy cars and suits. It doesn’t feel as populated as I anticipated though. That could be a testament to the PS4 version.
Cyberware
There is a great benefit in having veteran actor Reeves in the story. He is the beacon of light in a dark tunnel. His character, Johnny Silverhand, is deep and brings emotion to the plot. In addition, his character is the main force that pushing along the plot. Other characters like Rogue and Judy were also really exciting to interact with. Both had fantastic voice acting and personalities that made their missions more enticing.
The visuals of Cyberpunk are a give and take. The pros are the bright lights and electronic lifestyle portrayed in the surroundings. The cons are the actual details of said visuals. Plenty of times where textures don’t pop in, objects in view don’t render.
The driving in Cyberpunk is strange. It feels like a Pokemon game in that the world moves around you and not you moving around the world. You can tell this by how cars, buildings, or people will randomly pop up as you drive. Eliminating the immersion in the game. I noticed something off-putting about driving. It never feels like you are going fast. Whether in cutscenes or roaming about, cars appear to have a max speed of 40 MPH. The HUD while driving will show numbers in the bottom left corner that are arbitrary. The driving is not fast-paced, even when you are in races.
Conclusion
Cyberpunk 2077 is broken on last-generation consoles. That doesn’t mean you can’t see the finer details of the game, but you simply cannot enjoy them because of that brokenness. Where the game succeeds is in story, beautiful RPG elements, and a strong amount of customization that makes it feel like ‘your’ game and story. At the same time, Cyberpunk isn’t unique as the game feels like an amalgamation of Fallout and Bladerunner.
Ultimately, aside from the game-breaking bugs, the game has good aspects that could have been great with a little more time in development.
