I’ve played Cyberpunk 2077 for 100 hours at this point and 100%-ed the game, so here’s my spoiler-free review 😊 :

I went into Cyberpunk pretty blind, other than watching the occasional trailer so while I kinda knew the basic theme of the game, I had little idea about the actual game, mechanics, features etc. I ended up at 50/50 Attributes / Street Cred


GAMEPLAY (8/10):

Fairly simple, but fun and varied – and I think that’s the best way to describe it. I tried everything from being a sneaky, pacifist hacker, katana-bearing demon ninja and an all out Rambo. Landing headshots with an assault rifle is just as satisfying as making some poor scrub team kill with his own grenade, as is melee “slicin n dicin”. That being said, hacking does seem a little slower than combat and eventually, the melee style gets a little old. There were times that I just lost patience towards the end of the game and went in guns blazing, even on stealth missions. Unless you enjoy solving puzzles, hacking quickly becomes a chore as it is unintuitive and boring.

The difficulty modes are a bit out of whack. I played the game in the hardest difficulty mode – it was a bit tough in the beginning, but got much easier towards the end.
The AI in this game is absolutely brain dead and needs a lot of rework. I could snipe enemies from a distance and they’d barely move. It seems as if they have a certain radius that will not leave. The police AI is hot garbage – they appear out of nowhere and apparently, they have no budget for cars.
Speaking of cars, driving in the game is an absolute chore. The cars are too “floaty” and the mini-map is way too zoomed in. I ended up sticking to the motorcycles, which were bearable. Also, are you telling me that there are no self-driving cars in 2077?
Crafting is pretty bland, sadly. Disassemble components, craft, upgrade, rinse, repeat. Even the perks for crafting aren’t anything great. Inventory management is an annoyance and could use a lot of TLC.


STORY (9/10):

This is where the game really shines. The main quest as well as the side quests are a blast and supported by solid story lines. With the exception of one NPC storyline, I really got into their stories. The theme of the quests have a nice variety to them - some were about forgiveness and redemption, others about moral choices and the media, etc. – but nearly all of them were memorable. Most of the side quests had fun twists including a guest appearance from a well known Portal 2 voice. There’s a quest in which you aren’t told of the final outcome, but if you listen to the news broadcasts, you figure out what happens in the end.
The dialogues are some of the best written in my experience. There’s raw emotion mixed in with rationale and the writers did a great job in giving the player enough response options. The humor in many of the NPC dialogues had me chuckling out loud, which is rare for a game these days. I’d really recommend that one complete NPC story lines without getting distracted by other quests. It really lends to the true experience and is way more satisfying than doing it piece meal.

The romance options are good, but not great. A lot depends on your gender AND your voice, so choose wisely. Suffice to say, there’s someone out there for you but it may not be who you want. Also, please keep in mind that “Angel is male and Skye is female” or you’ll end going “oh no no no no no” as I did.
There are 5 possible endings including one REALLY “bad” ending (which I doubt anyone will go through). Some of the ending choices are a different because of your choices / questlines. I love the concept of multiple endings, so this was an absolute win in my book.
A major flaw is some of the epilogue and it’s hard to discuss without spoiling it. There are parts in a couple of the endings that makes little sense because those events either did not happen or don’t make sense. This may not be a critical factor to some people, however to me, the epilogue is very important as it brings closure to a story.


GRAPHICS (10/10):

I played the game on a 3090 and WOW – the graphics are just mind blowing! With ray tracing and DLSS, I found myself just wandering around in awe. Areas like Kabuki are incredible to behold. Keep in mind that the graphics will spank your GPU, but it’s so worth it! I used some of the presets as recommended by Digital Foundry and Gamers Nexus and then optimized them for my rig. I was able to get a steady 60 fps after a bit of tinkering.


BUGS:

No review of this game would be complete without discussing some of the many bugs. Other than graphical bugs like T-posing (which are annoying), there are some game breaking bugs. Some NPCs won’t open a door that’s required for progression, while others won’t clear a checkpoint because you chose an alternative route. These bugs are incredibly annoying. I saved frequently so that I wouldn’t have to restart a mission from scratch. This game could’ve used a LOT more QA. There are bugs that break immersion, which may be forgiven sometimes – but game breaking bugs are unforgivable in a AAA RPG.


WASTED POTENTIAL:

After finishing the game, I looked up the features and promises that the game was supposed to have. It would’ve been awesome to have those and I can’t help but feel that the game has so much wasted potential in it. It could’ve become a true game changer (pun intended) like Half Life had it lived up to its original vision. Gang allegiances, cyberware-customization, choices that REALLY impacted the game, etc. would’ve elevated this game to a legendary status. The game world, while gorgeous, doesn’t have the NPC “richness” in which one may see NPCs observe a particular routine or react like events around them (other than cower in fear).


FINAL THOUGHTS AND OVERALL SCORE (9/10):

Cyberpunk is definitely one of the best games that I’ve played this year. I’m not sure that I’d call it a true RPG, but perhaps a RPG-lite. It has solid, gratifying and varied storylines with a long list of memorable characters and “big moments”. The main story and most of the side quests are very well written and resonate with the player. The characters from the game will stick in my mind for a long time. It definitely has serious flaws, which can’t be brushed aside. However, are these flaws serious enough for one to NOT play it right now? In my opinion, no – you can play it right now and get your moneys’ worth without any regrets.