... expected a similar experience.
I promised I would alter this review once I have played through, and I have a few things to add. I won't spoil any particular story moments if you still want to read it, but I'll tell you why I'm not happy with the way it ends.
First of all, I'm usually a completionist (Ghost of Tsushima, Witcher 3, God of War) but I finished the game here after roughly 48 hours. With some side gigs done (not very interesting but gives eddies), all side quests and all main quests. This is, honestly, very short for an open world RPG.
I heard it from someone else before, that it's short, but I didn't believe it until I played it. I personally can't fathom how another youtuber accumulated 120 hrs, because I personally have no interest in clearing out the map - it's just not interesting enough past the side and main quests.
PROS:
- The main story is witten really well, very interesting - and I'm basically playing the game for it
- Most of the characters and their backgrounds are enticing (Jackie, Delamain, Johnny Silverhand, Evelyn Parker, Alt, Rogue, Kerry).
A couple of great protagonists disappear early on!
- The graphics are great on a top-end PC (with a 3070 and Ryzen 3900X).
- The music and soundtrack is top notch, outright amazing.
CONS:
- Zombie NPCs / AI and idiotic traffic
- So much less "impactful" and "quirky" side quests in comparison to Witcher 3. It also really needs some lightheartedness.
- The world feels just grim. And bland, and empty. I expected there to be more dazzling, over-the-top parts of the city (eg insane holograms) and buildings that are stunning, and more distinction between the districts. But everything looks very similar, it could just be another American city like Las Vegas.
- I expected to run into interesting stories randomly while exploring the map, but I haven't yet.
- V is overall a less likeable/iconic character than Geralt. Even if you come from corpo, you still end up with a weird "V street slang" as if V was meant to just be a streetkid - they should have just stuck to a more neutral way of talking.
- Customisation: is basically non existent. There is way too little unique clothing, and you can't mod your character visually. Even though "style" was part of CDPR's advertisement.
- You also rarely get to see your character in cutscenes - except when you take a screenshot which is a bit of a shame
- Romance: The options are a bit underwhelming, especially River Wards questline. He fell a bit short in comparison to the other two main ones and it was a bit rushed. I would have also expected more significant options, aside from River/Panam/Judy.
- A few too many bugs, considering how much time they had to polish. Which suggests to me they were massively behind in development schedule all along.
- I don't feel the urge to 100% complete this game or replay it anytime soon
- THE ENDING leaves much to be desired. Why? Because a lot of our questions aren't getting answered, no matter which ending you'll get.
CDPR decided to take you back to where you started before the last mission after you finished the main story, a design choice I absolutely despise. Ghost of Tsushima did this better; heck even the Witcher 3 which was made by CDPR (even though it doesn't feel like it at times). I also can't see how they connect here in future DLCS, because the endings you can achieve for V differ greatly.
- THE STORY overall feels very linear. Yes, you can impact your ending and get different ones. But overall my choices or the way I played V, along with the path I came from at the start, don't really seem to matter much.
CONCLUSION:
CDPR is a company that can produce great games, and we all know it. People also seem to forget that this is only their second big AAA game, after the Witcher 3. They are not rockstar (yet). With Cyberpunk, I feel like they shot themselves in the foot announcing release dates that just weren't doable. They hyped up the game too much, and invested an insane amount of money and time into marketing - when they should have laid low and told us "we release it's when it's ready, 2021". This is entirely, and I mean entirely, on the management and leadership (CEO) of CDPR. I assume it was just greed for money, nothing more or less. The devs had worked hard and deserved better, like us gamers.
Don't get me wrong. Cyberpunk is a good, enjoyable game, but nothing extraordinary like The Witcher 3.
It basically plays like it wasn't ready to be released, and a lot of things were rushed. It almost feels like it got released a year too early. They promised us content that just isn't in the game, and I expected much more open world RPG.
I think they should scratch the whole multiplayer plans, and polish it, and give us banging DLCs like in the Witcher. Where Heart of Stone and Blood and Wine were better than the main game.
And the biggest thing is: Learn from this release. Improve. Re-structure your company. Give us games in the future like Witcher 3, God of War, and Red Dead Redemption. We'll get over it.
