After playing through and completing CDPR's previous open world RPG, the excellent 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt', 'Cyberpunk 2077' changes things up a bit by switching from being fantasy based to something more real world with science fiction undertones. I've been looking for a deep Sci-Fi RPG gaming experience and this could well be it. It's also the first game that I'd actually pre-ordered in quite a while, as I normally wait a while after release to get new games - guess I got caught up in the hyperbole.
The main criteria that I look for in RPGs are; a narrative that keeps me engrossed all the way until the credits roll, a huge open world to explore, and a group of supporting characters that are engaging to interact with. After 'The Witcher 3', my expectations were high, as I consider that game to be one of the best I've ever played, but not feverishly so, as I've been left disappointed with hyped up games in the past.
A lot has been said about the game since its inauspicious release in December 2020, most of it unfortunately unfavourable, but I can only speak about the game from my playthrough experience however.
I played the game on my trusty old base PS4 console, and despite a few minor glitches and bugs, which were few and far between for me in my playthrough, and the occasional system crash after a few hours of continous gameplay, it was still a great experience and no where near as bad as being unplayable as some reports had made it out to be on the 'last-gen' consoles. I'm guessing the hofix patches that were released after the game came out helped in that respect. But to be honest, I'm not fussed about the specs for the game; the frame rates, the shiny graphics etc. Just give me a game that has good gameplay, story and characters. After all, my gaming history started way back on the Sega Master System and Megadrive (Genesis) (showing my age a bit there!), where such spec issues weren't a thing back then, as it was all about the gameplay and story. We're so spoilt with how games look these days.
My first playthrough was as Nomad, the lifepath that appealed to me the most with the core values of family and looking out for your clan. I also chose this lifepath as I thought it'd be the best way to experience Night City for the first time - as an outsider coming to the big city, dazzled by bright lights and the total vastness of everything, unaware of the gangs and heirarchy of the streets and corporations, everything fresh like my V would experience things, instead of already being in the City like you would if you were doing a Streetkid or Corpo lifepath. The lifepath is just the origin of your character during the Prologue along with a few exclusive dialogue choices throughout the game. Whatever your choice at the beginning, the main narrative of the story, no matter how you play the game, will always progress the same for either lifepath origin.
Right from the off, as I met up with Jackie Welles and travelled through the checkpoint into Night City during the prologue, I felt immersed in the game. The first person perspective helped a lot in that regard in my opinion, and from what I've heard, was why CDPR went with that POV instead of third person like they had for 'The Witcher' games. I'm generally not a big fan of the first person viewpoint however, the last game I really enjoyed that changed my mind about that POV play-style was 'Bioshock Infinite', but I'm always open to new ways of playing, as long as I'm engaged with the story and characters. I also like to absorb the lore of the world I'm playing in and there was definitely plenty of that in this game, which also helped with the immersion.
The narrative of V's rising reputation through Night City and finding a way to circumvent the effects of the biochip, was really enjoyable. Going from quest to quest progressing the story, felt quite brisk at times and found myself breezing through the game. There was still enough there to keep you engaged however, padding out the world around you and fleshing out some of the supporting cast of characters. Although make sure you don't complete all the side jobs and gigs before passing the point of no return, as there is currently very little story-wise to continue with in post game content, as the game just rolls back to 'Point Of No Return' point in the story, with all the plotlines that you played through from there to the conclusion wiped out.
It's also a very adult orientated game as well, with some strong adult themes throughout the gameplay too, that at times packs an emotional punch. In fact I was a bit surprised by how much considering most of the promotional material for the game didn't really pick up on this. It does add to the tense atmosphere of the gameplay and story, and is deserving of its age 18 certificate here in the UK, but can be a bit unsettling and gut wrenching at times.
By the time I finished the main story, there
were many moments that hit emotionally, giving you much to think about
V's life, the path you're walking and the people that you come into contact with. Instead
of taking the path to glory, the more selfish route, and becoming the
top dog of Night City, I played the more empathetic V, fighting
until the very end for yourself and for those you care about, no matter
the consequences or how much time you have left. I may
have been able to save V from the biochip (at least I did in the ending I
got; 'The Star', the more hopeful and apparently good ending. I've
seen the other endings but this ending just felt like the perfect end to
the story path I took), but as I listened to the 'recorded messages'
as the end credits rolled, I got the impression that through my
interactions in the game, V wasn't the only one that I saved. Seeing
the characters leaving their messages for V did bring a smile to my face!
That's the 'Narrative' box ticked.
As for the open-world, Night City is huge! Split into seven districts; The Badlands, Watson, City Centre, Westbrook, Heywood, Pacifica and Santo Domingo, and then split further into smaller sub-districts, there is so much to explore. Each have their own distinct personalities and populations, some of them reminding me of various real-life cities and places I've actually been to, which gave a familiar feel to them as well. The districts also have their own 'Fixers' that call you and offer up side jobs and gigs for you to complete (naming these quests after song titles were a nice touch!), and it's definitely worth getting distracted from the main story by doing these side quests, as aside from gaining XP, Street Cred points, €$ Eddies and picking up valuable loot, some of them will actually have an impact on how you progress through the story and factor into how the multiple endings and epilogue play out.
But with the rush to get the game released, it does feel that the city isn't as big as it should be. Whilst travelling through parts of the game, I did get a pop up a few times saying that I can't travel certain areas yet. The fact that it says 'yet', suggests that I may be able to travel there in maybe a future DLC or patch. But with some areas like the Space Port in-accessible (the road is currently blocked off), I'm hoping we get a chance to visit more areas of the city and beyond like the Crystal Palace, a space station that is hinted at through lore on in-game posters and information shards you can pick up in the game. There are also quite a number of locked doors throughout Night City. In most games you're able to enter random doors to pick up loot, read lore, etc. If these were originally intended to be explored, then I hope this could be addressed in future updates too.
Despite some minor misgivings, the 'Open-World' also ticks the box.
But the highlight of game for me are the supporting NPC's (Non-Playable Characters). These are some of the best I've had the pleasure to interact with in a video game. In fact, I haven't felt as emotionally invested in a group of NPC's in an RPG since I fell in love with the cast of 'Mass Effect 2'! You can't help but feel a connection with a cast of characters like Jackie Welles, Judy Álvarez, Evelyn Parker, Panam Palmer, River Ward, Rogue Amendiares, Kerry Eurodyne and Johnny Silverhand - Judy and Panam (performed by Carla Tassara and Emily Woo Zeller respectively) stood out the best for me. Just well written and superbly performed characters that I wish that I could have spent a bit more time with. Judy's final story mission, 'Pyramid Song', ranks as one of my favourite sidequests in the game, a beautiful end to her story arc.
It's ironic then, that one of the few negatives in the performances is Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves. Yes, the character is a bit of a dick when you first encounter him in the story, but you do soon warm to his abrasive personality, or at least I did. Compared to the other performances in the game, even comparing to some of the secondary supporting characters, Keanu's performance seemed a bit stilted and flat, and felt more like a series of individual spoken lines than something that was cohesive. I realise the character is a construct and probably supposed to be a bit souless, but maybe I just expected a bit more from this rockerboy, a bit more personality than what we actually got.
Look out for a few bonus cameos too, from Hideo Kojima, Nina Kraviz (who also composed the music on the in-game radio station 95.2 Samizdat Radio) and Youtubers like Jesse Cox, Alanah Pearce and Cohh Carnage, as well as a few easter eggs scattered through the game.
The supporting cast definitely gets a big thumbs up!
Heavily influenced by the cyberpunk Tech-Noir of the likes of Neuromancer, Snow Crash, Blade Runner, Ghost In The Shell, The Matrix and Ready Player One, 'Cyberpunk 2077' is a sprawling RPG set in the not too distant future, that despite being a huge metropolis and with plenty to do, in some parts still feels a bit empty and unfinished. But the well written main story quest and great cast of supporting characters pulled me in and immersed me into the world.
Despite a poor launch that was beset with controversy and being constantly ragged on by the media, my minor misgivings aside, 'Cyberpunk 2077' certainly isn't the RPG masterpiece that it was lauded as, but it has become one of my favourite games and is a blast to play, and any future patch fixes and DLC updates can only improve the playing experience. It's a game that I'll definitely be playing through again, just so I can revisit and encounter the city and characters again and again.
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