Since CD Projekt Red's bug-filled video game Cyberpunk 2077 graced the world, it's been a hot minute. It would be an understatement to say that the launch was a disaster. Despite all the criticism, it appears that a sizeable portion of the player base, including myself, really enjoys the game. In fact, the game currently has a "mostly positive" review score on Steam after over 300,000 reviews. That's not bad at all. But at Parallax Media, we like to share our thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077 with you, or at least mostly mine. Kind of.
This won't be a very in-depth analysis. When Cyberpunk first came out, I played it, but since the holidays and as work has gotten busier,, it is getting more difficult to spend time with the game. However, I have about twenty-five hours in the game and have done a little bit of everything. So I would like to share my thoughts on what I have played so far.
The characters in the Cyberpunk world are pretty awesome to begin with. I'm talking about a gorgeous dystopian future wonderland. However, you will encounter a lot of people on your journey. Others are just people you meet while playing; the majority of these offer you some kind of job or side gig. The story and dialogue are written fairly well. Most of the time, I find that I'm listening to what people are saying and getting caught up in the story. Some of my favourite game-related memories involve Jackie at the start and Panam later on. Panam’s story is quite interesting and you go through quite a lot with her that blossoms into a nice friendship. One side mission where you partner up with a detective had you tracking down a truly disturbed individual. This individual was targeting lonely kids. I remember a specific part of the mission where you have to read through emails and come to the realization of what was going on. It was a little chilling but man it was good.
The characters are a key component of the game and truly bring the world to life. You could team up with Judy to take down some rival gangs down by the nightclubs, or you could go bust up some bad guys with Jackie down the street. Where you interact with these characters and how each story contributes to those interactions create a sense of community. You spend a lot of time outside the city when playing Panam, so when I finished helping her, I felt grateful to be back in the bustle of the city. The characters, in my opinion, really carry the atmosphere that the game creates throughout.
Alongside the characters, you will be doing all sorts of activities during your time in Night City. From shooting bad guys to stealing valuable loot, hacking vending machines for money, boxing, helping cops take down more bad guys, finding lost robot cars, solving detective cases, upgrading your cyberware, and more. Yea, there is a lot to do. I will admit that some of it is forgettable but a lot of what Night City has to offer is pretty fun. For instance, while exploring the city, you might come across criminal gangs attacking someone. You can halt the attack to collect any loot and earn some quick cash. Even though they occasionally provide some enjoyment, they largely function the same way each time. I enjoy driving or walking around a specific area to see what kind of trouble I can get into when I am not immediately starting a mission. Shooting bad guys, hacking for money, or the side quests are what I would say are the most enjoyable for me. Some of the side quests, my goodness, are incredible. There are a few that are fairly lengthy but also provide a compelling narrative. if not a little dark. I think one of my favorites is “The Hunt,” which involves a suspended detective looking for his family member. It is some really good storytelling that really made me say “oh shit” out loud when I realized what was going on.
There are a lot of mechanics resources available to you. shooting, hacking, infiltration, sneaking around, and more The game does a respectable job of letting you select your strategy for any given circumstance. For instance, some encounters require stealth, but you could also shoot your way out if you so desired (I did a little of both). The fact that the game lets you figure it out is pretty entertaining, and most of the time I would start with stealth and a little bit of hacking before just starting to blast. Some of the cooler mechanics were the cyberware stuff you could upgrade. Eventually, you can unlock some pretty high tech gear to equip. One of my favorites is that instead of throwing grenades you can put a little missile launcher on your arm and fire little homing missiles at bad guys. Pretty freaking’ cool.
I have mixed feelings about Cyberpunk's customization. There are many options to customise the appearance of your character, V, but they might not always be the best in terms of stats. This can be a little disappointing because I want my character to always look sharp. Sadly, I had to forgo some clothing options in order to strengthen the armour in preparation for subsequent encounters. I hope they eventually implement some sort of transmog so I can keep my stylish attire while having the numbers to defeat the bad guys.
I did experience a lot of minor bugs and a few crashes throughout my playthrough (PS5). The minor bugs could be anything from objects floating in the air (for example, if you drank some beer, the bottle would just float in the air) to dialogue not triggering as it should. The few crashes were the biggest problems, but fortunately, the game generously autosaves, so I never really lost any progress.