Cyberpunk 2077 is an RPG developed by CD Projekt Red. This game is also the highly anticipated follow-up to the company’s hugely successful 2015 game The Witcher III. As you can imagine, the buzz around Cyberpunk 2077 has been strong and players have been eagerly awaiting its release for years.
With so much hype surrounding this game, did it live up to gamers’ expectations? Or has something else already given this title a tinge of infamy?
The obvious problems of Cyberpunk 2077
To be fair, Cyberpunk 2077 was released as a buggy mess. These problems mainly exist on current generation consoles, but each version of the game has flaws. Playing on a base PlayStation 4, I encountered no fewer than six crashes, countless graphical bugs, and some issues with controlling my character. However, it should be noted that the 1.04 patch released for Cyberpunk 2077 has greatly improved the experience.
That said, the game is still very rough and messy. While I’ve never been one to be let down by a bug game, I can totally understand and expect others to be shocked by the state of the game. For this reason alone, I have a hard time recommending Cyberpunk 2077 as it was launched.
However, I can say that I had a great time in Night City. Having grown up playing bug-ridden RPGs, such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3, I felt right at home. Of course, this is no praise for this game, as it should never have been released this way. Although, I will say that I can imagine some avid Bethesda RPG fans having a lot of fun with this game for years to come.
The spirit of Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk isn’t just the name of a franchise. It is primarily a genus identified through specific elements of the world. In this genre you will find dystopian futures, as well as overwhelmed societies with unnerving representations of poverty to counter them. These themes are typically complemented by dreams of futuristic technology and rebellious attitudes towards authority.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll find all of this within the Cyberpunk 2077 setting and storyline. Strangely, though, I can’t shake the feeling that everything has been done better in other examples of the genre. Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of stiff competition in this regard, but I expected it to at least rank somewhere near the top.
The Cyberpunk elements of the game seem to be whispered over the course of the adventure. You can see them clearly in the Night City aesthetic. However, the game seems to be more concerned with pushing out the dated humor and edgy “coolness” that seems rather odd to find in a 2020 release. given a distinct stench of immaturity.
For example, conversations occasionally allow the player to use skill tests when talking to other characters. A conversation allowed me to use the “Cool” skill I had accumulated. Obviously I wanted to say something interesting, so I chose this dialogue option. The resulting phrase, apparently “cool”, was a really lame joke on the suicide prevention hotlines. At least when Grand Theft Auto does, it seems like a clear satire.
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