After years of hype starting in 2012, several major release delays and a historic garbage fire of an initial release, three years of post-launch support has finally brought CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 to its current state: a game actually worth the $60 price tag.
Following the game’s debut in late 2020, the Lutrinae published a review in Arianna Nalbach’s 8 Bit column. Nalbach chronicled when Cyberpunk was functionally unplayable on last gen consoles and Night City was home to an uncountable number of bugs.
Cyberpunk’s redemption began in September 2022 with the release of the animated series “Cyberpunk Edgerunners” by Studio Trigger. The show’s popularity drove attention back to the franchise and the subsequent Update 1.6 promised considerable improvements. Flash forward one year, and the release of Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion has massively overhauled key mechanics, added hours of extra content and discontinued support for last gen consoles.
The most significant change has been the updated skill progression system. In the past, leveling up netted only marginal improvements to specific skills. The new system unlocks abilities that can expand the tools at your disposal and fundamentally change your playstyle. This is made even better by the ability to reallocate your skill points anytime, allowing for experimentation with different builds without the need to start a new campaign.
Another major addition is Phantom Liberty. The new expansion storyline places our protagonist in the center of a conspiracy involving the president of the new United States, a hacker of questionable loyalty and a veteran secret agent voiced by actor Idris Elba. While the Mission Impossible-esque story and gameplay is thrilling, Phantom Liberty introduces a problem: progression to higher levels happens too early.
By reaching level 45 before half of the game’s content, the sense of progression plateaus as you approach the end. The novelty of becoming the baddest merc in Night City wears off in time for later missions to feel like a chore. As of now, the best solution to this problem is simply to play on a higher difficulty setting.
Visually, Cyberpunk 2077 is easily one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever played, when playing on the right hardware. Ray tracing and NVIDIA’s AI powered DLSS 3.5 ray reconstruction and upscaling technology make the game feel more cinematic than ever. Even on current consoles and similar PCs, Cyberpunk is still a marvel of design and artistry.
By discontinuing last gen console support and focusing on current hardware, the developers have managed to eliminate a majority of the technical issues that came with the limitations of the PS4 and Xbox One. Some bugs persist, but certainly no more than one would encounter in similar games like Grand Theft Auto or just about any Bethesda title.
Further updates have been announced as recently as Dec. 1, with update 2.1 bringing new vehicles, replayable street races, visual and gameplay accessibility functions and much more.
Previous statements have also acknowledged that work has begun on a sequel – perhaps Cyberpunk 2078? Keep an eye out for the Ultimate Edition releasing on Dec. 5; give the game another shot and become a Night City Legend.