Cyberpunk 2077 from the makers of The Witcher

[Max Peck]

The 2.2 update also includes a small Balatro crossover quest.

[Skinypupy]

2024 is apparently my year of retrying games that didn't click multiple times before. I've gone back and finished three games that I bounced off of multiple times (Jedi Survivor, Triangle Strategy, and ESO Skyrim). Now I'll need to add Cyberpunk 2077 to the list. I started it on a whim last week, and already put in about a dozen hours over the weekend. For whatever reason, I'm finding that I thoroughly enjoy it this time around.

I played it for about a dozen hours on release, before shelving it due to the massive bugs. I've revisited it a couple times over the last couple years, including a dedicated effort when 2.0 came out. I always ended up frustrated with the sheer amount of "stuff" that is thrown at you at any given moment. It felt overwhelming to me and not very much fun. This time, I'm trying to focus on a couple quests at a time, rather than chasing every map marker that pops up. It has definitely helped keep my scattered attention from getting too out of control.

Went with a melee katana wielder, focusing primarily on Reflex. Swoop in, slice up everything, become a whirling tornado of death. I'm not quite sure I understand the whole mod system though...that's on my list to focus on tonight.

[Max Peck]

One of the nice things about the CP2077 design is that you absolutely can ignore all the side content if you so wish and just play through the main storyline. It can be a 30-ish hour game or a 200-ish hour game, depending on what suits you.

According to GOG Galaxy, I've played 609 hours across 3 playthroughs so I guess it's obvious which end of that spectrum suits me.

[Blackhawk]

316 hours. I started with about 40-50 hours worth of aborted runs, so about 260 hours for my full run (including the DLC.)

[Dave Allen]

Maybe 2025 is my year for Cyberpunk 2077.
This year was a remove-all-question-marks-on-map-of-Wild-Hunt-Complete.

[Skinypupy]

I know it's vastly improved, but man this game is still super buggy. Running into issues all over the place during the last few hours. The two most common have been:

1. Every time I summon a vehicle, it comes flying in at 100 mph taking out any pedestrians or ramming through any other cars in it's path. Which is hilarious, but the cops didn't like it much.
2. The game often won't end combat once all the mobs are dead. Everywhere I go is marked "hostile area" with the combat music still playing until I reload a previous autosave. That one is less hilarious.

Lots of other general weirdness with physics, dialog, and character animations as well. Thankfully nothing gamebreaking...yet.

[gbasden]

I know it's vastly improved, but man this game is still super buggy. Running into issues all over the place during the last few hours. The two most common have been:

1. Every time I summon a vehicle, it comes flying in at 100 mph taking out any pedestrians or ramming through any other cars in it's path. Which is hilarious, but the cops didn't like it much.
2. The game often won't end combat once all the mobs are dead. Everywhere I go is marked "hostile area" with the combat music still playing until I reload a previous autosave. That one is less hilarious.

Lots of other general weirdness with physics, dialog, and character animations as well. Thankfully nothing gamebreaking...yet.

What are you playing it on? I just played almost 150 hours of it and I honestly don't remember seeing anything like that.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, after the big updates, I played through the entire game and all the side stories without any issues - either in game or something that caused it to crash to desktop. Something doesn't sound right. Granted, I don't own the latest DLC so maybe something broke, but my experience after the first major overhaul was fantastic.

[Skinypupy]

I know it's vastly improved, but man this game is still super buggy. Running into issues all over the place during the last few hours. The two most common have been:

1. Every time I summon a vehicle, it comes flying in at 100 mph taking out any pedestrians or ramming through any other cars in it's path. Which is hilarious, but the cops didn't like it much.
2. The game often won't end combat once all the mobs are dead. Everywhere I go is marked "hostile area" with the combat music still playing until I reload a previous autosave. That one is less hilarious.

Lots of other general weirdness with physics, dialog, and character animations as well. Thankfully nothing gamebreaking...yet.

What are you playing it on? I just played almost 150 hours of it and I honestly don't remember seeing anything like that.

PS5. All my gaming is console these days.

[Blackhawk]

And I just put in 200-something and didn't see any of those issues, with one exception - the flying car when you call for one. It wasn't every time, but it wasn't uncommon, either. I have videos of it (it's sometimes hilarious), and it turned out that it was a bug introduced by the last big patch.

[Max Peck]

I don't recall seeing an issue with summoned vehicles, but that might have been due to my propensity for just carjacking whatever was handy instead of calling for one of my own.

[gbasden]

And I just put in 200-something and didn't see any of those issues, with one exception - the flying car when you call for one. It wasn't every time, but it wasn't uncommon, either. I have videos of it (it's sometimes hilarious), and it turned out that it was a bug introduced by the last big patch.

I wonder if it's a console vs. PC difference?

[Skinypupy]

Most of the bugs are just annoying, not game breaking. The combat one is the worst, as it requires loading a previous save, but even then I usually only lose a few minutes. The other regular one is that the radio doesn’t turn off after leaving a vehicle. I have to open the radio settings and turn the volume down to 0 to get it to stop.

I just picked up the DLC. I’m currentlay about halfway-ish through the MSQ I think (just hit lvl 35) and the DLC just lady called me to meet. Is that something I should prioritize or wait to tackle until later in the game? Or does it matter?

[Blackhawk]

Most of the bugs are just annoying, not game breaking. The combat one is the worst, as it requires loading a previous save, but even then I usually only lose a few minutes. The other regular one is that the radio doesn’t turn off after leaving a vehicle. I have to open the radio settings and turn the volume down to 0 to get it to stop.

The other regular one is that the radio doesn’t turn off after leaving a vehicle. I have to open the radio settings and turn the volume down to 0 to get it to stop.

That's probably your radioport. You're augmented - you have a built-in radio. One of the game settings, if I recall, lets you choose whether to continue to listen when you get out of a vehicle or not.

[Blackhawk]

I just picked up the DLC. I’m currentlay about halfway-ish through the MSQ I think (just hit lvl 35) and the DLC just lady called me to meet. Is that something I should prioritize or wait to tackle until later in the game? Or does it matter?

No need to wait. They DLC integrates into the main quest. It's (mostly) a new part of the city that unlocks, and you can go back and forth at will. In fact, you're encourage to do so, and there is content that has you going back and forth.

[Blackhawk]

In regards to the vehicle summoning bug, this was one example from my playthrough (on PC.) This was an introduced bug with the last big patch, so earlier playthroughs might not have experienced it.

https://youtu.be/206POWEOQP8

[Unagi]

In regards to the vehicle summoning bug, this was one example from my playthrough (on PC.) This was an introduced bug with the last big patch, so earlier playthroughs might not have experienced it.

https://youtu.be/206POWEOQP8

I love how the guy grabs his arm. I bet that will sting for a little while.

[Max Peck]

Well, people had been asking for flying cars...

[Skinypupy]

Finished Phantom Liberty tonight. Excellent story and characters with some truly gut-wrenching decisions towards the end. I really agonized over the final one and still feel guilty about my choice. That’s the sign of a truly engaging game. The way they seamlessly wove it into the main story was superbly done as well.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program…

[Skinypupy]

Quick question about the endings:

Spoiler:

I currently have access to two "point of no return" scenarios:

- Meet Hanako, which I assume is the ending of the original base game
- Call Reed, which I assume is the true ending for Phantom Liberty (since I already saw the credits roll and got the achievement)

Do these just lead to two different endings of the story and the game's done once I finish either? Or does the base game ending let you keep going into the Phantom Liberty ending?

I'll probably just do a save point and experiment, but thought someone might have an easy answer.

[Max Peck]

The story branches off to an ending with either of those, so you can't do one and then the other in a single playthrough. As you said, you'd either need to reload a save to try the other option, or just replay the game (says the guy who's played through 3 times now, twice after PL was released).

[disarm]

I reloaded saves before those two points in order to experience as many of the different endings as possible (and there are quite a few). They both lead down paths that don't allow the game to continue, but it's definitely worth seeing how all the different choices can play out.

[Skinypupy]

Thanks, that's what I figured. I'd just do a save point before so I can give both a look.

[gbasden]

Those aren't the only ending triggers. There are others. Hanako's ending is ... subpar.

[Skinypupy]

Wrapped it up tonight, going through both an ending from the base game and an ending from Phantom Liberty. Damn, what a difference.

Base game Ending:

Spoiler:

I decided to suppress Johnny, then call Panam and storm Arasoka Tower with the Nomads to reach Mikoshi. Drove a tank right into their base, blew up a bunch of robots, LEEEEEEROY JENKINS'd my way through their base, and kicked the crap out of Adam Smasher after he, well, smashed poor Saul's head. While in The Matrix, I chose to return to my body (even though it would die) and let Johnny run free beyond the Blackwall with Alt.

After I came to, I headed off with Panam and the Aldecados with Judy (my love interest) by my side. We crashed through the border, and it ended with me triumphantly sitting on top of a tank letting the wind blow through my hair as we rode off into freedom far away from Night City. It was fan-damn-tastic.

Phantom Liberty Ending:

Spoiler:

I took Reed up on his offer to do the surgery that would permanently remove Johnny from my head. Johnny was angry, but I think we said our final goodbyes on good terms.

Woke up two years later to find out that the operation was a success, but I could no longer use any cyberware. My old life as a merc was entirely gone. I tried calling everyone I knew to let them know I made it. Panam wouldn't take my call, and Mitch reached out to tell me not to please not call her again. Judy got married and was now living in Pittsburgh. River sold a bunch of police secrets to the tabloids and was now living on the run and couldn't even talk to me. The only one who would even talk to me was Vic, who said he could probably help find a solution for my lack of cyber. Went back to Night City only to find that Misty left, Vic sold out to the corpos, and I got beat up by a couple of random, no-name corner thugs. The camera panned back to show me thin and sickly looking with a shaved head and bruises under both eyes. The final shot was watching my V disappearing into the crowd as just another nameless, faceless, hopeless choom that got chewed up and spit out by Night City. It was all horribly depressing.

Overall, I'd give the game an A-/B+. The story was really, really excellent but it loses a notch for the horrible number of bugs. It got even worse towards the end, with one (rather hilarious) sequence where I had mowed down a bunch of goons and the corpses kept getting stuck to the legs of the ones that were still alive. So they were running around with 2-3 bodies randomly attached to each leg, rag-dolling around like fish. I spent just under 60 hours, and could have easily doubled that if I went back to complete more side stuff.

Definitely glad I gave it another look.

[Max Peck]

Version 2.21 Patch Notes

This update adds support for DLSS 4 on PC and introduces various fixes, notably to SmartFrames on Xbox and Photo Mode across all platforms.