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Cyberpunk 2077 - Review Thread

Should we lock this thread?

  • Yes

    Votes: 196 23.8%
  • No

    Votes: 628 76.2%

  • Total voters
    824

THEAP99

Banned
They only care because the public care about it and it affects sales. Bad metacritic scores or even just a bad IGN score can kill a game, especially for traditional AAA games. It's the reason why most of the big games these days pander to reviewers; their tastes, their politics and their playstyles.
Good.
 

Beelzebubs

Member
I think it's bizarre that people care so much review scores and metacritic.

I mean the only reason I actually care is because of this specific situation and how shady it's been overall.

Normally I honestly don't give a crap about metacritic but this concerted effort to not show last gen footage has screwed a lot of consumers who acted in good faith.
 

THEAP99

Banned
I think it's bad, but each to their own.
I think it's very good. The general audience of gamers have horrible taste as shitty multiplayer games outside of Rockstar games are always top selling.
And thankfully, critics don't really acclaim generic multiplayer games anymore
 

Madflavor

Member
I'm happy for everyone who can enjoy the game, but at the same time I'm annoyed your standards are so low.

To be fair, for what it is it's a good game. The story, characters, side missions, world, and music are great, and the gunplay is decent. Just decent. But the bad AI, the lack of customization and rpg mechanics, and the severe lack of things to do in Night City when you're not doing the Main Story or Side MIssions, is what truly holds it back from greatness, and what was also advertised and hyped up to be. But there is a genuine good game to be found here. A game that will likely improve by a lot over time. But it's possible for many people to be enjoying their time and also be disappointed. I'm having a lot of fun playing it, but I'm also having a case of "What could've been?" as I'm doing it.
 
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Vyndktvx

Neo Member
The problem is people were actually expecting cyberpunk GTA because CDPR was deceptive in how they marketed it. This is Witcher with guns, outside of questing and the odd side activity there’s nothing to do. CDPR makes games that hew closer to the Bioware model than the Bethesda model. Once you finish all the quests that’s it, there no endless supply of dungeons to clear.
 

JonkyDonk

Member
I think it's very good. The general audience of gamers have horrible taste as shitty multiplayer games outside of Rockstar games are always top selling.
And thankfully, critics don't really acclaim generic multiplayer games anymore
I think that's faulty logic. The people who are big into the likes of Fortnite and GTA Online are generally not the same people who care about review scores for traditional single-player games. And reviewers generally don't play multiplayer games because it doesn't fit their work schedule. Those are two separate worlds that rarely intersect. Rather, reviewers have a disproportionate influence over the direction of single player narrative focused games. They want games to be mechanically simple and streamlined to the point of having no friction or tension; traditional structure of combat/cutscene with a hint of RPG lite loot/upgrade system; derivative and easily familiar tropes so there is no chance of being lost or confused by anything; and story themes and messages that fit their specific world view and current popular social trends. Which creates this idea that there is a perfect video game model that every developer should be aiming for in order to get 10 out of 10 scores, and kills true originality and wild creativity in the AAA game space.
 

Phase

Member
The problem is people were actually expecting cyberpunk GTA because CDPR was deceptive in how they marketed it. This is Witcher with guns, outside of questing and the odd side activity there’s nothing to do. CDPR makes games that hew closer to the Bioware model than the Bethesda model. Once you finish all the quests that’s it, there no endless supply of dungeons to clear.
That's the thing though, it really isn't Witcher with guns. It doesn't have any of the same depth and character building, nor does it have the breadth of quests. It is just a linear shooter with some rpg skill trees, equipment, and a lifeless open world with very little intractability.
 

Mega Man

Member
I have been loving the game so far. I'm about 18 hours in and have been switching between mainline and side quests pretty much one for one. Hunted for a few murals, but that's just an excuse to sight see.

Running it on a 1070ti with i7 8700 (non K) and 32 GB DDR4 I'm getting pretty decent performance (between 30-50 FPS) with custom settings. I went with the recommendations of our ol' friends at DF.

I have been completely immersed in the game. Bugs? Yes. Game breaking? Sometimes. Just reload a quick save and I'm back in it. The world they have built is just THAT good imo. I can see them building on it for the years to come. Adding free and paid DLC and we'll see if online ever comes to fruition. As is, it's the game I think about when I go to sleep, and it pops back in my head when I wake up (after I take a piss of course).

Needless to say, I feel bad for Xbone and PS4 players. However, when it's in a playable state it feels like something truly special.
 

Mega Man

Member
a lifeless open world with very little intractability.
I do wish there was more to do, such as sit at a random counter and eat sushi while drinking sake with a random stranger. Actually interacting with a clerk is few and far between unfortunately. However, is that even realistic what I'm asking? Idk, I'm no dev...
 

Madflavor

Member
I do wish there was more to do, such as sit at a random counter and eat sushi while drinking sake with a random stranger. Actually interacting with a clerk is few and far between unfortunately. However, is that even realistic what I'm asking? Idk, I'm no dev...

Of course it's realistic. Think about all the activities you could do in GTA IV for example. You could literally call up your friends or girlfriend, have them hop into your car, and go do random shit with them. This was in 2008, 12 years ago. Let's not forget despite how absolutely massive in scale and content The Witcher 3 was, CDPR still took the time to develop Gwent, one of the most beloved minigames ever. Yet in CP77 there's nothing like that. No pool, no cards, no darts, nothing.

The game is desperately needing past time things to do in Night City.
 

Phase

Member
I do wish there was more to do, such as sit at a random counter and eat sushi while drinking sake with a random stranger. Actually interacting with a clerk is few and far between unfortunately. However, is that even realistic what I'm asking? Idk, I'm no dev...
And that's just one aspect out of a long list missing. I mean, if this was actually Witcher with guns I would love it.
 

Hugare

Member
I got to admit: I rolled my eyes watching that lady from Gamespot talking about her experience in that one video

But the actual video review of the game was pretty great, with some justified criticism, imo

I disagree with the trans stuff, and she wanted more explanation for some lore like the Voodoo Boys (which I dont consider essential to the experience)

But everything else really checks out with what I've played. The world is beautiful, but as we all know now that we are playing, not that much interactive

Despite giving you some freedom to hack and avoid conflict in some encounters, many missions force you to go guns blazing

Side stories resonated with her, while the main story kinda fell flat. And her V from side missions acted way different than the one during the main missions, which is also some understandable criticism.

She talks about the lack of a bigger influence from the lifepaths, and that's also something that a lot of people have noticed after playing the game

She also says that the skill tree and weapon customization was pointless ... And they kinda are.

Most skills give you such small advantages that I found myself forgetting to spend some skill points most of the time because what would be the point? (that's also something that SkillUp pointed out on his review)

So yeah, she talked some dumb shit on that hype video, but her actual review was kinda good.

Got a lot of unnecessary heat due to the low score, but the content is good. Still, I would have given it at least an 8 (without the bugs)
 
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CZY

Member
That's CDPR's reputation and integrity completely hosed forever, then. Oof.
I keep seeing people say this but I’m not catching that vibe at all. Which major company actually has good rep right now? Rockstar? Ubisoft? EA? Bethesda? I don’t see CDPR ranking any differently when compared to those companies; they were somewhere in the mix with those guys before this release and they still are now.
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
Of course it's realistic. Think about all the activities you could do in GTA IV for example. You could literally call up your friends or girlfriend, have them hop into your car, and go do random shit with them. This was in 2008, 12 years ago. Let's not forget despite how absolutely massive in scale and content The Witcher 3 was, CDPR still took the time to develop Gwent, one of the most beloved minigames ever. Yet in CP77 there's nothing like that. No pool, no cards, no darts, nothing.

The game is desperately needing past time things to do in Night City.

I believe Jeff from Giantbomb said the game is this way because it is designed with online in mind. We will know when online release anyway but I wouldn't rule that out.
 
The game needed at least one more year just to focus on improving this "open world". How can you design something so beautiful and not make the experience of being in it at least interesting? I stole a police car in front of them and they shot 2 shots at me and just like that they weren't pursuing anymore. It's a joke.

The good so far is story, voice acting, art design, music, the scanner and hacking thing. One might think that should make a great game but when you focus so much on combat/stealth and market the game as an RPG you can't have this lackluster combat with some of the worst AI I've seen in years. I feel like I'm abusing the AI even when I'm fighting "fair". The RPG elements with stats and perks are completely run of the mill and boring.

All in all, a good game that left the oven too early.
 
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I'm happy for everyone who can enjoy the game, but at the same time I'm annoyed your standards are so low.
That's the thing though, it really isn't Witcher with guns. It doesn't have any of the same depth and character building, nor does it have the breadth of quests. It is just a linear shooter with some rpg skill trees, equipment, and a lifeless open world with very little intractability.
And that's just one aspect out of a long list missing. I mean, if this was actually Witcher with guns I would love it.

I'm not sure what Witcher III you played, man.
 

THEAP99

Banned


Maybe it’s unfair to raise these objections to Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt is just doing the same things everyone else is doing. It’s not their job to fix the medium. So in that regard, Cyberpunk 2077 is fine as yet another example of RPGs and open worlds. If you don’t mind these conventions, if you can look past CD Projekt’s lack of ambition, if you’re willing to accept a AAA release with D-level quality assurance, if you can accept the state of these unimaginative game designs, you’ll get your solid forty to fifty hours of open-worlding in a beautiful setting. More power to you.

But I need a better game if I’m going to ignore these failings. Cyberpunk’s running time is littered with familiar problems and zero interest in their solutions. It’s a design cluttered with the failings of a hundred other designs. The safe and familiar failings of the medium that can’t be pinned to CD Projekt specifically, but are nevertheless embraced with something that feels like enthusiasm. So I sigh and carry on to the ending of my choice, looking in vain for the actual cyberpunk in a sprawl of contrived and bland sci-fi.
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
I got to admit: I rolled my eyes watching that lady from Gamespot talking about her experience in that one video

I disagree with the trans stuff, and she wanted more explanation for some lore like the Voodoo Boys (which I dont consider essential to the experience)

She doesn't actually cares about the Voodoo Boys. There was a controversy involving the Voodoo Boys last year so she planned she was going to talk about them for woke points way before playing the game.

Of all the gangs in the game that's THE ONE she really wants to know more? Yeah right. Like the trans stuff, she's just following what the SJWs are saying online. She does that in all her shit reviews. An ally.
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
She doesn't actually cares about the Voodoo Boys. There was a controversy involving the Voodoo Boys last year so she planned she was going to talk about them for woke points way before playing the game.

Of all the gangs in the game that's THE ONE she really wants to know more? Yeah right. Like the trans stuff, she's just following what the SJWs are saying online. She does that in all her shit reviews. An ally.

It is the “everything is offensive” era. I’m rewatching Friends again on Netflix and man is there a lot of stuff that won’t fly today and it is sad that the creative vision of a work in today’s age has to be compromised for stupid stuff that is not worth the uproar from the very loud minority that makes it bigger that it actually is.
 

OrionNebula

Member
I’ll buy it...
O3qFNri.jpg
 

ruvikx

Banned
His own fans pointed out that if this was any other game he would tear it a new one. So I guess, he had to oblige. Credit to him for actually doing it because this game deserves it just like Bethesda's buggy messes.

The cop spawns need addressing (one sequence in particular in Joe's gameplay footage was crazy). It's pretty funny stuff which automatically lowers the score because it's apparently not a glitch, it's just the way the wanted system works.

Hell, they could have created a simple explanation in the form of a teleporting system written into the lore of the world, i.e. technology only the cops have or whatnot. Kaboom, put a flash of light/sound effect when a cop spawns & voilà, easy fix.

Because the system as it exists is a bit of a joke.
 

LivingD3AD

Member

ruvikx

Banned
The Guardian - 6/10 [PC Version]


On one side there's people who give CDPR a free pass because they're allowing the parts they love (& the hype tbh) to cloud their judgement, & then on the other side we get total politically agenda driven "I'm here to insert my politics, not play a game" reviewers like this one who give a bad score for their own propagandist woke reasons.

which is extraordinarily immersive but let down by misogyny and xenophobia

Yada yada yada. Fuck off Keith, you're a liar & you're boring.

Keith-Stuart,-R.png
 

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
I got to admit: I rolled my eyes watching that lady from Gamespot talking about her experience in that one video

But the actual video review of the game was pretty great, with some justified criticism, imo

I disagree with the trans stuff, and she wanted more explanation for some lore like the Voodoo Boys (which I dont consider essential to the experience)

But everything else really checks out with what I've played. The world is beautiful, but as we all know now that we are playing, not that much interactive

Despite giving you some freedom to hack and avoid conflict in some encounters, many missions force you to go guns blazing

Side stories resonated with her, while the main story kinda fell flat. And her V from side missions acted way different than the one during the main missions, which is also some understandable criticism.

She talks about the lack of a bigger influence from the lifepaths, and that's also something that a lot of people have noticed after playing the game

She also says that the skill tree and weapon customization was pointless ... And they kinda are.

Most skills give you such small advantages that I found myself forgetting to spend some skill points most of the time because what would be the point? (that's also something that SkillUp pointed out on his review)

So yeah, she talked some dumb shit on that hype video, but her actual review was kinda good.

Got a lot of unnecessary heat due to the low score, but the content is good. Still, I would have given it at least an 8 (without the bugs)
Yes. The points she made weren't on the level of "didn't play the game, has an agenda". They were legit criticisms. There's a lot of stuff in the game that's almost impossible to die on a hill for.

One point that stood out to me was that she got shit flung at her for saying "there's the police incidents; but what if I don't want to do that?". Forum dwellers interpreted that as "defund police ZOMG bitch" when in actuality, the police incidents are just stupid bullshit with zero meaningful stuff happening. It's just "shoot those random dudes, it's proxy police work"; I don't want to do that either. I think nobody does honestly.

Another was "she didn't do the crafting". Seriously, she probably did, like once, discovered that it's awful and unnecessary and moved on without ever touching it again, which I did too, and probably everyone else as well, again.

And the sidequests -- a lot of them are really just "bring the laptop to here, thx *mission accomplished*". If you've done like 5 of those, then you either have to torture yourself for no reason and look at more of them, or just say "ok that's kind of meh" and move on. (Sure, there are a couple of more involved side quest archs that go to really cool places, but that's the absolute minority.)

I don't agree with her resulting verdict at all, but the points she made were legit and she's not a shit reviewer in my opinion.
 
On one side there's people who give CDPR a free pass because they're allowing the parts they love (& the hype tbh) to cloud their judgement, & then on the other side we get total politically agenda driven "I'm here to insert my politics, not play a game" reviewers like this one who give a bad score for their own propagandist woke reasons.



Yada yada yada. Fuck off Keith, you're a liar & you're boring.

Keith-Stuart,-R.png
That's like saying Schindlers List is a bad movie because of all the antisemitism in the game.


How can people with a professional job be so stupid?
 
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I think it's bizarre that people care so much review scores and metacritic.

It's bizarre if you don't.

Before I waste 2 hours watching a film, I always check the IMBD score which is a good gauge of how good or bad it is. Anything over 7.5 is good, 8 is excellent. Under 6 is a no go.
 

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
It's bizarre if you don't.

Before I waste 2 hours watching a film, I always check the IMBD score which is a good gauge of how good or bad it is. Anything over 7.5 is good, 8 is excellent. Under 6 is a no go.
For me it's 5.2 because otherwise, I'd rarely see a good horror flick (what a fucked genre that is wrt reviews haha)

The point's valid of course.
 

ruvikx

Banned
That's like saying Schindlers List is a bad movie because of all the antisemitism in the game.


How can people with a professional job be so stupid?

He's either "stupid", or he knows what he's doing & is being deliberately disingenuous in order to twist the content of the game to fit the agenda dictated by his outlet. I believe the latter is more likely.

It's just another example of the how & why making an informed decision about a purchase (especially for anyone desperate to avoid spoilers) is becoming more & more difficult. With Cyberpunk I've seen people who heap praise on it being wrong & people who sh*t all over it also being wrong.

But even a 7.5 score (in the middle ground basically for a video game) probably wouldn't fully cover what this game does right (atmosphere, soundtrack & writing) versus what it does wrong.
 
It's bizarre if you don't.

Before I waste 2 hours watching a film, I always check the IMBD score which is a good gauge of how good or bad it is. Anything over 7.5 is good, 8 is excellent. Under 6 is a no go.

Really? On new films in theaters the trailers get my butt in the seat. For older films I use IMDb but I don't view it the same as you, as a horror fan if I discounted anything under 6 I wouldn't have much to enjoy, there's only a dozen or so horror films I can think of that even got 8 or above, for instance.
 
So you are just watching movies that are universally liked? God forbid to have a mind of your own. :rolleyes:

Oi put your handbag down. I choose films that interest me, and I debate which one to go for based on my own feeling and the IMBD score. It's pretty great barometer for quality, been using it for 20 years like that.

Really? On new films in theaters the trailers get my butt in the seat. For older films I use IMDb but I don't view it the same as you, as a horror fan if I discounted anything under 6 I wouldn't have much to enjoy, there's only a dozen or so horror films I can think of that even got 8 or above, for instance.

I concede that point, I too like lower grade horror movies and yeh they do get low scores. For instance Birdbox is 6 something but I love it. Or The Conjuring etc.
 

Ricky_Bee

Banned
Picking those games as comparison points is why they can't be trusted.

Being The Guardian is why they can’t be trusted.

I mean they can be. You can trust them to be The Guardian. You can really rely on them to stick a shiv in your gut at the first opportunity. Are deeply predictable, in fact.
 

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
People shitting on The Guardian, eh? I like 'em. (Haven't read that review, and have no intention to; Guardian's games coverage is meh anyway.)
 

TheContact

Member
I really like this review, and I agree with pretty much all of it apart from the final score. For me I'm too engaged and having too much fun for it to be a 7.5, despite it's flaws.

easy allies are great. they're made up of a bunch of the old gametrailers crew. I was waiting on this review.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I think that's faulty logic. The people who are big into the likes of Fortnite and GTA Online are generally not the same people who care about review scores for traditional single-player games. And reviewers generally don't play multiplayer games because it doesn't fit their work schedule. Those are two separate worlds that rarely intersect. Rather, reviewers have a disproportionate influence over the direction of single player narrative focused games. They want games to be mechanically simple and streamlined to the point of having no friction or tension; traditional structure of combat/cutscene with a hint of RPG lite loot/upgrade system; derivative and easily familiar tropes so there is no chance of being lost or confused by anything; and story themes and messages that fit their specific world view and current popular social trends. Which creates this idea that there is a perfect video game model that every developer should be aiming for in order to get 10 out of 10 scores, and kills true originality and wild creativity in the AAA game space.
Eh; I totally agree that reviewers are a bunch of fart sniffing idiots who would be better off reviewing movies than playing videogames, and are often insulted by a game with any modicum of difficulty...

But sales aren't THAT driven by review scores. I really don't think it's even that companies are catering to reviewers.. there's just plenty of fart sniffing "arteest" types directing videogames... and plenty of fart-sniffing gamers who probably should just be watching movies lol

If every gamer was waiting for review scores, pre-orders wouldn't be so massive.. and the web sites that host reviews would be absolutely raking in the cash, expanding, etc. Instead that "industry" has been faltering for a decade because most people don't pay much attention to them.

Reviews at this point are mostly for fanboys who already bought a game to pat themselves on the back for liking games that score high.

edit: I'm not saying that they don't or can't effect sales.. but it's not such a great effect that it's destroying AAA creativity. Consumers are who drive the trends, not reviewers.
 
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Hakiroto

Member
this game is great on PC. Granted I'm only like 7 hours in, but the only bugs I ran into were minor visual glitches and one bug where I was physically stuck, but was able to save/reload the save to fix it.

That's great. I wish I had that experience. I was playing on a fresh install of Windows (nothing but the required drivers, Steam, and Cyberpunk 2077 installed) on a decent system (3700X, 2080 Super, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe SSD) and I had a bunch of problems. Regular crashing, getting stuck in a main mission and not being able to progress, etc. I decided to put it down and come back in a month or so. That said, it looked, for the most part, absolutely stunning. Looking at CPU/GPU temperatures, my PC runs cooler playing that game than it does playing Apex Legends.

I know you didn't say this but your post made me want to add the general point that having a PC is not necessarily the way to avoid the issues like I've seen some people saying it is. Sure, it looks and performs (way) better than it does on any console but it's not without its issues for some people. It's a shame.
 
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