I strongly recommend: Cyberpunk 2077 (and Phantom Liberty) - Review
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- Thanks to Nvidia and AORUS for sponsoring the video. Check out how their next gen tech can transform Night City through technology like DLSS 3.5 and Full Ray Tracing: www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/... rpunk-2077/ . Also, if you'd like to see how Simple Modz put this Phantom Liberty themed build together, check out his build video here: • Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom...
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Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion both expand and refine Cyberpunk 2077, but the truth is: coming back to Night City for the first time in 3 years, it wasn't the new stuff that impressed me - it was how well a lot of the old stuff held up.
Video written by Ralph P., edited by Austin B. and Stuart K.
#Review #Cyberpunk2077 #phantomliberty
Timstamps
00:00 Sponsor
00:25 Intro
06:00 Bugs and Fixes
09:40 Last Gen Consoles
10:52 Xbox Series X & PS5
11:40 Steam Deck
12:32 RTX 2080Ti
13:12 Cyberpunk's Technology Legacy
15:41 Cyberpunk 2077 Revisited
17:20 Cyberpunk: An Action Game
19:58 Futurism in Cyberpunk
20:58 The Illusion of Choice
22:07 An unresponsive sandbox
23:23 Night City
25:35 New Perspectives
27:27 Update 2.0
28:23 Vehicles in Cyberpunk
30:35 Police System 2.0
31:50 Perk Trees 2.0
33:40 The Limits of 2.0
35:34 Phantom Liberty
38:01 Dogtown
39:38 New Side-Content
40:36 Characters, Narrative and Missions
43:55 The Future - Cyberpunk 2
45:36 Redemption Arc
46:27 If it ain't broke...
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Игры
Thanks to Nvidia and AORUS for sponsoring the video. Check out how their next gen tech can transform Night City through technology like DLSS 3.5 and Full Ray Tracing: www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/campaigns/cybe rpunk-2077/ . Also, if you'd like to see how Simple Modz put this Phantom Liberty themed build together, check out his build video here: ruclips.net/video/b92vFm0l7Rw/видео.html
did you watch the grand final?
I need mah ac6 review!
I really hope you find time to try Starfield if you like thought-provoking games, yes it has its issues, but if you're looking for something that makes you actually take a pause and think, its for you, for me its in the same league with death stranding, and metal gear 2 sons of liberty, if that makes sense
You already knew you' get some hate for this review and the sponsorship deal but I was in from the start; I played he release on GTX980 and 4/8 CPU system and I still loved it; today I'm playing on on 4080 with i713700k and while it makes everything look amazing, it doesn't change just how great this game is. a brilliant game ahead of it's time technologically
The first link doesn't work, btw.
Cyberpunk 2.0 kinda destroyed Starfield I swear. It highlights the outdated technology of Bethesda. A decade behind the competition and Phantom liberty just slaps. Absolutely awesome.
Yeah After 3 years of bug fixes and updates
Lol, Morrowind has a more advanced wanted system than Cyberpunk, but go off.
Are you a Pony or CDPR fanboy, just curious?
Starfield is terrible
@@EvernhamNo9lol Morrowind has a more advanced wanted system than Starfield…
Im having a blast playing STARFIELD. . Fanboys using Cyberpunk to trash Starfield is crimge AF..
Skill Up - "No more long videos, I'm done with long videos." Also Skill Up - "Heres a 52 minute review of a game I have already reviewed." And we are absolutely here for that shit.
I become skeptical to his honesty after his first review of this game
@@mikkodoria4778wdym with "honesty"? A review is nothing more than an opinion.
@@itsgonnabeokay9341 there are too many people online that don't seem to understand what "opinion" means.
Best feature of the 2.0 version... that u can finally untrack quests 😂
@@jonatanrobledo9812I keep lying to myself every time I see the biased review bullshit that it's children posting this stuff and not grown ass adults. An honest review an unbiased review lol christ. Reviews are unbiased and honest until they disagree with you and then all of a sudden the reviewer is the devil.
Still can’t believe I managed not to touch the game the whole time while avoiding spoilers and now can go into its most polished version completely blind. Patience really is a virtue.
Makes you think, if everyone had shut up about the initial release date and delays, and just let the game cook, they could have avoided many of the issues which plagued the initial release. Not that the shareholders and daddy corps wouldn’t have forced them to release it anyway, but the added fan pressure certainly didn’t help.
@@christopherkinsella3912 exactly been saying this for the longest if this dropped like this on release no doubt in my mind it would have been goty
Bro same. I just bought this game, downloading now!
@@IKI11I almost at the end bro you will be rewarded as will I amazing experience with this update
ye.. it's "polished" alright :-)
Phantom liberty is a testament to letting studios really finish games rather than shipping them out no matter the state, let the artists do what they do best.
Yes but also .... I'm not saying it's ok hear me out....... if a share holder and they can be anyone from a rich prick to someone who is actually passionate for gaming but does so on the business side through funding. You invest in what you know. Anyways if you're a shareholder and invest $$$$ in a product we'll you aren't the only one typically. So you have to sit down in meeting with others to actually come to a decision on the product that is centered around money. Hard truth is 9x out of 10 this isn't the only thing they are funding or investing in. They won't put all their eggs in one basket. So do you hold out hope and pour more money in? But then also maybe weigh your options on other ventures and their potential yields. So do you short them and cripple you by taking a leap of faith and trying to convince your other share holders to agree with you thus having to speak to their wallets as you all have different ventures and interests. That's also just the tip of the iceberg. The business side of AAA gaming is way more complex than most consumers realize and just over look cause well most don't and aren't in any way have a connection or relation to that type of person, mindset or lifestyle.
There's just honestly a lot to it. Too much to type but the gyst is that it isn't as simple as you think it is.
The fault falls also on CDPR cause they had a time schedule and didn't meet it and management apparently is reported to have not voiced issues that were being raised by workers about the game.
@@aliquidgaming1068this is a big reason why I’m against game dev companies being a public company. Forcing profit tends to be at odds with passionate creativity. That’s not to say the companies aren’t for profit, but they’re allowed to make their own decisions on timeline and costs, rather than a rich guy in a suit who likely has no interest in the creative project.
@@aliquidgaming1068 you’re absolutely correct. The pressure from investors on dates scheduled by the company is exactly why they ended up in the situation they did. I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was blissful ignorance or pressure from the team leaders to port a game that the worlds best computers at the time could barely run at 100fps onto old gen consoles which would have completely messed up the development process and slowed down the overall polish and completion of that game. I would guess the latter would have been the reason, moving the game to old gen to increase profits which hindered development in a massive way.
Only the CEO of CD Projekt RED flat out denied, that the release was because of pressure from shareholders. He said that they don't develop games without having completely secured the financing before going into it. Considering that Cybperpunk cost 260 Million Euro I believe that. The Witcher 3 sales were so high that they had more than 4 times that money lying around.@@aliquidgaming1068
@@aliquidgaming1068 You have directly highlighted precisely why artistic/creative endeavours are at loggerheads with profit motives.
Some armor pieces still having stats is not a residue of the old systems - they all make sense. Gas masks now give you toxin resistance, while kevlar/body armor gives you additional armor. All of it makes sense and is at least in my opinion more immersive.
Yeah thats a crtique thst didn't really resonate with me but depends on which way you look at it suppose. Yes its a relic of the old system but also overhauled in a way thst makes sense, no more sneakers that give you 70 armor so im all for it now.
Another point I personally dont quite agree with is thst theres still "too much" to pick in terms of perks/skills.
I feel if they made it more restrictive lets say only giving you enough perk points to reach a few "ultimate" perks ie. Max a subtree it would annoy me more as it hinders the powerfantasy many look for aswell as potential combination of builds, but again still a valid way to see it if you want to feel more specialised.
Also coming from someone who likes to play on hard / very hard i didn't have any complaints about the difficulty being too easy - i definitely got stronger and fights, rightfully so, became easier but i still found myself dying and failing because i overlooked stephen shotgun creeping up on me or got too greedy with finisher rushes or overclocked hacks. In my opinion they nailed the difficulty on hard with an incentive to increase to very hard once your build starts to kick in.
Overall Im very happy with 2.0 and the DLC - But then again im also someone that always liked Cyberpunk and for me it was just the dessert after a pleasant meal that reeled me back in.
I caught that as well. Sounds more like misinterpreting the existence of those stats rather than an oversight on the developers part.
@@SolidSteak01 totally agree. hard feels really good to play, and makes you think much more. i would say its the "correct" starting difficulty, especially if you play a lot of games
Personally, what annoyed me the most was just that the clothes were often labeled as highest tier loot even though they are mostly cosmetic. It reduced the excitement for me when I just found the next set of clothes in a box where I hoped would be a strong new gear item. Especially since the improvements between the tiers isn't even really that big to begin with. If I get 20 or 25 armor doesn't really matter when Cyberware gives me 1.5k armor. But I also think this is what PL did really well. The items you get from plane drops are really strong even if they don't always fit your build so it's really worth to go for them every time.
Agreed. For instance a vest with "bullet resistant kevlar lining" in its description should obviously add to V's base armor stats.
I can’t speak for anyone else but I adore these longer reviews man, your ability to articulate your thoughts so well is a skill that is sorely lacking these days
He kinda butchers the technical side of it sometimes "I know it's not a native framerate but I don't care bc it's not giving me more input latency" is just... factually incorrect lol, but yes, great reviewer.
3hr review of BG3 pls :D
Severely lacking? Dude long reviews are more popular than they've ever been
@@Neotokyovibes-WelcomeHome "your ability to articulate your thoughts so well is a skill that's sorely lacking"
WYM BRO PLENTY OF LONG REVIEWS OUT THERE
you're sorely lacking reading comprehension.
@@Skeames1214 I think you're misinterpreting my comment. We have the same opinion
Started playing CP2077 for the first time ever over the weekend, and I had a hard time putting the controller down. This game really is an experience.
Same ….
Well, it is *now*
Go watch a video of the release version to remind yourself what they were happy to give you for your $60. They continued to sell it when it was completely broken to the point that Sony themselves had to take it off their online shop, instead of CDPR removing it.
They knew it was terrible, reviewers that were given permission to review the game were legally obligated to specifically not mention certain parts, so that the game could avoid early criticism even in reviews.
When the calendar comes around and they're expecting to be able to sell DLC for their game, they need that game to be not-terrible so that people will purchase Phantom Liberty. 2.0 exists to redeem the game so you'll play Phantom Liberty. 2.0 broke enough game content that we got 2.1. I'm playing 2.1 and it's broken just as many things as it's added.
In combat I see the T-posing glitch from pre-1.6 actually return in 2.1.
Corpo scum selling you a game about corpo scum.
@AdamOwenBrowning chill out silverhand. Game is nova.
@@AdamOwenBrowningBehind the corpo stuff, there's artists and programmers fixing a creation they love. If you want to be cynical about it, fine, but remember that videogames aren't made in a game-making machine. There's writers, composers, coders, visual artists, designers, the whole thing, trying to show you a part of their vision in a world they helped create and realize. You can shame CDPR for the terrible launch and still recognize the quality of a lot of the aspects of this game. There's no contradiction in it.
Side Note: One of the things that impressed me the most when I first played this game was how varied the NPCs were in terms of size, age, race, style, cyberware, walking animation, what activities they were doing etc.... It really adds to the immersion imo
Also they had the balls to add little kid NPCs to the game which most open world games never do. here it makes the game feel more real when you see some kids playing or walking down the street with their parent or at Rivers place, the two kids you get to play that VR Game with. This game just does so many things right now finally, and it makes the world feel even more real.
Main reason I quit playing bioshock infinite was because majority of the npcs were just copy pastes of the same guy, npc diversity is very important to me lol so I love cyberpunk
Not with voice acting unfortunately. I hear the black fixer lady everywhere I go. She's like Detective Valentine in Skyrim.
Yet on my game I have 5 of the same npcs walking past each other or a maelstrom group hanging out all look the same too
@@MatticusFinch1820 yeah stupid adds kids but you can't shoot them so fucking stupid
The geometry is so cool in this game. The scope of the city seems so grand and is so artistically beautiful. It looks like beautiful concept art at time
The architecture of Night City from a design standpoint is an incredibly remarkable achievement in video games
Except for npcs
@@GigglingStonerstrue! They stick out like a sore thumb.
The city itself looks good, but lifeless. I mean, it should waaays morr cars, people and flying shit everywhere
Feels a little like Syd Mead's art coming to life
Just purchased the game when 2.0 came out and I cannot put it down. How they incorporate the dualsense controller is incredibly immersive.
The shifting gears when your driving feels orgasmic
I had bought this game at launch on Xbox and upgraded to Series X but when 2.0 came out i bought it on PS5 now that i have one and MAN the controller with this game is SICKKKKK. I could never go back to the Xbox Elite series 2 controller i was using with this game pror.
Wait what??
i honestly preferred the stealth in this game way more than going in guns blazing. Something about trying to not be detected while whiping out an entire base is really fun. It also CAN be easier in many ways because of the fact that you have to fight less enemies than you would if you did stealth. It just really helps me feel like V more because i'm playing the way I want to play.
Also the reworked skill trees allow for some pretty nutty stealth combat where you can drop an entire room of guys in seconds using handguns and cloaking.
And to be fair, saying the game is easy just means he hasnt played on very hard difficulty. Stealth is definetly preferred if youre playing on that cause your average lifespan boils down to about 3-4 maybe if youve gone with a body build 5-6 hits. Some encounters deadass feel like someone gave Dark Souls enemies shotguns.
yea and boss fights are way harder when you're focused on cool rather than body
RPG has become such a loaded term that seems to be more about menus and numbers than the act of playing a role in a story. Cyberpunk 2077 is definitely a narrative action adventure game that has a skill progression system.
And choices that matter!
Ralph please make reviews that are this long and this in depth, we absolutely love em
Ralph is doing numbers lately and I’m all for it. We’ve come a long way from The Division weekly vendor videos.
🤖
what are you trying to say? @@julianlak1017
been here since then!
***Raises hand to the friends we met along the way*** 👋
Those were the days lol
I really liked your mindfulness around the structure of cyberpunk as a game, and the developer’s intentions with different arcs. Something so obvious and yet still escaping my attention was how the game approached different narrative styles with different characters. It definitely is Mad Max with Panam, and Noir with Takemura. I love that
The narrative tone changes in the quest journal at well. Post-Jackie Welles it's written in Johnny's voice, and adds his sometimes comedically sarcastic take on what you do in NC's locales.
This review is fantastic. It’s such a lucid, organised and balanced breakdown of this game. It’s the kind of review that I look for in gaming journalism: entertaining and relaxing to watch, sure, but useful and novel discourse that deepens my appreciation of the game and the medium as a whole.
This game has been stuck in my head for like a whole year after I did my first play through. It’s absolutely genius.
Same, I haven’t been this into a game’s story/world since Mass Effect.
Same. My thoughts constantly wandered back to the game when I initially played it in 2021 and never really left me. I kept close to the updates but waited for 2.0 and the Expansion to jump back in a new game and was instantly reminded how much I loved this game, how much I missed it and what it made so good.
@@Proxycon it’s honestly weird, when I play I’m immersed in a way I haven’t been in any game Since maybe the witcher 3 and I think I like cyberpunk more tbh. The dirty yet beautiful vibes of the world and how night city seems to just chew everyone up and spit them out🤦🏽♂️. The show and the game did such a great job of making me feel it. I end up thinking is this actually my favorite game? And I believe it is lol. I’m mapping my first pc build. And the thing I’m most excited about is how I believe the mod community will continue to heavily support this game. Atleast until the next one comes out.
Wait until an actual "Gibson" cyberpunk theme hits. My hope is the sequel brings that. I like the game but it's basically CyberCallOfGTA as of now vs some real cyberpunk themes and rpging/interactivity.
This "V" will be my 4th - and will be the first to actually go to Embers.
I just wrapped up 170 hours of slumming it in Todd Howard's latest disappointment - I am so goddam ready to go back to Night City.
your review in 2020 was the reason I waited 3 years to buy this game, and I DID NOT regret it
It's been sitting in my steam library ever since release. I decided to wait on installing it, seeing where it may lead...
I think it's about time I finally download it.
Meh, I'll wait for the $5 sale in a few more years.
Huh?! He was this games biggest shill and gushed over it...
I'm jealous, I played on launch at the exact time it released and had a floating plate in my face in the very first frames of the game's intro scene and it was running at 20fps
@@habirtonnever gonna happen fam lol and especially not gonna happen with the dlc included. Keep coping though 🤷♂️. And understand that you aren’t some enlightened consumer by waiting your just an idiot
so glad you're giving this small indie game another review, now that it is out of early access.
The biggest change for me was the improved traffic. Driving around the city now feels so much better than before thanks to the new handling, but the feeling of "holy shit there's traffic" takes it to a whole new level.
I swear, sometimes I will just boot up cyberpunk, cruise around with no destination in mind and listen to podcasts (or even reviews like these)
OMG
same here but I just listen to radio
Hopping off Starfield to this legit made me feel like I jumped an entire gaming generation of RPGs.
That's because you did. Cyberpunk is one of the only truly next gen gaming experiences out there (been saying this since launch) and starfield feels very dated
@@13_facesyup, since launch I’ve been saying the same thing. If you had half a decent setup when this game dropped you didn’t notice too many bugs. It’s been one of my favorites for a long time and this DLC really cemented it, just wish CDPR would do more expansions or at least a sequel.
@@13_facessaying this since launch??? What?
@@XanVicious a set up had nothing to do with bugs. Many had very good Pcs and it was still a bug and glitch fest
@@Revan-eb1wb yes since launch. I specifically bought a ps5 to play it because I knew it was going to be a next gen game, and on launch the only bugs I had in my playthrough were small visual ones. I did have a bad crashing issue for the first week or so which was the biggest problem. I will admit Cdpr should have never released it on last gen consoles and they learned from that mistake by locking phantom liberty to the current gen
Please never stop doing these. Even when I don’t agree, they’re always incredible.
Doing what, game reviews? Kinda the lifeblood of the channel mate, think there's no risk of that
@@7Comic7mischief7 long form videos
@@Zoodles611 fair enough! It is a great video, I don't even know where he would have cut it down.
Agreed. The only game hat I've disagreed with was Last of Us Part 2 BUT I appreciate this man and reviews and listened to the whole review he did after I completed it
Nah, shed off 20 minutes
All I can say is I'm very excited for the future of this franchise. Hoping to see some more questlines that fully explore the factions of Night City in a future game. An MC who can join a gang or corp of choice would be interesting.
After upgrading to a PS5, I finally gave Cyberpunk another try and was blown away. I am currently addicted to this game, having played through the entirety multiple times now while exploring every path possible, and I am still finding small interactions or weapons I never seen before. Its a remarkable feat, and happy they made good on making this game what it is today.
Totally agree with the thesis of this video - 2.0 (and phantom liberty) really don't fundamentally change the game at all, but they do allow people to see the game that was always there.
Damn, deep words...
Agree, I could ignore the bugs that occurred around me at launch time as they were more 'annoying' than game breaking, bar a couple of quests that I couldn't finish (think it was three and they were all patched eventually). I loved my playthrough, put around 140 hours into it back across 2020 and 2021 and I still think it's one of the best games I've ever played.
@@si_w8201 lucky you because they were definitely game & immersion-breaking bugs/technical issues on my Series X.
@@atlien1988 fair enough, always recognised that a lot of other gamers were not so lucky...
I think a lot of your problems with the perks and equipment systems can be fix simply by playing on hard or very hard. At those difficulties, the passive perks start to matter a lot more and crafting mods and upgrading your weapons become much more important if you want to keep up with the enemies. I don't think there's any problems with the game's balance at this point, I think you just have the wrong expectations for the normal difficulty.
Yup, haven't watched the review (I went into PL with 0 spoilers) and playing through PL now, on very hard all these perks and boosts and upgrades mattwe so much. Im running a tank build currently, 403hp and a metric fuck ton of armor and im staying alive through perks and cyberware.
To be fair even on hard and very hard, by the end you are completely OP - which I think is good actually
Thank you the only review to mention how this expansion fits into the main game and I’ve watched quite a few. Whether you can go there straight away or reload an old save. Well done
Always love your reviews, especially the deep dive into games.
That concert blew me the fuck away. Never expected to have a literal game music video.
Honestly think Cyberpunk ended up being one of my favorite games of all time. Huge congrats to the devs who made this an awesome experience!
I truly believe at least for me cyberpunk 2077 (2.0) & Phantom liberty is now the best current generation game released.
@@Kage-jk4pj elden ring, botw 2, bg3
@@jac6548yup like he said, nothing on this level.
@@jac6548they're all great games. The only one I'd say is on this level is BG3 though. if it had a better third arc it would be the peak imo.
Sad the game didn't came out like this, because in the eyes of the casual gamers once a game has a bad reputation it's forever. Which is very depressing when this game made you live such an immersive and fantastic experience, the more i play it the more it's becoming one of my favorite universe ever, it has such an atmosphere and very depressing but interesting tone to it... even all the little details like the design of the guns and the vehicules, the NPCs in the streets and the ads you see all over the city, so much work went into all these aspects, its so sad to see the game be considered by many as something as bad as Fallout 76 or whatever other game with a terrible reputation
I cannot agree more. I am obsessed with this game being my all time favourite, but coming into it I also did and extensive dive into the lore and that just makes it so much more special. The world Mike Pondsmith came up with is so deep and detailed it is really unique.
I really like how it's an alternative split on ours too, like (not seen in the CDPR game) there are popular MMOs that people play that were popular enough that some people got full body kits to look like elves or orcs, Star Wars (an expy version) is also a thing with in-universe merch, themed armor and so on.
I cannot stress how much I love the transitions/chapter screens and the choice of music. This is such a tightly executed video with an excellent script, cadence and flow. One of your best videos yet ShillUp. Up there with your Monster Hunter World left.
It’s insane how this new update and expansion completely took me away from Starfield. I’m actually having fun I stead of looking at black loading screens every 3 minutes. Not to mention how well the game performs.
And when you do get a loading screen in 2077, it's a beautiful still, some audio, and a tv playing.
A fave design decision
Every three minutes, ok
God i hate having to fast travel to the ship, go to space, jump system to system, jump to the planet you want just to find a mostly empty planet surface with 3 or 4 plants/animals to scan and a couple of useless procedurally generated points of "interest". Plus there's so much fucking bland junk to collect because you never know when a research project might call for a sci fi magnetic buttplug or a gyroscopic widget. The carrying capacity is a fucking joke, too. There's a lot of good stuff in starfield buried under a mountain of empty bloated bullshit.
@@johnwrath3612 1000 planets for what?
Let's be real here.
Once Starfield pulled the same stunt CP2077 did where it's completely fixed,gets reworks and expansions and full mod support and other QOL changes and i can guarantee it will.
People WILL go back to that game and then later compare it to the newest broken super hyped AAA launch title while praise Starfield about how good it is etc etc.
It's like a never ending cycle...I remember CP2077 1.0 was compared for the very same reason and i swear someone made a similar comment about how X took them away from CP2077 and mentioned about how unplayable it was.
Not dissing CP2077/Starfield or anything...Just pointing out.
Aww, I liked Cyberpunk's old crafting...you could walk into an area where weapons weren't allowed, steal a bunch of scrap paper, staplers, and ash trays, and use them to craft an arsenal of grenades and wall-piercing shotguns. It was glorious. Still, sounds like a lot of improvements overall. Thanks for a good and entertaining review.
i mean you totally can still do that
this is why I really enjoy your reviews. thoughtful and in depth.
I've always respected your reviews since you just express why you think/feel something is good or bad. Sometimes there's no way around the outcome regardless of how it's presented.
I really don’t understand the hate for the original review. It told me everything I needed to know to decide not to buy it! It feels like the flip side of the insane pre-release hype where once it went bad everyone was expected to flip into frothing hatred with zero nuance
Same. The exact thing I got from it was don't buy it ....yet.
And I'm really glad I waited till now. This is my first playthrough and wow what a game.
Same here. Thanks to the original review I held off until purchase until last week. Bought a cheap physical edition (which I haven’t done in years due to game pass), so should be great value for money.
What a sensible purchasing decision and a mature way of looking at things. I bought C2077 at launch and had no regrets. I've played all their games at or near release and a ton of other "Eurojank" rpgs so I knew what I was in for. The FOMO of pre-release hype and pre-order culture driven by gamers and content creators really needs to tone it down a bit.
Thank you for the comprehensive analysis on all reviews. Always look forward to these.
These kinda reviews are what brought me to this channel and made me a lifetime subscriber. Love these reviews!!
I truly think you are the best video game journalist on this platform, I've always appreciated just how articulate you are and how that ability lifts your content to a level that I think most other journalists cannot meet
Keep up the good work man, couldn't agree more with your take on Cyberpunk even at launch; it always was a heavily mismarketed action game masquerading as a light RPG with a lot to criticize, but with absolutely a lot to appreciate and love too
Playing this game maxed out on pc is absolutely unbelievable, one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had
True , I played UT in a 1070 on luanch and I thought it looked good, now with a 4070 I'm using path tracing and jt looks so good
@@injest3r574Is that Unreal Tournament?
@@HanmaHeiro meant to say " it" typo
@@HanmaHeiro that would be crazy if unreal tournament had it
This is one of those games that makes me consider getting (or building) a PC. Still looks good on PS5, but it sucks to have to chose between ray-tracing at 30 fps and 60 fps w/o RT.
Wow! We have another almost 1-hour long epic review. I'm still watching it while typing this, but I just wanted to say how much I appreciate thorough coverage like this, Ralph.
I'm glad you took your time with this one because looking at the chapters, it's clear that you have covered a lot of ground here.
Also, a shoutout to the true owner of this channel, Austin, for using his editing wizardry to make it all work. 🙌
What a wholesome comment ❤
I've re-watched your original Cyberpunk 2077 review a few times, at first it was what cemented my decision to wait to play the game (thank you for that), and then watching again during my PS5 playthrough several months later to reengage perspective. I feel like your review was a very intelligent and balanced account of the game's initial issues, but more importantly of the impression that that CD Project Red was clearly trying to impart with these characters and world (despite all of it's technical problems).
Thanks to your review, I strayed from the quest storyline about as quickly as I could during my first playthrough, deigning instead to partake in the many (and wonderful) side quests that Night City had to offer. Having dumped about 118-hours into that first playthrough, I think that I can confidently say that the "charm" of this game largely lies in the character development that happens during those side quests, and that it is only in playing through a lot of them that you as the player really start to feel an authentic connection to V, the protagonist.
I have to thank you, because I LOVED this game, and it felt very wrong to me that the overall perception was of it being a broken mess with a campaign that wasn't memorable. I feel like a lot of the joy that I felt playing, as well as the very weighty impact of those final endings, came from my attachment to the main character (largely derived from all of the time I spent roaming around Night City and taking on the wealth of side-content, which really served to enrich the main story arc).
Apologies for the lengthy comment, but I just wanted to reiterate how much I both appreciate and value your take on this experience (and your bravery in not just bashing it, due to the industry sentiment at the time), because Cyberpunk 2077 now sits VERY high on my list of memorable gaming experiences. One that I'm very excited to dive back into again with Phantom Liberty, which I'm very happy is finally getting the base game the praise that I feel like it objectively always deserved.
Ditto.
Initially Keanu felt awkward, but as I got to know him, I understand him his desires his goals, I began to enjoy his quirky dialogues and he grew up on me
I appreciate you including a section on the handheld performance. This is going to be a common question for any AAA game.
He does that to nearly every AAA game he reviews
@@gabeherehe tries, which is good, but he doesn't go above and beyond. Diablo 4 plays great on the Deck but he didn't cover it at all because it requires installation of another launcher
I enjoy these thoughtfull and packed reviews so much!
Personally, the lack of any real choice during the game and how lacking the RPG systems felt will always keep me away from enjoying this game because that's what was sold to me during trailers, game showcases etc etc. But I do see why people enjoy the game. I can admit that the game is probably one of the best looking games if not the best looking game rn. And maybe Cyberpunk 2077 will be the stepping stones to something better in the world of cyberpunk eventually.
Ralph: the definitive review of this title, on the entire internet. As you encapsulated this game's history to present day, full circle. If there's 1 review to watch, this is the one. Respect. And thank you.
Skill up trying to make the most comprehensive retelling of the story of CP2077. Well done
I strongly disagree with his assessment that the game doesn't delve deeply enough into the various themes though. A lot of it's done through environmental storytelling, background dialogue, side quests/gigs, and yes, a million notes you find around the world. It doesn't really spoonfeed you all the details, like exactly why Arasaka is so bad, but it's all there to be found if you look for it. If your character needs to be told why Arasaka is bad, then that's bad storytelling and makes V seem like they were just born yesterday.
You're living in a world with the scars of 4 corporate wars that tore apart the country, and Arasaka just happened to be the most ruthless and cunning with a literal WWII era Japanese Nazi at the helm. The perpetual state Night City and the rest of the former United States is in is thanks to Saburo wanting it that way, a big fuck you for stopping Imperial Japan's fascist dreams. Part that sucks is Arasaka's done so much damage and changed the way the "game" is played so much to the point Night City might never recover. I'm pretty sure they were the first to do dealings with street gangs, putting their hands into everything to try to keep the people down. Now that's probably just gonna be a reality for Night City, even if Arasaka goes kaput.
Also, having meaningful choices kinda goes against the theme of Cyberpunk and not having any choices. Kind of a cop out but it's true. Everybody's fate is decided by someone else, there's basically no escape. Try as you might, you're gonna fail and a lot of people are gonna die. "Happier ending? Wrong city, wrong people." Mike Pondsmith said the best possible outcome you could have in Night City is that one person you care about survives even if everyone else dies, hence Edgerunners. They definitely could've had more choices that each have their own pros and cons, but just don't expect a happy ending.
Problem is, that conflicts with the power fantasy and the fact I literally can't die. Playing on Very Hard, my cyberware literally lets me tank being shot in all directions by the toughest enemies. So yeah, nothing should technically be a threat to me and I should be the one the megacorps fear and listen to cause I can destroy everyone they throw at me with my fists.
@@nickv1212man this is really good writing might have to be a game reviewer
The "Density vs Square milage" I think is perfectly encapsulated in the Yakuza franchise. I've spent several games running around in the same neighbourhood to the point where I could probably navigate it in my sleep, yet I never got tired of it, because each game ensured that this same area felt different, as you saw the many changes that happened over teh decades.
Well put
Cyberpunk is an RPG. It has a quest design that allows player choice and character builds, it has a dialogue tree, it has a C&C system. How good of an RPG it is, that's debatable, But it's not an action game
I've been enjoying cyberpunk at a pretty 80% stable 60fps, settings on medium/high.. on a 1060, 6gb.
Pretty impressive how much better it runs now than on launch.
Thank you for the review and thanks for sticking to your guns about your honest opinion on Cyberpunk through all these years. Cheers!
Honestly I don't comment much but thanks to you and your team for the hard work. These are the best reviews on RUclips. Cheers
Why do people need to tell that they "don't comment much" in a video. Like.. woah.. your comment is so valuable since you dont comment in videos.
@@ryuno2097 why do you feel that way lmao he's just saying
@@ryuno2097weird thing to get triggered about
@@ryuno2097 Iv never understood it either tbh. Nobody really cares anyway do they?
@@ryuno2097i don't really get it either why people can be triggered about very little things that doesn't affect them in any meaningful way, like...woah lets not do anything to hurt your feelings
Especially with 2.0, I find the role playing elements of the game line up most on the playstyle. How you want to chrome out and spec your character. Stealth definitely is choice rather than a benefit, but gosh darn it, do I like to sneak around.
The way you talk about this game after it's fixed is how I felt about it the whole time I played on my ps4. Problems, but amazing. The emotion poured into and pouring out of this game is just amazing.
I just watched a near 1 hour review of a game that I already played through many times.. only Skill Up can keep me awake through a review this long. Great job!
you want to rim him
@@Alexander-or7vr ya got me there.
Also, the amount of quality that you (and now Austin) put into these reviews is astounding. Best review channel on the market imo
Enjoy that shillup muck you love
Playing it now and it's the first game in a long time, where I'm not only completely absorbed in its story but I want to explore every corner of night city. I'm taking my time with this one.
I’ve put in over 180hrs into this game. Love every minute of it just sad when the end credits came in 😩 I’m sad we’re not getting anymore dlc. Can’t wait for the sequel and I hope the game looks as beautiful on the Unreal engine as it did on Red Engine 🙏🏻
You can really feel the passion and honesty that went into the making of this review 2.0 - that is why I love your channel. Cannot wait for my first cyberpunk 2077 playthrough in this improved state. :) I can already smell that I will love it.
The Phantom Liberty storyline is incredible, only a few hours in and personally fin it more compelling than the main story. Oh and I live out a sequence that is a love letter to Ghost In The Shell complete with a spider tank that made my dreams come true. Truly a love letter to sci-fi genre
I think the Phantom Liberty storyline gets way better in the later half. So if you're already digging it, strap in.
@@adeviantproductionA lot of people I’ve heard say it’s not as strong. I’m playing through it currently and am enjoying it the deeper I invest in Phantom Liberty. You’re the first comment I’ve seen praising later half of Phantom Liberty and since I share the enjoyment, I can’t wait to see what’s coming up.
@@adeviantproduction Don't think I agree, unfortunately. Spoilers ahead I guess. Starts off very intriguing with some cool moments and visuals, like when Reed sits behind you at the court, watching SF1 crash, even seeing Alex transform and being introduced to that tech. But as you progress the whole cool factor of being a secret agent doing secret agent stuff is diminshed and starts to focus more on character interaction, then Songbird becomes the main focus of everything and I just didn't find her character all that interesting. The pacing of it all just feels disjointed, lackluster, and rushed. Kurt was such a wasted character, as were Reed and Myers to a lesser degree imo. The last missions down in the secret facility were meh to me.
Some wasted potential imo, but I still rate it favorably and will play it again in the future to experience the different paths.
Too bad interactivity and reactivity are lacking in an "interactive medium" like a video game. Just farting around more mindless combat still feels soulless to me. NPC scheduling missing, no fully functional NCART with encounters, no real player presence in the city. But hey, now there's 2013 GTA features. :/
As soon as I saw the Chimera and Kirk's bodyguard that looks just like Batou.
A great review! It's a testiment to this game that I didn't flinch at the prospect of starting a fourth full playthrough to experience Phantom Liberty. My first playthrough as a quickhacking stealth-ninja, the only incentive I needed was playstyle novelty. As you say, not perfect but I'm loving it all again.
Great video as always! I love these long-form reviews with more in-depth analysis!
On the subject of the personal connection with the main DLC cast not quite reaching the same heights as with the base game characters, I don't necessarily see it as an issue with the DLC since it very much feels like it is by design. The main story cast is incredibly affable and pretty good natured overall, it makes them incredibly likeable, but it also doesn't really make for a lot of tension in your relationships with them, since they are pretty straight forward about exactly what their wants and needs are for you to get along with them, even Johnny.
With Phantom Liberty, it very much felt like CDPR wanted to create a bit more tension and mistrust between you and your companions, while still keeping them overall likable, and I'd say the pulled it off. Their goals aren't exactly clear, you constantly feel like you are being spun in their webs, not entirely certain they are telling you the whole truth of their motives or goals, but also not completely distrustful of them because they seem forthcoming and sincere despite it all.
You also have the option to call them out on their potential lies or half truths in most major dialogue within the DLC, now, it rarely goes anywhere, but that's mostly a core issue with cyberpunks general illusion of choice, but I still feel it has to be mentioned that it is a key option in most dialogue.
Overall, I felt CDPR hit a pretty good balance in terms of making me genuinely care about the new characters and what might happen to them, while also still being wary that maybe they were just playing me all along. It fits perfectly with the spy thriller theme of the whole DLC.
I'm glad I'm not the only one blown away by this update. They really saved this game and I couldn't be happier about it. As excited as I was for starfield I haven't been able to put down cyberpunk since the 2.0 update 😅
Love Cyberpunk, have since launch because I was one of the lucky few to not be glitch bombed. However, having Nvidia sponsor your review on a game that specifically benefits from that sponsorship in their actual menus is a touch suspect. Carry on.
Yeah fake frames and who knows what actual response timing and actual resolution. If it looks and feels good then I guess that’s all that matters for single player easy action games anyway. But I’m stuck on many generations old hardware so the grapes are sour bleh
Not glitch bombed? Yeah... right lol
Dyde, I've been waiting for your review forever!. Don't make us wait for this long in future.
Wonderful review. Thanks for your work.
A 50+ minute game review?.... love it, it's been a while
The new director they got really made some confident decisions in removing, changing ajd adding things to the game to make it as good as it could be. Im excited to see what he and the team could do with a blank slate
And if I'm not mistaken, he (Gabe) will be moving to the new studio to head Cyberpunk 2, from one interview I saw, so it's hopefully gonna keep getting better over there for the whole team.
@gabehere yes, I've heard that too. I think he is leading the development of cyberpunk 2 and I'm sure this only solidified that. Wasn't he an ex bioware dev?
@@CurtTheHeroyes, he was the lead designer for the dragon age dlc
@@CurtTheHerohe also co managed projects with Obsidians.
@Jewce24 ahh, okay. Cool. Definitely a big step up but seems he rose to the occasion
I feel like you read my mind with literally every take you have on this game. Well done sir! 👍🏾👍🏾
I’ve been playing CP77 on and off since v1.5. I love the game, and I think this overview describes almost exactly how I feel about it. Such a great video. Thanks!!
Loving this. I originally wrote a 7,000 word, 3 part review on Cyberpunk back in 2021. Now with 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, I fully intend to make a new review.
Thanks Austin and Ralph for this amazing content been enjoying my first playthrough and phantom liberty beat 3 endings in 31 hours. This dlc delivers
Ooooooooh hope you’re happy with yourself for that last line. Gave me chillllls
Bro I love your transitions between chapters, oh my gosh
gotta say, this is edited like an old shill up video and i love it. something about it reminds me of when i first started watching and he would talk about getting his written reviews that were formated like magazines. plus it's a long ass video so that does it too.
Great re-review mate! Always said it, CP2077 raised the bar in NPCs expressions and body language during dialogue.
Partly a betrayal of last-gen consoles? CDPR completely, royaly, purposefully fucked over a huge portion of their customer base, at launch, with support, and now with this 2.0 update. I can only speak for myself, but my trust in CDPR has been severely and permanently damaged, if not outright shattered.
Played Cyberpunk for the first time and it was perfect. Although I would have liked to spend more time with Panam.. she is so beautifully written.
I miss these long reviews. Please do more!
I always liked Cyberpunk 2077 for its story, writing and characters. It was the best part of the game. I will play Phantom Liberty 100%; just busy with Baldur’s Gate 3 right now.
Same
You are the best source of reviews. Thanks you for your service
Going from 170 hours of Starfield straight into CP2.0 is gojng to be incredible.
One of the rare games I've 100%'d in recent memory. Very happy with its 2.0 update + DLC.
It's always strange hearing the perspective the game wasn't meant for last gen consoles. 2077 was originally intended to release before we even knew the PS5/Series X were a thing, in April 2020. It wasn't delayed (the first time) until January 2020, at which point we'd still not seen/heard anything official regarding the next gen consoles. The game's first delay only pushed it back to September, still before the next gen systems would have released.
While the game was unquestionably a mess on last gen systems, they (along w/PC obviously) were always the primary release target.
Neither was RDR2 meant to be on last gen as well. Literally drops fps so low in Saint Denis that they had to downgrade the game so it can be almost stable at 30 fps.
It had more NPC's on the road and was less lifeless.
The quality was at 720p where promoting gameplays looked at 4K.
They patched that into 1080p months later and it's been debunked about PS4 Pro not really have 4K quality.
It's just 1440p, not 2160p.
Game was undercooked with optimizations and with contents that they did cut from the game.
PC version has micro stuttering after Naturalist update and unfortunately they added game freezing for sec on all versions (on last gen didn't exist before Online).
Very good review, completely mirrors my thoughts about the game, although I liked Phantom Liberty for its spy-thriller bond-esque theme, since I am a massive sucker for it. Additionally, the expansion reminded me how great the plot, twists and turns in similar games like Deus Ex are and GOD do I miss Deus Ex. Phantom Liberty filled that hole for at least somewhat.
I actually thought the unresponsive cop system in the old version only made the game more immersive because the negligence was very plausible. In a lot of American cities the cops already are just a cleanup crew.
spoiler alert.
they don't even care about someone commiting suicide. in a mission where someone commit suicide.
the bigger problem was the cops that appeared out of nowhere
It might be a hot take, but I don't like the new police system, especially how it interacts with NCPD dispatch missions. A lot of those missions have civilians that are already being killed or beaten, and the NCPD gives the job of responding to you, an independent subcontractor. If you accidentally hurt any of them, *then* the police respond. Makes no sense, because you're given the job in the first place because of their lack of resources or unwillingness to respond the call.
Also every time you hit a civillian the police automatically respond immediately like they're the most attentive police force in the world. I feel like it should've had a system where civilians needed to call just for a chance for them to respond, or killing certain people that had biomon/trauma team (so corpos) would make them respond immediately. Hopefully in the next game this gets better.
06:49 that's an insult to Bethesda bugs. i think with Cyberpunk, CDPR truly set a new bar when it comes to a buggy experience at launch
Skill up still delivering the best reviews in the game well done!
The concluding thoughts were Bang on. I too love Cyberpunk for those exact reasons.
I am replaying it now after finishing it on release. Wow, this is an experience, I am having so much more fun than on the release patch! This game is absolutely amazing and it is the first time in years that I have dreamt of the world of a game. Watching Edgerunners also helped me feel the world.
If you are doubting playing cp2077 and buying the dlc; it's absolutely worth it. Play the DLC, I haven't finished it but I am enamored by it.
I’d go as far to say this has become one of my favourite games ever. The story is brilliant, love the characters, the vibe of the city, music, combat, everything feels completely new compared to when it launched. I also find the world to feel a lot more alive than it did previously as well, with numerous NPC’s having discussions, gang vs. police shootouts, there’s a lot more going on than I remember before. And a lot of it comes from gigs and side missions which really add to the world. Phantom Liberty so far is 10/10 for me, really dig the new area and the story has been great. Amazing job CDPR did turning this game around. It’s an absolute must play.
Is it?
Witcher 3 was good Cyberpunk even with the patch and dlc is meh
@@lalo38th41Lots of people disagree mate. The game and the DLC were great.
@@lalo38th41 The Witcher 3 is good, but Cyberpunk is great. I've always liked Cyberpunk more, even at launch.
What's better than a redemption arc for a Video Game? A Skill-Up redemption review video.
except like with most people with brains of their own there was no redemption to be had. the game was already amazing even at launch regardless of all the whiny losers carrying on about it. also skill up always though it was great from the beginning. The game was good at the start.
There is no one out there that does reviews like you do. You are amazing, thank you.
I'm also glad to see that Cyberpunk finally got out of beta. They might even get my money when on sale!
Ive always had kind of a hard time emotionally connecting to media, this game is the first time in ten years to make me TRULY feel something. Judy specifically felt so real, and i truly felt connected to her struggles. The rest of the game didnt disappoint, either. Without spoiling it for anyone else i got the Stars ending while romancing Judy and felt a real catharsis and appreciation for my time spent in NC, now my friends and I are making our own stories in night city, starting up a Cyberpunk Red campaign.
I felt the same way with Judy and now with Songbird in Phantom Liberty. CDPR are amazing storytellers.
When you become the last Choomba is pretty sad
Totally agree on your overall assesment of the base game. As a PC player I had a great first experience with Cyberpunk when it came out. I'm a filthy casual so I had very little knowledge of what DCPR promised it would be. I was never aboard the hype train! Only heard about the game some months before the release. So I just took the game as it was given. I didnt even have that much visual bugs or I just didnt notice them. Just some characters and cars stuck to inside terrain. Only thing really that bothered me was the poor police system.
Bought and played for the first time yesterday. I’m enjoying it so far and can’t wait to progress more throughout with everything being “fixed”!
i came back to CP2077 after all those years, and now, man i had to tell ya, im having a blast - i love every single thing about it.