My experience with Cyberpunk 2077 is two-fold. First, as a game, it's provided a ton of entertainment in a world that I really love. Secondly, as an unintentional social experiment aimed at the gaming community, it's become quite the rabbit hole.

For those looking for input on whether or not to buy the game, I'll keep it brief. If the theme and aesthetic interests you, you should just buy it. If you like shooters, stealth games, or RPGs, I think it's worth your time because it has enough going on in all three that it's quite good. I've already started and nearly completed a second play through and it was like playing a completely different game because of my build choices. It's very similar to Skyrim in that you can be stealthy, ranged, melee, magic, etc. and it seriously changes the nature of the game. I would recommend against doing every single side quest and gig during your first play through so you have some new things to try out when you create a new character.

I find the world incredibly beautiful and immersive. I've probably spent ten hours just walking around the city, and disparate areas do feel different enough that it doesn't come across as a big map of copy/paste assets. Yes, I get visual glitches from time to time. NPCs handing me things that aren't there, mostly. There was one car chase where the driver I was following was sitting in the air about ten feet to the right of his car, but that proved to be more comical than anything. Is that enough to condemn a really entertaining game? Hell no.

So what's the deal with all the complaining and bad reviews?

This is clearly one of those games that was "ruined" by consumer expectations, not the devs. Sure, the devs played a hand in setting expectations poorly, but at the end of the day, they released a fun game that's well worth what I paid for it.

The comments of "this game sucks because it just makes me think about how good it could have been" are misleading and...well...pretty immature. These are not objective reviews. They're not even useful reviews. They're whining, nothing more. Dismiss them and try the game for yourself. When you enjoy it, come back and leave a good review. It REALLY pisses off the people who have made a career out of hating on this game.

Look, whiners. Every game ever made "could" be better. Same goes for every meal, movie, or consumer product ever produced. The idea that something should be judged on a person's arbitrary ideas of its potential is ludicrous. This way of thinking is the fast road to never enjoying anything. If someone hands you a fun game that thousands of people clearly enjoy and YOU can't enjoy it, that's on you. And that's why you hate seeing the positive reviews, because it reminds you that you actually have a great game in front of you, but your own vitriol and ego are keeping you from enjoying it.

Now, here's the irony that begs to be pointed out: the game literally is cyberpunk if you think about the genre and the deeper meaning of its themes. (Based on discussions I've seen in Reddit, many of the younger players don't seem to realize that "cyberpunk" is an almost 50-year-old genre, not a creation of CDPR. Or "Altered Carbon".)

Think about it. A bunch of people were promised a technological world that didn't arrive as promised, proved to be full of flaws, and left them feeling empty and adrift? Consumers feel like some dev corporation screwed them over? They feel like no one listens to them? Modders need to break into the system and change things to make it better for the common people?

These ideas LITERALLY form the backbone of the cyberpunk ethos. I can describe the consumer perception of the game using the same paragraph as the game's premise. Cool, right?

So the early disappointment around Cyperpunk was either an accident that led to a great teachable moment, or it's the most clever and artistic marketing payoff in the history of gaming. (Eh, it was probably an accident, but still...)

Anyway, I fully recommend it. Gotten at least 80 hours worth of entertainment out of it already.

For the record, I've written a multiple award-winning cyberpunk novel titled 'Into the BeanStalk', so I'm familiar with the genre. (Here's the book, if you're interested: https://amzn.to/48juwfj)

[h1]Cyberpunk: It Embodies the Genre More Than People Realize[/h1] My experience with Cyberpunk 2077 is two-fold. First, as a game, it's provided a ton of entertainment in a world that I really love. Secondly, as an unintentional social experiment aimed at the gaming community, it's become quite the rabbit hole. For those looking for input on whether or not to buy the game, I'll keep it brief. If the theme and aesthetic interests you, you should just buy it. If you like shooters, stealth games, or RPGs, I think it's worth your time because it has enough going on in all three that it's quite good. I've already started and nearly completed a second play through and it was like playing a completely different game because of my build choices. It's very similar to Skyrim in that you can be stealthy, ranged, melee, magic, etc. and it seriously changes the nature of the game. I would recommend against doing every single side quest and gig during your first play through so you have some new things to try out when you create a new character. I find the world incredibly beautiful and immersive. I've probably spent ten hours just walking around the city, and disparate areas do feel different enough that it doesn't come across as a big map of copy/paste assets. Yes, I get visual glitches from time to time. NPCs handing me things that aren't there, mostly. There was one car chase where the driver I was following was sitting in the air about ten feet to the right of his car, but that proved to be more comical than anything. Is that enough to condemn a really entertaining game? Hell no. So what's the deal with all the complaining and bad reviews? This is clearly one of those games that was "ruined" by consumer expectations, not the devs. Sure, the devs played a hand in setting expectations poorly, but at the end of the day, they released a fun game that's well worth what I paid for it. The comments of "this game sucks because it just makes me think about how good it could have been" are misleading and...well...pretty immature. These are not objective reviews. They're not even useful reviews. They're whining, nothing more. Dismiss them and try the game for yourself. When you enjoy it, come back and leave a good review. It REALLY pisses off the people who have made a career out of hating on this game. Look, whiners. Every game ever made "could" be better. Same goes for every meal, movie, or consumer product ever produced. The idea that something should be judged on a person's arbitrary ideas of its potential is ludicrous. This way of thinking is the fast road to never enjoying anything. If someone hands you a fun game that thousands of people clearly enjoy and YOU can't enjoy it, that's on you. And that's why you hate seeing the positive reviews, because it reminds you that you actually have a great game in front of you, but your own vitriol and ego are keeping you from enjoying it. Now, here's the irony that begs to be pointed out: the game literally is cyberpunk if you think about the genre and the deeper meaning of its themes. (Based on discussions I've seen in Reddit, many of the younger players don't seem to realize that "cyberpunk" is an almost 50-year-old genre, not a creation of CDPR. Or "Altered Carbon".) Think about it. A bunch of people were promised a technological world that didn't arrive as promised, proved to be full of flaws, and left them feeling empty and adrift? Consumers feel like some dev corporation screwed them over? They feel like no one listens to them? Modders need to break into the system and change things to make it better for the common people? These ideas LITERALLY form the backbone of the cyberpunk ethos. I can describe the consumer perception of the game using the same paragraph as the game's premise. Cool, right? So the early disappointment around Cyperpunk was either an accident that led to a great teachable moment, or it's the most clever and artistic marketing payoff in the history of gaming. (Eh, it was probably an accident, but still...) Anyway, I fully recommend it. Gotten at least 80 hours worth of entertainment out of it already. For the record, I've written a multiple award-winning cyberpunk novel titled 'Into the BeanStalk', so I'm familiar with the genre. (Here's the book, if you're interested: https://amzn.to/48juwfj)