Cyberpunk 2077 Reception

Interesting, thanks.  I knew it has issues at release, but didn't realise they rose to the level of 'unplayable'.  I guess time has coloured my memories of it 

 For me, they talked a different game which appealed to people but their actions said otherwise. I mean look at the Glassdoor reviews, the reports about the extreme crunch that went on during Cyberpunk's development. It's just that for years, CDPR managed to ride gamer's good will and downplayed them.

I guess the key difference is that it didn’t get the ludicrously inflated hype this one got. 

I do agree, that is the purpose of a company.  I think the difference is that CDPR was trying to sell themselves as the most gamer first company and look at all the things they do for gamers and "they leave the greed for others".  The old saying "live by the sword, die by the sword" applies itself here for CDPR was always trying to make themselves look better then the other publishers because they were "for the gamers" and the cold reality hit a lot of people with Cyberpunk that they were fed a line.

Pre-TW3 series sales (TW1/TW2 combined) was like 5 millions and some of that was increased by TW3 imminent release. CDPR were near nobodies when TW3 released and the game popularity blew up post release and continued to sell very well after that.

Saying that, I think the "drama" is fueled by something else than disgruntled buyers or "broken hype". Like I said previously, AC Valhalla has a lots of the same issues CP2077 has. In fact, AC Valhalla has a lots more broken quests and crashes from my personal experience and what I can read on the BSN thread (on PC and consoles), but it has none of this drama. And you would think AC Valhalla would have got some backlashes too. It was very hyped. Some of the stuff they said would be in the game were not. It also have half-baked features and failed promises. On top of it, people who loved Odyssey feel its a step down.

In a way, it makes the whole thing feels like it's just about the graphics, as that is the place where CP2077 is (look) worst than AC Valhalla (on the base consoles).

I've noticed that too, the streamer I watch had a tonne of crashes to desktop and glitchy quests playing AC, but I hardly heard any gripes about that from influencers or game journos. Actually I keep getting ads for it and I am still getting a lot of recommendations in youtube etc. Then again, I think AC Valhalla is more like what people expected from Ubisoft anyway which may be why people weren't that fazed by the bugs.

Cyberpunk on the other hand, I think a lot of the backlash is due to the fact their own team made it sound like they'd considered every possible outcome and were focusing on an immersive experience that was revolutionary to games. To me it seems like most game journos and youtubers just side with whichever way the crowd is going. I mean how quickly did IGN change its tune? Not to mention the influencers who were no doubt hesitant in overly criticising it.

Insiders were pre-emptively calling it game of the decade based on the demos they had seen. I remember IGN saying after their 16 hr initial playthrough that 'first and foremost its an rpg', yet now, even CDPR aren't even calling it that even though it was primarily marketed as an rpg experience. Honestly I hope someone is compiling a list of things the devs and journos said would be a feature in the game.

I was personally looking forward to playing a nomad turned stealthy pacifist. Apparently that isn't even possible, yet I remember one of the devs saying it was possible to get through the game without killing a single enemy.


Then there were devs talking about the amount of details in the game. Like how they designed four different architectural styles, hand placed rubbish in rubbish bins, had a designer design 4 different style toilet blocks, npcs would react based on how they were wounded, relevant packaging being placed next to relevant businesses like allfoods next to restaurants, players would be able to traverse the city vertically, etc. All of their marketing spiel gave the idea that they were so detail focused and the game was so next-level immersive which may be why so many people feel like they were misled.

Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 comes from the superhero school of non-lethality. Batman breaks a guys neck, don't worry he's fine! Though I guess to some extent that's all stealth games, well unless the player leaves all enemies untouched. But its more extreme here. 

Yeah, its a special one! Also capable of being a club bouncer. Why throw someone out the airlock, when your car can do it for you!

Blunt weapons are non-lethal. Just equip your favourite pipe or dildo. Also some quickhacks only incapacitate. An eye mod lets you deal non-lethal damage. Gun mods can provide non-lethal damage too. You can largely go brutal, but still non-lethal. Actually, I might start a character with that idea if I opt for a melee build. But blowing up stuff is more fun.