After years of taking a beating from the gaming community, Cyberpunk 2077 has somehow made it through the fire with only superficial scars to show for it. Unfortunately, it still has a long way to go to win back the gamers’ trust in the way it’s communicated the changes, even the good ones. A main sticking for CDPR is the amount of detail and attention they put into storytelling; in our opinion, they nailed that part.
It’s not every day you get a chance to correct your past mistakes. Even the most die-hard fans of CDPR felt obligated to admit the studios’ mishap when it came to Cyberpunk 2077 initial launch, and we won’t even get into the last-gen debacle. Despite those issues, the game is more than ready to play now. Here are some other things that constitute Cyberpunk 2077 as a good game.
10. The Bug Terminator Paid A Visit
If there’s one thing that made the rounds around the launch of CP2077, it was the crazy amount of bugs present when the game was initially released. From texture pop-ins on NPC models to clipping through vehicles, there was no shortage of montages shared online regarding crazy bug encounters. In CDPR’s defense, bugs were always a thing in their past titles, and just like those titles, they made sure to fix as many as possible. If you haven’t jumped in yet due to the fear of those dastardly bugs, then rest assured the game-breaking ones have mostly been fixed.
9. Keanu Reeves
Despite what you heard, Keanu’s performance as Johnny Silverhand was among the few bright spots in the game, even from launch. With his colorful opinions and clever foreshadowing, CDPR made a nagging cyber-ghost in your head not only bearable but the highlight of many missions in the game. While no one would mistake Keanu for someone like Liam O’Brien, his voice acting in this game is perfect. We look forward to his return in the upcoming Phantom Liberty.
Related: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Release Date, New Skill Trees, & All Trailers
8. More Apartments
One of the things that fans were hyped for was apartments. The ability to own multiple homes worldwide was crucial for role-playing a mercenary rising above the ranks of Night City. It’s essential to give players reasons to get invested in their world; owning a piece of that world helps do that. The team finally graced us with multiple apartments around the city and its outskirts.
7. Playable Melee Options
We know this may sound foolish, but first-person and melee are usually not friendly to one another. Thankfully, CP2077 is conscientious about this flaw, and in return, they’ve made melee weapons in this game good. Many have found ways to break the game using specific melee options, as some upgrades and perks can make close-quarters combat super effective. And the team seems not to be finished because melee weapons will see even more options in the upcoming expansion.
6. Better AI
AI is still being improved, among other things, but it’s worth mentioning based on how far they’ve come since launch. Back in the day, AI was quite dumb; the most challenging part about fighting them was trying to hold in our laughter as they scrambled around randomly. Now, they’re more focused on the objective, which is you, the player. Those of you looking for a challenge will find it here finally, after all these years.
5. Improved Skills
We’ve been expecting this update since the game was released, but it’s better late than never. The original skill choices were alright by any stretch of the imagination, but many didn’t do much other than buff specific stats as you increased in levels. With the upcoming free update, we’ve seen more unique gameplay enhancements looking to shake up the actual playstyles we can use. If gameplay is your thing, you should look forward to the patch coming in September.
4. Character Relationships
While the game isn’t BioWare in this department, character relationships in Cyberpunk 2077 are pretty good and mostly satisfying. What we mean by this is that while the characters are good when involved in the story, they effectively disappear from the world altogether once their story is done. That’s partially true; you’ll get texts occasionally, but don’t bother seeing them face-to-face. Luckily, the voice acting for all of them is well done, and the plotlines for each person you meet are engrossing, so it’s still worth checking out.
Related: CD Projekt Red settles lawsuit with investors, agrees to pay $1.85m
3. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
There’s a growing sentiment among the fanbase that the Edgerunners anime was a success despite the shortcomings of Cyberpunk 2077’s release. We couldn’t count how many times we saw players mention the anime as a reason for returning to the game due to its relaxed art style and crazy action sequences. There’s no telling what the team has planned for the anime’s future, but if you’re hesitant about exploring Cyberpunk, checking out the anime may help with the post-release hype.
2. The Mods
Let’s be honest: Mods are one of the best parts of modern gaming. The ability to add replayability is an underrated thing, and for games like Cyberpunk 2077, it’s almost mandatory to have an enjoyable experience. At least it did before the updates, but now there are better ways to use mods, specifically to improve superficial elements rather than gameplay. The mod community is pretty big despite the initial release underdelivering.
1. The Community
Okay, so this one may be cheesy. Still, the community, in this case, helped save Cyberpunk 2077 from being a bigger disaster than it could have been. No one was happy with the end product, and gamers’ voices forced CDPR to re-evaluate their plans for the game’s post-launch release. There’s no shame in admitting that you made a mistake, and CDPR owned up to theirs thanks to the outrage and support of the community. Hopefully, this is something they’ll bring with them on future projects.
