Cyberpunk 2077 – Is it Worth It?

Usually I don’t write about video games here on Stargazer’s World. But Cyberpunk 2077 is an exceptional game and I am sure it might appeal to many fans of tabletop roleplaying games like Shadowrun or Cyberpunk 2020 (which Cyberpunk 2077 is based on). CD Projekt Red which is mostly known for The Witcher 3 turned Mike Pondsmith’s rich setting into a compelling video game, which unfortunately has also its slew of problems. By the way, all the screenshots included with this post have been taken by me using Photo Mode. This is also NOT a review and I highly recommend that you check out one of the many reviews which are available online.

Let’s start by getting a few things out of the way. Yes, Cyberpunk 2077 is extremely buggy and unpolished at this point. The number of glitches I experienced in my about 30 hours of playtime so far was staggering. Luckily most of the bugs are pretty minor like graphical issues and a few UI bugs. Things are especially bad on last-gen consoles. A friend of mine plays on PS4 and even though he loves a lot about the game, he almost quit several times because of how bad it looks and runs on the console. I am playing on PC. I have a pretty old i7-4790k CPU, 32 GB of DDR3 RAM, and a RTX 3070 GPU which I acquired recently. To my surprise the game runs actually pretty well on a 5120×1440 resolution on Ultra (Raytracing) settings. I get some slowdowns especially at the beginning and shortly after cinematic dialogues, but aside from that things have been running rather smoothly so far.

So, what kind of game is Cyberpunk 2077? From the trailer videos you might get the impression that its some kind of GTA V-like game set in a cyberpunk future. But it’s actually a full-blown roleplaying game with stats, skill trees, meaningful choices, and a – at times – pretty slow-burning story. If you think you get non-stop action, this might not the game for you. Don’t get me wrong, I have spent quite some time of my 30 hours playing this game so far, and shooting people, hacking their cyberware, sneaking around them, or cutting them to pieces using my katana are pretty common occurences. But talking to characters (on the phone or face-to-face) and exploring the city are definitely equally important.

The highlight of Cyberpunk 2077 is its stories. The main story quests so far have been excellently written and very enjoyable to play. Most if not all of the side missions are equally compelling, sometimes even more so. Characters are not just flat and clichéd cardboard cutouts but often feel like real people, you quickly begin to care for.

Overall there’s a lot to do in this game. Even though you can rush through the main story in about 20 to 25 hours, this would mean missing a lot of what Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer. Doing side missions not just helps you to make money and getting street cred, but sometimes even opens up new options for the main story. Aside from the main and side missions there are also countless “gigs” which include simpler activities like fighting against a cyberpsycho or a group of gangers. Sometimes even these small gigs manage to tell interesting stories which help to add more depth to the world.

Personally I love the game and even when I am not playing I am thinking about it. Even though it has a lot of bug and some questionable design decisions it is still a very enjoyable experience, if you enjoy roleplaying games on console or PC. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone with a last-gen console or a PC with an older GPU yet. I am confident that CD Projekt Red will get the game into proper working order in the future, but at the moment it just doesn’t run that great on these systems.

By the way, if you haven’t had the chance to check out Cyberpunk 2020 yet, each copy of the game comes with several digital extras including a PDF copy of the tabletop roleplaying game from the 1990s. Hopefully a lot of people who are now playing Cyperpunk 2077 will check it out and eventually get into the tabletop roleplaying hobby!

What are your thoughts on Cyberpunk 2077 so far? Have you already purchased and played it or are you waiting for further patches? Please share your comments below.