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I talk to myself a lot after finishing a game so I figured I might as well write it down somewhere.
All ratings and opinions are subjective, play what you love and love what you play.
Ratings Breakdown:
5 - Personal Favorite or Masterpiece
4.5 - Fantastic, just shy of legendary,
4 - Very good, highly memorable, but maybe lacking in some ways.
3.5 - Good, worth the time, generally memorable but not super special.
3 - Just ok, fine, not very memorable, maybe try if you are very curious or a big fan of the franchise/genre.
2.5 - Still ok but forgettable, inoffensive, or it could be bad in an entertaining way.
2 - A bad game with some tidbits of fun to extract, but probably better to watch someone else stream it instead of playing it yourself.
1.5 Just a bad time all around, possibly only fun as a Lets Play to watch your favorite influencer suffer.
1 - Not even worth a hate watch-along, and definitely not worth a second of playtime.
.5 - I don't know anything this bad.
I talk to myself a lot after finishing a game so I figured I might as well write it down somewhere.
All ratings and opinions are subjective, play what you love and love what you play.
Ratings Breakdown:
5 - Personal Favorite or Masterpiece
4.5 - Fantastic, just shy of legendary,
4 - Very good, highly memorable, but maybe lacking in some ways.
3.5 - Good, worth the time, generally memorable but not super special.
3 - Just ok, fine, not very memorable, maybe try if you are very curious or a big fan of the franchise/genre.
2.5 - Still ok but forgettable, inoffensive, or it could be bad in an entertaining way.
2 - A bad game with some tidbits of fun to extract, but probably better to watch someone else stream it instead of playing it yourself.
1.5 Just a bad time all around, possibly only fun as a Lets Play to watch your favorite influencer suffer.
1 - Not even worth a hate watch-along, and definitely not worth a second of playtime.
.5 - I don't know anything this bad.
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This review contains spoilers
I have complicated feelings about FF7 Rebirth. While the rating on this review might indicate that I fully loved playing this game, it might be more accurate to say it reflects my deep respect and admiration for the craft behind it than my actual, personal feelings for it. It is not a game I love, but one that nonetheless deserves to be loved for its accomplishments and maybe even considered as a potential template for the future of FF at large.
In many ways this game is everything you could hope a sequel for FF7 Remake to be. It is large in scope and it both expands on the established systems while adding entirely new ones with just as much depth and polish as what was refined. It is filled to the brim with optional side content that is, for the most part, worth spending your time in and helps flesh out the world in ways the original game itself did not. It is hard to find fault with the game under the context of being the middle entry to a trilogy yet to conclude, the FF7-R's trilogy very own "The Empire Strikes Back".
It is only as a fan of the original game, and more so importantly a fan of its central themes, that my personal woes with the game begin to stack up. It is a narrative that is trying to fulfill two distinct goals: both a modern re-telling of the original's and a semi-meta sequel in the vein of the popular "multiverse" narratives that have become commonplace in today's media landscape, and while I appreciate and understand the creative drive of the development team to make something new and distinct from the original, these two goals are fundamentally incompatible, and consequently change the narrative of the original in ways that ultimately deviate from the thematic core that made it so memorable and enduring for me over the years.
It rarely cuts, but often edits and outright amends over the original in favor of integrating it into the "expanded universe" that started almost 20 years ago with the Advent Children movie. If 2020's FF7 Remake felt (mostly) like a celebration of the original game that ends with the promise of changes to come, Rebirth fulfills that promise by instead becoming a celebration of the "Compilation of FF7", a series of sequels and prequels to the original that expanded on the world and its characters in ways that were partially controversial in their day but that also served as many modern fans' original introduction to the FF7 world. Unfortunately for me, "their" FF7 is not "my" FF7, and Rebirth made the decision to focus its adoration on the former. It is not a decision that was unexpected or one that I personally resent, but it nevertheless renders the experience partially alienating to fans such as myself.
All in all, however, I can't find it in me to give this game any less than a near perfect score. I easily put over 100 hours into this title, completing every sidequest and objective just short of the more tedious requirements for the Platinum trophy, out of pure enjoyment for its gameplay loop. I dare say, freed from the expectations I brought into this one as a die-hard fan of the original, this could easily be your 5-Star game of the year. You'd do yourself a disservice not to find out for yourself.
In many ways this game is everything you could hope a sequel for FF7 Remake to be. It is large in scope and it both expands on the established systems while adding entirely new ones with just as much depth and polish as what was refined. It is filled to the brim with optional side content that is, for the most part, worth spending your time in and helps flesh out the world in ways the original game itself did not. It is hard to find fault with the game under the context of being the middle entry to a trilogy yet to conclude, the FF7-R's trilogy very own "The Empire Strikes Back".
It is only as a fan of the original game, and more so importantly a fan of its central themes, that my personal woes with the game begin to stack up. It is a narrative that is trying to fulfill two distinct goals: both a modern re-telling of the original's and a semi-meta sequel in the vein of the popular "multiverse" narratives that have become commonplace in today's media landscape, and while I appreciate and understand the creative drive of the development team to make something new and distinct from the original, these two goals are fundamentally incompatible, and consequently change the narrative of the original in ways that ultimately deviate from the thematic core that made it so memorable and enduring for me over the years.
It rarely cuts, but often edits and outright amends over the original in favor of integrating it into the "expanded universe" that started almost 20 years ago with the Advent Children movie. If 2020's FF7 Remake felt (mostly) like a celebration of the original game that ends with the promise of changes to come, Rebirth fulfills that promise by instead becoming a celebration of the "Compilation of FF7", a series of sequels and prequels to the original that expanded on the world and its characters in ways that were partially controversial in their day but that also served as many modern fans' original introduction to the FF7 world. Unfortunately for me, "their" FF7 is not "my" FF7, and Rebirth made the decision to focus its adoration on the former. It is not a decision that was unexpected or one that I personally resent, but it nevertheless renders the experience partially alienating to fans such as myself.
All in all, however, I can't find it in me to give this game any less than a near perfect score. I easily put over 100 hours into this title, completing every sidequest and objective just short of the more tedious requirements for the Platinum trophy, out of pure enjoyment for its gameplay loop. I dare say, freed from the expectations I brought into this one as a die-hard fan of the original, this could easily be your 5-Star game of the year. You'd do yourself a disservice not to find out for yourself.
Phantom Liberty is not just more of everything that was already good about the main campaign, it also delivers almost everywhere that the main game faltered and more.
It is better written and paced, it has better characters, has better gigs and side-stories with more interesting choices and unique presentation. Dogtown is physically smaller than other districts of Night City but it is far more dense with content, and has an identity that is unique from the rest of the city.
I considered talking about the gameplay more because there are some neat additions here but I feel like that really is just beating around the bush; what this expansion really offers is the single most compelling narrative experience set in this universe yet.
Solomon Reed, So Mi Songbird, President Myers, Colonel Hansen, these are the names you will learn and that you will remember for years to come after playing through this expansion. If you already like the base game then you owe it to yourself to experience this; if you don't, hell, go watch your favorite streamer play through it, just don't miss it.
This expansion is as integral to the Cyberpunk 2077 experience as Artorias of the Abyss was to Dark Souls and The Old Hunters was to Bloodborne. You are not done with Cyberpunk 2077 until you have played through this.
It is better written and paced, it has better characters, has better gigs and side-stories with more interesting choices and unique presentation. Dogtown is physically smaller than other districts of Night City but it is far more dense with content, and has an identity that is unique from the rest of the city.
I considered talking about the gameplay more because there are some neat additions here but I feel like that really is just beating around the bush; what this expansion really offers is the single most compelling narrative experience set in this universe yet.
Solomon Reed, So Mi Songbird, President Myers, Colonel Hansen, these are the names you will learn and that you will remember for years to come after playing through this expansion. If you already like the base game then you owe it to yourself to experience this; if you don't, hell, go watch your favorite streamer play through it, just don't miss it.
This expansion is as integral to the Cyberpunk 2077 experience as Artorias of the Abyss was to Dark Souls and The Old Hunters was to Bloodborne. You are not done with Cyberpunk 2077 until you have played through this.
This review is based on the Patch 2.1 version of the game, from a playthrough started on January 1st of 2024. It is not indicative of any version prior to this patch.
Cyberpunk 2077 flies higher and further than most other games even dream of. It features one of the most wonderfully realized worlds I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and the moment to moment gameplay is engaging most of the way through, but falls just short of fully realizing its vision, spread too thin at times by too many disparate systems that are unable to hit the same level of polish and overall quality. Even so, CP2077 remains one of the most immersive and fun gaming experiences of the decade (so far).
Narrative/Writing - The world comes alive through interesting characters with complex motivations and backgrounds, side stories that explore themes pertinent to both the main narrative of the game as well as those of the genre, and a commitment to realizing and maintaining the distinct cultural flair of the setting. Two main detractors come to mind: first, there is a nagging feeling of dissonance between the driving source of conflict in the main story and the fact you are playing a 50+ hour RPG experience, within a lush city sandbox full of quests and secrets, many hidden in its disparate nooks and crannies. This ends up robbing the main narrative from any real sense of urgency, and you are only reminded every so often when the protagonist suddenly drops on the floor and starts crawling around in pain when the plot deems it necessary. Second, for all the rich and interesting characters you meet on your journey throughout Night City, the protagonist himself, V, seems to be lacking a much-need core of authenticity, and while I’ve considered that may every well be the point in some sort of nod to the themes of alienation and facade that are central to the setting, it doesn’t change the fact V is not very engaging or compelling; it mostly just leaves you wondering why do any of these much cooler and interesting characters end up giving him the time of day. One third, lesser point, is with the pacing of the story: sometimes it feels like you are dragging towards an unclear goal, then suddenly you find yourself at the next big plot beat, and while this is particularly jarring in the early to mid sections of the narrative, once things start falling into place and you are playing through some of the biggest set-pieces the game has to offer you will eventually find yourself glued to your seat and onboard all the way to one of the game’s many endings, all of which offer largely satisfying conclusions to your journey, though some more so than others.
Presentation - There is probably no game that has left me speechless at the beauty of its technical and artistic achievements as often as it has left me staring with disbelief at the third or fourth bug I have experienced in that play session alone, except for probably any Bethesda game ever made. The fact is: the game is simply at the cutting edge of graphical presentation even today, 2 to 3 years away from its original release. If you own a top end graphics card with ray tracing capabilities chances are the game might be worth the price of entry for you on that point alone. It is just hard to ignore how often a car might bug out and turn road traffic into a loud, massive pile-up completely independent of any input on your part. These are distractions that can ultimately break you away from being fully-immersed and they will do so often; but when they are not, you can easily submerge yourself in the splendor of the world, driving through the neon-lit streets of Night City, all reflected with a mirror-sheen off the body of your vehicle in real time.
Gameplay - Nothing surprised more about this game than just how solid, well-balanced, and most importantly FUN, this game turned out to be. For a studio that has spent the past few decades developing expansive 3rd Person RPG experiences with melee-focused combat, CDProjektRed delivers a primarily 1st Person Action-RPG/Shooter Hybrid experience that at the very least matches, and often surpasses, the standard set by other genre veterans. Whether you choose to play hardened Solo ninja with automatic weapon and katana expertise constantly zipping in and out of cover, a cyberrunner capable of frying most enemies where they stand before they ever get close (and tech weapon enhancements in case any manage to sneak up on you), or a chromed-out bruiser with high physical endurance for crushing your enemies with Gorilla Arms and devastating shotgun blasts at point-blank, plus way more mixed builds than I could possibly elaborate on, there is something to latch on to here for almost all players. Despite the solid core gameplay, however, there are several elements here that leave much to be desired: driving feels wonky and never quite responsive enough (at least on PC), systems such a police “wanted” system are so negligible and easy to ignore that they feel like afterthoughts even after the so-called rework that released with the 2.0 patch, and side-mission content can vary wildly between uniquely memorable and thought provoking and just another “sneak in and kill/rescue/steal the target.” It does, however, help that those places you are often sneaking into have excellent level design that lends itself to tackling the mission in more than a couple of ways, and I nevertheless found myself playing through all of the side content for a total of over 150 hours of playtime so clearly they were not all that boring.
Conclusion - Beyond the RPG genre, this has been one of my favorite gaming experiences of the decade thus far and I can’t help but to be excited to see how CDProjektRed builds upon the foundation they have laid with this in the next title, whenever that may be.
Cyberpunk 2077 flies higher and further than most other games even dream of. It features one of the most wonderfully realized worlds I have ever had the pleasure of visiting and the moment to moment gameplay is engaging most of the way through, but falls just short of fully realizing its vision, spread too thin at times by too many disparate systems that are unable to hit the same level of polish and overall quality. Even so, CP2077 remains one of the most immersive and fun gaming experiences of the decade (so far).
Narrative/Writing - The world comes alive through interesting characters with complex motivations and backgrounds, side stories that explore themes pertinent to both the main narrative of the game as well as those of the genre, and a commitment to realizing and maintaining the distinct cultural flair of the setting. Two main detractors come to mind: first, there is a nagging feeling of dissonance between the driving source of conflict in the main story and the fact you are playing a 50+ hour RPG experience, within a lush city sandbox full of quests and secrets, many hidden in its disparate nooks and crannies. This ends up robbing the main narrative from any real sense of urgency, and you are only reminded every so often when the protagonist suddenly drops on the floor and starts crawling around in pain when the plot deems it necessary. Second, for all the rich and interesting characters you meet on your journey throughout Night City, the protagonist himself, V, seems to be lacking a much-need core of authenticity, and while I’ve considered that may every well be the point in some sort of nod to the themes of alienation and facade that are central to the setting, it doesn’t change the fact V is not very engaging or compelling; it mostly just leaves you wondering why do any of these much cooler and interesting characters end up giving him the time of day. One third, lesser point, is with the pacing of the story: sometimes it feels like you are dragging towards an unclear goal, then suddenly you find yourself at the next big plot beat, and while this is particularly jarring in the early to mid sections of the narrative, once things start falling into place and you are playing through some of the biggest set-pieces the game has to offer you will eventually find yourself glued to your seat and onboard all the way to one of the game’s many endings, all of which offer largely satisfying conclusions to your journey, though some more so than others.
Presentation - There is probably no game that has left me speechless at the beauty of its technical and artistic achievements as often as it has left me staring with disbelief at the third or fourth bug I have experienced in that play session alone, except for probably any Bethesda game ever made. The fact is: the game is simply at the cutting edge of graphical presentation even today, 2 to 3 years away from its original release. If you own a top end graphics card with ray tracing capabilities chances are the game might be worth the price of entry for you on that point alone. It is just hard to ignore how often a car might bug out and turn road traffic into a loud, massive pile-up completely independent of any input on your part. These are distractions that can ultimately break you away from being fully-immersed and they will do so often; but when they are not, you can easily submerge yourself in the splendor of the world, driving through the neon-lit streets of Night City, all reflected with a mirror-sheen off the body of your vehicle in real time.
Gameplay - Nothing surprised more about this game than just how solid, well-balanced, and most importantly FUN, this game turned out to be. For a studio that has spent the past few decades developing expansive 3rd Person RPG experiences with melee-focused combat, CDProjektRed delivers a primarily 1st Person Action-RPG/Shooter Hybrid experience that at the very least matches, and often surpasses, the standard set by other genre veterans. Whether you choose to play hardened Solo ninja with automatic weapon and katana expertise constantly zipping in and out of cover, a cyberrunner capable of frying most enemies where they stand before they ever get close (and tech weapon enhancements in case any manage to sneak up on you), or a chromed-out bruiser with high physical endurance for crushing your enemies with Gorilla Arms and devastating shotgun blasts at point-blank, plus way more mixed builds than I could possibly elaborate on, there is something to latch on to here for almost all players. Despite the solid core gameplay, however, there are several elements here that leave much to be desired: driving feels wonky and never quite responsive enough (at least on PC), systems such a police “wanted” system are so negligible and easy to ignore that they feel like afterthoughts even after the so-called rework that released with the 2.0 patch, and side-mission content can vary wildly between uniquely memorable and thought provoking and just another “sneak in and kill/rescue/steal the target.” It does, however, help that those places you are often sneaking into have excellent level design that lends itself to tackling the mission in more than a couple of ways, and I nevertheless found myself playing through all of the side content for a total of over 150 hours of playtime so clearly they were not all that boring.
Conclusion - Beyond the RPG genre, this has been one of my favorite gaming experiences of the decade thus far and I can’t help but to be excited to see how CDProjektRed builds upon the foundation they have laid with this in the next title, whenever that may be.