Dunderbar
2020
Got a bit further in the game this time than the first time I tried, and the 2.0 update has certainly improved the actual gameplay and RPG mechanics, but after about 10 hours I was once again ready to throw in the towel.
Fundamentally, I just think this is a boring game with a boring story in a boring setting. The name, 'Cyberpunk', it turns out is surprisingly apt: this is not a unique or interesting world, but generic genre fiction we've all seen and heard a million times over since Neuromancer was first published. Beyond the technical spectacle of the world, which wore off fairly quickly, the world and the characters simply did not engage me. The gameplay, similarly, is just not that interesting - early suggestions that this might be a more full-fledged immersive sim quickly fall away as you realise that most options are just different ways to approach combat encounters, while options in how to approach missions are gated behind skill levels. And, despite several years of patches, the underlying jankiness of the game is still all to present.
It's taken three years to get this game to this point and it's still just resoundingly 'okay'. I'm still asking myself the same question as the first time I tried Cyberpunk: how is this possibly the same people that made the Witcher 3?
Fundamentally, I just think this is a boring game with a boring story in a boring setting. The name, 'Cyberpunk', it turns out is surprisingly apt: this is not a unique or interesting world, but generic genre fiction we've all seen and heard a million times over since Neuromancer was first published. Beyond the technical spectacle of the world, which wore off fairly quickly, the world and the characters simply did not engage me. The gameplay, similarly, is just not that interesting - early suggestions that this might be a more full-fledged immersive sim quickly fall away as you realise that most options are just different ways to approach combat encounters, while options in how to approach missions are gated behind skill levels. And, despite several years of patches, the underlying jankiness of the game is still all to present.
It's taken three years to get this game to this point and it's still just resoundingly 'okay'. I'm still asking myself the same question as the first time I tried Cyberpunk: how is this possibly the same people that made the Witcher 3?
2023
Enjoyed this for a while but soured on it pretty hard past a certain point, quite simply because I just could not get over the perfect guard mechanic feeling about as inscrutable as it was punishing. Souls-like games tend to get a free pass for mechanical obtuseness that, in a game dressed differently, would be considered simply bad game design, and Lies of P, for me, is no different. This felt unfair in a way From Software games, even the ones I've not really clicked with, never did. Importantly as well the combat felt unsure of what it wanted to be (Dark Souls, Bloodborne, or Sekiro), making combat encounters often confusing: am I meant to be dodging, normal guarding and using health regain, or perfect guarding? There was no clear way to tell what the developers were expecting you to do, only tedious trial and error, and, frankly, I felt I had better things to do with my time.
And on the setting: it's a thin veneer over a knock-off Bloodborne, and a far less interesting world in itself. Stylistically pleasant, but utterly derivative and devoid of any new or interesting ideas (which summarises the game pretty well overall).
And on the setting: it's a thin veneer over a knock-off Bloodborne, and a far less interesting world in itself. Stylistically pleasant, but utterly derivative and devoid of any new or interesting ideas (which summarises the game pretty well overall).
2021
A really charming little game. Simple but satisfying primary mechanic, lovely art direction and, perhaps most importantly for a game like this - just the right length. Short and sweet (I finished it in a couple of sittings), and exactly what I was looking.
Nothing groundbreaking, but a lovely world to spend some time in.
Nothing groundbreaking, but a lovely world to spend some time in.
2021
Had a lot of fun with this for a while but after about 20 hours I lost the will to go on. If the game's main story had been 20 hours long I think it would have been a good length, but it just kept going - I still had three full star systems yet to explore!
The combat is fun and I enjoyed the traversal for a while, but after a time it just began to really drag. Progression seemed far too slow as well, basically forcing you into grindy and generally underwhelming side-content, while being under-levelled for a mission/area was often seriously punishing.
It's a shame because I really liked the game for a good while, but after 20 hours I was very much done. A solid 7 of a game, for sure, and one I may come back to again in the future, but for now I'm happy to shelve this at about 2/3 through the main story.
The combat is fun and I enjoyed the traversal for a while, but after a time it just began to really drag. Progression seemed far too slow as well, basically forcing you into grindy and generally underwhelming side-content, while being under-levelled for a mission/area was often seriously punishing.
It's a shame because I really liked the game for a good while, but after 20 hours I was very much done. A solid 7 of a game, for sure, and one I may come back to again in the future, but for now I'm happy to shelve this at about 2/3 through the main story.