Reviewing this as 2.0 plus Phantom Liberty Expansion after initially considering this a 3 and a half star at release my thoughts have drastically changed
It’s insane that the way a game handles it’s itemisation and progression can drastically alter my feelings on it. Every piece of loot is useful, upgrades feel earned. It’s not overly complicated. Sell weapons or scrap them for parts? - both are needed.
Gigs are a great side distraction, there’s some zany side-jobs. Driving seems like an entirely different model with the added ability to shoot out of your car or use weapon mounted vehicles which is surprisingly robust with satisfying physics that dynamically occurs from bullets slamming and piercing vehicular frames.
Always thought the main story was great and it remains so on the replay - felt some variety going with a netrunner/smart gun build which really added a whole new layer of combat in the quick hacks system that I was completely unaware of before. I’m not sure if this has been overhauled like other systems but it is shockingly fun and you really feel a power increase when investing in it - by the end of my playthrough I could take out entire rooms of enemies by overcharging my cyberware and having all of my enemies shoot themselves in the head or burn out their synapses.
When it comes to the Phantom Liberty expansion, its biggest strength is the setting which feels completely unique to the rest of night city - a more dystopian vision of the Cyberpunk genre. More Escape from New York than Blade-Runner.
I fit the expansion in after I had near 100 percented the rest of NC and Hanako was waiting for me at Embers. The expansion adds an ending which nicely places it as an alternative Act 3 in the game with a mysterious net-runner Songbird claiming she can help you with the corrupted bio-chip.
Surprisingly, while the new content was nice to have as an addendum on a replay, I thought the story was actually not as strong as the main campaign and the new relic tree is underwhelming compared to the excellent new key skill options available. It’s still a great time with far more set pieces that are better paced than the base game due to its more limited scope.
It is a minor complaint that does nothing to hurt what has now become a spellbinding game that is unrivalled in its rendition of an unforgiving but beautiful city; its new skill options make build variety feel meaningful and create a satisfying power curve; the happy middle ground that CD Projekt Red have mastered between the systems heavy open worlds of Bethesda Game Studios and the presentation focused efforts of Rockstar has come into its own and you owe it to yourself to give the game another look.
It’s insane that the way a game handles it’s itemisation and progression can drastically alter my feelings on it. Every piece of loot is useful, upgrades feel earned. It’s not overly complicated. Sell weapons or scrap them for parts? - both are needed.
Gigs are a great side distraction, there’s some zany side-jobs. Driving seems like an entirely different model with the added ability to shoot out of your car or use weapon mounted vehicles which is surprisingly robust with satisfying physics that dynamically occurs from bullets slamming and piercing vehicular frames.
Always thought the main story was great and it remains so on the replay - felt some variety going with a netrunner/smart gun build which really added a whole new layer of combat in the quick hacks system that I was completely unaware of before. I’m not sure if this has been overhauled like other systems but it is shockingly fun and you really feel a power increase when investing in it - by the end of my playthrough I could take out entire rooms of enemies by overcharging my cyberware and having all of my enemies shoot themselves in the head or burn out their synapses.
When it comes to the Phantom Liberty expansion, its biggest strength is the setting which feels completely unique to the rest of night city - a more dystopian vision of the Cyberpunk genre. More Escape from New York than Blade-Runner.
I fit the expansion in after I had near 100 percented the rest of NC and Hanako was waiting for me at Embers. The expansion adds an ending which nicely places it as an alternative Act 3 in the game with a mysterious net-runner Songbird claiming she can help you with the corrupted bio-chip.
Surprisingly, while the new content was nice to have as an addendum on a replay, I thought the story was actually not as strong as the main campaign and the new relic tree is underwhelming compared to the excellent new key skill options available. It’s still a great time with far more set pieces that are better paced than the base game due to its more limited scope.
It is a minor complaint that does nothing to hurt what has now become a spellbinding game that is unrivalled in its rendition of an unforgiving but beautiful city; its new skill options make build variety feel meaningful and create a satisfying power curve; the happy middle ground that CD Projekt Red have mastered between the systems heavy open worlds of Bethesda Game Studios and the presentation focused efforts of Rockstar has come into its own and you owe it to yourself to give the game another look.