I'll keep the introduction short this time and get straight to the point. Phantom Liberty is the best DLC I've ever played.
Dogtown being a closed-off and compact district makes it feel more personal and memorable than a lot of Night City. It being a run-down, bleak area definitely makes it stand out among the rest of the world - characters and lore tidbits always describe it as this hopeless, brutal place and I believe the overall design is quite fitting for that description.
Now, the supporting cast is more grounded and morally grey here than the companions in the base game, which I personally think is great, because it fits the moody vibe of the narrative and makes them more interesting. Each character has their own intentions and it's up to the player to decide who to trust and who to avoid - Phantom Liberty's narrative alone has four endings, depending on your choices throughout the expansion. Don't overthink this aspect too much, since the points where your choices change the storyline are very clear and not your run-of-the-mill dialogue options. If you're a completionist and want to see all endings in a single playthrough, just make a backup save file right before those choices and you're good to go. Speaking of those endings, they're really impressive and you'll definitely think about them for a while.
Aside from the narrative, Phantom Liberty also adds meaningful side content to Cyberpunk 2077. There are ten new gigs, like a dozen new side quests and an entirely new skill tree. I really liked those gigs, because they weren't just "get to this PC" or "kill/spare this person" like in the base game, but all felt like little side quests on their own. The skill tree is not as expansive as the standard ones, but it adds some nice perks for melee combat and an alternative to headshots with the weak point gauge.
You see, I almost entirely forgot to mention the setpieces in the DLC. My bad! Everyone likes a good setpiece and the spy movie setting is definitely on point here - you infiltrate a casino, a triangular-shaped club and a bunch of unique spoilery sceneries where I wouldn't like to ruin the surprise. Make sure to look for the several character cameos in the casino mission!
If you're looking to spend more time in Night City, Phantom Liberty is a must-buy. In my opinion it's everything I wanted from a final arc in Cyberpunk 2077 and I really just enjoy how thought-provoking it was overall. Fantastic DLC.
Here's my review for the base game!
Dogtown being a closed-off and compact district makes it feel more personal and memorable than a lot of Night City. It being a run-down, bleak area definitely makes it stand out among the rest of the world - characters and lore tidbits always describe it as this hopeless, brutal place and I believe the overall design is quite fitting for that description.
Now, the supporting cast is more grounded and morally grey here than the companions in the base game, which I personally think is great, because it fits the moody vibe of the narrative and makes them more interesting. Each character has their own intentions and it's up to the player to decide who to trust and who to avoid - Phantom Liberty's narrative alone has four endings, depending on your choices throughout the expansion. Don't overthink this aspect too much, since the points where your choices change the storyline are very clear and not your run-of-the-mill dialogue options. If you're a completionist and want to see all endings in a single playthrough, just make a backup save file right before those choices and you're good to go. Speaking of those endings, they're really impressive and you'll definitely think about them for a while.
Aside from the narrative, Phantom Liberty also adds meaningful side content to Cyberpunk 2077. There are ten new gigs, like a dozen new side quests and an entirely new skill tree. I really liked those gigs, because they weren't just "get to this PC" or "kill/spare this person" like in the base game, but all felt like little side quests on their own. The skill tree is not as expansive as the standard ones, but it adds some nice perks for melee combat and an alternative to headshots with the weak point gauge.
You see, I almost entirely forgot to mention the setpieces in the DLC. My bad! Everyone likes a good setpiece and the spy movie setting is definitely on point here - you infiltrate a casino, a triangular-shaped club and a bunch of unique spoilery sceneries where I wouldn't like to ruin the surprise. Make sure to look for the several character cameos in the casino mission!
If you're looking to spend more time in Night City, Phantom Liberty is a must-buy. In my opinion it's everything I wanted from a final arc in Cyberpunk 2077 and I really just enjoy how thought-provoking it was overall. Fantastic DLC.
Here's my review for the base game!
2 Comments
@Inqueersitor Thanks for reading! It's definitely worth a try these days and if you're interested, I'd definitely recommend to try the base game on sale (I think it also has a 5 hour trial if you have PS+ Premium) - you can always opt for the DLC later if you want more content.
Inqueersitor
3 months ago