A couple days back from time of writing, I finished Cyberpunk 2077, the hot new game that everyone is talking about!
As has been well and truly documented on the internet at large, that game has a LOT of problems right now. It had lots of problems in development, with crunch, transphobia, and edgy marketing making the top of the list.
I purchased the game ages ago with the intent of reviewing it, so now that I’ve finished it, where is my review?
Short answer: it’s not going to be here for a while.
Longer answer: I feel like what I have right now is a very incomplete picture of the entire game. I’ve finished one path of the game and made one set of choices, and finished with an incomplete picture of the world, side quests, and more. I have a ton of thoughts, which I’ve condensed down into 900 words of notes and saved on my hard drive, and I’m saving for a second playthrough. That’s the part that’ll take me some time. I also want to allow for the game to evolve meaningfully in terms of performance and content.
However, right now, Cyberpunk 2077 feels like it’s a game that was released about 6–9 months too early. It feels rushed, it feels dated, and, it lacks much of the quality of life I’d expect from this sort of game. It’s disappointing in this current state. I cannot in good conscience recommend it right now, even with caveats like I would with a Grand Theft Auto or even the most recent Deus Ex game.
In FOMO vs Criticism, I talked about the desire to do my criticism well, to not rush it, and to allow for a game’s evolution, saying this:
“If I believe that good criticism takes time, I should ensure that I take my time, make sure I don’t burn out, and keep my thoughts are in order. Publishing well outside the release window for games means that I may well be kneecapping myself in terms of audience and opportunities, but if it means I’m more satisfied with what I put out there, I think that’s the right thing to do.”
I’m holding myself to that, and that’s why I’ll be reviewing this much, much later. Crunching to get a review out for anyone’s sake is not going to help, nor would burning out on playing the game. It wouldn’t be fair to this, or any other creative work.
At this moment, I’ve gotten what I want to out of Cyberpunk 2077 and taken my notes. When I return, we’ll see how that game has evolved. Its core issues likely won’t be fixed, and we’ll talk about those issues when the time comes. I’ll compare my notes, and write an extensive review covering 2 complete playthroughs, experimenting with the impact of choice in the game, and hopefully coming out with a clear vision of what this game is meant to be.
For now, I have other games to stream, to enjoy, and to recommend though, and that’s where my focus lies. Onwards.
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