The history of Cyberpunk 2077 is fraught with disappointment, anger, and backlash. After years of hyping up the games release and overpromising on gameplay mechanics, CD Projekt Red launched an infamously broken version of the game in 2020 which led to Sony delisting the game from the PlayStation store until it was fixed. Since then, the studio has been fighting an uphill battle to mend its reputation, fix the game, and get it closer to what it was always meant to be.

This has given us one of the great video game redemption stories of the decade, though many are still disappointed that the end product wasnt the same game that they were promised from the start. The Phantom Liberty expansion has been generally praised by critics and fans both, but not as much as the Cyberpunk 2.0 update. The free update reworked the skill and perk systems, added vehicle on vehicle combat, updated police AI, and more.

Now, with patch 2.1, CD Projekt Red is finally putting Cyberpunk 2077 aside. This patch will be the games last major update, adding a usable metro system to Night City, allowing radio use when on foot, and adding new vehicles, among other changes and additions. The studio will now be focusing on the next game in The Witcher series, which has likely been somewhat neglected due to the studios campaign to redeem Cyberpunk 2077.

I had no desire to play Cyberpunk 2077 until update 2.0. When it first came out, I was freshly out of university, severely underpaid at a lifestyle writing internship, and had already heard all the discourse on how broken it was and how it wasnt all it had been hyped up to be. Already short on funds and even shorter on time, I decided Id skip it until a better time came. When I had more money to spend, and when I wasnt exhausted from being overworked, Id buy it and play it, I decided. Years went by, but I just never got around to it. It still wasnt that good, there were other, better games to spend my money and time on, and besides, they were still making changes.

Finally, Cyberpunk 2077 is as complete as it will ever get, and by all accounts, its a good game even if its not perfect. Plenty of people I know have finished it, plus the expansion, and enjoyed the experience. I get paid a living wage, and part of the reason I get paid that wage is that I know things about video games, so I can justify the time I spend on the game as me doing industry research.

Mercifully, the release calendar for next year is bare. Once I finish Yakuza 6 in preparation for Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth and play that to completion, I have absolutely nothing else going on. Im not incredibly keen on any of the games coming out in the first quarter of 2024, which means I have plenty of free time to catch up on all the games Ive been dying to play but never got around to. That means I can finish all the Like A Dragon games, play tons of indies, and yes, finally play Cyberpunk 2077.

The fact that Im excited to play a game from 2020 that was panned across the board at launch is an achievement in itself on CD Projekt Reds part. I love an underdog, and I love a redemption arc Cyberpunk 2077 has gone from an industry meme to a respectable game that, at the very least, takes a decent swing at giving fans the game it was always envisioned to be. My hopes arent sky high, but Im looking forward to seeing just what it is that everybody learned to love about it. And, of course, Im looking forward to seeing Keanu Reeves.

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2024 Will Be The Year I Finally Play Cyberpunk 2077 - TheGamer