Didn't log in here through the weekend. Bought the game and I am playing it and enjoying it. But I would be a complete deranged fool if I said the game is fine.
It is not. It feels like pre-beta. Feels like Ghost Recon: Breakpoint but much worse. Optimization is crap. Bugs everywhere, janky physics, placeholder AI. Yes placeholder. And not only that. Other things not even in the game, systems which are present are not fleshed-out like I would expect it to. I don't know what the hell happened but it all comes together when you look at the numerous delays. Devs knew shit hit the fan.
So anyway here is my list of complaints alhough I have spent 30 hours and just encountered Silverhand and saw title screen so can't say I am not getting my money's worth back:
1. The game does allow you to sneak, shoot or hack. The problem is it allows you to do it every single time. Every job I receive I am like "sure whatever, I will have plethora of options at my hands" - might be because I was doing stuff only in starter district but based around complaints everywhere I think it's all the same around the map. I seriously expected I would get a huge world with fixers offering jobs based around my character build. For example I have 15 Reflexes, my build orients around assault rifles and blades, I also have Mantis Blades installed so naturally I should get jobs suited for a Solo. And if by a mircle I would discover a location suited for a Netrunner or Ninja then I sure as hell should see impassable obstacles for my character like max-level enemies. On the other hand let's say I am a Netrunner so I get a job to extract some data from some building. It should have DOZENS of cameras, not just 3. And their hacking costs should be around 10 RAM units not 1 or 2 so only a Netrunner can manuver around the location. And if I were a Ninja or Solo? Though luck, come back later once you're max level. Instead I got Ubisoft-loop with checklist objectives scattered around the map.
2. The AI. It's a placeholder. Police spawns behind you even in the most ridiculous locations. It's like it works like this so the testers could test if police NPCs shout their bark-lines, if they attack if you are wanted and who spawns based on the bounty. The problem is that you can just run away or get in a car and drive around the block and they immediately forget. The traffic is also a placeholder. NPCs do not react to crashes, players point a gun at them or shooting. They should ride away, try to run over a player if he is in the way or get out and try to blast him or call police. Also the police blasts you on the spot. I would imagine they should approach you and force a fine or then put a shotgun to your belly. The civilians should act the same, call cops/gangoons or fight you. They just run away without screams, or sit duck. Mafia was released in 2001 and it had better AI reactions to player wrecking havoc. It is an RPG but in a open world, with police in a city the game should expect me to go on killing-spree. Otherwise what's the point in collecting the gear and cyberware?
3. Speaking of the point of the game. It has hand-crafted content. Sure sounds nice on paper but I would also like some procedural activities. In Witcher 3 when you are done with the area you are done and there is nothing to do nothing to come-back to. In Red Dead Redemption 2 there are always gangs trying to ambush you, always people fishing, bounty hunters and more for dozens of hours. In the first district in Cyberpunk 2077 there is none of that semi-randomized events. And those hand-crafted ones feel like Skyrim radiant quests with kill-loot-return (although without return thank god).
4. Technical state. There is serious input lag. The vehicles drive ok but lack grip, weight. If you drive at a curb in high speed you will be launched and fly like you have 0 mass. Trash-bags or cardboard boxes explode if you collide with them. Objects are flying everywhere. For example when Jackie gave me the chip he was holding a pistol and it clipped through his skull. In a scene where it was supposed to be serious, emotional. The broken crafting recipes allowing you to get infinite amount of credits from vending machines as far as I know. Dead NPCs screaming at you. NPCs detecting bodies through walls (although that might be a feature, I realized NPCs blasted me through a wall once I got detected because they could see me as I could see them and do the same). Also the shadow of your character is just janky. I saw it in a gameplay footage back in October thought to myself - "surely they will fix it. It looks bad and they probably know it".
5. Lack of immersion and things to do. What's the point of the fast travel points? This game has vehicles so let us use them. Don't place fast-travel points every corner. Same with loot-selling machines. Give me more NPCs to trade with. There are so many food-stalls so there is no point placing those drop-boxes every 50 meters. Also why burrito stand accepts guns I've looted from Scavs? I get it is capitalism and you can trade a strap for cigarettes but c'mon, give a limit to who can buy what. Give me animation for consuming food and drinks. Don't place them in scripted cutscenes. RDR2 allows me to go to a saloon and drink or eat a dish. It's meaningless true but it does add to immersion. In CP2077 eating food comes down to clicking the item in inventory. Instead of fast-travel points give me a working metro system. There are trains in the city. There are taxi companies. There should be more safe-houses acting as fast-travel points and as money sinks. Same with cars, give me a car-lot to buy cars and chop-shops to erase tracking software to steal them from the street. Not just calls from Fixer who gives me offer. Fixers should fix me jobs not craigslist car offers. Sure they should give me a tip about vehicles, but more like as a reward for doing their jobs not as job itself with a quest entry that I reckon won't go away and will give me XP. Gun modifications. Why there are no extended clips or magazines with different ammo-types to change the damage type from physical to electrical/thermal/poison? Why there is no option to upgrade my clothes at a vendor? I either have to look like a clown if I want to have proper stats or use crafting to upgrade. Upgrading gear at NPCs could be another money-sink for those who do not want to develop Tech stat.
6. PC controls and immersion again. There is no dedicated dodge or walk button. I very often failed stealth elements when I accidentally made a dodge and alerted enemies from the produced sound. Or again when I collided with a bottle which exploded near an enemy. It also takes away from the immersion when there is a main-story character walking, like in the Afterlife which I would like to explore slowly instead I am running like a 4-year old with ADHD. Also dialogs. They are always initiated automatically. Let me press a button to initiate it and also a dialog option to say goodbye to NPC. It feels awkard when I walk away and the NPC screams at me in distance because I did not finish the conversation. Also NPCs are invisible to enemy AI. It's jarring in The Last of Us when Ellie is bumping into zombies. Here in CP2077 I had Jackie walking in front of Arasaka guards in a high-alert base. Go figure.
7. Lifepaths. I expected the game would allow me unique approach to story-line quests. Take an example about Maelstrom in All-Foods factory. You call Meredith Stout. She gives you a cred-chip. As a Corpo you can tell it is infected with a virus because you know how Corpos work. The problem starts when the game punches you in the face with a prompt saying that some chips MIGHT BE ENCRYPTED AND YOU A 3-INTELLIGENCE CHOOMBA CAN HACK IT, GET IT? THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE CHIP. So the Corpo choice is available to a Streetkid and Nomad and CDPR wants you to know.
8. Choices. When I say no I mean it. The quest should become unavailable because I refused it. Instead I get an NPC who is patiently standing there waiting for me to change my mind. I would rather expect the game to shuffle around quests. If I refuse one then open up another from the back-up list. If I accept the first, make the other one unavailable for this playthrough.
9. Balance. The game is hard at the beginning on the highest difficulty. The problem is you can gear-up. It's the same song as in Witcher 3. Get to level 5-7 in CP2077 and most enemies on your level shouldn't be a challenge. In Witcher 3 at least you needed to craft healing potions and witcher gear. Here you just need a gun. Also you start way too skilled, I mean you can from the start sneak silently, hack stuff, dodge, slide, silently kill, incapacitate and hide bodies. This kind of stuff should be unavailable based around your options in character creator. Also imagine those mechanics could've replaced some perks like +10% more damage if you shoot moving target. This makes CP2077 feel like Watch Dogs, although with better characters, enviroment, story. But my point is, the game is too open. Show the options when I create my character and on the tutorial-chip Jackie gives you. Show, don't provide.
10. The UI and tutorials. Everything is cluttered together on the minimap. And instantly revealed. And fixer gigs have the same color as main and side-quests. Readability sucks. Stuff at my stash shows 0 damage. There is level displayed only for Cyberdecks nothing else. Tutorials hide too fast and are too ambiguous. I thought when I hacked something I would need to stay in scanning mode. So I would wait like an idiot for a minute for a hack to complete because I didn't realise time slows down. For some reason some hacks appeared like they would stop from completing? Or maybe I was just to oblivious. Do you know there is a dedicated horn button (there is no animation as expected) or you can turn off headlights? I didn't until I sniffed around in key-bind options.
It's a shame this game. It does try to deliver, I still have fun as the core upgrade system, Diablo-like stats, artistic design and the story so far are stellar. I just can't understand where all those millions have gone. I've expected GTA V or RDR2 level of detail. It's a fool's dream to hope this game will have No Man's Sky effect with disastrous launch and expanded to somewhat working-state. But I somehow hope. Either they fix most of the issues or they will go bankrupt. Their stock's price already plummeted this morning.