I've clocked about 25 hours now and I'm not sure how far in I am but I believe the main story is very short so I cannot be too far away from the conclusion. I'm already beginning to feel burnt out and the lack of quality is really taking its toll now where I may have to force myself to finish it or completely uninstall it, never to touch again irrespective of patches.
I have compiled a list of issues, technical and conceptual which have hampered my experience throughout and will impact playing the game going forward:-
- Lifepaths are nothing more than your spawn location and a few alternate lines of dialogue despite these being promoted as an integral aspect of your character's background and personality
- The gameplay format is about as original as any generic Ubisoft game we've seen over the last decade
- RPG elements are exceptionally weak in every aspect
- Dialogue choices are merely an illusion and have no impact whatsoever
- Interface is needlessly convoluted
- NPC's are brainless and are only there for decoration
- Pedestrians and vehicles vanishing into thin air
- NPC's often collide with scenery
- Vehicle collisions incredibly bad, physically and visually. Some of the worst I have ever seen
- Audio dialogue overlapping and general sound balance issues
- Assets floating in the air such as weapons, chairs and items
- The city lacks a dynamic feel
- Police spawn out of nowhere when alerted - they can even insta-spawn on rooftops if you're up there or behind you in empty rooms
- Law Enforcement do not patrol the streets despite the devs promising this https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-2077-wanted-system-corrupt-police/
- Poor selection of cars which seem to drive around the city aimlessly at a really low speed
- Too many on-rails/scripted movements especially when you're the passenger in a car
- Driving representation in-car is laughable especially in cut-scenes
- Combat is significantly worse than Deus Ex Human Revolution 2011
- Inventory management worse than Deus Ex from 2000
- Missing triggers in some side missions resulting in them to break entirely and cannot be restarted unless you have an old save
- Many visual bugs in cutscenes
- Enemies are absolutely hopeless in combat as is their awareness
- Bullets fired by AI are sometimes invisible and it's hard to tell if you've been hit or if you're being shot at
- Melee combat is extremely ropey particularly with fists
- Gunplay is very sloppy irrespective of stats
- Crafting is dreadful as is the menu
- Environment clipping in interiors if there are items on the floor or dead bodies
- Character struggles to walk down steps properly
- Not enough skill points to make specific builds
- Skill tree is bloated beyond belief and many choices are pointless as items can offer far greater benefit
- Braindance feature is mind-numbing tedium
- Too many mundane side missions and filler inspired by Ubisoft and other generic Ubisoft titles
I am still blown away by the visuals and the sheer scale of the city but the more I see from a gameplay perspective, the less impressed I am with the experience on offer especially if you break all the issues down. The wealth I've encountered has been a relentless immersion-killer and I'm seeing bugs at literally every turn. Also knowing that the game lacks considerable depth and that choices don't matter, it is so demoralising especially considering how this game was marketed to us for years, up to recently. It's a game that was solid on sheer bullshit, No Mans Sky lies and broken promises with a level of execution associated with the scum of the industry.
I am getting so sick of being disappointed in games these days.