I'm probably going to repeat a few things that were already said, but now that I've finished the game, I need to write my definitive piece about my weirdest gaming experience yet.
I went into this game while having forgot everything that was shown and promised. I didn't expect anything besides a cyberpunk game. I went back to watch all the communication about it and came to that realisation: this game had no business being marketed the way that it was. First and foremost, it's a game that got a story to tell. A story about death, loss, greed, finding your place in the world, and trying to get a hold on your fate. Night City is one of the antagonists, it's not just a place, it's an entity toying with the characters.
And this is where things started to get weird on my end. Night city somehow manage to be compelling, while having tons of imperfections that shouldn't make it work as an open world. Somehow that city manage to get by with its superficiality. The sheer amount of details, the way that each road, each alley, each building are just flowing together, and the stories taking place in them somehow manage to pull you in, despite it's obvious fakeness at times. So, while I know that the game could have gained in polish if Night city was more focused, more linear, I can't help but think that something would have still been lost...Maybe it's because I got see a "blueprint" of an open night city, where I got lost while looking at the scenery, appreciating the personality of each district, that I cannot fathom the game without them. Even if if some of them were nothing more than an accessory to the main plot. (The gangs ended up being far smaller than they first appeared to be, but they are still needed to get the full picture.)
I still think that the game really shouldn't have been marketed as a sandbox life sim open world, which would be unique to each player. And even less as an RPG where your decisions would be able to make a huge shift in the story. The story that CDPR is telling us just doesn't fit in those settings, the whole narrative is about getting tricked, toyed with, and understanding that being a "living legend" is just an endless chase where you could lose everything with nothing to gain that would ever make up for it.
Next the combat. Well, CDPR is still looking for their signature. They nailed the feeling of the weapons, but the whole game is a stat check. TW2 and TW3 started to introduce the notion of "fights as a puzzle rather than pure maths", but sadly that didn't make its way in CP2077. It's frustrating because I know that they can do better. I don't understand why the maelstrom and animals, two gangs heavy on body enhancement, don't feel different from the tiger claws or the Valentinos. How are you even able to headlock an Animals for so long? Getting into a melee fight with them should have been a scary experience for anyone not specced in close combat. I wonder if the perks system eated too much time?
And that's where I get to my last point. Games are still in this weird spot where they are often being seen as an entertainment software rather than a full piece of art. I get it, it's an economy, the living hood of some people is at stakes, but it's not a medium that play well with a business only point of view*. You need a balance between something that people want to play and something that is compelling as a piece of art. Players feedbacks are great when it comes to games mechanics, but you wouldn't expect G.R.R Martin, Quentin Tarantino to tweak their work because of a survey.
Creativity got an almost symbiotic relationship with risk taking. If you are making a game that isn't carried by it's competitive aspect (LOL, Overwatch) or a popular entity (FIFA), the last thing that you want to do is to put limits on your creativity. It's important for CDPR growth to try new things, but they need to do it while still being aware of their biggest strengths. They are story tellers, and world builders. But the people in charge acted as if they cracked the formula of a life simulator, when it was their first time doing something that is so incredibly hard to do. And it's not even what is carrying CP2077, the roots, the DNA of the studio saved this game.
I don't regret the time and the money invested in this game, but it was a weird experience to enjoy something that flawed so much.
