Game Discussions Cyberpunk 2077 - official gameplay

[WhiteHaulerMan]

I know you didn't ask me Old Duck, but I consider Cyberpunk to be akin more to a FPS Witcher than one of the more 'sandboxy' Bethesda type games. Red Dead 2 is a good comparison also, albeit there's a bit more 'side stuff' to do with RDR2.

For myself, I can see myself donning my trilby, adjusting my trenchcoat and holstering my trusty Overture revolver for a return to Night City when Phantom Liberty releases, as it looks like it'll be a good 'story game' for my next trip away with no internet.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

What do you think of CP vs RDR2? I think I recall you being a big RDR2 fan, but I might be confusing you with someone else.

CP2077 does a good job at creating an urban open world but comparing it to one more natural where you have forests, rivers, caves, small hamlets is a tough order. Urban worlds are dense and dense means limits due to performance. You can get away with a couple huts to visit in outback village but tower residential, commercial, industrial blocks - that just doesn't work without limits. So you get lots of facade and closed doors and fake windows. Urban worlds never reached the immersive feel of natural ones. Fallout's luck is that it's post-apocalyptic and lots of that urban stuff is just ruins. I still feel the larger areas like Boston have a bit of this problem.
That said, CP2077 does deliver a believable city, it feels quite vibrant and vivid - in limits.

 

[WhiteHaulerMan]

CP2077 does a good job at creating an urban open world but comparing it to one more natural where you have forests, rivers, caves, small hamlets is a tough order. Urban worlds are dense and dense means limits due to performance. You can get away with a couple huts to visit in outback village but tower residential, commercial, industrial blocks - that just doesn't work without limits. So you get lots of facade and closed doors and fake windows. Urban worlds never reached the immersive feel of natural ones. Fallout's luck is that it's post-apocalyptic and lots of that urban stuff is just ruins. I still feel the larger areas like Boston have a bit of this problem.
That said, CP2077 does deliver a believable city, it feels quite vibrant and vivid - in limits.

I know its nowhere in the same league, but having just played Shadows of Doubt, which procgens a 'city' with 1,000 NPCs (all with their own little traits and life loops) where you can explore any building or room within it, while taking on the role of a Private Eye in a 1980's cyberpunk enfused setting, I think it is worth a mention.
It's not 'huge' by any extent (I think at the moment its capped at 8 x 8 blocks), but as an indie game its definitely showing promise in that regard.

 

[[PS4 Pro - PC] earthtone99]

Patch 1.63 out today. Can confirm it fixes the frame generation stutter with AMD CPUs. Less DLSS shimmer and very slightly better performance as well.

Yep, getting about 2-7fps improvement with Path Tracing on depending on the area I’m in, on my 12gb 3060.

I’m wondering if they changed the Ray Tracing Denoiser, seems more crisp and clean than before, even using the mostly avoided Performance DLSS settings.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I know its nowhere in the same league, but having just played Shadows of Doubt, which procgens a 'city' with 1,000 NPCs (all with their own little traits and life loops) where you can explore any building or room within it, while taking on the role of a Private Eye in a 1980's cyberpunk enfused setting, I think it is worth a mention.
It's not 'huge' by any extent (I think at the moment its capped at 8 x 8 blocks), but as an indie game its definitely showing promise in that regard.

This discussion give me memories of trawling through Vivec in Morrowind. The new cities in Starfield are supposedly bigger - I'm eager to learn how interactive those cities are.

 

[Old Duck]

I know you didn't ask me Old Duck, but I consider Cyberpunk to be akin more to a FPS Witcher than one of the more 'sandboxy' Bethesda type games. Red Dead 2 is a good comparison also, albeit there's a bit more 'side stuff' to do with RDR2.

For myself, I can see myself donning my trilby, adjusting my trenchcoat and holstering my trusty Overture revolver for a return to Night City when Phantom Liberty releases, as it looks like it'll be a good 'story game' for my next trip away with no internet.

CP2077 does a good job at creating an urban open world but comparing it to one more natural where you have forests, rivers, caves, small hamlets is a tough order. Urban worlds are dense and dense means limits due to performance. You can get away with a couple huts to visit in outback village but tower residential, commercial, industrial blocks - that just doesn't work without limits. So you get lots of facade and closed doors and fake windows. Urban worlds never reached the immersive feel of natural ones. Fallout's luck is that it's post-apocalyptic and lots of that urban stuff is just ruins. I still feel the larger areas like Boston have a bit of this problem.
That said, CP2077 does deliver a believable city, it feels quite vibrant and vivid - in limits.

Sure, anyone can participate in this discussion! I don't mean to compare RDR2's map to CP2077, but rather the various gameplay elements. I just go back into playing RDR2 after a long break, and I'm currently ignoring the quests, instead enjoying hunting, gambling, exploring, and some of the other "side games" built into this world. It's quite an immersive world, especially the NPCs (which for me includes wildlife). That's not to say it won't get stale / repetitive after awhile if I don't get back onto the quests, but then again, so does real life - same people with the same stories going through the same routines.

I love immersive games where I can forget I'm playing a game (unless I'm playing a game inside a game, like poker in RDR2) and lose myself in the world the devs have created. I wonder if CP2077 is such a world. If it is, what kind of world is it? Is it 100% dystopian and depressing, or is there joy to be found in this world?

 

[WhiteHaulerMan]

Sure, anyone can participate in this discussion! I don't mean to compare RDR2's map to CP2077, but rather the various gameplay elements. I just go back into playing RDR2 after a long break, and I'm currently ignoring the quests, instead enjoying hunting, gambling, exploring, and some of the other "side games" built into this world. It's quite an immersive world, especially the NPCs (which for me includes wildlife). That's not to say it won't get stale / repetitive after awhile if I don't get back onto the quests, but then again, so does real life - same people with the same stories going through the same routines.

I love immersive games where I can forget I'm playing a game (unless I'm playing a game inside a game, like poker in RDR2) and lose myself in the world the devs have created. I wonder if CP2077 is such a world. If it is, what kind of world is it? Is it 100% dystopian and depressing, or is there joy to be found in this world?

Thats the one thing that lets CP2077 down for me, is its lacking the 'sidegames' element you speak of.

Using the same analogy I did earlier, its very much "The Witcher 3" without Gwent if you take my meaning?

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Sure, anyone can participate in this discussion! I don't mean to compare RDR2's map to CP2077, but rather the various gameplay elements. I just go back into playing RDR2 after a long break, and I'm currently ignoring the quests, instead enjoying hunting, gambling, exploring, and some of the other "side games" built into this world. It's quite an immersive world, especially the NPCs (which for me includes wildlife). That's not to say it won't get stale / repetitive after awhile if I don't get back onto the quests, but then again, so does real life - same people with the same stories going through the same routines.

I love immersive games where I can forget I'm playing a game (unless I'm playing a game inside a game, like poker in RDR2) and lose myself in the world the devs have created. I wonder if CP2077 is such a world. If it is, what kind of world is it? Is it 100% dystopian and depressing, or is there joy to be found in this world?

I've played originally the tabletop rpg back in the day. I always imagined Night City darker, diertier, grittier. Seeing it in CP2077 gave me a fresh perspective to the setting. The city is very colourful and violence isn't around every corner. It was a new take for me. More corpo cyber utopia, if you will so.
Joy can be found - yes. Mostly with the story arcs. I found one romance to be very tasteful and enjoyable. A second was quite fine, too and the gay one I didn't try.
The world is quite anonymous - you will probably enjoy the story in it - the world itself is not really transporting a lot of activity. I imagine RDR2 would do more in that department.

 

[Old Duck]

Thats the one thing that lets CP2077 down for me, is its lacking the 'sidegames' element you speak of.

Using the same analogy I did earlier, its very much "The Witcher 3" without Gwent if you take my meaning?

I've never played Witcher games. Have you ever played Sony's Spiderman game? It sounds like it might be similar, where you have this amazing city to explore, but without the quests and main story, it does get kinda boring pretty quick because it really is designed as a story to play, despite having the option to just web up random bad guys all day.

 

[WhiteHaulerMan]

I've never played Witcher games. Have you ever played Sony's Spiderman game? It sounds like it might be similar, where you have this amazing city to explore, but without the quests and main story, it does get kinda boring pretty quick because it really is designed as a story to play, despite having the option to just web up random bad guys all day.

Thats a good parallel there, very much all the 'storied missions' (and there is plenty to keep you occupied for a good 35 or so hours at least) are good, and its an engaging story as Navigare says, and the less developed side missions still have plenty to offer as well from a tactical perspective (assuming you dont use the 'netrunning god' build).

However, outside of these from brassing/carving up some gonk gang members or the NCPD's 'finest', there really isn't much else to do.

However, as pessimistic as that sounds, I'll just end with this: I've played it through end to end twice now and enjoyed every minute of both playthroughs, with intent to do it a third time when Phantom Liberty releases.

 

[[PS4 Pro - PC] earthtone99]

Thats the one thing that lets CP2077 down for me, is its lacking the 'sidegames' element you speak of.

Using the same analogy I did earlier, its very much "The Witcher 3" without Gwent if you take my meaning?

Hopefully PL will fix this with radiant quests and things to do outside of the missions which we know are coming.

Currently once all the stuff like main missions, sidequests, Cyberpsychos & NCPD scanner hustles etc. are done, it does feel like something is missing.

 

[Surefoot]

I love immersive games where I can forget I'm playing a game (unless I'm playing a game inside a game, like poker in RDR2) and lose myself in the world the devs have created. I wonder if CP2077 is such a world. If it is, what kind of world is it? Is it 100% dystopian and depressing, or is there joy to be found in this world?

Cyberpunk genre dictates a pessimistic overtone. Be prepared for tough moments.
Also it's closer to Deus Ex series if you prefer, than RDR2 or Bethesda games - it's a main story with a sprinkle of side quests (some of which are excellent and memorable, very few are disappointing, one is just lazy, those flamingos...). If you are not familiar with the cyberpunk genre it's a good introduction to it as it plays the trope absolutely straight.
Can you enjoy it, depends on people, I know some who just cannot endure the very pessimistic universe, or some who are absolute fans of everything from the genre and try and collect everything related to it.

 

[Mole HD]

What do you think of CP vs RDR2? I think I recall you being a big RDR2 fan, but I might be confusing you with someone else.

I am indeed a fan of RDR...but I'd make the comparison between the Witcher3 and CP rather than RDR2. I've only played through the main story in CP2077 the once whereas Witcher 3, several times and still playing.

I enjoyed my one time playthrough even though I'm not a fan of Cyberpunk as a genre, but personally, I just didn't find that much replayability or immersion in Night City... as a gameworld, rather than just a game...or much that I felt a burning desire to return to ...

Spoiler: Although there are a few exceptions

 

[Old Duck]

I get the sense that this game may not be my cup of tea, unless it's on an insane "what do I have to lose?" sale. That's fine, I'm pretty fussy, so it's not a knock against the game itself.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

I've never played Witcher games. Have you ever played Sony's Spiderman game? It sounds like it might be similar, where you have this amazing city to explore, but without the quests and main story, it does get kinda boring pretty quick because it really is designed as a story to play, despite having the option to just web up random bad guys all day.

Witcher 3 is worth it.. it sounds strange for me to say this now, but what i really respected them for was to have sequences of 20... to 40... to maybe even longer.. of story exposition.. basic interaction and dialogue. Never before had that much time gone past with nothing but cutscenes. Most developers are too bound by the 18-20?? year old crowd who some can see skipping story as a badge of pride and something they do. The polish developers just didn't care. Was great. If you play the game in between reading the books as well, the game absolutely is a valid story in the many stories that lore has. Its not less.

Ps. Now would be the perfect time to play w3.. it raised the bar to a new level that wasn't matched for years when it came out in 2015.. but in 2022/23.. design aside, the level of detail is just ordinary now (better be 8 years later).. so before it dramatically ages like skyrim in the next 3-4 years better give it a go. pps. id recommend the classic version. the free next gen update did nothing positive for me. also you will need mods, and a reshade to strongly desaturate the colors. the extreme hyperfantasy saturation is consistent with w2, but i think wrong for the realistic detail the produced in the 3d environment itself. You can heavily desaturate it for success.

 

[[PS4 Pro - PC] earthtone99]

Cyberpunk is my most played game under ELITE, I’m well over 1000 hours, that’s 125 hours with a female Corpo V character on PC, then I’ve done much more than 250 hours on PlayStation with each of the various character builds, having done a couple at least 2x.
Street Kid, Corpo & Nomad.
I think I’ve generated 5 or 6 characters in total now.

I take the game slowly each time and fully clean out the city & all missions, it is the only game I have that still feels next gen, despite some of its shortcomings.

When PL hits, I’ll start another fresh build at some point to see how radically everything has changed.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

When PL hits, I’ll start another fresh build at some point to see how radically everything has changed.

I own cyberpunk.. but haven't event installed it. Was waiting for 1.7 to arrive to finally give it a go. Don't know what the best strategy will be.. depends on how stable starfield is on pc i guess.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Witcher 3 is worth it.. it sounds strange for me to say this now, but what i really respected them for was to have sequences of 20... to 40... to maybe even longer.. of story exposition.. basic interaction and dialogue. Never before had that much time gone past with nothing but cutscenes. Most developers are too bound by the 18-20?? year old crowd who some can see skipping story as a badge of pride and something they do. The polish developers just didn't care. Was great. If you play the game in between reading the books as well, the game absolutely is a valid story in the many stories that lore has. Its not less.

Ps. Now would be the perfect time to play w3.. it raised the bar to a new level that wasn't matched for years when it came out in 2015.. but in 2022/23.. design aside, the level of detail is just ordinary now (better be 8 years later).. so before it dramatically ages like skyrim in the next 3-4 years better give it a go. pps. id recommend the classic version. the free next gen update did nothing positive for me. also you will need mods, and a reshade to strongly desaturate the colors. the extreme hyperfantasy saturation is consistent with w2, but i think wrong for the realistic detail the produced in the 3d environment itself. You can heavily desaturate it for success.

W3 isn't the greatest open world game but it truly delivers a full story. The world is brimming with interesting quests and the witcher take really resonated with me - nice mix of familiar fantasy and "fresher" eastern european myths.

 

[Surefoot]

Don't know what the best strategy will be.. depends on how stable starfield is on pc i guess.

It's a Bethesda RPG what do you expect You'll have plenty of time to finish CP2077, before patches and mods get there to make Starfield enjoyable. (edit) completionist run is about 120 hours IIRC, on max difficulty settings.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

It's a Bethesda RPG what do you expect You'll have plenty of time to finish CP2077, before patches and mods get there to make Starfield enjoyable. (edit) completionist run is about 120 hours IIRC, on max difficulty settings.

120 hours will take a good few months for me to finish.. that's assuming it keeps me wanting more every day. Good to know though.

I was thinking about learning how to play games by just doing the main storyline.. to me that's sacrilege, i would never do that.. 100% or bust.. but i have assassins creed games to play still.... say i did nothing but the main story.. do modern games allow you to do that generally, or do they gear check you at some point to force you into the side content? Doing the main story from start to finish doesn't seem like it would generate immersion at all.. it would be just consuming a movie and being done..?