So…, Cyberpunk 2077 released last week. To be expected, the pre-orders and consecutive players the evening of release were as sky high as expected; however, the extreme fallout post launch wasn’t. For those not aware, Cyberpunk 2077 had one of the least successful cross generation releases I have seen in a while. Those who got it on PC and next gen consoles, while experiencing rough glitches and bugs, seemed to have an overall “better” experience from what I’ve read. Still a mixed bag, but PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions seem to be a whole different story. So much so, Sony was reported to begin offering refunds for PlayStation players; and now CD Project Red officially confirming they messed up and are also offering refunds (there seems to be some backtracking on the refunds at this point though). To be completely honest, this has me severely bummed as I’ve lucked out issue wise and have been really enjoying the game.

In my case, I pre-ordered my copy of Cyberpunk 2077 for my PC though Steam, specs below:

• Intel Core i7 3960X
• 2 x 8GB DDR3-1600 Memory
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super
• Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB

With the exception of the SSD and 2060 Super, this is almost a 9 year old rig. Not to mention, I’m still playing on a 24″ 1080 display, which helps. Not sure if this is just the game defaults for everyone, but it set everything to high, with a few set to Ultra, including RTX. Figured what the heck and left it alone except for setting DLSS to Quality. Honestly wasn’t expecting it was going to run as well as it did, but all I can say is that this game is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t think of a game I’ve played recently that has me more distracted looking at the environment then playing the game. I’ve keep crashed my vehicle from time to time because keep looking at the environment. The use of Ray-Tracing is absolutely amazing in my opinion. I can only image what this game would look like in an even higher resolution with everything maxed.

As for the gameplay, it is fairly much what I expected. A dystopian future FPS/RPG with a compelling story, interesting characters, fun side quests, and a unique enough combat system that I look forward to each encounter. After just recently finishing The Witcher 3 (finally), I expected I was going to enjoy the storytelling. While the main quest line is not as long as The Witcher 3 in comparison, it has kept me engaged the whole time. I’ve hit the point of no return and stopped for the time being to knock out some side quests, but it kept me engaged wanting to keep going to learn more. The interesting story telling doesn’t just stop there to be honest. I’ve been having a blast with the side quests, both one-off and quest chains. They never seem to go as expected and that’s the fun part. Each one makes an interesting twist that just sucks me in. The characters are what make them interesting. The characters I’m supposed to care about, I do. The ones meant to be one-off, I want to learn more about them. Then there is the combat, with a mix of melee, guns, and hacking (this is like the game’s magic system essentially). I’m having a blast changing my approach to each encounter just to see how they go. Use a few quickhacks to weaken the enemies or cause a little chaos, start picking them off at range with my guns, and then finish off anyone who comes close with my mantis blades (katana before that). Overall, this game has just been a blast so far.

Should you play it? Absolutely yes. Should you buy it now? Maybe not. Yes, the game has issues, so did The Witcher 3 when it was released. Why I’m not extremely concerned about the issues, CD Project Red had a fairly decent track record for addressing those issues with Witcher 3. I expect they will do the same with Cyberpunk 2077. They did release patch 1.04 which did help with the PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5 versions. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions are still in a very rough state. Based on their Twitter post I linked in the first paragraph, they do have patches slated for both January and February to specifically address the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions. I would expect they will likely release additional patches for the next gen systems during these times as well. May not be as big, but I expect they are working hard on them.

Final thoughts, if you have a decent PC with current GPU, you will likely be fine. There will be issues and you may have to tweak your settings a bit to get the game running smooth, but PC is probably the safest bet at this time. Next gen console owners, the general gist I’ve read is that patch 1.04 really helped make the game noticeably stable, especially on the PlayStation 5, so you are likely okay. Previous gen console owners should hold off until January or February at the earliest in my opinion. If you already have it, hold onto it as I feel the game is worth it, just really bummed the experience has been so sour. Ultimately CD Project Red should not have released the game as is, or at least not a same day cross generation release. If they felt they had to release something, release on PC first, maybe next gen also, but delay the previous gen at minimum. Either way, gamers would have been bummed, but it would have been an overall better experience in the end. As long as CD Project Red continues to do what they can to fix the game on all platforms so everyone can enjoy them, that helps in my mind. It just won’t erase this dark cloud over what to me is still a very good game at its core.