The entire premise of, "You are dying, you are running out of time, you must hurry," makes absolutely no sense because there are no consequences for doing, well EVERYTHING ELSE in the game that is not the main story.
I kinda wish it pushed you to the final plotpoint and then either ended your game or plopped you down in the game world without Johnny, giving you a 6 month in-game time frame to complete everything else. I think this is a more realistic dynamic for how the character V would operate in the desperation that sets in after their merging with the construct
@@jaconator1245 I think that misses the point a little bit of the time limit. I agree that the time limit should be longer (a couple months instead of a few weeks), but I think letting you complete the rest of your side quests without being on the clock with Johnny kinda defeats the point of many of them in the first place. Cos' the way I interpret it is that V is choosing to spend what little time they have helping people/spending time with the people they love in spite of the fact that they're a ticking time bomb. I think it makes the encounters in side jobs a lot more poignant.
I often wonder if the arms race over graphical fidelity in AAA open world games is a culprit for how poorly they’re designed. Emergent systems and a slew of interactable objects can’t co-exist with computation hungry visuals, and market research dictates that fidelity is more marketable than the actual game. Open world simulations are already possible. Outer Wilds simulates a miniature solar system in real time, and Rain World simulates an alien ecosystem with interactions that can take place off screen. These are SMALL developers, I can scarcely imagine what a 200+ person team is capable of. However, these grand open world games end up being thousands and thousands of man-hours put into copying someone else’s homework. We end up killing the same goons with the same weapons except this time there’s different cover art on the box. I want to imagine a future where open world games are dynamic simulations that exist outside of the player, instead of romanticized planes of geometry between each collectible and setpiece.
@@Tracker947 That and the fact that most if not all AAA companies except for maybe Nintendo (to an extent, of course) are all playing safe af. They NEED to make big numbers or else they could go bankrupt, and all in the name of "but now muh game has 2000000 trillion polygons instead of 199999 trillion!". Man, I really can't believe companies decided to go for the graphics route instead of the physics & AI one. Some games in the 7 gen have better physics and AI than games from this era, it's crazy. Like, GTA IV (a 2008 game) has waaay better physics than Horizon Forbidden West, a 2022 game!
That’s a great point dude I’ve thought about this before too I really think art direction over hyper realistic graphics should win every time but that just seems the opposite take now
The problem in games is not the open world, it's the fact that instead of focusing on a smaller but more dense open world, the focus on making it bigger for some reason. It's always the same "quantity over quality" which for some reason a lot of developers keep doing. I really like the idea of open world, but if it's empty and the activities are repetitive what's the point.
there is consequence in the game, if you are talking about the map being leveled if you fail and you are sad you don't get to see what happens after v dies... There is different endings for each story, each thing. To do anything more complex than this game, with choice and consequence, the budget would have to be at least 2x as big. Nothing is free from consequence in this game.
@@TheGoreforce I was talking about open worlds in general, not Cyberpunk specifically. And no you don't need to do something bigger to make it more complex, I remember playing Cyberpunk at launch and no, it wasn't as good as you say it is but I still liked it. I don't know if they completely changed the game, but the content in the open world wasn't that good.
Idk how a hybrid mix of open and linear hasn’t been used effectively yet, all you need is some good level design and pacing and boom, satiate both crowds and maybe make an even better game
@@opticalsalt2306 I mean, the more reccent God of War games use that wide-linear model. The Dishonored and Eidos' Deus Ex games use that mix too. Metro Last Light and Exodus as well (I love using the Aurora to travel between smaller open areas). Just some basic examples right there; I'm sure I'm missing a lot of good examples. Either way, smaller, more vertical open areas that forego HUD-based mission design is the way to go.
We need to culturally move on from single player open world games. The format dubiously works for mmorpgs because it's supposed to be a playground for you and other players, but when it's just you, it feels like a waist of space. I could write a 500 page essay on how irritating I find open worlds, so it's a breath of fresh air to hear a validating take for once.
The best open world I've seen in a game is in stalker anomaly (technically a mod but it's different enough to basically be a new game). It's not an open world in the usual sense as there are loading screens between the many distinct areas but it's basically the same when playing it. Because the game isn't really linear, the open world is necessary to accommodate the open gameplay. In anomaly I rarely fast travel, there are just so many times when a unique event will happen while travelling on foot that I would miss if I fast travelled, a lot of the fun of the game are these events. The game also has a faction system which leads to things like two groups of npcs from opposing factions getting in a firefight, because there is also a system for mutants hearing noises, a weaker squad might get lucky and win against a stronger one, or a squad that's hostile to both factions might come in a kill both of them. The game also rewards being alert, if you get distracted you might miss the noise of a mutant in the bushes and get killed or you could die to many other reasons. These unique situations can take a boring and basic package delivery quest and turn it into a situation that might stick with you for months. This is really only a slice of how good stalker anomaly can be at creating a sandbox where anything can happen.
I think your point about Arasaka hunting V after you kidnap Hanako would only be possible in a smaller, more developer-controlled world (which I'm in favor of). Something like Jensen's return to Prague in DE:MD when you find it overrun with police. Returning to areas and living through narrative and/or player-led changes is a great feeling only games can deliver, but massive, horizontal open worlds have a hard time hitting those beats effectively.
? Im not going to watch the video because he mentioned the bugs, so i don't know what your talking about. Also, Witcher 3 is inferior to Witcher 2 and cyberpunk... and also Skyrim.
Just that it’s about an underdeveloped open world that bombards you with map markers and objective checklists so you don’t feel like you’re really navigating a world but simply following predetermined paths. I’d recommend you watch the video, otherwise I’m just reiterating readily available information. He doesn’t really go hard on the bugs even though CDPR completely deserves it. Also I’d say all the games you mentioned there are pretty half baked and boring.
@@yamnbam4346 open world, all else equal, absolutely does equal better. Not all open world games are better than all non open world games - but any game would be made better if it had a properly utilized open world. Except for games like csgo or smash bros of course. I’m speaking in terms of single player narrative based games primarily. You just like on rails bs where you’re basically just watching a movie and engaging in the same boring mechanic over and over again. I bet you like bad games. Name your top 5 games.
@@RockPile_ Not every game is designed to be an open world game. Simply making them an open world game wouldn’t automatically improve them. Elden Ring is a great example of this. None of the improvements that game makes to the souls formula are a direct result of it being an open world game. My taste in games is irrelevant to this discussion.
@@yamnbam4346 your taste in games is directly relevant to which games you say have merit and why. Post your top 5, unless you realize you have bad taste! Every game with very few exceptions would be better with a bespoke open world suited to it. Name an exception Ofc elden rings improvements weren’t SOLELY a result of its open world. But it did contribute. You’re the type to mod games to make them easy
Your idea of actions affecting gang reputation and access to gang chopshops and missions etc is something I had wished was part of the game. The "real" lifestyle of a cyberpunk. Not this crap about dying.
I mean there's nothing inherently wrong with having a Cyberpunk game about a guy who's dying/running out of time. The problem is more that CD PROJECT was completely unwilling to actually commit to this story/experience in a way the player actually really feels, i.e. some kind of in-game countdown timer that when reaching zero kills you or has a coinflip chance to kill you any further hour you play or whatever. And because they don't commit to making the player themselves really feel what the protagonist is feeling, it ends up feeling like a watered down pseudo-story that does not really deliver the experience the story is about, and thus has far less to offer.
you know, when you said 'there has to be a better way to spin engaging narrative than blocks of text' I immediately thought of the cyberpunk masterpiece Armored Core 6
I still believe CP2077's biggest problem is not tying the side missions and gigs to the meds Misty gives you at the end of Act 1. Had you been able/compelled to purchase and compulsively consume extremely expensive and experimental meds to lengthen your life and avoid a fail state/alternative ending by completing side missions in between main story beats, the open-world structure would've served a more meaningful purpose. Hell, allowing you to choose the suicide ending each time you have to pop a pill would've been something interesting too. The menu for it is already in the game. Without such interactions, there's too much dissonance between gameplay and narrative, as you point out.
Yep. CD PROJECT just doesn't commit to actually delivering the protagonist's ostensible experience (dying/running out of time) in a real and visceral gameplay way to the player, thus leaving it narratively a hollowed out experience
Haven't watched this yet, but you've got great content and I appreciate that you're unafraid to criticize well loved games (not so applicable with Cyberpunk, but Tears of the Kingdom or Shadow of the Erdtree, for instance).
Loved the video! Im sure this was a gargantuan effort to get this produced. I hope you keep plugging away at this channel - it's one of the best. I wonder if you've played BOTW? (not TOTK). BOTW feels closest to the world being one big open level - going as far as the four 'actual' levels in the devine beasts being the worst parts.
I can recall the exact game that made me repelled by the idea of open world, It was far cry 3. The reason is because after i completed the game with 100%, i realized what a waste of time it all was. It has a cool villain sure, But the vomit of kill this, kill that, collect this and that have been a staple of subsequent open world games. Far cry 3 might not be the first culprit But it definitely was my first. Hell! it took me 2 years to finish elden ring. Not because of the gameplay, but because every time i want to pick it up the next day, i dreaded it. I dreaded that i have to spend hours on end performing time wasting acts just for the chance that i might miss something good or interesting. Sadly cyberpunk and Zelda are no different.
I disagree that the open world is bad, not every game should tell their story as efficiently as possible and the point of it is for you to be able to mess around and have fun not to pad the runtime. Its also an rpg so you need some space for random encounters and side quests and that would be awkward to jam into story missions. And as for the character like i said this is an rpg the onus is on the player to characterize their V and if you dont like V thats a you thing.
Sad that you didn't listen and just made up a narrative. The point is that there is virtually no emergent gameplay that the open world has between mission areas. Also, no, V is a very simplistic character with few choices for the player. So nope, it's a cdpr thing. Step out of fanboy defense mode
@@matsimurf_5900 The point is, that open worlds do that by nature. It's a feature, not a bug, that there are parts of the world where you travel to points of interest. A criticism can be leveled against the amount of things to do in the world or the quality of the things to do, but a game will not be open world if there is not space for you to move freely around. People cite the feeling of being lost in an open world and just walking and seeing stuff and then fiding something as one of the biggest draws for this type of game. I for one am in that camp and walking from point A to point B can be some of the most pleasant parts of the game, especially in a game with vechicles. The feeling on finishing a great open world game is very different to a more linear one. As for the amount of choices, it's decent enough but definitely not some top standard. There are ending that can be unlocked only after completing certain side quests and those side quests can be failed. Following only the main quest unlocks 2, 2 more are unlocked after finishing side plot lines, 1 is unlocked depending on your relationship with Johnny. I'd say that it fails in terms of showing the consequences for the wider world, but does a good job in terms of characters. The world might not change, but you can choose if you want to nail a person to the cross in the game. The emotional reponse to a character cutting you off is still there. Now coming back to the open world part, the ticking bomb aspect of Cyberpunk in particular is definitely a fault of the game, and lthough not unique to the the genre, it's not a feature of it but more of a fault of the writer team. A storyline which makes the main quest a priority without the ticking bomb should be possible and could even be handled in a way, which makes doing side content in the game make sense (for example, you have to do X, but before doing X you need to do Y, with Y being something vague like "getting allies" or something). I think a criticism of the amount of things to do in the game compared to the size of the map or the quality of it is a fair one and in that regard I think they've had a step down compared to Witcher 3, when comparing gigs to witcher contracts. Now finally, it should be worth acknowledging that trying to merge different game types, like immersive sim and open world is not exactly easy and it was CDPR first attempt. Given how Cyberpunk has managed to both retain a decent amount of players despite the terrible lunch and gain new ones after updates, as well as the positive reception of the game in it's current state, being a jack of all trades seems to be working for many players. I for one am intersted in how CDPR is going to handle the next cyberpunk game, since they have had A LOT of feedback when it comes to basically any aspect of the game. Were they to succeed in implementing that feedback that'd be really something in my opinion.
@@matsimurf_5900 I normally don't like open world games, like usually absolutely avoid them like the plague, but Cyber Punk was the first I actually really liked because I enjoyed just existing in the city, and I'm not sure that that would exist if they didn't pour all this effort into making that happen instead of a denser environment or whatever. I don't think anyone here is fanboying for CDPR you're just being a hater.
Your Elden Ring DLC review landed me here, really enjoying the insightful review! What’s your thoughts on Fallout: New Vegas’ take on a more “curated” open-world? Do you think Cyberpunk would be better if it was with a silent protagonist without the Silverhand nonsense? I think if V was a silent protagonist, it would allow for greater dialogue options and less illusory dialogue paths. Add in faction-reputation à la F:NV for reactivity (dialogues and emergent gameplay such as hit squads, vendors) and for more complex paths to varied endings.
I can't answer your first question because believe it or not, I actually haven't played New Vegas. I played and loved Fallout 1 and 2, and when I eventually tried 3 I hated it so much that it put me off wanting to try NV. I know it's mostly regarded as a better game - some day I'll get around to it. I need to play VTMB as well, which I gather has a few of the features I suggested for Cyberpunk in this video. A silent protagonist can certainly help with immersion (see my video on Subnautica for more thoughts on that) and it would definitely make it cheaper and easier for the devs to implement more dialogue options. The important thing for actually adding complexity or interactivity is to give those options actual consequences though, which is harder to do. This is why I think that some kind of faction system, with a sliding reputation scale that has various different effects, could provide a good amount of emergent consequences for the player's actions. Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad you're enjoying my channel.
I'm not as big an open world hater and, as much as I'd prefer a reactive open world where your actions have systemic effects, I don't mind a glorified menu screen between objectives so long as it's enjoyable to navigate, and that's 2077's cardinal sin IMO. The minimap is the only way to find your way anywhere because the in-world signposting is almost nonexistant and the roads aren't laid out with any discernable logic. Hell, even using the minimap I get lost at least once per journey because I take one turn too early and end up on the road above the one I'm aiming for. So many weirdly-hidden entrances to buildings mean that you can't even walk to most locations without a line leading the way, which is a shame because the on foot traversal mechanics are pretty solid, I got lost one time and had to parkour my way down off a fairly tall building and it was the most engaging the world itself ever felt. One of the best mods I've installed for Cyberpunk adds working trains. They're a little janky but being able to sit in first person and look out the window at the city as you travel is a better way to experience the open world than bouncing my bike off 3 walls, doing a wheelie and then akira sliding backwards into oncoming traffic. Honestly an open world that had to be navigated through a mix of parkour and public transit would be so much more engaging than the Sprawling Mess of Streets to Crash Your Car To that we got.
I agree with most of the video but I do have a huge question. If you dont like open world games, due to repetition, boredom or anything else, why play them? You have made like 10 videos on different open world games, and you have the same points on every single one. The world is big, the side content drags etc. If you know that the game is open world, and you know you dont like open worlds, why play the game?
I can only answer for myself, but open world games have so much potential that they shamelessly squander and I want that potential to be realized. I continue to check up on the genre in hopes that something interesting eventually comes from it, but it’s usually stagnant. Rain World and Outer Wilds are my favorite open world games, but they stray so far from modern conventions that most wouldn’t even consider them “open world” as we know it. Goes to show how much of a creativity black hole the genre has become.
This is a fair question. The reason I play any game is because there's something in it that interests me - in Elden Ring that was the combat and the FromSoft pedigree, and in Cyberpunk it was the potential of the immersive sim. In both cases, the open world dominates the experience and drags it down in a way that is impossible to ignore - so of course that element gets a lot of attention in the script. If I finish a game, it's because I liked enough parts of it to find it worth playing despite its flaws. You'll never see me making a video about Assassin's Creed or any similar mindless slop, because I already know that I simply have no interest in playing them. Of course I knew that Elden Ring and Cyberpunk were open world going in, but I was interested enough by the premise to give them a chance. Having an open world doesn't mean a game is automatically bad - it's just that almost every game I've played in the genre uses the world in a boring way that disrespects the player's time, and I'm going to call it out for what it is every time I see it. I hope this answers your question and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying my channel.
@@shadozzzBecause if you don't say anything, then when devs do research on how to make games better, they won't bother. Open world games dont have to be this way, they can be mote focused and rich in gameplay.
Cyberpunk is my favorite game of all time, it blends everything I love into 1 game, immersive sim gameplay, rpg character building and dialogue systems, a great story and characters, an awe inspiring world to live in and explore.. but it’s not without its flaws, and it’s funny because I’ve always said there was 1 thing that could’ve fixed a lot of the issues rhe game has, and that’s limited resources .. ammo, healing, weapons r all way too abundant and/or rechargeable, and all they had to do was make the player use resources that r finite or scarce, and if fixes the issue of having worthless crap in ur inventory, it fixes the issue of the world not feeling absolutely necessary to explore, it fixes rhe issue of decision making within quests and gigs.. just adding something like lockpicks, limited hacking resources, limited ammo and healing items, would fix so many issue with the game and I hope they do this with the sequel.. and I understand ur criticisms about the time wasting stuff, however I do think cyberpunk has less time wasting in it than any other open world game I’ve ever played
I'm surprised you did not make a video criticising the Witcher 3? Your expectations are for the game to be perfect in all aspects which is impossible. You are complaining about romance options. Did you want then to create a Sim city cyberpunk 2077?
Indeed Cyberpunk had a lot of boring grind. It's exactly what I thought when I played it: what a wasted potential. The city and whole world is so well done. But the linear story ruined it for me. And I love Keanu Reeves or Idris Elba but... ahh whatever.
so basically the video is you acting surprised that you didn’t like cyberpunk a open world game when you repeatedly said that you don’t like open world games and the game isn’t as similar as deus ex or thief, which one of those is an open world game (excluding the last one ofc) the design of those games compared to cyberpunk it’s just so different and almost impossible to compare and calling cyberpunk lifeless it’s just dumb at this point tbh it’s okay if you didn’t like the game if it isn’t for you, that’s fair but just complaining because it’s not what you like or it isn’t similar enough to the games you already like doesn’t make any sense
Hmmm why are you criticizing Immersive Sim Elements of Cyberpunk by comparing it to Deux Ex, a game primarily focus on being an Immersive Sim? Cyberpunk is actually a traditional open world game, in the same mold as Witcher 3, AC Odyssey,etc. but they incorporated several immersive sim elements to improve the gameplay (Cyberpunks gameplay is certainly a big improvement from Witcher). CD Projekts strength, to me, has never been in gameplay, but rather in telling stories, and creating a beautifyl & realistic open world. Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk both achieved this with flying colors, but theres a reason I played Witcher 3 at story difficulty. I didnt want the lame ass gameplay to get into the way of me experiencing the story & exploring the open world. I just appreciate how CD Projekts has improved the gameplay of Cyberpunk so much by incorporating several ImSim elements into it. Personally when I want the quintessential immersive sim experience Id play Prey or Dishonored. Those game, like Deux Ex, are first and foremost Immersive Sim, and they do not let anything get in the way of that in their design. Cyberpunk is a story driven open world action game. ImSim features are just nice-to-have.
Watching this video was wild because of the commentary on Cyberpunk as if it is an immersive sim, rather than a story based open world rpg with immersive sim elements (like you said). Thank you for making the distinction, I thought I was going crazy.
Ok; so while generally speaking I would agree with a many of your points, there was 3 particular things you talked about with the gameplay I took issue with: 1. The thing about saving stat points to dump for skill checks. Not everyone plays like that. Personally my focus was on investing them straight away to unlock skills and flesh out the build I was going for; which is how id expect most people to play. The much of the issues you mentioned with the system were more with how you were CHOOSING to play. 2. Boring combat/health sponge enemies. Again, that was more how you chose to play; if you invest in skills and cyberware around different weapon types/play styles there is a lot of variety and fun to be had with the combat. Instead of hiding behind cover, you can be zipping around slicing up enemies and deflecting their bullets back, be a walking tank with heavy weapons, slowing down time and headshotting every enemy before anyone has the chance to raise the alarm, etc. Enemy health also doesn’t seem as sponges when you properly invest into these things. 3. Building off the last point; quickhacks trivialising things. While I definitely do agree it’s too easy to do things like turn off cameras/turrets (especially when you haven’t invested in netrunner abilities), something I don’t think you realised was there are other things you can have equipped in that slot that mean you DON’T have access to quickhacks; like sandevistans that let you slow down time. This fundamentally changes your approach to things like cameras; because you either need to actually sneak past, get right up to turn them off with technical ability, or destroy them which will create sound to alert enemies even with silent weapons. Something you may have noticed if you looked more into your combat options. It’s definitely not a perfect game, im hoping the work they’ve done to fix the game up will lead to better implemented/cohesive systems in the sequel. Though when it comes to critiques; definitely try to be more aware of what is actually the fault of the game, and what is being caused by how you’re choosing to play. In this case maybe play around a bit with other some other builds, and see if your critiques still apply.
1. I occasionally get comments like this, especially on my video about TOTK, saying that it's my fault I disliked a mechanic or feature because I 'chose' to engage with it in the most boring way possible. I think this is missing the point. A game designer's role is to encourage players to interact with their game in the most interesting ways possible, and sometimes that means placing restrictions on the player to force them to make meaningful decisions. Look at the example I gave of leg mods: you can ONLY install one, which means you have to make a tradeoff that will influence the options you have later. If it was possible to get all four at once, there would be no choice to make at all - it would be a no-brainer to install them all and get all of the benefits. Would it be my fault for 'choosing' to remove that tradeoff by installing them all? Similarly, when it comes to optical camo, the only restriction on its use is time, which means the player can abuse it by hiding for a minute while it recharges. If the game incentivises boring play like this, it is the game's fault - not the player's. The problem is not me 'choosing' to do it - the problem is the developers choosing to allow me to do it. If you know that saving upgrade points can be a useful strategy for opening shortcuts, that means the game is providing an incentive to hoard them - the player is working and making decisions within the structures set by the designers, and if they have a boring time then it's the designers' responsibility to change those incentive structures to generate more compelling choices. 2. As I mentioned in the video, I'm willing to say that my issues with combat might come down to build choice and personal preference. I can see how the combat might be enjoyable to players with a different mindset, though it doesn't appeal to me personally. 3. You can replace cyberdecks with more combat-focused options, but if you have a preference for stealth then sticking with quickhacks is the obvious choice in my opinion. I agree with you that using alternative methods to get around cameras would be a lot more interesting - if quickhacks were a less over-powered option and had some restrictions placed on their use, we could have got the best of both worlds here. We may not agree on everything here, but I appreciate the thoughtful comment and I hope you enjoyed the video.
Play your own way mentality is slowly killing game design for years and I'm here still wondering when people are going to realize that and come to terms with the fact that it is lazy and a boring excuse.
The best things in CP 2077 are the things that have nothing to do with the gameplay: the music (radio) tracks, the utopian city design, the lore. The gameplay itself is boring, repetitive and mostly pointless. The decisions you make have very little consequences to the gameplay itself. Thank God you have the "c" key to skip conversations!
You lost my interest at 8:23. You obviously do not understand the game or the cyberpunk genre. The point is escapism. It’s more like a fantasy. It has demons living in the old net which for some reason still runs and is powered by electricity somewhere. It doesn’t make logical sense but you are not supposed to think about it. Just go with it, it is part of the universe. Style over substance. What you are saying is already ancient criticism of literary critics about the genre. They didn’t get it either. Their critique was maybe the reason why it didn’t get to mainstream popularity… In the intro you got me: from a gameplay point of view, it suffers from an untapped potential and from blatant bad design like the inventory system (or crafting system). The fact that 2.0 removed stats from armor also seems retarded to me. The only thing we needed was transmog system and we got it. Attaching the stats to cyberware limits the roleplay potential. But nevermind, I trust CP 99 will get a bit better. Hopefully I will live long enough to experience a few more of these stories… I hate this planet and all the hateful people in it who work on destroying it. That’s why I need cyberpunk. There I can fucking do something about it.
I find it funny you talk about walking into a shady chop shop, and use footage of Vik's shop, the one guy it seems clearly stated to use anesthesia. I wouldn't say it's "mostly working," I mean, I guess compared to the start, but it has many bugs and some still present since day one to some capacity. I played the game through three times when I got it this year, and it felt like each week was some kind of "bug of the week." Bugs that happened last week, wouldn't happen this week, but different bugs would, and then next week, same thing. Only some bugs were consistent, such as the obvious feeling on the PC version, that the game has an impending crash if you don't reload it soon, and that was on a Windows and Linux system. My recent 5th play through ended on the last ending was working on, when I got sick of the final boss on very hard, and the screen perma flashed ultra white. On my third play through only, I randomly had a sound bug kill off the music permanently, with no 100% known fix for years, excepting reloading to a previous save the bug had not happened yet. Periodically dialogue lines won't happen, and repeatedly at least one particular phone call coming in would always get cut off for no reason, the immediately come back with the intended first line missing. If you have a weak system that has trouble keeping up with the rendering, like my laptop, you can easily still find T-posing NPCs gliding around, which was especially obvious in the moving in with Jackie montage. I even feel that if it wasn't for the bugs, the things I love about this game, I love them so much, that I might never stop replaying it if it wasn't for the bugs. That's the only thing that kept getting in the way of me continuing to do each play through to its fullest.
@@emptyorchestra I disagree its not a genre, but that does not change the fact that he is judging the whole game from an immersive sim perspective which is wrong. I do agree it borrows some aspects but that is not a reason to judge the whole game like that. There is a small element of parkour in Cyberpunk like Dying Light, however that does not mean I'm going to judge the whole game on that premise and criticize Cyberpunk for not matching up.
@@DjPolo-f2d Well it boils down to how these games are structured. So yeah you are partially right about the unfair judgement of the immersive sim element but these games are a mish mash of concepts thrown together like a soup, non of the mechanics are fleshed out or stand out. And that's the issue really there are no focus here, thrown together without a thought, mindlessly borrowed without understanding how it works or why it is that way. To a lot of people this is fine cause they can experience shadows of their favorite mechanics together. With that idea I think better approach would be to look at the 'overall experience' of the game but that means excepting the fact that this big issue won't go anywhere and we will be endlessly playing these jack of everything(at best) master of non games to the end of time.
Not to say you played it wrong, but the combat can be really good depending what you want out of it. I loved dashing around like a mad man going into slow mo and taking off heads. I never really had a problem with spongey enemies either. Glad you had fun with the stealth but i dont know if the combat is "not good" objectively
How are you this delusional? You'd be the first to say "a lot of criticism for someone who hasn't even played the game" if he didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just because you invest time into something doesn't mean you have enjoy it. Especially if you have a UA-cam channel critiquing video games. Concept isn't that hard to grasp if you ever worked a job.
I can always tell a bad faith Cyberpunk review because they all talk about the bugs. Listen, this kind of game will always be abnormally buggy, and ultimately "bugs" are an inescapeable reality of living in a simulation, so when you highlight that, on realease, the game was buggy it just draws attention to how disconnected from reality you are and how its tarnished your expereince with what is unironically one of the best games of the decade. ----------------------------------------- Cyberpunk is not Deus Ex, its the last of us.
Lmao at bad faith. You're delusional if you think this game wasn't uniquely buggy. Your comment is bad faith. All that buggy spawl and for what...a game world with barely any creatively emergent, flowing gameplay, which is the only real reason for an open world to begin with.
You can say he’s wrong or that you disagree with him, but I don’t understand how you got “bad faith” from this video. If you’re that sensitive to someone criticizing your precious games, you’ll never last in this world.
The entire premise of, "You are dying, you are running out of time, you must hurry," makes absolutely no sense because there are no consequences for doing, well EVERYTHING ELSE in the game that is not the main story.
I kinda wish it pushed you to the final plotpoint and then either ended your game or plopped you down in the game world without Johnny, giving you a 6 month in-game time frame to complete everything else. I think this is a more realistic dynamic for how the character V would operate in the desperation that sets in after their merging with the construct
@@jaconator1245 I think that misses the point a little bit of the time limit. I agree that the time limit should be longer (a couple months instead of a few weeks), but I think letting you complete the rest of your side quests without being on the clock with Johnny kinda defeats the point of many of them in the first place. Cos' the way I interpret it is that V is choosing to spend what little time they have helping people/spending time with the people they love in spite of the fact that they're a ticking time bomb. I think it makes the encounters in side jobs a lot more poignant.
I often wonder if the arms race over graphical fidelity in AAA open world games is a culprit for how poorly they’re designed. Emergent systems and a slew of interactable objects can’t co-exist with computation hungry visuals, and market research dictates that fidelity is more marketable than the actual game.
Open world simulations are already possible. Outer Wilds simulates a miniature solar system in real time, and Rain World simulates an alien ecosystem with interactions that can take place off screen. These are SMALL developers, I can scarcely imagine what a 200+ person team is capable of. However, these grand open world games end up being thousands and thousands of man-hours put into copying someone else’s homework. We end up killing the same goons with the same weapons except this time there’s different cover art on the box. I want to imagine a future where open world games are dynamic simulations that exist outside of the player, instead of romanticized planes of geometry between each collectible and setpiece.
Games aren't given enough time or space to cook because of the rush to meet deadlines for the sake of appeasing investors.
@@Tracker947 That and the fact that most if not all AAA companies except for maybe Nintendo (to an extent, of course) are all playing safe af. They NEED to make big numbers or else they could go bankrupt, and all in the name of "but now muh game has 2000000 trillion polygons instead of 199999 trillion!".
Man, I really can't believe companies decided to go for the graphics route instead of the physics & AI one. Some games in the 7 gen have better physics and AI than games from this era, it's crazy. Like, GTA IV (a 2008 game) has waaay better physics than Horizon Forbidden West, a 2022 game!
That’s a great point dude
I’ve thought about this before too
I really think art direction over hyper realistic graphics should win every time but that just seems the opposite take now
The problem in games is not the open world, it's the fact that instead of focusing on a smaller but more dense open world, the focus on making it bigger for some reason. It's always the same "quantity over quality" which for some reason a lot of developers keep doing. I really like the idea of open world, but if it's empty and the activities are repetitive what's the point.
there is consequence in the game, if you are talking about the map being leveled if you fail and you are sad you don't get to see what happens after v dies... There is different endings for each story, each thing. To do anything more complex than this game, with choice and consequence, the budget would have to be at least 2x as big. Nothing is free from consequence in this game.
@@TheGoreforce I was talking about open worlds in general, not Cyberpunk specifically. And no you don't need to do something bigger to make it more complex, I remember playing Cyberpunk at launch and no, it wasn't as good as you say it is but I still liked it. I don't know if they completely changed the game, but the content in the open world wasn't that good.
Idk how a hybrid mix of open and linear hasn’t been used effectively yet, all you need is some good level design and pacing and boom, satiate both crowds and maybe make an even better game
@@opticalsalt2306 I mean, the more reccent God of War games use that wide-linear model. The Dishonored and Eidos' Deus Ex games use that mix too. Metro Last Light and Exodus as well (I love using the Aurora to travel between smaller open areas). Just some basic examples right there; I'm sure I'm missing a lot of good examples. Either way, smaller, more vertical open areas that forego HUD-based mission design is the way to go.
We need to culturally move on from single player open world games. The format dubiously works for mmorpgs because it's supposed to be a playground for you and other players, but when it's just you, it feels like a waist of space. I could write a 500 page essay on how irritating I find open worlds, so it's a breath of fresh air to hear a validating take for once.
The best open world I've seen in a game is in stalker anomaly (technically a mod but it's different enough to basically be a new game). It's not an open world in the usual sense as there are loading screens between the many distinct areas but it's basically the same when playing it. Because the game isn't really linear, the open world is necessary to accommodate the open gameplay. In anomaly I rarely fast travel, there are just so many times when a unique event will happen while travelling on foot that I would miss if I fast travelled, a lot of the fun of the game are these events.
The game also has a faction system which leads to things like two groups of npcs from opposing factions getting in a firefight, because there is also a system for mutants hearing noises, a weaker squad might get lucky and win against a stronger one, or a squad that's hostile to both factions might come in a kill both of them. The game also rewards being alert, if you get distracted you might miss the noise of a mutant in the bushes and get killed or you could die to many other reasons. These unique situations can take a boring and basic package delivery quest and turn it into a situation that might stick with you for months. This is really only a slice of how good stalker anomaly can be at creating a sandbox where anything can happen.
Always excited to see your videos on my timeline!
I couldn't deal with all the cutscenes. Go here, cutscene, shoot these guys, drive there, cutscene. Cutscene again, more cutscenes.
Excited for more long-form content, looking forward to this!
I think your point about Arasaka hunting V after you kidnap Hanako would only be possible in a smaller, more developer-controlled world (which I'm in favor of). Something like Jensen's return to Prague in DE:MD when you find it overrun with police. Returning to areas and living through narrative and/or player-led changes is a great feeling only games can deliver, but massive, horizontal open worlds have a hard time hitting those beats effectively.
This is the best review of The Wither 3 I’ve ever heard :)
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Im not going to watch the video because he mentioned the bugs, so i don't know what your talking about.
Also, Witcher 3 is inferior to Witcher 2 and cyberpunk... and also Skyrim.
Just that it’s about an underdeveloped open world that bombards you with map markers and objective checklists so you don’t feel like you’re really navigating a world but simply following predetermined paths. I’d recommend you watch the video, otherwise I’m just reiterating readily available information. He doesn’t really go hard on the bugs even though CDPR completely deserves it. Also I’d say all the games you mentioned there are pretty half baked and boring.
@@ibelieveingaming3562you’re* also I don’t know how you can confidently comment on a video you have no plans to watch, seems silly.
Bad mouthing open worlds will always be welcome in my feed. Good video as always
Open worlds are seriously the only type you should be playing outside of competitive games. You play ubislop so you think that’s all there is
@@RockPile_open world =/= better
@@yamnbam4346 open world, all else equal, absolutely does equal better. Not all open world games are better than all non open world games - but any game would be made better if it had a properly utilized open world.
Except for games like csgo or smash bros of course. I’m speaking in terms of single player narrative based games primarily.
You just like on rails bs where you’re basically just watching a movie and engaging in the same boring mechanic over and over again. I bet you like bad games. Name your top 5 games.
@@RockPile_ Not every game is designed to be an open world game. Simply making them an open world game wouldn’t automatically improve them.
Elden Ring is a great example of this. None of the improvements that game makes to the souls formula are a direct result of it being an open world game.
My taste in games is irrelevant to this discussion.
@@yamnbam4346 your taste in games is directly relevant to which games you say have merit and why. Post your top 5, unless you realize you have bad taste!
Every game with very few exceptions would be better with a bespoke open world suited to it. Name an exception
Ofc elden rings improvements weren’t SOLELY a result of its open world. But it did contribute.
You’re the type to mod games to make them easy
But hey now you can change the colour of your car and display your photos in your apartment right guys? /s
Your idea of actions affecting gang reputation and access to gang chopshops and missions etc is something I had wished was part of the game. The "real" lifestyle of a cyberpunk. Not this crap about dying.
I mean there's nothing inherently wrong with having a Cyberpunk game about a guy who's dying/running out of time. The problem is more that CD PROJECT was completely unwilling to actually commit to this story/experience in a way the player actually really feels, i.e. some kind of in-game countdown timer that when reaching zero kills you or has a coinflip chance to kill you any further hour you play or whatever. And because they don't commit to making the player themselves really feel what the protagonist is feeling, it ends up feeling like a watered down pseudo-story that does not really deliver the experience the story is about, and thus has far less to offer.
you know, when you said 'there has to be a better way to spin engaging narrative than blocks of text' I immediately thought of the cyberpunk masterpiece Armored Core 6
2:35 I used the limited HUD mod and MANY times I got through the city just follow signs + memory
I still believe CP2077's biggest problem is not tying the side missions and gigs to the meds Misty gives you at the end of Act 1. Had you been able/compelled to purchase and compulsively consume extremely expensive and experimental meds to lengthen your life and avoid a fail state/alternative ending by completing side missions in between main story beats, the open-world structure would've served a more meaningful purpose. Hell, allowing you to choose the suicide ending each time you have to pop a pill would've been something interesting too. The menu for it is already in the game. Without such interactions, there's too much dissonance between gameplay and narrative, as you point out.
Yep. CD PROJECT just doesn't commit to actually delivering the protagonist's ostensible experience (dying/running out of time) in a real and visceral gameplay way to the player, thus leaving it narratively a hollowed out experience
Ah, it's just like listening to Matthewmatosis somehow...
you sound like Larry Fink my dude with the "wasted potential". Every time Larry Fink sets his greedy eyes, he says the same damn thing.
Thank you for this video! I was just contemplating buying Cyberpunk and this review is just what I needed, great job!
Haven't watched this yet, but you've got great content and I appreciate that you're unafraid to criticize well loved games (not so applicable with Cyberpunk, but Tears of the Kingdom or Shadow of the Erdtree, for instance).
"DISPOSABLE" this IS Modern Game Design
Loved the video! Im sure this was a gargantuan effort to get this produced. I hope you keep plugging away at this channel - it's one of the best.
I wonder if you've played BOTW? (not TOTK). BOTW feels closest to the world being one big open level - going as far as the four 'actual' levels in the devine beasts being the worst parts.
I can recall the exact game that made me repelled by the idea of open world, It was far cry 3. The reason is because after i completed the game with 100%, i realized what a waste of time it all was. It has a cool villain sure, But the vomit of kill this, kill that, collect this and that have been a staple of subsequent open world games.
Far cry 3 might not be the first culprit But it definitely was my first. Hell! it took me 2 years to finish elden ring. Not because of the gameplay, but because every time i want to pick it up the next day, i dreaded it. I dreaded that i have to spend hours on end performing time wasting acts just for the chance that i might miss something good or interesting. Sadly cyberpunk and Zelda are no different.
Damn some people really are braindead like yourself 😂
I disagree that the open world is bad, not every game should tell their story as efficiently as possible and the point of it is for you to be able to mess around and have fun not to pad the runtime. Its also an rpg so you need some space for random encounters and side quests and that would be awkward to jam into story missions. And as for the character like i said this is an rpg the onus is on the player to characterize their V and if you dont like V thats a you thing.
Sad that you didn't listen and just made up a narrative.
The point is that there is virtually no emergent gameplay that the open world has between mission areas.
Also, no, V is a very simplistic character with few choices for the player. So nope, it's a cdpr thing.
Step out of fanboy defense mode
@@matsimurf_5900 The point is, that open worlds do that by nature. It's a feature, not a bug, that there are parts of the world where you travel to points of interest. A criticism can be leveled against the amount of things to do in the world or the quality of the things to do, but a game will not be open world if there is not space for you to move freely around. People cite the feeling of being lost in an open world and just walking and seeing stuff and then fiding something as one of the biggest draws for this type of game. I for one am in that camp and walking from point A to point B can be some of the most pleasant parts of the game, especially in a game with vechicles. The feeling on finishing a great open world game is very different to a more linear one.
As for the amount of choices, it's decent enough but definitely not some top standard. There are ending that can be unlocked only after completing certain side quests and those side quests can be failed. Following only the main quest unlocks 2, 2 more are unlocked after finishing side plot lines, 1 is unlocked depending on your relationship with Johnny.
I'd say that it fails in terms of showing the consequences for the wider world, but does a good job in terms of characters. The world might not change, but you can choose if you want to nail a person to the cross in the game. The emotional reponse to a character cutting you off is still there.
Now coming back to the open world part, the ticking bomb aspect of Cyberpunk in particular is definitely a fault of the game, and lthough not unique to the the genre, it's not a feature of it but more of a fault of the writer team. A storyline which makes the main quest a priority without the ticking bomb should be possible and could even be handled in a way, which makes doing side content in the game make sense (for example, you have to do X, but before doing X you need to do Y, with Y being something vague like "getting allies" or something).
I think a criticism of the amount of things to do in the game compared to the size of the map or the quality of it is a fair one and in that regard I think they've had a step down compared to Witcher 3, when comparing gigs to witcher contracts.
Now finally, it should be worth acknowledging that trying to merge different game types, like immersive sim and open world is not exactly easy and it was CDPR first attempt. Given how Cyberpunk has managed to both retain a decent amount of players despite the terrible lunch and gain new ones after updates, as well as the positive reception of the game in it's current state, being a jack of all trades seems to be working for many players. I for one am intersted in how CDPR is going to handle the next cyberpunk game, since they have had A LOT of feedback when it comes to basically any aspect of the game. Were they to succeed in implementing that feedback that'd be really something in my opinion.
@@matsimurf_5900 I normally don't like open world games, like usually absolutely avoid them like the plague, but Cyber Punk was the first I actually really liked because I enjoyed just existing in the city, and I'm not sure that that would exist if they didn't pour all this effort into making that happen instead of a denser environment or whatever. I don't think anyone here is fanboying for CDPR you're just being a hater.
Your Elden Ring DLC review landed me here, really enjoying the insightful review!
What’s your thoughts on Fallout: New Vegas’ take on a more “curated” open-world?
Do you think Cyberpunk would be better if it was with a silent protagonist without the Silverhand nonsense?
I think if V was a silent protagonist, it would allow for greater dialogue options and less illusory dialogue paths. Add in faction-reputation à la F:NV for reactivity (dialogues and emergent gameplay such as hit squads, vendors) and for more complex paths to varied endings.
I can't answer your first question because believe it or not, I actually haven't played New Vegas. I played and loved Fallout 1 and 2, and when I eventually tried 3 I hated it so much that it put me off wanting to try NV. I know it's mostly regarded as a better game - some day I'll get around to it. I need to play VTMB as well, which I gather has a few of the features I suggested for Cyberpunk in this video.
A silent protagonist can certainly help with immersion (see my video on Subnautica for more thoughts on that) and it would definitely make it cheaper and easier for the devs to implement more dialogue options. The important thing for actually adding complexity or interactivity is to give those options actual consequences though, which is harder to do. This is why I think that some kind of faction system, with a sliding reputation scale that has various different effects, could provide a good amount of emergent consequences for the player's actions.
Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad you're enjoying my channel.
Eru no more?
Don't worry Asuka, there's a new video coming in the next couple of weeks.
@@Erumore get in the edit suite Shinji!
Oh hi I'm the one without self respect who got every last one of the mines
I will be honest and say it's not even among my worst grinds
I'm not as big an open world hater and, as much as I'd prefer a reactive open world where your actions have systemic effects, I don't mind a glorified menu screen between objectives so long as it's enjoyable to navigate, and that's 2077's cardinal sin IMO. The minimap is the only way to find your way anywhere because the in-world signposting is almost nonexistant and the roads aren't laid out with any discernable logic. Hell, even using the minimap I get lost at least once per journey because I take one turn too early and end up on the road above the one I'm aiming for. So many weirdly-hidden entrances to buildings mean that you can't even walk to most locations without a line leading the way, which is a shame because the on foot traversal mechanics are pretty solid, I got lost one time and had to parkour my way down off a fairly tall building and it was the most engaging the world itself ever felt.
One of the best mods I've installed for Cyberpunk adds working trains. They're a little janky but being able to sit in first person and look out the window at the city as you travel is a better way to experience the open world than bouncing my bike off 3 walls, doing a wheelie and then akira sliding backwards into oncoming traffic. Honestly an open world that had to be navigated through a mix of parkour and public transit would be so much more engaging than the Sprawling Mess of Streets to Crash Your Car To that we got.
respect
I agree with most of the video but I do have a huge question. If you dont like open world games, due to repetition, boredom or anything else, why play them? You have made like 10 videos on different open world games, and you have the same points on every single one. The world is big, the side content drags etc. If you know that the game is open world, and you know you dont like open worlds, why play the game?
Also, dont wanna come across as a hater or smth i love your content, just had a question
I can only answer for myself, but open world games have so much potential that they shamelessly squander and I want that potential to be realized. I continue to check up on the genre in hopes that something interesting eventually comes from it, but it’s usually stagnant. Rain World and Outer Wilds are my favorite open world games, but they stray so far from modern conventions that most wouldn’t even consider them “open world” as we know it. Goes to show how much of a creativity black hole the genre has become.
This is a fair question. The reason I play any game is because there's something in it that interests me - in Elden Ring that was the combat and the FromSoft pedigree, and in Cyberpunk it was the potential of the immersive sim. In both cases, the open world dominates the experience and drags it down in a way that is impossible to ignore - so of course that element gets a lot of attention in the script. If I finish a game, it's because I liked enough parts of it to find it worth playing despite its flaws. You'll never see me making a video about Assassin's Creed or any similar mindless slop, because I already know that I simply have no interest in playing them. Of course I knew that Elden Ring and Cyberpunk were open world going in, but I was interested enough by the premise to give them a chance. Having an open world doesn't mean a game is automatically bad - it's just that almost every game I've played in the genre uses the world in a boring way that disrespects the player's time, and I'm going to call it out for what it is every time I see it.
I hope this answers your question and I'm glad to hear you're enjoying my channel.
Reminds me of the second dunkey critics video, addressing this exact same question.
@@shadozzzBecause if you don't say anything, then when devs do research on how to make games better, they won't bother.
Open world games dont have to be this way, they can be mote focused and rich in gameplay.
Cyberpunk is my favorite game of all time, it blends everything I love into 1 game, immersive sim gameplay, rpg character building and dialogue systems, a great story and characters, an awe inspiring world to live in and explore.. but it’s not without its flaws, and it’s funny because I’ve always said there was 1 thing that could’ve fixed a lot of the issues rhe game has, and that’s limited resources .. ammo, healing, weapons r all way too abundant and/or rechargeable, and all they had to do was make the player use resources that r finite or scarce, and if fixes the issue of having worthless crap in ur inventory, it fixes the issue of the world not feeling absolutely necessary to explore, it fixes rhe issue of decision making within quests and gigs.. just adding something like lockpicks, limited hacking resources, limited ammo and healing items, would fix so many issue with the game and I hope they do this with the sequel.. and I understand ur criticisms about the time wasting stuff, however I do think cyberpunk has less time wasting in it than any other open world game I’ve ever played
I'm surprised you did not make a video criticising the Witcher 3? Your expectations are for the game to be perfect in all aspects which is impossible.
You are complaining about romance options. Did you want then to create a Sim city cyberpunk 2077?
Cyberpunk 2077 I love this game but I love Judy more
Indeed Cyberpunk had a lot of boring grind. It's exactly what I thought when I played it: what a wasted potential. The city and whole world is so well done. But the linear story ruined it for me. And I love Keanu Reeves or Idris Elba but... ahh whatever.
What grind does cyberpunk have? The only grind is maybe if you spam the vehicle mini quests
I am over bloated open world design.
so basically the video is you acting surprised that you didn’t like cyberpunk a open world game when you repeatedly said that you don’t like open world games and the game isn’t as similar as deus ex or thief, which one of those is an open world game (excluding the last one ofc) the design of those games compared to cyberpunk it’s just so different and almost impossible to compare
and calling cyberpunk lifeless it’s just dumb at this point tbh
it’s okay if you didn’t like the game if it isn’t for you, that’s fair but just complaining because it’s not what you like or it isn’t similar enough to the games you already like doesn’t make any sense
Hmmm why are you criticizing Immersive Sim Elements of Cyberpunk by comparing it to Deux Ex, a game primarily focus on being an Immersive Sim? Cyberpunk is actually a traditional open world game, in the same mold as Witcher 3, AC Odyssey,etc. but they incorporated several immersive sim elements to improve the gameplay (Cyberpunks gameplay is certainly a big improvement from Witcher).
CD Projekts strength, to me, has never been in gameplay, but rather in telling stories, and creating a beautifyl & realistic open world. Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk both achieved this with flying colors, but theres a reason I played Witcher 3 at story difficulty. I didnt want the lame ass gameplay to get into the way of me experiencing the story & exploring the open world. I just appreciate how CD Projekts has improved the gameplay of Cyberpunk so much by incorporating several ImSim elements into it.
Personally when I want the quintessential immersive sim experience Id play Prey or Dishonored. Those game, like Deux Ex, are first and foremost Immersive Sim, and they do not let anything get in the way of that in their design. Cyberpunk is a story driven open world action game. ImSim features are just nice-to-have.
Watching this video was wild because of the commentary on Cyberpunk as if it is an immersive sim, rather than a story based open world rpg with immersive sim elements (like you said). Thank you for making the distinction, I thought I was going crazy.
Fair point. Btw it's _Deus_ Ex, not _Deux_ (weirdly enough I have made that same typo a bunch of times too despite knowing it's wrong lol)
Ok; so while generally speaking I would agree with a many of your points, there was 3 particular things you talked about with the gameplay I took issue with:
1. The thing about saving stat points to dump for skill checks. Not everyone plays like that. Personally my focus was on investing them straight away to unlock skills and flesh out the build I was going for; which is how id expect most people to play. The much of the issues you mentioned with the system were more with how you were CHOOSING to play.
2. Boring combat/health sponge enemies. Again, that was more how you chose to play; if you invest in skills and cyberware around different weapon types/play styles there is a lot of variety and fun to be had with the combat. Instead of hiding behind cover, you can be zipping around slicing up enemies and deflecting their bullets back, be a walking tank with heavy weapons, slowing down time and headshotting every enemy before anyone has the chance to raise the alarm, etc. Enemy health also doesn’t seem as sponges when you properly invest into these things.
3. Building off the last point; quickhacks trivialising things. While I definitely do agree it’s too easy to do things like turn off cameras/turrets (especially when you haven’t invested in netrunner abilities), something I don’t think you realised was there are other things you can have equipped in that slot that mean you DON’T have access to quickhacks; like sandevistans that let you slow down time. This fundamentally changes your approach to things like cameras; because you either need to actually sneak past, get right up to turn them off with technical ability, or destroy them which will create sound to alert enemies even with silent weapons. Something you may have noticed if you looked more into your combat options.
It’s definitely not a perfect game, im hoping the work they’ve done to fix the game up will lead to better implemented/cohesive systems in the sequel. Though when it comes to critiques; definitely try to be more aware of what is actually the fault of the game, and what is being caused by how you’re choosing to play. In this case maybe play around a bit with other some other builds, and see if your critiques still apply.
1. I occasionally get comments like this, especially on my video about TOTK, saying that it's my fault I disliked a mechanic or feature because I 'chose' to engage with it in the most boring way possible. I think this is missing the point. A game designer's role is to encourage players to interact with their game in the most interesting ways possible, and sometimes that means placing restrictions on the player to force them to make meaningful decisions. Look at the example I gave of leg mods: you can ONLY install one, which means you have to make a tradeoff that will influence the options you have later. If it was possible to get all four at once, there would be no choice to make at all - it would be a no-brainer to install them all and get all of the benefits. Would it be my fault for 'choosing' to remove that tradeoff by installing them all? Similarly, when it comes to optical camo, the only restriction on its use is time, which means the player can abuse it by hiding for a minute while it recharges. If the game incentivises boring play like this, it is the game's fault - not the player's. The problem is not me 'choosing' to do it - the problem is the developers choosing to allow me to do it. If you know that saving upgrade points can be a useful strategy for opening shortcuts, that means the game is providing an incentive to hoard them - the player is working and making decisions within the structures set by the designers, and if they have a boring time then it's the designers' responsibility to change those incentive structures to generate more compelling choices.
2. As I mentioned in the video, I'm willing to say that my issues with combat might come down to build choice and personal preference. I can see how the combat might be enjoyable to players with a different mindset, though it doesn't appeal to me personally.
3. You can replace cyberdecks with more combat-focused options, but if you have a preference for stealth then sticking with quickhacks is the obvious choice in my opinion. I agree with you that using alternative methods to get around cameras would be a lot more interesting - if quickhacks were a less over-powered option and had some restrictions placed on their use, we could have got the best of both worlds here.
We may not agree on everything here, but I appreciate the thoughtful comment and I hope you enjoyed the video.
Play your own way mentality is slowly killing game design for years and I'm here still wondering when people are going to realize that and come to terms with the fact that it is lazy and a boring excuse.
The best things in CP 2077 are the things that have nothing to do with the gameplay: the music (radio) tracks, the utopian city design, the lore. The gameplay itself is boring, repetitive and mostly pointless. The decisions you make have very little consequences to the gameplay itself. Thank God you have the "c" key to skip conversations!
Wdym decisions don’t impact gameplay?
You lost my interest at 8:23. You obviously do not understand the game or the cyberpunk genre.
The point is escapism. It’s more like a fantasy. It has demons living in the old net which for some reason still runs and is powered by electricity somewhere. It doesn’t make logical sense but you are not supposed to think about it. Just go with it, it is part of the universe. Style over substance.
What you are saying is already ancient criticism of literary critics about the genre. They didn’t get it either. Their critique was maybe the reason why it didn’t get to mainstream popularity…
In the intro you got me: from a gameplay point of view, it suffers from an untapped potential and from blatant bad design like the inventory system (or crafting system). The fact that 2.0 removed stats from armor also seems retarded to me. The only thing we needed was transmog system and we got it. Attaching the stats to cyberware limits the roleplay potential. But nevermind, I trust CP 99 will get a bit better. Hopefully I will live long enough to experience a few more of these stories… I hate this planet and all the hateful people in it who work on destroying it. That’s why I need cyberpunk. There I can fucking do something about it.
You definitely were the EMO kid in school 😂
@@TheMrNukeman You're so proud of yourself now, aren't you
I find it funny you talk about walking into a shady chop shop, and use footage of Vik's shop, the one guy it seems clearly stated to use anesthesia.
I wouldn't say it's "mostly working," I mean, I guess compared to the start, but it has many bugs and some still present since day one to some capacity. I played the game through three times when I got it this year, and it felt like each week was some kind of "bug of the week." Bugs that happened last week, wouldn't happen this week, but different bugs would, and then next week, same thing. Only some bugs were consistent, such as the obvious feeling on the PC version, that the game has an impending crash if you don't reload it soon, and that was on a Windows and Linux system. My recent 5th play through ended on the last ending was working on, when I got sick of the final boss on very hard, and the screen perma flashed ultra white. On my third play through only, I randomly had a sound bug kill off the music permanently, with no 100% known fix for years, excepting reloading to a previous save the bug had not happened yet. Periodically dialogue lines won't happen, and repeatedly at least one particular phone call coming in would always get cut off for no reason, the immediately come back with the intended first line missing. If you have a weak system that has trouble keeping up with the rendering, like my laptop, you can easily still find T-posing NPCs gliding around, which was especially obvious in the moving in with Jackie montage.
I even feel that if it wasn't for the bugs, the things I love about this game, I love them so much, that I might never stop replaying it if it wasn't for the bugs. That's the only thing that kept getting in the way of me continuing to do each play through to its fullest.
Using the immersive sim genre to critique a game that is not an immersive sim and has never be described as such, whatever.
Immersive sim is not a genre it's more like a mindset. And Cyberpunk definitely borrows some ideas in from that mindset.
@@emptyorchestra I disagree its not a genre, but that does not change the fact that he is judging the whole game from an immersive sim perspective which is wrong. I do agree it borrows some aspects but that is not a reason to judge the whole game like that. There is a small element of parkour in Cyberpunk like Dying Light, however that does not mean I'm going to judge the whole game on that premise and criticize Cyberpunk for not matching up.
@@DjPolo-f2d Well it boils down to how these games are structured. So yeah you are partially right about the unfair judgement of the immersive sim element but these games are a mish mash of concepts thrown together like a soup, non of the mechanics are fleshed out or stand out.
And that's the issue really there are no focus here, thrown together without a thought, mindlessly borrowed without understanding how it works or why it is that way.
To a lot of people this is fine cause they can experience shadows of their favorite mechanics together. With that idea I think better approach would be to look at the 'overall experience' of the game but that means excepting the fact that this big issue won't go anywhere and we will be endlessly playing these jack of everything(at best) master of non games to the end of time.
Not to say you played it wrong, but the combat can be really good depending what you want out of it. I loved dashing around like a mad man going into slow mo and taking off heads. I never really had a problem with spongey enemies either. Glad you had fun with the stealth but i dont know if the combat is "not good" objectively
I'ma watch this. But if it's bad , I will stop and tell you why. Don't disappoint me. 👀
"Don't disappoint me"
what a dork 😂
No one asked you to watch, and one has a duty to not disappoint you. You sound insufferable irl.
played 80hrs but underwhelmed idk chief seems like u want to hate it
How are you this delusional? You'd be the first to say "a lot of criticism for someone who hasn't even played the game" if he didn't spend a lot of time on it. Just because you invest time into something doesn't mean you have enjoy it. Especially if you have a UA-cam channel critiquing video games. Concept isn't that hard to grasp if you ever worked a job.
I can always tell a bad faith Cyberpunk review because they all talk about the bugs.
Listen, this kind of game will always be abnormally buggy, and ultimately "bugs" are an inescapeable reality of living in a simulation, so when you highlight that, on realease, the game was buggy it just draws attention to how disconnected from reality you are and how its tarnished your expereince with what is unironically one of the best games of the decade.
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Cyberpunk is not Deus Ex, its the last of us.
Lmao at bad faith. You're delusional if you think this game wasn't uniquely buggy. Your comment is bad faith.
All that buggy spawl and for what...a game world with barely any creatively emergent, flowing gameplay, which is the only real reason for an open world to begin with.
? Watch the video and see how little he focuses on bugs?
You can say he’s wrong or that you disagree with him, but I don’t understand how you got “bad faith” from this video. If you’re that sensitive to someone criticizing your precious games, you’ll never last in this world.
This man DONT MISS ‼️💪top notch analysis