In Cyberpunk 2077, enemies will spin until they launch into the air V will T-pose on the roof of a car, and, worst of all, save files will corrupt. On top of the technical issues, Cyberpunk 2077 failed to deliver the advertised deep RPG experience. With all its abhorrent failures, there is gold underneath the rubble. CD Projekt Red is composed of talented individuals who are committed to dragging Cyberpunk 2077 out of the mud. Like V reemerging from death, Cyberpunk 2077 will rise above the scrap heap and become the breathtaking experience we were promised.
CD Projekt Red’s repertoire proves it can make good games. The Witcher franchise has Metacritic scores above 80. Cyberpunk’s failures are not the responsibility of the talented dev team who crunched six days a week. The blame belongs to management who set unrealistic deadlines and undermined the state of Cyberpunk. We don’t know the specifics of Cyberpunk’s development struggles, but one thing is for sure – the development team wanted the best game imaginable.
And it’s still possible.
Now the studio heads depend on the devs to fix their mistakes — the studio’s reputation is in danger, and more importantly, money is at stake. There may be a financial repercussion if they fail to improve the game. Several law firms are initiating class action lawsuits against the studio for unethical marketing, and the Polish government is monitoring Cyberpunk 2077’s patches.
Cyberpunk 2077 will achieve redemption because it must. The studio depends on it. Luckily, the dev team managed to salvage some good out of the terrible development cycle. There are glimpses of an upstanding game in Cyberpunk, such as the small hints of humanity in the sex-crazed depths of Night City.
Cyberpunk 2077’s side quests are top tier. One quest has V tracking down rogue taxi AI. At first glance, it looks like an overblown fetch quest, but, it turns out, each cab has a unique personality and a specific requirement for retrieval. In another quest the player must discuss their religious beliefs with a convict.
It’s a deep, thought-provoking conversation with emotional results. Many of the side quests have V involved in crazy scenarios with several twists and turns along the way. Therefore, the game rarely gets boring, even when the main quest is left on the sidelines.
Additionally, the questlines are character-driven. Judy Alvarez is rough around the edges and a kind friend (or lover). Her journey, influenced by revenge and justice, is a story worth seeing. Panam’s struggle to find belonging in her Nomad group can be a relatable adventure, and River Ward’s story reveals the corruption and psychological damage the NYCP can cause. All these storylines end differently based on minor and pivotal decisions throughout their specific plotlines. CD Projekt Red knows how to tell strong stories in the action RPG format.
Lastly, the tone of Night City is perfect. The neon lights, the holographic ads, the police shootouts, and the countless sex shops create an eerie, dystopian atmosphere. It may not be the long, extensive, RPG we were waiting for, but underneath the bugs, there is a good game to be found.
The PC version, the most stable version, is positively reviewed by fans and critics alike. Once the big patches come rolling in and the glitches are minimized, the game will see a turnaround. Patches have already fixed the memory issues and decreased the abundance of crashes. CD Projekt Red won’t stop when the glitches are fixed. It will improve and transform the whole game.
This speculation is based on CD Projekt Red’s continued support of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The Witcher 3 had a rocky launch. It was plagued by crashes and suffered from frame rate issues. On top of that, the inventory system was a mess, and movement controls made Geralt a monstrosity to control. After several months, the major bugs were fixed and the control scheme was revamped.
When more tabs were added to the inventory system, it became a smoother experience. The studio religiously released free content and quality of life fixes. For instance, much-needed storage boxes for Geralt’s junk were scattered around the map. Overall, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a better and more stable game than it was in 2015.
Cyberpunk is already following a similar path as The Witcher 3 because the upcoming DLC is free. CD Projekt Red will, likely, add barbershops, better NPC interactions, quality of life fixes, and additional quest lines. Once the inevitable expansion drops, Cyberpunk will be a better game — a game that resembles the developer’s original vision.
Redemption stories are not uncommon. When No Man’s Sky was first revealed, gamers were clamoring to discover a vast universe with their friends. The ability to land on any planet, name it, fight angry residents, and launch into space seemed too good to be true.
It was.
At launch, No Man’s Sky was a boring, repetitive grind and it was missing a major component: multiplayer. For five years, the team at Hello Games worked on fixing the game’s issues. Continuous updates and expansions made the planets feel alive instead of barren. A new 30-hour narrative gave the game direction, and it received a dedicated online mode. No Man’s Sky is one of the biggest redemption stories in games.
Diablo 3, Star Wars Battlefront 2, and No Man’s Sky all saw similar redemption stories. The kind Cyberpunk needs. Cyberpunk 2077’s launch was unacceptable and criminal, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt proves that CD Projekt Red can fix broken games. It may take months or it may take years, but Cyberpunk will have its own No Man’s Sky story.
