Multiplatform Official Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty Discussion

Will the PL expansion prove a do-over for the title after widely maligned launch?

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So I was about to fire this up yesterday but found that the game won’t let me customize my keyboard bindings how I want. I don’t use WASD for movement, I use ASDX instead, but it won’t let me change S to move forward, I get a message saying “Binding failed” or something. Am I going to have to edit a config file or something??
 
Fired up the Phantom Liberty expansion, and made it to the end of the first boss. (Roughly the first 90 minutes)

My impressions - (No spoilers)

This has set pieces that are reminiscent of my expectations of CP2077 purely based off of the 2018 'Demo.'

Its very linear at first, but so is the questlines for 97% of the rest of the game. (Not necessarily a criticism, just setting expectations)

What absolutely amazed me is that... first let me say CDPR isn't known for their boss battles in their games, especially CP2077... and that first boss battle is the absolute best I've played in YEARS.

In some ways its reminiscent of the MGS3 Shagohod boss battle. (Not saying its as great just saying its reminiscent) Trust me you'll know what I mean when you see it & experience it.

There's multiple times I thought 'Holy Fuck This Is Awesome.'
 
GearSolidMetal said:
Is there a revolver in Phantom Liberty that is more fun than Johnny Silverhand's?

I'm going doing a gunslinger build & planning on just doing story missions until getting that gun, unless there's another revolver in Phantom Liberty thats even better.
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Does V reload his gun the same way Silverhand does?
 
Alright, choombas, the sitch from me: Beat this behemoth last night (savefile: 32h) while sitting maybe 2h into DLC that I'll keep at over weekend.

I have some strong opinions on this that land across the spectrum so let me put some thoughts down.

Pros:
  • Story: Seriously amazing, creative, complex yet simple...yet complex, at times magical; there's a hopelessness that ultimately consumed me so it's a grim game, IMO, dark in concept.
  • Writing: Inspiring, effortlessly swinging between future street-speak and sci-fi/techy, then waxing poetic about life, the codes we live by.
  • Chars/NPCs: So good; Jackie feels too real, wearing his heart on sleeve; Keanu crushes it and is very memorable; Takemura is such a G and should have his own game; really wish I could have romanced Hanako because she was the only char I was interested in romantically.
  • Expansion: They integrated it so well that I honestly didn't know I was doing DLC quests until a couple were complete – very well done.
  • Music: Rad as hell; there's a scene in an airborne taxi with Brian Eno-esque music playing that had me spellbound and immersed by a strangely cold feeling; below is the track that plays from OST after you beat the game that hit me like a brick, eerily:

​
Cons:
  • Gameplay: WPNs have no weight – tinny, toy combat; no FOV slider had everything shoved into my face and hampering traversal + crosshair comfort, leading me to DOOM-hipfire the F out of everyone for the most part; poor camera implementation as they don't tease enviro/explore and ADS sensitivities apart very well.
  • VA: I really didn't like or believe V's male voicing; I sounded like an unschooled, heavy drinker from Boston the whole game despite being a Corpo lifepath and also sounding like no-one else from the area; hated it and broke char authenticity for me.
  • UI/Skill tree(s): Too messy, wordy, compact and thought it unsatisfying to level up; poor selection audio FX.
  • Glitches: For the last, I don't know, 10h of the game, I had one of my fingers replaced by a cigarette I'd previously smoked with Silverhand and it spoilt a lot of moments for me being an FPS game; I had some cars flashing in and out of existence with streetfolk chatting up walls, as well; no map fallthrough or softlock craziness though.
  • Design: Third- versus first-person perspectives divided gamerverse so whatever, is what it is but I do think this game could have been superior if having abandoned open-world goals and boundaried game rather to select Night City boroughs/world outskirts; I imagine the pathfinding + bug smashing would have been so much more feasible and diminished original launch fiasco too.
 
Valhoven said:
...
  • VA: I really didn't like or believe V's male voicing; I sounded like an unschooled, heavy drinker from Boston the whole game despite being a Corpo lifepath and also sounding like no-one else from the area; hated it and broke char authenticity for me.
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Sounds good! Thanks for the review.

What you said above applies to the whole base game and is the biggest con in Cyberpunk 2077 IMO. I see absolutely no good reason for voiced protagonist in this game or any other RPG. You basically have to read V's dialogue and then listen to it right after. So unnecessary and immersion-breaking.

Playing Baldur's Gate 3 has made my stance about this even clearer. Same with Fallout 4 vs. other Fallout games.
 
mihailovich said:
Sounds good! Thanks for the review.

What you said above applies to the whole base game and is the biggest con in Cyberpunk 2077 IMO. I see absolutely no good reason for voiced protagonist in this game or any other RPG. You basically have to read V's dialogue and then listen to it right after. So unnecessary and immersion-breaking.

Playing Baldur's Gate 3 has made my stance about this even clearer. Same with Fallout 4 vs. other Fallout games.
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I think A.I. will probably be able to 'translate' accents of the voice actor while retaining the original cadence of the dialogues somewhere in the future? It would allow for superior modularity of spoken dialogue.
 
Something interesting on an AI note is that the Polish VA passed away before recording V’s lines for the expansion. Devs had in his stead his son record the lines, then they modulated and manipulated the recording to sound like his father using AI.

Bloomberg reported on it here for those interested.
 
Really enjoying this, I'm about 10 hours in, the story and characters are great so far. That Heist mission was epic.

Shooting, driving, upgrades etc feel good as well imo.

Game reminds me of an expanded open world version of the newer Deus Ex games.
 
How important is the distribution of your starting stats? I kind of allocated mine in a bit of a haphazard way without giving much thought as to what kind of build I wanted to do. Just wondering if I need to read up on the different builds first and then start over.

In the meantime can anyone point me in the right direction for a build guide because while I’m not a rookie to rpgs the change in setting from your dime a dozen fantasy setting is throwing me for a bit of a loop such that I’m not sure what kinds of builds there are and what’s the right one to do for me.
 
Law Talkin’ Guy said:
How important is the distribution of your starting stats? I kind of allocated mine in a bit of a haphazard way without giving much thought as to what kind of build I wanted to do. Just wondering if I need to read up on the different builds first and then start over.

In the meantime can anyone point me in the right direction for a build guide because while I’m not a rookie to rpgs the change in setting from your dime a dozen fantasy setting is throwing me for a bit of a loop such that I’m not sure what kinds of builds there are and what’s the right one to do for me.
Click to expand...

You can do fine with a jack of all trades type character. That's what I'm doing. I would just figure out your weapon of preference and spec into that. Body is always good to invest in. You have one opportunity to reset your stats, which you can access from the bottom left of the character screen.
 
Is anyone playing a stealth hacker build? The update to make quickhacks traceable is annoying and makes a lot of these hacks far less useful. Has anyone figured out a way around this?
 
The DLC has been so good and outshines most of base game, IMO – save for some campaign highs.

Dogtown (new expansion area/hub) feels so alive and real; NC not so much – still largely hollow, empty to me. Everything I drive feels like I’m on ice but I love cruising about Dtown and listening to the game’s radio stations.

Just like in base game, writing for expansion quests is very, very good.
 
Law Talkin’ Guy said:
How important is the distribution of your starting stats? I kind of allocated mine in a bit of a haphazard way without giving much thought as to what kind of build I wanted to do. Just wondering if I need to read up on the different builds first and then start over.

In the meantime can anyone point me in the right direction for a build guide because while I’m not a rookie to rpgs the change in setting from your dime a dozen fantasy setting is throwing me for a bit of a loop such that I’m not sure what kinds of builds there are and what’s the right one to do for me.
Click to expand...
It’s still a game system for me that demands attention but the most straightforward advice I can share is to (1) choose a WPN class or classes you like most (Body = high DMG, low mobility, blunt; Reflex = low DMG, high mobility, blades; Cool = range; Tech = kaboom), then (2) decide if you want to have survivability (spec for Tech or Body), RAM for hacking (like a booby-trapper; spec for Intel), or go (mostly) dark and play like a shadow (spec for Cool).

It gets more nuanced than this but above will get you on the right path; you can tweak as you grow, bud.
 
blaseblase said:
Is anyone playing a stealth hacker build? The update to make quickhacks traceable is annoying and makes a lot of these hacks far less useful. Has anyone figured out a way around this?
Click to expand...

I just have 2.0 without the DLC currently, but I am working towards a stealth pistol/hacker build but low level. So far I avoid the traceable bull by only using the covert/control quickhacks. I need the skills and cyberdeck that up the untraceability. Think that’s the only way to help with being traced.
 
In excess of 3M copies sold of Phantom Liberty in DLC’s first week of launch, confirm reports. Base game to date sits around 26M copies sold, announces CDPR per latest figures.
 
Had to log in and touch base.

I beat the expansion today and...it messed with my head. So emotional. I couldn't even continue playing and had to save, walk away, and clear my head. Like Blood and Wine – which is my all-time favorite DLC, Phantom Liberty has been...INCREDIBLE. F. CDPR do DLC like no-one else. So much soul. Cinema. And women. Team Triss rise up.

omg-knuckle-biting.gif

I spent almost twice as much time in DLC as I had with base game; I didn't want it to end and kept stalling progression but, alas, the show must go on.

Want to leave this track for ma fellow chrome-hounds from the Vol. 2 OST (which also features in-expansion during one of many spellbinding scenes):


​

See you in another life, So Mi. I hate to see you go...but love to watch you leave.

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