Topic: Cyberpunk 2077 OT

@LordSteev If I could choose one word to describe my time in cyberpunk 2077, it would be 'immersive'. It has to be one of the most immersive experiences I've had in gaming, up there with likes of Bioshock, Skyrim and Metro Exodus. And yeah, I'm keeping an eye on the updates. I'm a bit rubbish in jumping back into games I've finished, but I'm determined to dive in again.

@Jimmer-jammer Oh that was a good side mission, but you won't know it goes that way by the description or how it starts. My favourite is either the serial killer one in River's quest line, or the Chinese festival mission.

I just realised I probably won't be given the platinum a go as one of the characters died in my playthrough, so I am locked out of one of the trophies. Not a fan of doing multiple play throughs of games, and I don't have a save that far back before the character dies. Oh well, will try to get the majority of the other trophies.

@Mpquikster Yeah, there is a trophy for buying all the cars. Probably will be a good one to do when going for when completing all the jobs. I managed to grab a fair few of them, so think I only have the ones that cost over 100k.

@Jimmer-jammer Those words might be kind, but they are also deserved in my opinion. Fully merited.

One thing about Cyberpunk that I keep mulling over is how people want to compare it to GTA games, when in reality it has virtually no similarities in gameplay with that series. If you try to play that way, you are going to experience the absolute worst version of Cyberpunk possible. The slower and more thorough you go through each area, the more immersive it becomes. Yes, it has cars, but really, the city is so sprawling you need them just for basic transportation. Some of the overpasses and underpasses are virtually inaccessible on foot. But driving isn't and never was the main focus of the game. If I can walk, I do walk. And climb! I've found so many perches above the city with great views, and usually, even if they were hard to get to, I've found something up there as a reward, too. I feel like a whole lot of this was done by hand and with obvious love for the craft.

It's interesting what you said about more pedestrians and traffic after you've cleared an area. I felt as time progressed in the game, I was seeing more cars and people, and they were behaving with more sense than early in the game. I put it off to my imagination or a patch improvement, never thinking to tie it to how much of an area I'd cleared. As I think over where I've seen improvement, I think you might be on to something there!

I think I've still got over a hundred hours left in my playthrough before I even want to meet up in Embers (point of no return). Once I finish, I may give it a rest until I can get a ps5, too. Once I do get one and they release the version for it, (I'm still convinced that right now it runs better and crashes less on the 4 than the 5, even if resolution is lower,) this will be one of the first games I go back to. Just visually I think it will be night and day.

There are a few things I would change about it if I could, but they're mostly small. Food and drink is, imo, just completely useless and doesn't need to be in the game at all. The time it takes to either sell it or break it down is not worth the money or the parts you get from it. The crafting in general is very basic and the interface is not intuitive. These are such small gripes when taken along with the rest of the game that I happily overlook them, but they are things that could have been handled better.

Over all though, out of all the releases I've played in the last 2 years, the only one that hit me with more impact was The Last of Us 2. And even with it's initial impact, I haven't spent a third of the time with it as I've put in to Cyberpunk.

@colonelkilgore

Not to be a killjoy, but if I already had a ps5, I think I'd wait for the ps5 version. From everything I've read, the ps4 version, though poorly optimized on release, was actually made with the ps4 in mind, not the five, and I think that's why crashes seem to happen more often on the 5, even if the framerates and resolution are higher. That said, if you don't mind a little jank in your games, I'd recommend this higher than any other game I've played in the last 2 years!

@JohnnyShoulder I agree. Makes me forget I'm in my living room. Also like your choices of other immersive games.

@Mpquikster Yep, a trophy for buying all the cars. That's one of the ways I can tell how much time someone spent with the game, too. It seems overwhelming, but there IS a finite number of cars, and eventually you stop receiving all the annoying phone calls from car salesmen. My enjoyment of the game shot way up once I wasn't receiving car sales calls during important conversations!

@LordSteev yeah I’m in no rush, I’ll wait to get it at it’s best.

One of my fave side stories is Raymond Chandler Evening where you have to tail the Coyote Club barman's wife because he think she's cheating on him and Johnny narrates it all like an old noir movie. It's a classic CDPR side quest, simple but very memorable.

@Jimmer-jammer I get your reticence over review scores (as they are just so subjective) but I do find them helpful to a certain degree in filtering out the wheat from the chaff. I’ve found a few YouTubers who I tend to agree with more often than not... and I do use their content a lot when deciding on a purchase.

Also, I’ve got the most out of being on Push Square in this regard too. I must’ve picked up about 15/20 games since being on here (late December 2020) that I probably wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t read/discussed them with the regulars here...

... and while we’re on that subject, I am on the fence about picking up The Evil Within 1 & 2... obvs you are sporting the sequels cover as an avatar, would you mind giving me your thoughts on the two games when you have the time?

@ApostateMage Great mission. I like the way V gets more irate with Johnny as it goes on, but Johnny doesn't give a toss and carries on regardless.

@Jimmer-jammer cheers JJ, I ordered them last night actually, don’t quite know why I’ve left it this long to play them (well it’ll be a wee bit longer what with the backlog and all) as I remember when 2 was released (can’t remember 1’s release at all) and thinking it could be my kinda thing.

I watched a few reviews last night and what caught me in particular was the aesthetic, very reminiscent of something that is just out of my memory’s reach. Maybe a bit Clive Barker-esque?

Oh, and as you alluded to... I love that vibe that only comes from a game developed in Japan. There’s just a different perspective that appeals to me greatly.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy If I can find a copy cheap enough someday, I might play an unpatched version of Cyberpunk on the PS4. It sounds worse than any Switch port, which is hilarious when you consider how rough some of those can get.

Well, if you get to it, I'd be curious to hear your impressions.

@Jimmer-jammer Sorry so late getting back, spent the day at Toyota yesterday getting my airbags fixed under recall.

I would LOVE a game with disguises! Did you play Outer Worlds? There was one (very small) section in that game where you could don a disguise, and a timer would run down if you got close to people, and pause if you hid or were out of sight. It was implemented well, and I loved it, but it only lasted for that one scene. I'd love a game that used this as one of the basic mechanics! Maybe you scout a location out before coming back later to lay waste to it, lol. Or even try to isolate enemies by talking to them, asking for directions, or having them follow you so that you can 'show them something'. It seems like it could open up a world of possibilities.

I was actually thinking about this when I was playing TLOU2. Don't know if you ever saw Fear the Walking Dead, but there was a guy who covered himself in entrails and strode among the enemy. Only lasted till the smell wore off, and that seems doable in games. Maybe once developers have fully unleashed the potential of the new consoles, innovations like this will become reality. I hope so!

After all the negativity After launch it really deflated my interest in playing this game and I'm a big lover of the witcher games so really wanted it to succeed.

After the recent patches and reading the last 4 pages of comments on this topic, you guys have really piqued my interest for it again, it's good to hear people talk about it positively and the way some of you have described the game has made it sound almost like a enhanced version of Deus Ex and less like a poor version of GTA which a lot of negative YouTubers seem to do.

I'll be waiting for the ps5 version since I may as well try get the most out of it but I'll definitely be adding it to the must play list now.

@Jimmer-jammer

I'd give it a solid 8. It was patterned after the Bethesda games, but had a much lower budget. They (Obsidian) did a great job with what they had to work with, but again, it's no Skyrim. Bethesda Lite. This was the first game I ever said that about. I'd recommend it, but wouldn't include it in any 'greatest of all time' lists. It's fun if you like that kind of game.

@MaulTsir

That's sort of how I see it, like an open world Deus Ex. The slower and more thorough you play it, the more rewarding it becomes. It's been my hour eater ever since it came out, and I recommend it highly. But wait for the 5 version.

@Jimmer-jammer

Sound feels like the most often overlooked factor of immersion in video games. Just walking around downtown, how many layers, or individual pieces of sound, do you think must be playing at the same time? And which should be louder? Softer? And how much louder should this one be than that one?

They completely nailed it in Cyberpunk. I remember walking (probably should have been driving, it was a long walk) up north of Malestrom territory where there's some boats parked in an industrial harbor sort of area, and the transition from city to harbor was done so gracefully, I couldn't quite pinpoint where the traffic faded out and the waves lapping the side of the boats kicked in, but all the sudden, I wasn't in the city anymore.

If I could go back to school full-time and change my major, I would have loved getting into sound design. Oddly enough, it seems you can sometimes measure what a good job has been done by how unobtrusive it actually is in practice.

You're quite right, it's another example of the talented people who worked to bring Night City to life. Every play session, I find something that makes me admire the talent and thought process that went in to making it, not only on it's own merits, but in how it was incorporated into the game itself. So many small pieces fitting together harmoniously to make up bigger pieces, which in turn unite seamlessly to make up even bigger pieces. It's like watch making on a digital medium.

@LordSteev @Jimmer-jammer yeah you guys have definitely got my interest in the game pinging away, I will definitely be giving the game ago although I will be waiting for the ps5 version so it will probably be sometime next year before I get around to it which won't be to bad because by then the game should be in the best shape it possibly could be in.

@Jimmer-jammer

The foley room sounds incredible! I wonder if that's how they do it for games? Or if there's some standard pool they can pull from of existing sounds. (Footsteps on wet concrete. Add to cart?)
I can't get snapping carrot sticks off my mind! It just seems like the perfect noise for breaking limbs. That had to be a cool trip.

Love the sound of rain in games. Especially if they take the time to start it out slowly with a soft drizzle, a distant rumble of thunder, etc. And then, like a symphony orchestra spreading it's wings, the pace and force of raindrops increases. Cue the rattling sound of drops running down a rain gutter. Louder boom of thunder. The full on sound of running water. It's music. It's math. It's awesome.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2021-cyberp... interesting article from Digital Foundry who effectively recreated the current console CPU setup on PC and suggests that they may have great difficulty in fixing it on current gen as the CPU really isn't up to the task