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[LectureMaster]

Witcher 3 is my top 3 RPG. I finished CP2077 main game twice with all endings, loved it, but not as crazy as I was with Witcher 3.

Finished the expansion last night, mind is still processing how much I am blown away by the quality.

• The main missions. In the base game there are highs and lows, but in the DLC pretty much every single one is designed with the highest standard - the narrative, the setpieces, and the packed action scenes, all put together with attention to details. I don't want to make major spoiler, but let me point out one tiny bit. In the Black Sapphire mission, you went from diving in flooded construction zone to infiltrating heavily guarded military base to playing spy in the most extravagant club in Night City to facing the main villain, all in a single building. The flow of the mission was just perfect. And I was absolutely amazed by the club's "special performance" CDPR put in there which you could be completely missing out.

• The side contents are much more meaningful. I am mainly talking about the gigs. In the base game those are pretty much open world fillers, but in the DLC those are essentially the sizable side missions. The mission variety is better, the plots are enjoyable, and most time you have to make those moral decisions at the end - do you fulfill your merc's duty, or do you do things differently to align with your V's values? Those are not, let's say, profound, but those gigs are much more engaging compared to the ones in base game, and they greatly depict the dystopia in the world of CP2077, and specifically in Dog Town. And a lot of time, you can actually see the consequence of your decisions made in those gigs in later game. CDPR went all in for attention to details for this expansion. I pretty much reloaded every gig to see different results from my choices. As for rewards? Got you covered too, in many of the gigs you can find iconic weapons.

(a goofy side job that actually has 4 ending variations.)

• The Dogtown map design. DT is much smaller compared to the main game, but I consider it also a great improvement - the verticality design is much superior, landmarks in the town are very striking, way more accessibly building inside, and the random airdrop events often led me to some wonderful viewpoints. It's a small area, but traversing with double jump and dash was a hell of fun.

• Lastly, the plots, the writings, and characters. Those are usually what I value most for playing RPG games. And I was beyond satisfied with the story of Phantom Liberty. The main game has great writings and stellar companion storylines. But for my taste, Phantom Liberty delivered an action spy story with much grander schemes rather than small persons's struggles in Night City. To this point, I still can't decide which ending I like most - that tells you how CDPR mastered writing the characters in the DLC, mature, complex, with their own confession and confusions that blurr the general what's good and evil line. The main characters are more multi-dimensional compared to the companions in the base game.

You guys know me, normally I make memes, but I think this DLC is so good that I have to make a serious face to write a long post. If the Phantom Liberty team is the main force working on Witcher 4, I have faith on them.

 

[thekillergreece]

The only thing I worry about Witcher 4 is the fact that it's on Unreal Engine 5.
Other than that, I believe it'll come out great. I kind of wish CP2077 would receive one more large-sized DLC though.

 

[Flabagast]

Yes it is a masterpiece.

Although most of the creative lead team of Phantom Liberty is currently working on the sequel to Cyberpunk, and not on Witcher 4

 

[BennyBlanco]

Yup, it’s great.

 

[Xtib81]

Agreed even though I didn't like Dogtown as much, it's a VERY small area and there's not much to do or see.
The wait for Orion is gonna be so damn long.

 

[mayham2199]

I can't wait to play it. I beat the original game back when it released. I'm just waiting for enough time to pass and then I'm going to replay all of it.

 

[viveks86]

The only thing I worry about Witcher 4 is the fact that it's on Unreal Engine 5.
Other than that, I believe it'll come out great. I kind of wish CP2077 would receive one more large-sized DLC though.

By the time this is out, I wouldn't be too concerned. If 5.6 addresses streaming issues, CPU bottlenecks and traversal stutters as promised, a bulk of the issues that plague UE5 will be resolved. Most of the lumen issues are already addressed with 5.5. But given their lofty goals with that pre-rendered trailer, who knows what new bottlenecks we are about to hit? Ok I take everything I said back.

 

[LectureMaster]

I can't wait to play it. I beat the original game back when it released. I'm just waiting for enough time to pass and then I'm going to replay all of it.

It's probably going to be a completely new experience for you, if you beat the game in 2020. CDPR pretty much redesigned the whole RPG system and made huge improvements in gameplay. They did the same thing for W3, it was also great!

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Witcher 3 is my top 3 RPG. I finished CP2077 main game twice with all endings, loved it, but not as crazy as I was with Witcher 3.

Finished the expansion last night, mind is still processing how much I am blown away by the quality.

• The main missions. In the base game there are highs and lows, but in the DLC pretty much every single one is designed with the highest standard - the narrative, the setpieces, and the packed action scenes, all put together with attention to details. I don't want to make major spoiler, but let me point out one tiny bit. In the Black Sapphire mission, you went from diving in flooded construction zone to infiltrating heavily guarded military base to playing spy in the most extravagant club in Night City to facing the main villain, all in a single building. The flow of the mission was just perfect. And I was absolutely amazed by the club's "special performance" CDPR put in there which you could be completely missing out.

• The side contents are much more meaningful. I am mainly talking about the gigs. In the base game those are pretty much open world fillers, but in the DLC those are essentially the sizable side missions. The mission variety is better, the plots are enjoyable, and most time you have to make those moral decisions at the end - do you fulfill your merc's duty, or do you do things differently to align with your V's values? Those are not, let's say, profound, but those gigs are much more engaging compared to the ones in base game, and they greatly depict the dystopia in the world of CP2077, and specifically in Dog Town. And a lot of time, you can actually see the consequence of your decisions made in those gigs in later game. CDPR went all in for attention to details for this expansion. I pretty much reloaded every gig to see different results from my choices. As for rewards? Got you covered too, in many of the gigs you can find iconic weapons.

(a goofy side job that actually has 4 ending variations.)

• The Dogtown map design. DT is much smaller compared to the main game, but I consider it also a great improvement - the verticality design is much superior, landmarks in the town are very striking, way more accessibly building inside, and the random airdrop events often led me to some wonderful viewpoints. It's a small area, but traversing with double jump and dash was a hell of fun.

• Lastly, the plots, the writings, and characters. Those are usually what I value most for playing RPG games. And I was beyond satisfied with the story of Phantom Liberty. The main game has great writings and stellar companion storylines. But for my taste, Phantom Liberty delivered an action spy story with much grander schemes rather than small persons's struggles in Night City. To this point, I still can't decide which ending I like most - that tells you how CDPR mastered writing the characters in the DLC, mature, complex, with their own confession and confusions that blurr the general what's good and evil line. The main characters are more multi-dimensional compared to the companions in the base game.

You guys know me, normally I make memes, but I think this DLC is so good that I have to make a serious face to write a long post. If the Phantom Liberty team is the main force working on Witcher 4, I have faith on them.

I just purchased phantom liberty on sale but haven’t played it yet.

I enjoyed cyberpunk base game but wasn’t blown away or anything. I hope phantom liberty is more compelling as you say

 

[notseqi]

Loved Phantom Liberty, exceeded my expectations. Worth every penny.

 

[Rush2112]

Yeah the main game was dogshit, especially the side quests (go kill 500k psychos, kill 5000 bandits, like truly MMO level boring garbage).. The DLCs dont matter to me.

 

[Gaiff]

Agreed even though I didn't like Dogtown as much, it's a VERY small area and there's not much to do or see.
The wait for Orion is gonna be so damn long.

Yeah. I wish Dogtown was larger and there were more sidequests with more vibrant factions.

Regardless, Cyberpunk in its current state is an 8 or 9/10 compared to the 6/10 it was on release.

 

[Mozzarella]

CDPR makes the best DLCs

 

[N0S]

They gonna fuck up W4

 

[rm082e]

I just finished PL and the main game for the first time last week. I avoided the game for a long time and finally picked it up on sale when I heard enough good things.

I basically played the whole main game up to the last handful of missions, then went and did all of PL, then came back and finished off the main story. It didn't feel like a big step up in quality over the main game to me. It was more focused, just because there weren't as many side missions to do in Dogtown.

Overall though, I'm really glad I didn't let the bad reputation of the game keep me away from playing it for good. From a bugs/performance perspective, it was one of the best quality experiences I've had with a game in many years. I had a couple of minor issues, but nothing I wouldn't see in other open world games.

 

[SHA]

It's not a RPG, it's a shooter with fancy looking city.

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

I forgot how good that Idris Elba model was.

It's probably going to be a completely new experience for you, if you beat the game in 2020. CDPR pretty much redesigned the whole RPG system and made huge improvements in gameplay. They did the same thing for W3, it was also great!

They redesigned and updated Witcher 3 too? I had no idea. Unfortunately I have it on Playstation and I think I heard the ps5 port sucks? Something about grass textures?

Did they improve the combat?

 

[LectureMaster]

I just purchased phantom liberty on sale but haven’t played it yet.

I enjoyed cyberpunk base game but wasn’t blown away or anything. I hope phantom liberty is more compelling as you say

I played on PS5 Pro, runs and looks great.

My man James:

 

[LectureMaster]

I forgot how good that Idris Elba model was.




They redesigned and updated Witcher 3 too? I had no idea. Unfortunately I have it on Playstation and I think I heard the ps5 port sucks? Something about grass textures?

Did they improve the combat?

Are you referring to CP2077 or W3?

I played both on PS5 recently, both look and run great. Phantom Liberty didn't even give me a single major bugs.

 

[manfestival]

Do I have to remember anything from the main game in order to enjoy phantom liberty? I haven't actually played the game in I guess years so I vaguely remember stuff from it and do want to give this a shot.

 

[Antwix]

It's not a RPG, it's a shooter with fancy looking city.

you know there's different builds that don't involve shooting right? I would love to see the gymnastics on how it's not an rpg.

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

Are you referring to CP2077 or W3?

I played both on PS5 recently, both look and run great. Phantom Liberty didn't even give me a single major bugs.

Witcher 3.

This was the thread I was thinking of https://www.neogaf.com/threads/why-...itcher-3-ps5-port-was-a-glitchy-mess.1666717/

 

[Xtib81]

I played on PS5 Pro, runs and looks great.

My man James:

Still salty that we didn't get any patch for the pro though.

 

[Sebastian1295]

Cyberpunk 2077 phantom liberty is awesome but the endings were some of the worst in gaming. Just misery porn endings and it hurt the overall experience for me.

 

[LectureMaster]

Do I have to remember anything from the main game in order to enjoy phantom liberty? I haven't actually played the game in I guess years so I vaguely remember stuff from it and do want to give this a shot.

Not at all. It's a very much standalone package/story.

All you need to remember is that you have Johnny in your head and you are dying. The DLC promises to find a cure for you.

 

[SHA]

you know there's different builds that don't involve shooting right? I would love to see the gymnastics on how it's not an rpg.

I've played the new version and sorry if you experienced it differently, The quests are to light to be called quests like in trad RPGs, you actually don't screw up here. The game doesn't punish you for the choices you made, it punish you for your shooting skills. I'm not a hater actually, I'm just expressing my thoughts, it's still one of the best this gen.

 

[March Climber]

It's not a RPG, it's a shooter with fancy looking city.

 

[Zacfoldor]

I'll be honest, I tried it recently and hated it. The FPS gameplay was just bad and felt restricting(but I love other FPS games).

If Witcher 3 is in 3rd person we're golden. Both TW3 and this game have some terrible gameplay fumbles.

Witcher 3 on Death March is great but on default difficulty level there is no reason t do anything but on button spam almost the entire game.

To fix Witcher 3 Death March should have been the default difficulty and it would have gone down as the actual goat.

Cyberpunk currently in its fixed state is really not great gameplay and they should either learn to make a great FPS(not gonna happen) or they should move back to 3rd person. This is really my only complaint about CDPR. If Cyberpunk had Destiny 2 gameplay then it would also probably be a goat for me, but alas the gameplay was far shitter than any borderlands game(I like borderlands but it is a couple of tiers below D2 in gameplay dept). In the hierarchy of FPS games, for gameplay, Cyberpunk has to be in the worst tier. No?

 

[SkylineRKR]

Cyberpunk is since 1.5 nowhere near a bad game and got better with the later updates that revised the skill trees. Though the enemy scaling can be disappointing so some who liked the more RPG like touches. Its mostly window dressing, but I had fun completing it. I've yet to buy and play PL someday. I'm eyeing something like 15 bucks, the current discount is still 23. I paid 25 for the main game in 2021 lol.

 

[SJRB]

It's an incredible DLC for sure. I was in awe multiple times throughout the story and the finale was incredible.

I really, really appreciate that Dogtown is "just" an area of of Night City and you can leave at any time - the game doesn't lock you in except during a few consecutive missions.

How wild was it that you infiltrate the party and the game just lets you watch the Lizzy Wizzy performance, and afterwards you get a BD where you can rewatch the concert. They didn't have to include this at all. It probably cost a fortune but they did it anyway just for the fans. Insane production values.

Also:

 

[Grizzled Ghost]

Cyberpunk currently in its fixed state is really not great gameplay and they should either learn to make a great FPS(not gonna happen) or they should move back to 3rd person. This is really my only complaint about CDPR. If Cyberpunk had Destiny 2 gameplay then it would also probably be a goat for me, but alas the gameplay was far shitter than any borderlands game(I like borderlands but it is a couple of tiers below D2 in gameplay dept). In the hierarchy of FPS games, for gameplay, Cyberpunk has to be in the worst tier. No?

I have to disagree with that. How much did you play? Once you unlock a few abilities and get better implants the gameplay is amazing. Some of the most fun first person combat I've experienced. The movement powers especially are great, and the katana, gorilla arm, shotgun, and throwing weapon builds I tried were all awesome.

 

[LectureMaster]

I've played the new version and sorry if you experienced it differently, The quests are to light to be called quests like in trad RPGs, you actually don't screw up here. The game doesn't punish you for the choices you made, it punish you for your shooting skills. I'm not a hater actually, I'm just expressing my thoughts, it's still one of the best this gen.

I played a whole 180 hours on a pure melee katana build and it was very satisfying. Yes, that is you don't need to shoot at all.

CP2077 has way better and more character build variety compared to Witcher 3.

I don't see how not being punished by your choices is a downside. There is no pure black and white in the world of Cyberpunk, and I think all the choices make sense in that world.

 

[Pharaoh 117]

Honestly, considering how mediocre the base game is I sure hope the DLC is an improvement. I'll get to it someday.

 

[JayK47]

I would have loved it, but the part where you hide from a robot and it insta kills you when you do something wrong was incredibly frustrating and went against everything my character was. I was a highly capable killing machine by time I was in that point in the game and suddenly nothing I could do to damage a robot? Come on. It completely went against the game mechanics up until that point and forced you to play a completely different type of game (horror suspense hide and seek). So no, The Witcher 4 is not in good hands. Not anymore. I expect the game to be good looking beyond Ciri and be a very detailed world to explore. But it will be very scripted and buggy as hell at launch and no doubt full of fighting the patriarchy.

 

[mdkirby]

The only thing I worry about Witcher 4 is the fact that it's on Unreal Engine 5.
Other than that, I believe it'll come out great. I kind of wish CP2077 would receive one more large-sized DLC though.

Honestly I don’t quite know why some games don’t just release a big game like cyberpunk, then every year release a big paid expansion, for years. They are a lot cheaper to make than sequels, keep the same engine with occasional engine upgrades. That would be a type of GAAS I could get behind. No man’s sky is able to do tons of expansions every year for ages and include them for free . Have a second team start work on the sequel, but it means for its entire 6+ year development your keeping the IP front and center in peoples minds, and your getting new revenue each year. Instead of big releases, which within a year is prob around £20-£30 in a sale, within 3 given for free in games pass etc, and you have more than half a decade at least before the next entry, maybe even a decade. People who played cyberpunk today could legit have a kid, and they’d be 10 by the time the next releases. (Cdprjt may be quicker, but I’m using cyberpunk as a stand in for similar games), eldar scrolls will be at least 15 years between releases. Fallout could well be similar. That’s an eternity.

 

[ungalo]

i prefer the main game

the story didn't click with me as much on Phantom Liberty, still very good if not great

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

I'm sure Witcher 4 will be excellent technically, etc. Unfortunately for me I have little interest in playing as Ciri.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

you know there's different builds that don't involve shooting right? I would love to see the gymnastics on how it's not an rpg.

They renamed the box art to specifically say it was an open action adventure game and removed the RPG labeling.
Game isn't an RPG.

 

[ungalo]

Honestly I don’t quite know why some games don’t just release a big game like cyberpunk, then every year release a big paid expansion, for years. They are a lot cheaper to make than sequels, keep the same engine with occasional engine upgrades. That would be a type of GAAS I could get behind. No man’s sky is able to do tons of expansions every year for ages and include them for free . Have a second team start work on the sequel, but it means for its entire 6+ year development your keeping the IP front and center in peoples minds, and your getting new revenue each year. Instead of big releases, which within a year is prob around £20-£30 in a sale, within 3 given for free in games pass etc, and you have more than half a decade at least before the next entry, maybe even a decade. People who played cyberpunk today could legit have a kid, and they’d be 10 by the time the next releases. (Cdprjt may be quicker, but I’m using cyberpunk as a stand in for similar games), eldar scrolls will be at least 15 years between releases. Fallout could well be similar. That’s an eternity.

Because Phantom Liberty took 3 years to make not one, and the cost was pretty high even if not as high as the base game. The fact they keep the same engine is not going to keep the cost low especially in this days and age.

Right now they are still cheaper, but if it were to spread, there would be a competition in marketing and content, and they would slowly become actual new game but without the marketing appeal of a new game.

 

[LectureMaster]

How wild was it that you infiltrate the party and the game just lets you watch the Lizzy Wizzy performance, and afterwards you get a BD where you can rewatch the concert. They didn't have to include this at all. It probably cost a fortune but they did it anyway just for the fans.

Wow, I didn't know you could get a BD! This 'going beyond and above' is almost Balduar's Gate 3 level.

Also:

That accent is so damn charming. That's what I said in the OP, the characters in the DLC are very memorable.

 

[PonyStation4]

They renamed the box art to specifically say it was an open action adventure game and removed the RPG labeling.
Game isn't an RPG.

It's an RPG, what it says on the box means nothing.

 

[pnutboy]

It gave me hope that Cyberpunk 2 will be absolutely generational whenever it finally comes

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

It's an RPG, what it says on the box means nothing.

Lmao. The company that made the game removed the branding so they couldn't be sued or have people complain that there game was pretending to be something it isn't.

The only choice in the base game is the first mission with Jackie with that miltech woman. After that the game quickly removes choice. Maybe the dlc made it more into an RPG.

But cdred made the correct decision to admit their game was an action adventure game.

 

[Saber]

What honestly got me downed into not buying the DLC is that they straight made my netrunner build absolute terrible and full of bullshit conditions. Spoiled all my fun and the best thing I could say about combat.
DLC was like fixing the worst about Cyberpunk which were the endings.

 

[HRK69]

 

[mayham2199]

It's probably going to be a completely new experience for you, if you beat the game in 2020. CDPR pretty much redesigned the whole RPG system and made huge improvements in gameplay. They did the same thing for W3, it was also great!

That's what I've heard and I can't wait. I already loved the game back in 2020 so I can't even imagine how much I'll enjoy it now.

 

[Antwix]

They renamed the box art to specifically say it was an open action adventure game and removed the RPG labeling.
Game isn't an RPG.

Why on earth would I think a game that has character customization, a skill tree and perks that enable a bunch of different builds along with equipment management, different outcomes based on dialogue and player choices, and a rarity loot system be an RPG? Beats me...

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Why on earth would I think a game that has character customization, a skill tree and perks that enable a bunch of different builds along with equipment management, different outcomes based on dialogue and player choices, and a rarity loot system be an RPG? Beats me...

As I said to the other poster. Maybe the dlc has changed things (haven't played it) but the base game has fuck all choice. Very front loaded. The mission with the miltech woman baits you into thinking the game has lots of outcomes. It doesn't.

 

[amigastar]

I've played about 29 hours of Cyberpunk 2077 but never got really far because i started it always again but didn't continue.

 

[Crayon]

Very nice. I haven't played phantom liberty. I plan to do a full second play when I have a computer that can run all the settings pegged 14 years from now.