Revisiting 18 February 2022, 15:42

author: Karol Laska

Is Cyberpunk 2077 Worth Going Back to After Patch 1.5?

CD Projekt RED didn't give up and the patching effort for Cyberpunk 2077 is still ongoing. New content, though modest, is still reaching the game. Patch 1.5, which is its next-gen upgrade, is a big step forward, though I, for one, won't be playing.

The review is based on the PC version. It's also relevant to PS5, XSX, XONE, PS4 version(s).

February 15, 2022 is not only a day of attempting to burn calories after Valentine's dinner, but, for many, also a return to another, sometimes beautiful, but also toxic relationship. On this day, quite out-of-the-blue, the next-gen version of Cyberpunk 2077 launched alongside patch 1.5, which was gigantic in terms of the sheer number of changes, both major and minor. Jason Schreier even called the day, half jokingly, "The day Cyberpunk should really have been released," and we have to admit it's a fun notion to entertain. In any case, a whole host of players flocked back to Night City, which for starters requires from 50 to about 90 GB of free disk space (opinions are divided how much specifically). I also played it. I played the 5 hours – as much as the free trial allows for. Was this enough to convince me it's worth getting back to? Not really – because there's not much to go back to. Still, it's worth pointing out that at the same time, this was definitely the best Cyberpunk 2077 experience I've had.

Love-hate relationship

First off, you probably want to know who's talking – am I even familiar enough with the game to be entitled to making such judgments. I did finish the game already, and as a professional duty I've spent a few extra hours searching for easter eggs and such. In Cyberpunk 2077 I appreciate the city, vibrant cast, the idea for the weird connection with Johnny Silverhand, and an excellent plot. On the other hand, I found the gameplay almost completely bland for the most part, and in terms of technology, I'd compare the experience to playing the original Gothic for the first time in your life, having played only the slickest games like those from Naughty Dog.

I must admit that I have a "love-hate" type of bond with Cyberpunk 2077; I am more disgusted with the hype and the PR surrounding the release than the final product itself. Although "final" is quite an unfortunate way to put it, because we all know that CDPR has been hard at work polishing the game – for many, many months. Patch 1.5 is the most tangible effect of this grind. This time, we're getting more than bugfixes. This time, we're talking about mechanics and functionalities reworked from scratch, plus a slew of quality-of-life improvements. Let's deduce and let's verify – if these changes are indeed tangible.

We have GTA at home

Before the release of Cyberpunk 2077, many people hoped for a futuristic Grand Theft Auto with a truly witcher-like role-playing element. CD Projekt RED did somewhat tone down the moods and expectations of players – it was never advertised as GTA in the future – and it truly isn't. Driving wasn't amazing, the entire police system was a misunderstanding; there were no barber shops, stores with clothes, nor other minor activities unrelated to story.

Patch 1.5, has brought Cyberpunk and GTA a bit closer. Driving has been noticeably improved – it's possible to control oversteer now, so it's more viable to actually use the power of your cars in the city, without having to worry about weird laws of physics. These, however, remain weird. The collisions still lead to grotesque car acrobations, and I even noticed two vehicles magically merge their textures. It was fun. It was extremely brief, but it did seem a nasty glitch. It's better, but it sure is no Forza Horizon.

In addition, AI of opponents has been improved. How does this bring the game closer to Grand Theft Auto? Well, the residents of Night City finally act accordingly when we attack them on the streets. I took about 30 minutes to walk around Japantown and sow some chaos. Have I noticed any improvements? Well, not all passersby are regrettable cowards anymore. Out of dozens of victims, about five stood up, taking part in the fight, and the rest ran away in panic (without watching their own shoes, as they customarily did in the past). It was also nice to watch the drivers panick. They reacted to the threat by pressing the pedal to the floor, often hitting random pedestrians.

Sure, it's still not a mayhem sim like San Andreas – especially since law enforcement still isn't working in a predictalbe way, though it seems a little smarter and more realistic, without officers materializing on the crime scene in an instant. However, I feel that this is the first major step CDPR took towards increasing the fun of just walking around the city and spreading unjustified terror. This is a substitute of a real sandbox that this game needed.

The sweet cherries on this modest, but still quite tasty cake are small, yet fundamental facilitations, such as the ability of changing the appearance of the character in the comfort of your home, or slightly more prestigious rewards for completing a number of tasks at the district fixer. Above all, though, I finally felt an actually incentive to spend 50k eddies on a real corporat condo – there have been a few new flats added to the roster, and they now come in basic color varieties. You can now also listen to Samuari on vinyl in your apartment while somking a ciggie – and in moments like these, Night City finally feels more than a container for quests.

Let's enjoy the little things because...

Then we have to consider all the additional stuff that arrives with patch 1.5, as most of it seems redundant. Why do I care? Because they call it DLCs. Really? Two new poses for Silverhand to use in the photo mode are what passes for DLC? Giving free stuff is nice, but this is nowhere near the quality CDPR offer with the third part of their [i]Witcher[/i] saga. I don't think it's bad that the devs offered us some new weapons and neon wheels for our bikes – but bragging about it on devstream is a bit too much. At least that's how I feel about it.

Maybe it's even nicer to discover such details yourself. Internet users fell into a state of euphoria when they saw that it is finally possible to have a drink in the Afterlife bar in memory of Jackie Welles. I am much more satisfied with small improvements in terms if micro mechanics that didn't really make logical sense, than I am with bug fixes – for example, it's now impossible to make a cyberpsycho enter cyberpsychosis using just a single skill. All these little things add up to a set that makes you go "Thanks. I never knew I needed that." However, advertising them in such an aggressive manner is not the way to go – players will notice and they'll appreciate it.

Next-gen rocks, old-gen stinks

All of the above (and even more), you can experience now on next-generation consoles, on which, more than a year after the official release, Cyberpunk 2077 has finally... been launched. I played on the PlayStation 5 for a bit and I'm not going to beat around the bush. This game has never looked more beautiful or performed better – at least for me. Framerate is very stable, the neon lights shine and reflect in a blaze, and textures are not loaded as you pass them by. Indeed, if Cyberpunk was released like that in 2020, I could take it. If you want the best possible experience from this game at the moment, especially if you've never touched it before, you probably know what to do. But make sure you do it on next-gen.

But if you don't happen to own a next-gen console, everything I said doesn't matter. You won't be able to experience any of that. It's true that I did not have the "pleasure" of checking patch 1.5 on PlayStation 4, but in December, our editor in chief, UV wrote a column that quite clearly describes the state of Cyberpunk on this hardware, and it is clear that CDPR prefers not to touch it anymore. Because how else can you explain the lack of the AI improvements discussed above, if not with technical constraints? The PS4 and XOne versions are the only ones that haven't received "numerous graphic improvements." In short, the biggest failure of the game is still valid, but this someone is taking the time to play the good old damage control. I'm sorry, but if you hoped you'll get a decent experience on last-gen, you're in for a disappointment.

I like going back to places I know. But I need a good reason

Oh, it was quite an adventure. The Kabuki intersection feels real like never before, I was able to fight aggressive passersby, I finally was able to make the apartment look more bourgeois, I drank a glass of expensive whiskey, did a few tasks for Wakako to get the strongest katana I have ever seen in the game, enjoyed the beautiful views and a stable framerate on a modern console. All hunky-dory? So why am I not feeling like going back?

Because although Cyberpunk 2077 is better than ever, bugs and technological mishaps are no longer prevalent and the game is simply nicer, I still think that the game is overall running short of the RPG sweetness that could keep me engrossed in the world for another few dozen hours. In my view – at least three updates of such magnitude as patch 1.5 and one story DLC might still change that.

Call me fool, but I'm not asking for anything impossible. In fact, my opinions come primarily from my regrets about the game. All this should have been in the game when it first released. As consumers, we have to accept that the ideal Cyberpunk, if it ever appears, is still a song of the distant future. The game finally received solid foundations, but there's still plenty of walls that need toppling.

Still, I am glad that the project is moving forward at its own pace, and that the people responsible for it have the nerve and motivation to keep pushing it. The time of empty promises and deceptions is over; the time to act has arrived. Try it for yourself to find out whether these actions are any good. There's one thing that begs recognition – giving players five hours of a AAA game for free is not something that happens often in the industry, and it might be a sign of Cyberpunk 2077 , after its all these troubles, finally heading in the right direction .