How much does Phantom Liberty add to the main story?

[Blade]

For a triple A game, a 10–15-hour main story is absolutely unacceptable, especially when 80% of it is dialogue. I'm glad I got this on sale instead of full price. I spent more time doing side-gigs and just driving around than the main story, and I just started playing 3 days ago. I've barely seen half the city. The side content isn't even a fraction as interesting as the side content in Witcher 3, so it almost isn't even worth it. If they were then this would be a completely different situation.

This is probably the shortest main story I've ever come across in a triple A full, priced game. I literally just got started and installed a couple mods, next thing I know I'm at the point of no return. Does the Phantom Liberty DLC add a decent amount of main content? I'm guessing Phantom Liberty is just the rest of the main story that was left out at launch, but I don't want to buy it if it's only adding like an hour or two to the main story. I'm not mad about it, but I've never been so disappointed in a game before. I put it off for years to build up anticipation and then it was over in three days.

[valium]

Maybe this game just isnt for you.

[orcaa]

Originally posted by Blade:

For a triple A game, a 10–15-hour main story is absolutely unacceptable, especially when 80% of it is dialogue. I'm glad I got this on sale instead of full price. I spent more time doing side-gigs and just driving around than the main story, and I just started playing 3 days ago. I've barely seen half the city. The side content isn't even a fraction as interesting as the side content in Witcher 3, so it almost isn't even worth it. If they were then this would be a completely different situation.

This is probably the shortest main story I've ever come across in a triple A full, priced game. I literally just got started and installed a couple mods, next thing I know I'm at the point of no return. Does the Phantom Liberty DLC add a decent amount of main content? I'm guessing Phantom Liberty is just the rest of the main story that was left out at launch, but I don't want to buy it if it's only adding like an hour or two to the main story. I'm not mad about it, but I've never been so disappointed in a game before. I put it off for years to build up anticipation and then it was over in three days.

lol.......10 -15 hours main story..... well I guess if you skip all the talking and are doing nothing but some sort of speed run maybe it might be 20-30 hours of main story. But it is your game and you can do it any way you please. For myself.........it was about 100 hours per play thru ( I did several ) and that is without the PL DLC. Maybe the game is not for you.
I played over 1000 hours ( multiple play thrus ) and got my money's worth. The PL DLC is good and adds 20+ hours of content but the main game is good without it.

Hopefully you find another game that you can enjoy.

[Harley]

If you’ve only gotten 15 hours out of this game you’ve played it completely wrong. It took me 190 hours to complete the game.

[Nar!]

Look at it this way if you can, Blade... The game itself, is not just the main story quests. It's everything that comes with it. If you engage in every gig, biz and main story, you're pushing up into the 100 hour range or more. That's how it was designed to be played.

But if you were only looking to speed run it because the game itself didn't interest you much, then the main story (which of course is going to have a lot of exposition) will take about 20 hours to complete and it won't feel nearly as meaningful to you as it was designed to be.

You made the conscious effort to not fully immerse yourself with everything the game has to offer, which despite not being main quests, does actually reinforces the importance of the main quest details. Stuff in regards to Militech, Arasaka, the gangs of night city, etc.

But not everyone enjoys too much reading and dialogue however, so I understand what you're feeling. It was a lot of tedium for you, rather than 95% action 5% talk.

You're probably not going to appreciate Phantom Liberty if you have a problem with too much reading and not much action in ways you'd like it to be. It is an action RPG after all and reading does play a huge role in expanding player's immersion of Night City and its many legends. Off the top of your head, do you know anything about Bartmoss?
(pls don't google it..just trying to make a point here.)

Sorry you didn't enjoy it much, Blade. :[
Cyberpunk may just not be your game style. I'd skip Phantom Liberty and just shelve the game. You won't like it any better if this is your take on the base game.

Maybe come back to it at a later time?

[Blade]

Originally posted by Harley:

If you’ve only gotten 15 hours out of this game you’ve played it completely wrong. It took me 190 hours to complete the game.

I think you mis-read my post. I said I got about 15 hours out of the main story and spent more time doing side-gigs and driving around than that. No offense but if you can do math that comes out to at least 30 hours. The problem is that I came in expecting an experience on the level of Witcher 3 and it isn't anything close.

[Blade]

Originally posted by orcaa:

Originally posted by Blade:

For a triple A game, a 10–15-hour main story is absolutely unacceptable, especially when 80% of it is dialogue. I'm glad I got this on sale instead of full price. I spent more time doing side-gigs and just driving around than the main story, and I just started playing 3 days ago. I've barely seen half the city. The side content isn't even a fraction as interesting as the side content in Witcher 3, so it almost isn't even worth it. If they were then this would be a completely different situation.

This is probably the shortest main story I've ever come across in a triple A full, priced game. I literally just got started and installed a couple mods, next thing I know I'm at the point of no return. Does the Phantom Liberty DLC add a decent amount of main content? I'm guessing Phantom Liberty is just the rest of the main story that was left out at launch, but I don't want to buy it if it's only adding like an hour or two to the main story. I'm not mad about it, but I've never been so disappointed in a game before. I put it off for years to build up anticipation and then it was over in three days.

lol.......10 -15 hours main story..... well I guess if you skip all the talking and are doing nothing but some sort of speed run maybe it might be 20-30 hours of main story. But it is your game and you can do it any way you please. For myself.........it was about 100 hours per play thru ( I did several ) and that is without the PL DLC. Maybe the game is not for you.
I played over 1000 hours ( multiple play thrus ) and got my money's worth. The PL DLC is good and adds 20+ hours of content but the main game is good without it.

Hopefully you find another game that you can enjoy.

What all did you do to get that much out of it? The side gigs to me are really boring, you go to the location, kill a couple guys, and in 5 seconds it's over. Nothing interesting happens, you don't meet new people, all the side content just seems like filler. In Witcher 3 each side-quest was basically its own story with fascinating twists and turns. It isn't so much that the game isn't for me, as much as it is I went into it with my expectations through the roof and that was my mistake. Especially after all the controversy behind it, I was optimistic because of Witcher 3.

[yahboi1988]

A regular play through for me before the DLC is about 70-90 hours and that's not a completionist run. The DLC adds about 30 hours easy. But unless you're actually doing the side gigs the game will feel a lot shorter even with the DLC. The side gigs also have some of the best weapons locked behind them and multiple side quests have entire endings locked behind them. The first time I beat the game I reloaded and realized I had another 15 hours of side quests unlocked after opening up the final mission as an option. There is an entire romance option locked until after you open up the the Nocturne mission.

[Nar!]

Originally posted by Blade:

The problem is that I came in expecting an experience on the level of Witcher 3 and it isn't anything close.

I read that Witcher III is a very very long game and I recall CDPR devs saying that many people have complained that it was too long, so they made sure to not make it as long for Cyberpunk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I bought Witcher III (and 2) recently. Started playing 2 a week ago. Hoping I can get more time after my 3rd play of Cyberpunk. I'm very keen on getting Witcher 4 in the future, so I want to get better acquainted with the lore by then.

[yahboi1988]

Originally posted by Blade:

Originally posted by orcaa:

lol.......10 -15 hours main story..... well I guess if you skip all the talking and are doing nothing but some sort of speed run maybe it might be 20-30 hours of main story. But it is your game and you can do it any way you please. For myself.........it was about 100 hours per play thru ( I did several ) and that is without the PL DLC. Maybe the game is not for you.
I played over 1000 hours ( multiple play thrus ) and got my money's worth. The PL DLC is good and adds 20+ hours of content but the main game is good without it.

Hopefully you find another game that you can enjoy.

What all did you do to get that much out of it? The side gigs to me are really boring, you go to the location, kill a couple guys, and in 5 seconds it's over. Nothing interesting happens, you don't meet new people, all the side content just seems like filler. In Witcher 3 each side-quest was basically its own story with fascinating twists and turns. It isn't so much that the game isn't for me, as much as it is I went into it with my expectations through the roof and that was my mistake. Especially after all the controversy behind it, I was optimistic because of Witcher 3.

The side gigs start off mid but are the best places to express your builds. I highly recommend you give them a second chance as some are way more interesting then others.

[Blade]

Originally posted by yahboi1988:

A regular play through for me before the DLC is about 70-90 hours and that's not a completionist run. The DLC adds about 30 hours easy. But unless you're actually doing the side gigs the game will feel a lot shorter even with the DLC. The side gigs also have some of the best weapons locked behind them and multiple side quests have entire endings locked behind them. The first time I beat the game I reloaded and realized I had another 15 hours of side quests unlocked after opening up the final mission as an option. There is an entire romance option locked until after you open up the the Nocturne mission.

What side gigs are you talking about? Not the green ones with that one cop lady right? They usually just consist of going to a location, killing a couple gang members, and the gig is closed. Usually, the reward is like 3000 Eddies. What other side gigs are there?

Also, off topic, but I find that the money being called eddies is hilarious. As a child in the late 90's I watched the cartoon Ed, Edd, and Eddy. The plot of every episode was them coming up with an idea to scam the neighborhood kids for quarters to buy Jawbreakers. It might not make sense to other people, but the correlation is there so it's ironic they're called Eddies. lol

[Blade]

Originally posted by Nar!:

Originally posted by Blade:

The problem is that I came in expecting an experience on the level of Witcher 3 and it isn't anything close.

I read that Witcher III is a very very long game and I recall CDPR devs saying that many people have complained that it was too long, so they made sure to not make it as long for Cyberpunk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I bought Witcher III (and 2) recently. Started playing 2 a week ago. Hoping I can get more time after my 3rd play of Cyberpunk. I'm very keen on getting Witcher 4 in the future, so I want to get better acquainted with the lore by then.

That was the best part about Witcher 3, but if you played straight though the main story, it really wasn't that long. Maybe 35-40 hours. Nothing compared to the open world RPG Assassin's Creed games but the fact that it was good and didn't lose momentum anywhere in the story, justified it being a long game. They did the same thing Ubisoft did with Assassin's Creed Valhalla and intentionally mis-interpreted the minority opinion of "the game is too big" to be able to make a smaller game and charge full price for it. That was probably less than 10% of players. I'm concerned the upcoming new Witcher trilogy will reflect that too.

[yahboi1988]

Originally posted by Blade:

Originally posted by yahboi1988:

A regular play through for me before the DLC is about 70-90 hours and that's not a completionist run. The DLC adds about 30 hours easy. But unless you're actually doing the side gigs the game will feel a lot shorter even with the DLC. The side gigs also have some of the best weapons locked behind them and multiple side quests have entire endings locked behind them. The first time I beat the game I reloaded and realized I had another 15 hours of side quests unlocked after opening up the final mission as an option. There is an entire romance option locked until after you open up the the Nocturne mission.

What side gigs are you talking about? Not the green ones with that one cop lady right? They usually just consist of going to a location, killing a couple gang members, and the gig is closed. Usually, the reward is like 3000 Eddies. What other side gigs are there?

Also, off topic, but I find that the money being called eddies is hilarious. As a child in the late 90's I watched the cartoon Ed, Edd, and Eddy. The plot of every episode was them coming up with an idea to scam the neighborhood kids for quarters to buy Jawbreakers. It might not make sense to other people, but the correlation is there so it's ironic they're called Eddies. lol

Every part of the city has side gigs run by different fixers, the money isn't what you do them for later on. There are also Side Missions also tagged yellow, some are even hidden.

[vram1974]

Phantom Liberty is the best DLC/expansion I've ever played. It dramatically overhauls the entire game and adds four unique endings which can also be used for the main story. It's just incredible and for $40 Canadian it's a literal steal. It's amazing to see CDPR give back to fans with such quality. Compare that to developers like, for example, Rebellion, who released Sniper Elite 5 and then added $205 worth of DLC that is probably 1/10th Phantom Liberty's content.

[Blade]

Originally posted by vram1974:

Phantom Liberty is the best DLC/expansion I've ever played. It dramatically overhauls the entire game and adds four unique endings which can also be used for the main story. It's just incredible and for $40 Canadian it's a literal steal. It's amazing to see CDPR give back to fans with such quality. Compare that to developers like, for example, Rebellion, who released Sniper Elite 5 and then added $205 worth of DLC that is probably 1/10th Phantom Liberty's content.

How much does it actually add to the main story though? Cyberpunk has the second shortest main story of any triple AAA RPG in the industry, the only AAA RPG that's shorter than it is Mass Effect 1.

[vram1974]

Originally posted by Blade:

Originally posted by vram1974:

Phantom Liberty is the best DLC/expansion I've ever played. It dramatically overhauls the entire game and adds four unique endings which can also be used for the main story. It's just incredible and for $40 Canadian it's a literal steal. It's amazing to see CDPR give back to fans with such quality. Compare that to developers like, for example, Rebellion, who released Sniper Elite 5 and then added $205 worth of DLC that is probably 1/10th Phantom Liberty's content.

How much does it actually add to the main story though? Cyberpunk has the second shortest main story of any triple AAA RPG in the industry, the only AAA RPG that's shorter than it is Mass Effect 1.

It adds a fair bit. Not only is the story really good, it has really good acting with Idris Elba playing one of the main characters. The story is far better than the vanilla game story and you can get really involved. If you like stories, it can be quite emotional as you try and do the right thing.

Also, quality over quantity. Mass Effect 1 is the best story in gaming history, short or not.

If you're worried, the developers more or less force you to do side quests and gigs because sometimes you have to wait 1-4 days in game for events to proceed. So you can explore Dogtown or just wait, it's up to you.

I really think Phantom Liberty is a no-brainer DLC buy, again for quality over quantity. But in my opinion, the quantity for PL is pretty good too.