Updated Review.

Some caveats: I'm going to simply add remarks to my original when appropriate.

I came back to this game after 2.01. It's still not the game they sold people on. But it is now, at least...fun to play as long as you have mods.

NPC's still aren't that interesting. Exploring is still kind of a pointless endeavor. Most doors you encounter are locked, NPC's do nothing, appear to have no real AI..some are scripted. That's it.

The story missions are good, but they're on rails. The promise of "actions change/dependent upon" is, IMO...a barely kept promise. This is still true of 2.01. In fact, in replaying some of the missions...I've noticed they've been reworked...and even nerfed in some ways....and not for the better.

The open world is a bit better, but still pretty soulless.

This game on release bears some similarity to No Man's Sky in terms of features it was sold on, and what was there on launch day. That is still somewhat the case here in 2023. While 2077 is now fun to play, it has not...I repeat...had NOT attained a "No Man's Sky" style redemption here. If anything, it feels like they did just enough, and maybe a slight bit more.

You have deep character customization...for a game where Third Person Perspective was cut. Fortunately, you can add some halfway okay 3rd person with a mod. But the quality is not great. The inventory system is still trash. The reworked perks/level system is pretty good though.

At least Fallout 4, even with it's flaws...was far more interesting on launch day than 2077 is. At least on those older Bethesda titles...you knew better content was coming with mods. While there is a decent mod community for 2077, it's been hampered by a half hearted effort by CDPR to support them in a truly meaningfull way. Despite that, there's a lot of good and even some great mods out there. Some of which fix some of the biggest problems in the game still in 2.01...like driving.

Is the game worth $60? No. Not by a long shot. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT RETAIL PRICE. Wait for a sale. Despite the fixes, and the fact it's better by some measures...it is still not worth $60. Even if they included the DLC...it still wouldn't be worth $60. Buy this game on sale.

In the end though, CDPR has joined the big time: they lied out of one side of their mouth, and market speak out of the other. Just like EA, Blizzard, Ubi, and the rest of them. Yay congrats.

While they've done just enough to make customers whole here, we shouldn't forget that they pitched one game, then delivered a nearly entirely different one. In 2023, the product is better, but they still screwed everyone.

Updated Review. Some caveats: I'm going to simply add remarks to my original when appropriate. I came back to this game after 2.01. It's still not the game they sold people on. But it is now, at least...fun to play as long as you have mods. NPC's still aren't that interesting. Exploring is still kind of a pointless endeavor. Most doors you encounter are locked, NPC's do nothing, appear to have no real AI..some are scripted. That's it. The story missions are good, but they're on rails. The promise of "actions change/dependent upon" is, IMO...a barely kept promise. This is still true of 2.01. In fact, in replaying some of the missions...I've noticed they've been reworked...and even nerfed in some ways....and not for the better. The open world is a bit better, but still pretty soulless. This game on release bears some similarity to No Man's Sky in terms of features it was sold on, and what was there on launch day. That is still somewhat the case here in 2023. While 2077 is now fun to play, it has not...I repeat...had NOT attained a "No Man's Sky" style redemption here. If anything, it feels like they did just enough, and maybe a slight bit more. You have deep character customization...for a game where Third Person Perspective was cut. Fortunately, you can add some halfway okay 3rd person with a mod. But the quality is not great. The inventory system is still trash. The reworked perks/level system is pretty good though. At least Fallout 4, even with it's flaws...was far more interesting on launch day than 2077 is. At least on those older Bethesda titles...you knew better content was coming with mods. While there is a decent mod community for 2077, it's been hampered by a half hearted effort by CDPR to support them in a truly meaningfull way. Despite that, there's a lot of good and even some great mods out there. Some of which fix some of the biggest problems in the game still in 2.01...like driving. Is the game worth $60? No. Not by a long shot. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT RETAIL PRICE. Wait for a sale. Despite the fixes, and the fact it's better by some measures...it is still not worth $60. Even if they included the DLC...it still wouldn't be worth $60. Buy this game on sale. In the end though, CDPR has joined the big time: they lied out of one side of their mouth, and market speak out of the other. Just like EA, Blizzard, Ubi, and the rest of them. Yay congrats. While they've done just enough to make customers whole here, we shouldn't forget that they pitched one game, then delivered a nearly entirely different one. In 2023, the product is better, but they still screwed everyone.