We at Cram-Gaming have spent hundreds of hours with several character builds playing CDPR’s Cyberpunk 2077 since it released in December 2020. With every post-launch update we seemed to enjoy a renewed vigor playing through the game again. We’re not sure what the total hours are, but to hazard a guess must be close to 500 hours which is by no means a personal record (we think the Destiny games have that), but a decent indication of how well the game is loved here.
Out-of-the-gate, it has to be stated that we have alway run the game on a top-end PC with an RTX 3090 (back when it launched) and now with an RTX 4090 under the hood, coupled with an i5 13700K CPU. Playing with all the bells-and-whistles has been an eye-opening exercise. But we digress.
With the advent of the first and only proper DLC Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty next month, we’re pondering what the general sentiment is from gamers who already invested time into the game. Will those players decide to start-over from the beginning, or continue where they left off? There are several options available, including for us, playing through the entire complete experience from the beginning in VR (see video below).
Playing in VR with an RTX 4090 using medium settings is pretty awesome powered by the Luke Ross Real VR mod. We already invested a lot of hours in VR and claimed that we could actually live in Night City if there were more simple life things to do. Phantom Liberty won’t bring that unfortunately, but will increase the level of immersion if things like NPC reactions are robust and meaningful. Who knows, someone might even mod in Chat AI as they have done with other games. We thoroughly recommend playing in VR if that option is available to you, although concede it’s not necessary to start-over.
For desktop or console gamers, starting-over will feel like a complete experience. Playing through the game as close to how CDPR would like it to be seen, especially in-light of the disastrous launch in 2020. The subsequent updates have improved the game no end, so if you haven’t dipped-in since the PS5 and XSX versions released in February 2022, then starting over is a good choice.
CDPR has said there will be a point in the main story where you can access the Phantom Liberty DLC (no spoilers here). There is even an option of just diving right-in to that content using a provided option. We think that option should be reserved for those reviewing the game to just jump right into it. Alternatively, those totally invested in their version of V might want to do the same having bested the main storyline after so many hours playing. Going through the opening act again and that horrible Braindance Tutorial (which you can actually skip past now) might grate a bit too much. However, being able to respec your build is a good option too for those who want to mix things up a little after so many hours playing, without having to build a new character.
Exciting times lie ahead, but we hope CDPR include some more customization options that will make creating a new V from the beginning of the game more enticing. Let’s hope so. Either way, whatever you do. Phantom Liberty feels like it’s going to be a solid inclusion to the main game. CDPR will not want a repeat of its previous launch which to this day still overhangs the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty releases on PC/XS/PS5 on September 26th 2023.
