Is Cyberpunk 2077 worth playing one year after release?

Cyberpunk 2077 was released on December 10, 2020 and it ended up becoming one of the biggest disappointments of the gaming industry in the last decade. The game was a buggy mess and almost everyone abandoned it within the first few months.

Almost a year has passed since, and something that a lot of players have been wondering about is whether the game is finally playable or not. This is because there are games that often fail miserably at launch, but end up getting better after several patches and updates.

Batman Arkham Knight and Mass Effect Andromeda are pretty good examples of games that were poor at launch, but eventually got better over the years. Cyberpunk 2077 is definitely better than what it was at release, but it still has more than its share of issues.

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Cyberpunk 2077 has fewer bugs, but the game still feels incomplete

Cyberpunk 2077’s initial launch was an absolute debacle. While the PC version of the game was still playable for the most part, the last-generation console versions were simply not ready. It felt like a game that still had at least five years worth of development left.

CD Projekt Red (CDPR), the game's developer, has been accused of misguiding players as well as their own investors regarding the state of the game at launch. Then, the developer announced refunds without discussing it with console manufacturers, which led Sony to pull the game from the PlayStation store.

Eventually, things settled down, but both CDPR as well as Cyberpunk 2077 left a poor impression on the players. However, the developer owned up to its mistake, and after a long due apology, began working on fixing the the game.

The game has received some major updates over the course of 2021, and in all honesty, it has improved. For one, the city no longer feels like a scene from Inception where a vehicle turns upside down for no reason!

There are fewer game-breaking bugs like the ones that used to prevent players from even progressing through the story. The game also runs smoother and the number of crashes has reduced considerably.

Despite that, Cyberpunk 2077 still does not feel complete. While it is definitely playable now, the choices and storylines still feel pointless. The impact that the developers said player choices would have on the story is still nowhere to be found.

It is important to note that the story is still gripping, and characters like Judy Alvarez and Johnny Silverhand are as memorable and alluring as ever. However, it goes without saying that nothing much has been changed regarding how the story progresses.

The game still suffers from a content drought, and in all probability, will continue to do so until the developer begins to introduce major DLCs (downloadable content). The chances of the primary story adding more features is practically nil at this point.

As for exploration, initially, it might be fun, as Night City is a strikingly beautiful place to be. However, players are eventually bound to get bored. That's because, in an effort to fix many of its performance issues, traffic and crowd density were toned down considerably.

Consequently, at times, the city feels lifeless. Also, in terms of detail, some locations in Cyberpunk 2077 seem to have gotten more attention from the developer than others.

Overall, Cyberpunk 2077 is a fun experience in 2021. New players who have never experienced the game before will surely enjoy it. Also, older players who experienced the buggy mess that the game was at launch will have a much more streamlined experience than before.

While Cyberpunk 2077 is worth playing a year after its release, it is still not a $60 game and players should wait for discounts on whichever platform they intend to try it out.