Cyberpunk 2077 is less than two weeks away from its one-year anniversary as of this writing, and noticeably, it’s trending online too. Many may recall how the game trended online at launch…where many shared bugs, game-breaking glitches, disappointing graphics, weak combat, and far more. As we wrote in our Cyberpunk 2077 review, “there's a great RPG buried somewhere beneath Cyberpunk 2077's mountain of issues, but it's going to be a while before that RPG is revealed to the world.”
Now, it’s hard to say that RPG has emerged quite yet, but it seems Cyberpunk 2077 may be at a turning point in its redemption story. The past few days have been really warm, welcoming, and overall good for the game, which has received a ton of fixes over the past year. Indeed, Cyberpunk 2077 is currently trending on Twitter, but for all the reasons it didn’t at launch—fans are loving it.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Redemption Story Just Turned a New Page
This week has been good for Cyberpunk 2077 for a number of reasons. Those who have waited to play it, perhaps after hearing about all of its launch issues, were able to pick it up incredibly cheap for Black Friday. Combine that with its Steam reviews having a “Very Positive” reception with this sale, and it’s put Cyberpunk 2077 in the spotlight.
CD Projekt Red has gone along with this upward momentum, discussing how the company thinks the game will be considered a great game in the long run. Furthermore, it revealed that the recent delay of Cyberpunk 2077’s PS5 and Xbox Series X versions was due to the recommendations of the development team, something that has warmed many fans’ hearts after it’s understood that the devs were basically dismissed at launch. Yet, CD Projekt Red has said this will release in early 2022, as well as a big 1.5 patch for Cyberpunk 2077.
It's hard to say Cyberpunk 2077 is fully redeemed. There are still plenty of glitches and bugs holding Cyberpunk 2077 back, but a lot of the worst has been squashed. That buried RPG is becoming clearer and clearer, if not completely unearthed. And that’s a good thing. As aforementioned, Cyberpunk 2077 did not get its next-gen versions this year. A lot of content was pushed into 2022, but thanks to the work thus far and an influx of Black Friday shoppers, returning players, and more, Cyberpunk 2077 has gotten the most out of –what could be considered—very little at the end of this year.
This is the momentum Cyberpunk 2077 needs going into 2022. If it can land its next-gen versions, if Cyberpunk 2077’s first expansion launches and builds on the solid RPG that everyone thinks it can be, and if it can deliver where it has typically come short, Cyberpunk 2077 might very well be that RPG fans wanted. Not exactly the next-gen defining experience that some wanted it to be, but a solid RPG nonetheless.
Once again, it’s too early to tell if Cyberpunk 2077 will reach the full redemption story many want it to, but it has reached a turning point. Cyberpunk 2077 has nowhere to go but up, but it remains important that CD Projekt Red hits the high marks the company is known for. Who knows, Cyberpunk 2077 could be a completely different game by the end of 2022, and its terrible launch could be a valuable lesson learned.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.