So far, Cyberpunk 2077 has received rather mixed user reviews. But during the current sale a new picture emerges – we explain possible reasons.
The release of Cyberpunk 2077 is almost a whole year ago. Currently, it has become quite quiet around the action role-playing game by CD Projekt Red. The last big announcement was sobering: The NextGen upgrade, DLCs and major patches will no longer be released in 2021.
But now there is a noticeable upswing on Steam. For the first time since release, the current user reviews are at “Very Positive”. And that’s only partly due to the current autumn sale.
Why is Cyberpunk 2077 better received now?
Currently Cyberpunk is doing better than ever with 84 percent positive (Steam ratings). And sales have also been boosted by the 50 per cent sale, it is at the top of the current top sellers. Quest Director Pawel Sasko is also happy about this on his Twitter account:
Last days Cyberpunk2077 received a flood of very positive reviews on Steam from the new players 🥺
You can’t imagine what it means to me 🥺 pic.twitter.com/bz3xElKixT
– Paweł Sasko (@PaweSasko) November 25, 2021
If one takes a look at the current reviews, several reasons emerge why the game is being received more favourably right now.
This is what players are currently praising: In the newer reviews, there is a lot of praise for the dense atmosphere and the gripping story of Cyberpunk 2077. Many players also seem to like the different ways of approaching battles.
All these strengths Cyberpunk 2077 already had at release – but they were partly buried under a mountain of bugs and technical problems. Especially the old consoles were badly affected, which can still be seen clearly on (Metacritic): An 86 for the PC compares to a 57 and 61 for PS4 and Xbox One respectively.
Meanwhile, several major patches have ironed out the worst bugs and made improvements to the police AI, mini-map and so on. If you start Cyberpunk 2077 today, you can expect a much more rounded experience than at release.
What’s more: Those who are only now getting Cyberpunk 2077 in the sale are probably for the most part unbiased. Because those who were totally caught up in the hype certainly already bought or even pre-ordered the game at launch. And as we all know, Cyberpunk 2077 often failed to meet the high expectations of these players.
Those who didn’t follow CD Projekt’s many announcements in advance are certainly walking through Night City with completely different eyes. Steam user Shwartz, for example, writes:
I haven’t had this much fun since Witcher 3 and New Vegas. If you don’t know about the advertised and then deleted content, the game is great.
It is also clear in many positive reviews that Cyberpunk 2077 does not fulfil all wishes. For example, glitches or superficial RPG mechanics are often – still – criticised. Like here in the review by 0cto_printer87:
Although it’s not nearly as good as it was portrayed in the trailers, the game is now in a very playable state. I haven’t found any glitches or bugs and the game runs smoothly. Just don’t go into it expecting an RPG. Think more of an experience like Fallout 4. There are RPG elements, but they are secondary to an action-packed, linear experience.
But most users would still recommend it in its current state, even if they recognise certain weaknesses, such as KevinZocktan:
Cyberpunk 2077 has its problems, but the game is still one of the best story experiences I’ve ever had.
The atmosphere alone when you walk around Night City is really immersive.
And maybe new patches in 2022 can smooth out a few more edges before the big story expansions are supposed to be released.
