opinion: For active players of Cyberpunk 2077, there’s a lot of good news in the patch notes for Update 1.3, but that won’t get Cyberpunk’s head out of the noose just yet.
Now it’s here, the long-awaited patch 1.3 for Cyberpunk 2077. Five months have passed since the last big update 1.2 and the hunger for news from Night City was accordingly enormous. In the forums and Reddit threads, there has been passionate speculation, discussion, praise – and a lot of hoping. Some of these hopes have been fulfilled by the patch. But not for everyone by a long shot.
The update not only fixes heaps of problems, but also sticks a few sticking plasters on the painful wounds that the mixed launch has torn open in the community. And for me, it clearly shows where the journey for Cyberpunk 2077 is heading in the coming months – and where it isn’t.
If you want to read the full patch notes: The official announcement including DLC info can be found here.
Cyberpunk 2077: Patch 1.3 brings many improvements – and free DLCs!
Table of Contents
What’s in Patch 1.3?
The biggest update so far has a mighty Arasaka tower of bug fixes and improvements in it. That all perks finally work properly, for example. Or that the mini-map now zooms out when driving – no more desperate drift manoeuvres at the last second.
Of course, this is important groundwork, but it’s no reason for players to return to Night City right away. And in my eyes, that is not the goal of this update. Senior Level Designer Miles Tost already made it clear in the announcement stream that Patch 1.3 is just a step towards reconciliation, not the end of the road:
“We hear and read what you say, even the critical voices. We know what you wish for and we are working on many of those wishes. This patch is a step towards making the game better, and with each subsequent patch we want it to be even better until we get to where you want to be and we are satisfied. ”
Who is patch 1.3 aimed at? And who not?
The update is full of changes that have been requested by a very specific group of players: those who actively play Cyberpunk and basically like the game, but still want improvements. In other words, those who are mainly out and about in r/LowSodiumCyberpunk.
For precisely these players, the experience will now noticeably improve because they place great value on coherent details – sleeping pads for cat Nibbles and cooler codex entries make an important difference for them. To people who are fundamentally disappointed with Cyberpunk 2077
Let’s take a look at Patch 1.3 Update (all the changes so far)
What’s behind? “A few seconds more time for the selection, what’s the point?”. That or something like that is how many reactions to the video turn out. And sure, if you’ve only had a little exposure to cyberpunk, it sounds pretty absurd. But in fact it was a big topic in the community, because many accidentally chose the male Angel, whose name they interpreted as female.
The following, very important and emotional conversation scene cannot be interrupted. And an astonishing number of players complained that this moment was ruined for them by the misunderstanding – because it involved them cuddling up in bed with the wrong person. To find this criticism, though, you have to dive deep into forums and Reddit. And that’s exactly what the developers of CDPR keep emphasising.
The Codex entries
The change that was best received in the comments on the Twitch stream: The quest journal now links to appropriate codex entries, for example about the client and the locations.
What’s behind it? Many players are burning with interest in the deep lore behind the neon façade. So much so that the previously mixed mood in the Twitch chat immediately changed: “Okay, that’s epic”, “Really good change”, “We like it” – that’s how it sounded when Quest Designer Patrick Mills introduced the innovation.
It’s another change that immediately stands out in a positive light when you play Cyberpunk 2077 – but which alone is probably not the deciding factor for anyone to start playing the game again now.
What does this say about CDPR’s priorities?
To sum it up very specifically: With patch 1.3, CDPR first wants to satisfy those who still spend their evenings cruising through Night City and can sing along to all the songs on Radio Vexelstrom. For the time being, that is more important to the developers than winning over new players or bringing back those who were deeply disappointed and hoping for big changes.
For these players, it will probably take quite a while before they are ready to give Cyberpunk 2077 another chance. For that, the big feature hopes have to be fulfilled, like Transmog, new questlines, a NextGen update. In the stream, the developers emphasised several times how difficult it is to incorporate such profound changes into a game that has already been released. So a lot of patience is still called for.
Iguarantee that some more patches similar to 1.3 will be released until the promised big DLCs come into sight, which will probably bring many players back. Until then, CDPR will try to fulfil further wishes step by step, to eliminate the last bugs. And to prove that they also really take the critical voices of the community seriously.
