Should You Play Now Or Wait For Phantom Liberty

If you’ve been on the internet between December 2020 and now, you’ve probably heard of Cyberpunk 2077’s supposed revival. to the point that some people, maybe you included, are wondering if it’s time to jump on the Cyberpunk 2077 bandwagon, or if you should just wait for the September 26 release date. That’s a good question, and as someone who’s spent a few hundred hours in the original game, and already played a bit on the expansionI have ideas and can hopefully help you make an informed decision on when or whether to head to Night City.

What changes Phantom Liberty?

According to CD Projekt Red, Phantom Liberty is in the process of overhauling several systems in the base game, to the point where parts of it will play completely differently to not just the game as launched, but as it exists. now for almost three years and a few patches later. This includes new skill trees, new gear, new quest types, enemy type overhauls, new features like vehicular combat, and new tactics and tweaks to how the police react to your crimes. A lot of that is done by gutting the old game and putting something new in the space left behind. Your old version will likely require respec, and you’ll also have new options in those skill trees. Basically, as CD Projekt Red describes, your style of play will be quite different after Phantom Liberty launches.

What happens if I play Cyberpunk 2077 before these changes?

At this point, playing Cyberpunk 2077 before Phantom LIberty is playing a mostly upgraded version of the game that launched in 2020. Basically, the game is still the same as it was, but it’s held together by a better base. There’s an argument to be made this game cannot be recovered, even as CD Projekt Red has rolled out a ton of free patches and updates over the past three years. And to some extent, I agree with that. Having a game that crashes less doesn’t make its combat encounters more engaging, it doesn’t improve its rancid and cynical politics, and it doesn’t make Night City feel like more than a very, very pretty skyline. of the city that beckons toward possibilities it cannot realize. But Phantom Liberty seems like a serious attempt to deliver on some of the mechanical promise the game had before launch.

Learn more: Your Cyberpunk 2077 love story will continue in Phantom Liberty

The skill tree changes alone made Cyberpunk 2077 a different game when I played it. I was given a build that most closely resembled something like Overwatch’s Genji, with dashes, deflecting bullets with my arm blades, and brutal finishes that gave me a reason to approach. I didn’t have as many options in the base version of the game. Whether these larger game ideas really come to fruition remains to be seen, but I’m more enthralled with the game offered by CD Projekt Red than the one I can play right now, and it’s coming from someone who somehow loves the base game as it exists today.

On top of that, you won’t have to pay for a lot of system changes, because they will be part of the main gamefor free, so the initial investment amount you’ll have to pay when you get started for what the studio is positioning as the best experience is much smaller than it will be if you buy the $30 Phantom Freedom before trying all these new changes.

Screenshot: CD Projekt Red / Kotaku

What reason is there to play Cyberpunk 2077 now?

If for some reason you haven’t played Cyberpunk 2077 yet, knowing that a revised version of the game is just a few months away should be reason enough to give you pause before buying it now. But as someone who watched the game go from an absolute disaster to a mostly mundane RPG with a real heart beneath the rot has been fascinating. That’s what makes changes like the ones that Phantom Liberty promises to be interesting to watch, because I have the context of what 2077 once was to look back and distinguish how things changed and didn’t. have not changed. Truly, the story of Cyberpunk 2077 as a gem that needed polishing was one of the most gripping things about it. Wondering whether or not there’s merit to the story the internet loves to tell is as entertaining an experience as playing the game can be when it gets it right.

But if that’s not how you engage in video games, I see no reason to play Cyberpunk 2077 right now, when many of its fundamentals are going to be significantly changed in just a few months. If you’ve been waiting nearly three years to jump into Night City, an extra three months won’t hurt. If Phantom Liberty delivers on its promise of a revitalized game, ignorance of what it once was may be its own bliss. But while the video game industry continues to release games that look fundamentally different years later, Cyberpunk 2077 as a product is as compelling a tale as anything Night City offers.

But if you decide not to take that advice and jump into Cyberpunk 2077 anyway, be sure to check out Kotaku’s guides at quests to watchhow find love in night cityAnd general tips from someone who has played the game more than once.