Cyberpunking it Up

I've spent some time checking out the 2.0 update for Cyberpunk 2077 and I've mostly liked what I see.  The "Phantom Liberty" DLC currently has "very positive" reviews, so now is a good time to revisit or expand your Cyberpunk experience.  Here are my impressions thus far (**for reference, that's not very far.  I've complete the heist mission and haven't touched the main story missions yet.  I've mostly been tooling around in the open world completing scanner jobs and cyberpsychos)

Like

1.) The new talent system does offer up some unique abilities (and I've barely dipped my toes into it).  I've gone for a stealth/reflex build and I've gained the ability to "dash"--a sort of high speed dodge that consumes stamina.  That doesn't seem very exciting, but it's handy for buzzing away from a melee enemy who might creep up on you unnoticed or quickly getting into cover.  I am missing the stealth abilities that offered up increased movement speed upon incapacitating an enemy.  The stealth abilities seem a bit meh (although there's a whole strand that seems to be built around throwing knives.  Throwing knives were almost totally useless in the OG game because you had to fetch them out of the bodies of enemies before you could toss more.  Maybe they're worth checking out now?)

2.) No more 5 bajillion obnoxious phone calls and messages!  Car sales have been streamlined into a website, so you won't have every fixer in Night City calling to drop the details about a new vehicle for sale.  I have yet to check out the vehicle sales website, but this is a change that I'm enjoying.

Tyger Claws V...rawr!

3.) The new wardrobe feature is amazing.  Every item of clothing you loot is automatically added, so you can sell it all and still use the appearance of the items.  It's very nice not to have to hoard a bunch of clothing in the stash so that I could play dress up with V.

4.) Every ripperdoc now sells all cyberware items.  There's no longer a need to search up which doc carries which upgrade and spend a bunch of time fast traveling all over Night City.

Dislike/Mixed Feelings

1.) Hoping to go non-lethal?  It's not much of an option anymore.  There are no more weapon mods to turn damage to non-lethal.  Overall, that's not a big deal--it's not like there's really any difference in the story/game if you opt for a lethal or non-lethal playstyle.  The place where it sucks the most though is in cyberpsycho fights.  The whole goal is to keep them alive, which in the past was simply an issue of popping on a pax mod and firing away.  Now, you have to burn them down to a low health percentage and either use the short circuit hack (which requires a lot of RAM at lower levels) or find a non-lethal melee weapon to stun them with--or I should say, sometimes stuns them and sometimes kills them.

I've struggled the most with the cyberpsycho fights this time around.  It may be that I raised the difficulty or that my stealth heavy build just isn't good for straight up fights, but the fights do seem harder now.  Cyberpsycho's 2.0 have new tactics which include freely chucking grenades at you--something that they didn't do before.  Several times I manage to whittle them down to 2-3% and then accidentally kill them by whacking them with an electric baton.  Don't be surprised if you find these fights to be more challenging (that's not necessarily a bad thing, they should be tough fights--after all, they are supposed to be chromed out psychos).

I haven't found Skippy yet, but it might be the best option for keeping things non-lethal.

2.) Vehicle combat.  I have not directly engaged in it myself, but I have been blithely standing on the street and had rival gangs go speeding past while shooting at each other.  It does give Night City more of a chaotic feel, but seems like a fairly lackluster addition.

3.) New and improved cops.  So far my experiences with the Night City cops 2.0 have been just as unimpressive as they were in the original game.  I've accidentally mowed down a few pedestrians and had the cops take notice, but avoiding attention is still basically a matter of quickly leaving the area and evading them.  I get the feeling that unless you're directly taking aim at them, there's just not much of a difference from before.  I have noticed that there are now more cops just roving about the streets, so there is an increased chance that you'll grab unwanted attention.

3.) I'm still trying to figure out the item upgrade system.  It's slightly different than before and it seems to have really detracted from upgrading iconic weapons (possibly...it's a bit hard to tell this early).  The cost of upgrading seems high compared to looting a higher tier weapon.  Upgrading quickhacks is still a bit boggling--it doesn't appear that there is a way to get more components other than 1.) doing the little cracking puzzles from jacking into certain interfaces or 2.) disassembling old or unneeded quickhacks.  I suppose you could buy components--that might be the best route.  You cannot craft quickhack components (maybe it's an intelligence related talent that I haven't come across yet?).

ADDITION (10/1/23):  I'm fairly certain that some obnoxious bugs are still present in 2.0--namely those involving iconic weapon blueprints.  I've completed two jobs (and killed/disabled the leaders who should've dropped the weapons) which should have dropped the blueprints for Psalms 11:5 and Buzzsaw...but got nada.  Of course I didn't notice until it was too late, so there's no possibility of re-loading a past save to remedy the problem.  I seriously thought they fixed this bug a few patches ago.

I'm hoping that the perks get more robust as I get into the upper tiers.  Build-wise, I'm having some regrets over not going with a melee build.  One of my favorite playthroughs was with a katana based melee build (which I thought would be ridiculous but actually turned out to be a lot of fun).  If you're checking out the 2.0 changes too, I hope you're having a dandy time.

Cyberpunk 2.0 is here!

There is only 1 day until Phantom Liberty releases for Cyberpunk 2077 and luckily for us we have a good reason to boot it back up prior to release day--namely the huge slate of promised changes in the 2.0 update.  I've decided to join in on the action and spent a stupid amount of time creating my current V (who will undoubtedly share traits with my other V's--I'm bad at doing something new).  I've barely dipped my toes into the Night City waters, but I'm already excited about what I'm seeing.

My V 2.0

The new talent system is exciting!  Opening up the talent menu and seeing all the options is a big change.  I'm sliding back into old habits with my build--a fun combo of stealthy with a side of shooty for when things get hairy.  Since I've barely started I haven't been able to invest many points, but I've already taken an ability that gives V more mitigation when crouched and an lurking around the talents that increase crouched movement speed.  The initial tier of perks includes some oddballs--one talent gives the ability to basically exit cars with some level of flair.  I'm intrigued, but it sounds kind of silly.  There are also many base tier perks built around vehicle combat (you can add weapons to your vehicle now), but I have this gut feeling that those will be pretty useless (I honestly cannot see vehicle combat as being a big part of the game).

One of the most exciting changes (at least for me) is the addition of the wardrobe function in V's apartment.  Any clothing you loot (or buy) gets saved to the wardrobe and the appearance can be used even if you sell the item.  You can save multiple outfits for V and I can't wait to put together some absolute bangers.

I was also a bit shocked by the cyberware menu when I swung by Vik's clinic for one of the early missions.  Things have gotten much more complicated in that realm with limits to the amount of cyberware that V can equip (you can spend points on talents that increase it) and a new display tied to the amount of armor provided by specific items.  There's definitely more to pay attention to, but I like the attention to detail.

This time around I decided to take a stab at the "very hard" difficulty.  We'll see how it goes, but so far I've definitely noticed that enemies will detect you must faster if you're not cautious with your stealth.  Like the description warns...I'm going to need to rely on all the tricks to make it work.

As to my concerns about having the game on my HDD, it turns out that it's very easy to create a new Steam folder on a SSD and move games there.  All you have to do is go into your Steam settings; go to "storage" and click on the + to make a new Steam folder on your SSD.  Then it's simply a matter of moving your files over from one drive to the other--this took between 5-10 minutes for me (Cyberpunk is pretty big), but worked like a charm.  Have I noticed a drastic difference in load times?  Nope, not at all!  I'm just glad that it's working and that I can continue to play.

I'm looking forward to checking out more of the changes in the 2.0 update and petting some more cats (I already pet the one by Vik's clinic).  Happy gaming!

Cyberpunk Hype

I'm still blithely plugging along with my Mass Effect: Andromeda playthrough, but as the release date for Cyberpunk 2077's first (and apparently only) DLC creeps closer I've been seeing more Phantom Liberty news.  I've been feeling a hankering for a re-play of Cyberpunk but it's looking like it's better to wait for a little while.  There has been some good news--especially if you're like me and not intending to pounce on Phantom Liberty immediately (it releases on September 26th).

According to this PC Gamer article, the 2.0 update to the core game will make a new playthrough completely worthwhile.  The highlights for me--a total rework of the talent system!  Let's be real, the talent system was pretty blah--it's hard to get excited for abilities that are like "increase x ability by 3%," but the new system sounds like it adds in some legitimate skills to make V feel like a cyberware sporting badass.

This is an outfit with the best stats that my V sported for awhile.
Would you be scared of this person?

Other highlights include the fact that armor is no longer tied to clothing and instead is part of cyberware stats.  Personally, this is a change I'm stoked for.  All too often my V wound up looking like a goober because the gear with the best stats (which were mostly tied to armor) wasn't the best looking.  Although it's purely cosmetic, it'll be nice to let V look cool.  Also, they added in the ability to pet cats!  Definite plus there.

The 2.0 update is scheduled to release on September 21st, so it's not long until we'll get to see all these changes in action.  One thing I'm a little bit worried about is the fact that they've said that they're dropping HDD support.  My PC is getting a little bit long in the tooth and when I built it (almost 5 years ago), I decided to go with a larger, cheaper HDD as my game storage drive, and that's starting to look like it might be a problem.  Starfield released with a SSD requirement and the HDD is going the way of the dodo.  SSD's are now much cheaper than they were 5 years ago, so adding another wouldn't be too much of a budget crunch.  Another worry is the fact that they bumped the specs up a bit for Phantom Liberty (but in the core game too).  My PC still falls the range of requirements, but it's more toward the minimum side now.  We'll see how it goes.

If you haven't seen it, a new cinematic trailer for Phantom Liberty dropped a couple of days ago.  It's pretty intense and definitely makes me curious about the story and characters.  Take a gander if you haven't already:

I'm looking forward to checking out all the 2.0 changes to the core game.  I'm probably going to sit on Phantom Liberty for awhile and see how it shapes up (and if it'll actually work with my HDD).  Happy gaming!

The Red Headed Step-Child of the Mass Effect Universe

Usually I opt to re-play one of my favorite series during the summer months when I have lots of time.  This summer I decided that it has been awhile since I had delved back into one of my favorite series, Mass Effect.  In general, I'm content to play through the three core ME games (which are now nicely bundled together in the Legendary Edition).  This time around, I decided to revisit Mass Effect: Andromeda, the newest, but most reviled game in the series.

I'm part of a very awesome Facebook group of Mass Effect fans (you can find it here--it's very well moderated and one of the least toxic fandom groups you will find) and a question that gets regularly asked is by new players who want to know if Andromeda is worth playing.  In general, the feedback is fairly divisive.  I'm here to say yes, it's worth playing, but just know that it's not the same experience as the core trilogy.  They definitely made an effort with Andromeda to incorporate more open world gameplay and less of the dialogue heavy interactions with squadmates. 

The Andromeda squad.

Part of me has always thought that Andromeda gets a bit of a bad rap.  So many people act like it is an absolutely abysmal game and it's not (although, it's definitely not of the same caliber as the core trilogy).  There are some things that it does pretty well--the combat is some of the best in the series and is challenging at the upper difficulty levels.  It's not perfect, I do wish they had left the ability to give commands to your squadmates (...and that they didn't feel so utterly useless), but it's definitely fun.  The squadmate banter is also highly entertaining and helps to make those long stretches of exploration a bit more fun.  The planets you visit in Andromeda are quite stunning too and piloting the Nomad definitely beats the Mako.

As I've been playing back through it, I've also remembered the things that make it less enjoyable.  The open world format is...mostly okay.  I dislike the fact that they sprinkled lots of interesting Kett outposts, crash sites, and smaller Remnant sites but gave players basically no impetus to stop and interact with those sites (yes, there are the random "task" missions that ask you to find certain objects, but those are some of the most annoying in the game).  In previous playthroughs I've had very few bug/glitch issues, but this time around is my time, I guess.  I've found my Ryder falling through planets just as I have landed on multiple occasions; I've had my Ryder fall through a set of stairs and get stuck...and then found that it had autosaved under the stairs (luckily I had another recent save to re-load).  I absolutely hate the way that Kadara Port is divided up into two separate zones the require you to load into them (and that the doors there are frustratingly slow to open--why do they need so many stupid doors anyway?) The story feels a bit underwhelming too--it's a bit of a re-hash of the Mass Effect story but with different evil aliens with semi-understandable motives.

If you're looking to check out Andromeda the "deluxe" edition can be purchased on Steam for $39.99.  That price seems a bit crazy to me, but you can also subscribe to EA Play for $4.99 a month and check it out.  I've seen it on sale for very cheap, so that is probably the best time to purchase.

Starfield Madness has Officially Begun!

Before you ask...no, I'm not currently playing Bethesda's shiny new space-RPG Starfield.  I am, however, engaging in a sort of voyeuristic enjoyment of reading reviews and social media hubbub.  The hype train for Starfield has been running at full steam for quite awhile now and it's nice to finally see some actual impressions from players.

Firstly though, just let me say that I think the whole "premium edition" offering that lets people play a few days prior to release feels a little bonkers to me.  People are paying $99.99 to play 5 days earlier?  (I mean, sure, you do get the soundtrack, a digital artbook, and some sort of "story expansion" too)  Kudos to the corps for figuring out a way to get people to pay extra for basically nothing.  I suppose you do get the pleasure/bragging rights of doing something before most people, but I think I'd just save that $30 and wait (that's like half the price of another big name game!).  I also gotta kudos them for dropping the premium access before a holiday weekend in the U.S. Plenty of time to enjoy that extra $30 worth of game that you paid for.

If you haven't seen or read any reviews yet, the good news is that they're mostly positive.  The metacritic score is currently sitting at 88, which isn't Baldur's Gate 3 level of greatness, but it's not bad (and yes, you do sort of have to take metacritic scores with a grain of salt).  Games that are 80+ generally pique my interest, so that's encouraging.  The only full length review I read was from PC Gamer and they gave it a score much lower than the 88--a 75.  Some of the things that I was skeptical about are mentioned in the PC Gamer review.  Those 1,000 planets...yeah, it seems like they're a pretty mixed bag.  The reviewer mentions finding a few unique ones, but that most of them have a copy-past exploration type of format that involves running, finding a thing, and then leaving.  Another review I saw mentioned the fact that the story is pretty forgettable--which, quite honestly, squares with my experiences in Skyrim and the Fallout series.  To me, Bethesda's games are more about interacting with the world and experiencing all the weirdness that comes with that rather than a deeply engrossing and focused story.  It sounds like Starfield follows that formula but does have some improvements to gameplay.

I'm not going to be running out and buying Starfield any time soon, but it does sound like something I'd be interested in at a future date.  Maybe when it starts going on sale.  I'm glad that people are saying mostly positive things about it even if it doesn't sound like the next gaming masterpiece.

Happy gaming and Labor Day weekend!