Riding off Into the Sunset--My CyberPunk 2.0 Adventure Comes to an End

Phew!  After a lengthy playthrough of the newest (2.0--which is now 2.02 thanks to a couple of small patches) iteration of CyberPunk 2077 I'm ready to move onto my next adventure.  So...is 2.0 all that CD Projekt said that it would be?  Sort of...that's my verdict.

What's good:

+ The new and improved talents seem to offer up more variety when it comes to builds.  I opted (and then regretted) for my stereotypical stealthy talents with some shooting and hacking mixed in.  There's an interesting new avenue in the "cool" talent that is built around throwing knives which I wish I had given a chance (I found throwing knives to be completely pointless in the OG game--basically you can equip one knife and have to fetch it after you throw it.  I didn't like this at all--even if it does make some sort of logical sense).  Overall though, I didn't think the talents felt too different (there are definitely a few that offer up some unique abilities), but have been improved.

+ I love the new wardrobe function!  I'm not 100% sure it was something added strictly in 2.0, but as someone who does like to play around with clothing, it's fabulous.  Every article of clothing you loot is automatically added to V's closet (you can sell it all and still use it).  You can save up to 6 different outfits that can be swapped out at any time.

+ All rippers sell all items--there's no need to search up which ripper offers up which specific high level pieces of cyberware.  In some ways this sort of detracts from the uniqueness of each ripperdoc--instead of interacting with more than one person, I found myself returning to good ol' Viktor.  I guess the loss of some lore-related interactions is worth the convenience.

+ There is lots of new cyberware and being able to utilize it is pretty easy.  Opting for a stealthy build, I found the optical camo to be particularly nice for navigating tricky situations.  There's a stealth talent that allows you to sprint while crouching and will automatically engage your optical camo system.  There's definitely much more room to shape your cyberware around your build.

+ Iconic weapons have new, special abilities.  I enjoyed using Jackie's pistol for its crit chance increase based on headshots and chance to randomly ignite enemies.  Picking out a favorite is a lot more fun than in the past.

+ There's some new dialogue with friends & associates.  I had several new text exchanges with Judy and Panam--one of the best was with Judy's grandmother who is very curious about V's relationship with her granddaughter.  It's fun and adds a new layer of depth to some of the key relationships in the game.

+ Making money is much easier than in the base game.  I didn't try to purchase all the vehicles for the one achievement, but it seems like it's more doable than in the past.

The stereotypical Us Cracks selfie.

What's lackluster:

- The 2.0 release video really tried to upsell a couple of "improved" features that turned out to be a lot of nothing.  The first major feature is vehicle combat.  I didn't encounter a single mission or situation that required me to engage in vehicular combat.  The addition of a few new, cool weaponized vehicles is fun, but I expected to be frequently engaging in full out gun battles.  Maybe it's more of a part of "Phantom Liberty," which I haven't played.

The other major "improvement" was supposedly to the way the police function--the video hinted that the cops would be much more of a factor in V's activities in Night City.  If you're hoping for the pulse pounding escapes from a police chase ala Grand Theft Auto--well, keep holding your breath for GTA 6 because this ain't it.  Basically, it seems like they added in more police, so there's a much higher chance of engaging with them (meaning running them over due to out of control driving).  Even if you do make direct contact with the po-po, the most you'll face is a need to quickly exit the area to avoid any other police in the area.  I never saw my wanted level rise above 2 stars and found it extremely easy to evade their notice.  You'd pretty much have to launch an all out assault on the police to enjoy 5 star chaos.

- Some bugs STILL have persisted.  I'm talking mainly about the bugs that impact drops of iconic weapon crafting plans.  I missed out on 2 sets of plans because they simply didn't drop.  I also opted for the nomad ending and noticed that my V was buck nekkid (again) when Saul decides to gift her with the Aldecaldos jacket.  Le sigh...they just can't get a handle of these things.  I was also getting weird crashes like every time I exited out of the game (I was given a prompt to send a bug report, but I had already quit, so it didn't impact the actual game--annoying mostly, but 2.02 seems to have fixed it).

Overall, there have been many nice, quality of life improvements to CyberPunk and it's definitely gotten better.  I think they oversold some of the 2.0 changes, but if it has been awhile since you stepped into V's shoes, you'll definitely notice the differences.  I'm going to wait awhile to purchase "Phantom Liberty" and might wait till it starts going on sale (hopefully the holiday sale)--its reviews have been positive and players are saying it's good.