Cyberpunk 2077 [split from video games]

[Ran]

Someone did a pretty cool series of tilt-shift shots of CP2077:

 

Also, someone discovered that after the latest patch, you can pick up and wear the MaxTac outfit that Judy has in her apartment (for, ahem,  roleplaying purposes.)  

[Ran]

For those who found the game too easy at certain levels, there's now a mod that rebalances. Lengthy list of changes they've made, most notably removing scaling such that enemies remain much more tougher across all player levels, reducing crit chance significantly because it was too easy to get 100% crit, and doing a number of things to make sneaking harder.

The only problem with using GeForce NOW streaming is that they don't support modding, so can't use this myself. Will have to wait until I get a new system... which'll probably be in 2023 at this rate, given GPU production.

[Ran]

Very interesting. Followed discussion of 1.3, and a couple of the big changes to quickhacks -- specifically legendary ping and contagion -- have helped improve the difficulty for netrunners. Namely, legendary ping no longer allows you to hack people through walls, and contagion does much less damage. You can still use legendary ping to get into a camera network and then use those to spot and hack enemies, but more time-consuming. An interesting-enough change that maybe I'll waver from plans of doing a katana Street Kid and do another stealth netrunner run...

 

Also, for those on next-gen consoles, CDPR is targetting late 2021 for next-gen updates for CP2077 as well as Witcher 3. Per their presentation, about 40% of their entire dev team is working on CP2077's patches and next gen, and another 25% of the dev team is working on the first paid expansion. So 2/3rds on the company is working on Cyberpunk. Wonder if they want to release the first big expansion in conjunction with the next-gen update...

[Ran]

Couple of bits of CP2077 news:

CDPR has 60 open job positions that are being noted as being for the game, mostly animators. So they're moving forward on the paid DLC content.

And, in less happy news, they decided to delay the release of the next-gen updates for CP2077 and also Witcher 3 -- they're now targetting Q1 for Cyberpunk, Q2 for The Witcher 3.

Speaking of Witcher, I see the Epic store has the GotY edition with both DLCs for like $10 bucks. Hmm... wonder if that runs on GeForce Now. Or if one can get he DLC for cheaper, as I already have the base game.

[Werthead]

17 hours ago, Ran said:

Couple of bits of CP2077 news:

CDPR has 60 open job positions that are being noted as being for the game, mostly animators. So they're moving forward on the paid DLC content.

And, in less happy news, they decided to delay the release of the next-gen updates for CP2077 and also Witcher 3 -- they're now targetting Q1 for Cyberpunk, Q2 for The Witcher 3.

Speaking of Witcher, I see the Epic store has the GotY edition with both DLCs for like $10 bucks. Hmm... wonder if that runs on GeForce Now. Or if one can get he DLC for cheaper, as I already have the base game.

The Witcher 3 is well worth it (at whatever cost) if the two DLC are included. Blood and Wine in particular, spectacularly improves the base game, although it makes the most sense to instigate it after completing the main questline.

[Gorn]

I consider both Witcher expansions to be amazing, although I prefer Hearts of Stone due to having two incredibly well-written villains. The characters in Blood and Wine, on the other hand, annoyed me, but it is a feast for the eyes, in which wandering around the map is its own reward.

[Ran]

Decided to get it, and tested out the start. Works just fine to play it through GeForce Now if you have it via the Epic store, all settings maxed, too.

[karaddin]

Finally decided enough time has passed after release that it should be stable enough to pick up and grabbed it when on sale through Steam last week. This game utterly devoured my attention, played it every available minute and was thinking about it outside of those more than I have for any other game in ages.

There's definitely still a lot of rough edges where there was clearly meant to be more content, but if "I want more, where is it" is the dominant complaint then it's a good sign. 

I absolutely want more V and Judy. I know that's not the main focus of the game but I'm really invested grr.

Some very late replies...

On 3/31/2021 at 9:01 AM, Kalsandra said:

To me that was amazing! And there are a lot of moments like this in Cyberpunk. But there aren't a lot of 'this village is gone now because you're a dick'. 

I really enjoyed running into Maelstrom or Scav goons, having them recognise me and then ruining their day. Particularly Patricia when you rescue Nancy being all "I'm not going to have a repeat [of V wiping out a bunch of them + their leader] and so immediately starts another confrontation which did just that. 

For a game with a street cred rating, it did manage to feel like V has really become a notorious Merc in parts. I'd like more of that though.

On 4/2/2021 at 6:33 PM, Ran said:

 On your own terms, but yes. Like I said, it's the only ending where you're proactively trying to solve your expiration date situation. "The Star" felt to me like V was capitulating to making the best of the last few months she had left, 

That might feel like the situation with male V but it was definitely not the vibe I got for female V with Judy. V knows what dying would do to Judy and was emphatic about it being a new start together, that they'd be happy and a strong implication of being confident she'd be around for it.

On 5/4/2021 at 1:56 AM, Werthead said:

I'm still trying to parse this one.

Lmao I'd forgotten that so got another laugh out of it.

On another note I'm with...I think it was Fez? Earlier in the thread saying that Smasher's single line in the Evelyn BD was enough to hate him the rest of the game. I really really hated him. The game was pretty effective at getting me to hate some of the groups as a whole. After the intro mission with Jackie I made it my mission to kill Scavs on sight. When I realised I'd done a non lethal take down on them, I'd then execute them on the ground. Maelstrom ended up the same as well.

Now I join the impatient wait for NG+ and other DLC. Although I might do a focused play through with a completely different build. I only got to 42 despite clearing out all my side quests, gigs etc apart from a few on the map and a bunch of assaults etc. I was mostly just combat focused, although crafting maxed out as well - 20 in technical, 20 in reflexes and 16 in body - absolutely none in intelligence or cool. Main weapons were blades, the widow maker precision rifle and the overwatch sniper rifle. Switched back and forth between mantis blades and a katana, both are fun.

[karaddin]

Still thinking about it after a nights sleep and planning another run but really indecisive on what to build. A netrunner build doesn't feel like it can accommodate crafting, but after playing with high technical skill the first time the idea of losing legendary mods instead of being able to get them back with deconstruction sounds terrible.

@Ran what did you pair with INT on your netrunner build? I'm worried if I go too hard with Int and Tech that will leave me in trouble with being too weak combat wise. I guess there are still a lot of perks that boost up tech and smart weapons in the tree though. Does the minigame for breach protocol get annoying when you're needing to do it for everything? Certainly seems like combat will be slowing than just leaping in with mantis blades lol.

[Falcon2909]

So when are the DLCs coming out

[karaddin]

10 minutes ago, Falcon2909 said:

So when are the DLCs coming out

The freebies or the big paid ones that are mini expansions like the ones in W3? Next year for the former, no info on the latter - but based on the schedule so far I'd say late next year is the most realistic "best" scenario. They're hiring 60 staff at the moment that presumably will be working on that, so can't have fully spun up yet.

I'm hoping they drop NG+ free DLC as a 1 year anniversary surprise.

[Ran]

14 hours ago, karaddin said:

That might feel like the situation with male V but it was definitely not the vibe I got for female V with Judy. V knows what dying would do to Judy and was emphatic about it being a new start together, that they'd be happy and a strong implication of being confident she'd be around for it.

Maybe it's the cynic in me from my first run, but I felt like it was V putting on a brave face for Judy rather than genuinely believing something that unlikely will happen. I guess she would hope that it'll work out... but it just feels crazy to think Panam's "There's someone out there who can help you, I know it" can be trusted. 

Too much time in Night City, I guess.

4 hours ago, karaddin said:

what did you pair with INT on your netrunner build? I'm worried if I go too hard with Int and Tech that will leave me in trouble with being too weak combat wise. I guess there are still a lot of perks that boost up tech and smart weapons in the tree though. Does the minigame for breach protocol get annoying when you're needing to do it for everything? Certainly seems like combat will be slowing than just leaping in with mantis blades lol.

I went stealth, so Cool and Reflexes moreso than Tech. The perks in Cool help with stealthing around a lot, and Reflexes will help with pistols, which will give you synergy with Cool's Cold Blood tree.

[karaddin]

1 minute ago, Ran said:

Maybe it's the cynic in me from my first run, but I felt like it was V putting on a brave face for Judy rather than genuinely believing something that unlikely will happen. I guess she would hope that it'll work out... but it just feels crazy to think Panam's "There's someone out there who can help you, I know it" can be trusted. 

Too much time in Night City, I guess.

I went stealth, so Cool and Reflexes moreso than Tech. The perks in Cool help with stealthing around a lot, and Reflexes will help with pistols, which will give you synergy with Cool's Cold Blood tree.

So you left body quite low? I was assuming that whatever I went with, I need to do at least a moderate commitment into body as well.

On the bolded - one thing that most of the recent games I've played have really hammered home, and by "recent" I mean 5+ years as I really don't play many new games now so its really just down to the LiS games, ME (especially including Andromeda), Witcher 3 and CP2077 which I'm drawing on, is that good modern games which rely heavily on the players emotional investment in the player character and their relationships are hugely individual experiences. There are so many conversations that take place over the length of these games which are coloured by the mindset and interpretation of the player, and those conversations then snowball into your interpretation of subsequent conversations and so on that it can leave you with completely different but legitimate interpretations of what happened. For all I know one of us missed conversations that the other had, or something changed in the patches between when you played and now which contributed to the snowball as well. 

I've never spoken to anyone that had the same emotional experience of LiS1 that I did, despite having seen a whole lot of people who liked it talking about it.

It makes me grateful that I'm getting to see this medium which has been part of my life since I was 3 mature from simplistic, and admittedly frequently very challenging, fun activities through increasing complexity but one that for the most part remained primarily fun and escapism, into what I now consider to be a genuinely unique art form. It took a long time for the industry to really get a handle on the experiences that couldn't be done in TV/movies, or in books, but a number of them are really getting it now. 

[Ran]

@karaddin

100% agreement on that. There's genuine artistry in some of these games and their narratives. Not all of them, but some -- and moreso than ever now, I think. 

As to build, you can definitely go low Body, but don't need to do bare minimum -- I had 14 at the end, and in retrospect could have run just fine with like 10 and put more into reflexes (which ended up at 12, missing a couple of useful pistol-related perks that were locked to level 14 and level 16 IIRC). Int was 20, Tech was 9 and was basically a waste and could also have been a bit lower as well as I barely crafted. Cool ended up at 16, which is basically all you need for most of the best perks if you're a stealthy netrunner who sometimes uses a silenced pistol. 

Things will definitely go slower to start with, but once you're leveled and geared you can just melt enemies. Although... they did make some tweaks to things in the latest patches, reducing the effectiveness of Contagion (which was genuinely OP). and some other things.

[Kalnak the Magnificent]

Heh. I went the stealth hacker route - int, eng and I forget what else. Used tech weapons + ping to shoot all enemies through walls without ever being seen. I might have had some body or reflexes but they were pretty low. 

It did make it hard to do the secret ending challenge but most everything else was easy. 

[karaddin]

@Ran @Kalsandra so after a couple of shorter nights I've had a bit of time on the netrunner and wasn't finding it as strong as I expected from what you'd both said. Part of it was needing higher SC to get a better cyberdeck as the common and uncommon ones are pretty garbage, but I was also doing a lot of the side content while in Act 1, I just beelined the main quest until Act 2 on my first play through.

I was starting to get annoyed at how little i was able to quick hack from stealth without getting my position revealed and after some googling it looks like it's been substantially nerfed in 1.3 which explains the difference. I know the legendary hacks had their power reduced as well, but I'm still a long way from those. I'm still doing fine, the highest difficulty would possibly be a different story, but getting immediately revealed made me feel like I was doing something wrong so confirmation was good.

[Ran]

7 hours ago, karaddin said:

I was starting to get annoyed at how little i was able to quick hack from stealth without getting my position revealed and after some googling it looks like it's been substantially nerfed in 1.3 which explains the difference. I know the legendary hacks had their power reduced as well, but I'm still a long way from those. I'm still doing fine, the highest difficulty would possibly be a different story, but getting immediately revealed made me feel like I was doing something wrong so confirmation was good.

Oh, yes, I forgot about that. Yeah, that makes a massive difference, especially in the early game. You probably found this Reddit thread already, but if not, there's some useful discussion as people figure out the parameters of it. A quick rundown:

All the covert quickhacks are safe. So you can definitely stealth just with that (in my early run I was using Whistle a lot anyways to reposition guards as I snuck around.)

The Legendary Sonic Shock quickhack's passive will prevent any hack you do of any kind from causing the position revealed thing (because it cuts off communication between your target and their network, hence not alerting it that something is happening),

If you either kill your target or otherwise have no active hacks on them when the position revealed bar fills you'll still not be revealed. I guess the idea is that the network examines the hack you have on them to find where you are.

 

[IlyaP]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:24 AM, karaddin said:

I absolutely want more V and Judy. I know that's not the main focus of the game but I'm really invested grr.

I love the V and Judy story. Especially when she takes them to her hometown. The music, the design, all of it, just...::chef's kiss::

[IlyaP]

Having spent over 117 hours and having done every major quest, I'm...gonna have to spend some time going through and responding to things.

Mods: please note, if you see multiple posts in a row from me, it's only because I *really* don't know how to quote multiple posts in one post. *CAN* I do that? 

[karaddin]

2 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

Having spent over 117 hours and having done every major quest, I'm...gonna have to spend some time going through and responding to things.

Mods: please note, if you see multiple posts in a row from me, it's only because I *really* don't know how to quote multiple posts in one post. *CAN* I do that? 

I'm not a mod, nor do I have any issue with you mutli posting, but to multi quote you press the "+" button right next to "Quote" in the bottom left corner. You can add as many to the multiquote buffer as you like (or at least as many as I've ever tried) and then you should have a button to insert them all that becomes visible down in the bottom right corner "Quote x posts"