It’s most of the time nowadays {that a} sport launched in an underwhelming state is left deserted in a pool of its personal minor updates. From time to time, although, we now have a redemption arc like that belonging to 2020’s Cyberpunk 2077.
Initially launched in a state that was barely practical and riddled with extra bugs than an anteater’s digestive tract, it’s secure to say that CD Projekt Crimson has not solely redeemed its popularity, however the sport is now celebrated as one of many strongest RPGs of the last decade.
One way or the other, this goliath of neon violence is now on Nintendo Change 2 as Cyberpunk 2077: Final Version, however how does a handheld cope with this phoenix-like, vindicated online game?
Nicely, firstly, this launch comes with some swanky new controls. Essentially the most instantly spectacular is gyro aiming, not a revolutionary thought by any stretch in 2025, however a vastly welcome addition that may actually assist with tremendous changes throughout gunplay. CDPR have additionally added a swathe of various choices on how it may be carried out, adjusting sensitivity, when gyro turns into enabled (for instance, solely whenever you’re aiming down sights), and even how a lot your actions are dampened to keep away from twitchy nonsense.
Mouse controls are additionally an possibility, however they don’t really feel fairly as pure and well-realised. The sport’s body charge (extra on that to come back) limits responsiveness, however this might simply be a limitation of my very own expertise with mouse controls at decrease body charges; I’m sure there’s somebody on the market who will surprise how they ever lived with out it, and extra energy to whoever you might be. Frankly, I might at all times relatively have an possibility accessible and never use it, than not have it in any respect.
I did discover some inconsistencies with some actions, although, most notably reloading. For some motive hitting the ‘Y’ button simply didn’t at all times provoke a reload, to the purpose that I examined the Pleasure-Con 2 within the system settings to ensure it wasn’t defective, but it surely appears to be solely particular to this management methodology. Hopefully that is nothing greater than an oversight that may be patched sooner or later.
Final on the brand new management strategies is ‘Movement Patterns’, a way that makes use of movement controls not only for aiming, however gestures for reloading, utilizing well being gadgets, and extra apart from. It’s locked behind the T-Bug tutorial from the beginning of the sport, and for good motive. I can solely think about some hapless sod turning it on by mistake and questioning why they’re utilizing up their well being gadgets each time they scratch their nostril. It’s solely accessible when utilizing two Pleasure-Con 2 with out a grip, Wii Distant and Nunchuk-style, and a enjoyable little distraction for some time, however regardless of its good reliability and responsiveness, it’s not one thing I felt any need to allow exterior of testing.
However onto the sport itself. You play as V, and very like most RPGs with a customized character creator, V might be something you need — male, feminine, younger, outdated (ish) — it’s solely your name, and the residents of Evening Metropolis couldn’t care much less about any of it. They’ve received their very own issues.
V is, nevertheless, a prison to a point, identical to virtually everybody else within the metropolis. Regulation and order exists formally, however gangs roam the streets, taking hostages and murdering civilians with out blinking in the event that they suppose it’ll bag them some Eurodollars, or ‘eddies’.
One of many first stuff you’ll discover upon getting into Evening Metropolis is simply how detailed and narratively well-built this fictitious world is; Evening Metropolis feels prefer it may truly be a real-life place in some ways; with its mix of ramshackle streets and ultra-wealthy districts, it is shockingly plausible. Tradition, vogue, know-how, language, all of it seems like taking a look at a warped reflection of our personal world, frighteningly well-realised, and terrifyingly bleak in so some ways. But that’s the enjoyment of the world of Cyberpunk 2077 – you possibly can see a lot of the actual world inside its fantasy setting, solely with extra swearing. Much more swearing.
Suffice it to say, Evening Metropolis, and Cyberpunk 2077 as a complete, could be very a lot an grownup expertise. A part of that’s the sexual imagery plastered in every single place, the violence, the really vile language, however greater than that, it’s the characters, the dialogue, and the raging rapids of feelings you’re pressured to deal with.
You see, V isn’t alone. Lodged of their synapses in addition they have the persona of a long-dead terrorist and rockerboy Johnny Silverhand, breathtakingly realised by Keanu Reeves. Silverhand is slowly taking on V’s thoughts and physique, however even he’s not solely joyful about it. The journey these two are pressured to share is considered one of betrayal, dying, unimaginable selections, and a hell of much more apart from. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Cyberpunk 2077’s story is likely to be among the finest you’re prone to come throughout.
What’s extra spectacular is the way it presents itself. Identical to CD Projekt Crimson’s earlier efforts in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the road between major story mission and facet mission is furiously blurred. You may settle for a mission that sounds fundamental and virtually one-dimensional at first, solely to be thrust into a completely totally different thread of Evening Metropolis’s ever-changing story. A easy spark of jealousy from a consumer fearing their relationship isn’t as secure as they’d thought can spiral uncontrolled right into a multi-mission omnibus that asks you to outline how far somebody must go earlier than they may now not be thought of human. A lighthearted romp for all of the household.
I discovered myself second-guessing what missions had been deemed ‘fundamental story’ for some time, as a result of the facet missions get simply as a lot care and a focus poured into them. Chances are high you gained’t even see all of them in your first time by both, as seemingly minor selections you make at varied factors can have a noticeable influence on what characters and missions can be found to you as you progress.
You’ll almost definitely not even realise, although. Hell, I’ve most likely missed some huge missions I’d have beloved due to some seemingly innocuous dialogue possibility. It offers the sport this nice sense of replayability, heightened additional by its different mechanics.
You’ll be doing a good bit of combating in Evening Metropolis and its outskirts, and it’s essential determine how you intend to go about staying alive. You may concentrate on melee weapons, gunplay, or ‘netrunning’, which is arguably the sport’s magic system. However because the outdated saying goes, the proof of the meat is within the element, and Cyberpunk 2077 supplies an terrible lot of variance inside these three classes.
Melee weapons vary from hammers, to hinged blades that burst out of your forearms, to a glowing wire that, once more, comes out of your arms in some way. Weapons might be highly effective sufficient to shoot by sure partitions, charged for additional wallop, or intelligent sufficient to fireside their bullets round corners and immediately into your sufferer’s cranium. Netrunning allows hacking into close by techniques on the fly, letting you explode (presumably sensible) gas canisters, and even ship a pc virus into your enemies inflicting a visceral sickness that spreads between another nasty person who is likely to be standing too shut.
That is solely scratching the floor of the flexibleness accessible to you, and this goes even additional with cyberware. As you may anticipate, cyberware is a load of cybernetics you put on. Nicely, not a lot put on as have implanted into your nervous system, legs, mind, the entire megillah. You may have these implanted at varied areas by licensed ripperdocs, which means you possibly can’t change them your self whenever you’re wandering round a nightclub or mooching round your flat. In all probability for the very best.
Each piece of cyberware comes with bonuses, some easy, like a quicker charge of therapeutic, and a few that offer you solely new talents, resembling having the ability to soar ten metres into the air. You even have a ability tree to handle, which is fortunately pretty easy in isolation, and lets you rework your unlocks everytime you like.
The customisation on supply in Cyberpunk 2077 is astonishingly broad, rewarding, and fantastically realised, however we’d be mendacity if we mentioned it wasn’t maybe slightly overwhelming, even after tens of hours of play. It’s unavoidable, actually; supply a magnitude of potentialities and also you’re inevitably going to go away gamers considerably paralysed by alternative. My recommendation? Simply dive in, don’t suppose an excessive amount of about it. You may at all times make some extra eddies if you wish to change issues later. Or simply go together with your selections and save the opposite stuff for a subsequent playthrough.
Fortunately, the processes for these parts are comparatively easy. Crafting, for instance, is all managed utilizing generic ‘elements’ of assorted ranks, which you’ll find in containers everywhere. It makes the swathes of choices accessible to you far more attainable, and makes experimentation one thing that’s enjoyable to fiddle round with, relatively than an train in frustration.
The sport additionally locations a level of concentrate on stealth, a sentence which may fill you with dread, however fortunately Cyberpunk manages to execute its stealth in a satisfying method. Sure, enemies are a bit unobservant, however they should be to make sneaking round even remotely enjoyable, and the assorted netrunning abilities you could have at your disposal to map out the world, distract foes, and even make a swift restoration when noticed — do you have to act rapidly sufficient in fact — makes stealth virtually a spotlight of the fight in some ways.
It’s deeply rewarding to infiltrate a constructing, take out guards, ship them working within the incorrect path, or lure them in the direction of an explosive container and… nicely, you possibly can think about. It makes you’re feeling genuinely highly effective and sneaky, however get too massive in your boots and also you will be noticed. It’s an amazing stability, and you may virtually at all times ignore it and run in with a katana regardless, do you have to want, simply be ready to cope with an terrible lot of indignant firepower.
Stealth takes an much more necessary function within the included DLC Phantom Liberty, a considerable additional slice of Evening Metropolis goodness that’s ingrained so effortlessly into the bottom sport (and included on this Change 2 launch), you’d be forgiven for not noticing the place one ends and one other begins.
Versus your prison dealings in the remainder of Evening Metropolis, Phantom Liberty and the brand new space of Dogtown have you ever working round as an agent of the federal government. Don’t fear, you’ll nonetheless be knee-deep in morally questionable actions all through, but it surely’s a pleasant change of tempo and setting in comparison with the bottom sport.
You’ll workforce up with brokers of the New United States of America, and a few of them aren’t even utterly jaded by being chewed up by their nation and spat again out. Good for them. The folks you’re employed with are a few of the finest characters the sport has to supply, not least Reed, performed by the ever-wonderful Idris Elba, and belief me after I say that the bar set by the bottom sport is excessive. Their dialogue, motivations – it’s all so relatable in such an alien and unfamiliar setting, and it had its hooks in me virtually instantly.
Talking of setting, one factor I didn’t totally anticipate my first time enjoying was that Dogtown might be worse than the opposite districts of Evening Metropolis. This was a presumption promptly propelled out the window because the filth-soaked streets opened as much as me. The entire space is run by Kurt Hansen, a person who claims he protects Dogtown and its residents while ruling with an iron fist, and his BARGHEST goons execute residents for sneezing with no allow. It’s a wonderfully grim location for such a grim ‘society’, and I adore it.
So, it’s a significantly meaty sport; how does Nintendo’s new system deal with such a demanding title? In brief, it does an wonderful job. There are two graphical modes: High quality, which targets 30fps and better constancy; and Efficiency, which ekes issues out to an uncommon (for a console) 40fps.
They’re each accessible in handheld it doesn’t matter what, however Efficiency solely works in docked mode you probably have a 120hz TV or monitor, as 40 just isn’t an element of 60. Belief us, we labored it out on a calculator and all the pieces, 40fps on a 60hz display would trigger some wild body time inconsistencies, and would look terrible.
Each modes are a delight, and for probably the most half I caught with High quality as I used to be enjoying docked and don’t have a whizzo 120hz TV. I initially performed with movement blur enabled, however after getting used to it switched off, I can’t ever return. It takes the sting off the low body charge at first, however the sport is considerably crisper and higher trying with out it.
The place issues actually shined, although, was handheld mode; when docked I may overlook I used to be enjoying on a conveyable machine, however holding the sport in my palms trying nearly as good because it does, and at 40fps on the Change 2’s wonderful VRR show, was one thing completely magical, and weird. Couple this with cross-progression and you’ve got the final strategy to play Cyberpunk on the go, even in case you’re not new to the sport.
There are moments when the sport stutters, primarily loading new areas when driving about, and some little hitches in varied areas of Dogtown, however general? The efficiency genuinely delighted me. I did discover a couple of graphical anomalies the place the geometry appeared to go bananas (once more, largely in Dogtown), however they by no means actually impacted my time greater than, ‘Oh, that’s odd, can I make it occur once more?’ Actually, that is the poster little one for what ports can seem like on Change 2.