10 Harsh Realities Of Replaying Cyberpunk 2077

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Since its launch, Cyberpunk 2077 has been significantly improved through numerous updates and major changes, making it worth playing again even if you’ve already experienced it. The release of the Phantom Liberty expansion in 2023 added even more new content and gameplay enhancements, further boosting the game’s quality.

While Cyberpunk 2077 has improved significantly since its launch, repeated playthroughs reveal some lingering flaws in its world and gameplay. The upcoming sequel is a great opportunity to address these issues and further enhance what is already a fantastic open-world game.

10. Cyberpunk 2077’s Life Paths Still Aren’t That Impactful

Considering the Cyberpunk series began as a tabletop game, the Life Path system was designed to give players a richer backstory and more roleplaying options for their character, V. While the Life Paths in Cyberpunk 2077 offer unique starting missions and dialogue choices, they don’t significantly change the main story.

The story in Cyberpunk 2077 starts with some interesting differences depending on your chosen Life Path, but these differences mostly add color to the dialogue without changing the overall story. No matter which Life Path you pick, you’ll end up at the same point. While adding completely different endings for each path would have been a big task considering all the other choices in the game, the way Life Paths work doesn’t quite live up to the initial expectations.

9. V’s Romance Options Are Few And Far Between

Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

The romantic relationships in Cyberpunk 2077 are among the most genuine and touching parts of the game, which makes it frustrating that there aren’t more of them. The base game only includes four potential partners, and your character’s gender limits your choices even further – you can only pursue a relationship with one male or one female companion.

Once you’ve completed a character’s story arc and built a romance with them, there isn’t much left to do. Beyond the occasional text or hangout, there’s limited continued interaction.

8. There Shouldn’t Be Time To Waste On Lengthy Sidequests

The main story of Cyberpunk 2077 focuses heavily on V’s limited time due to Johnny Silverhand’s influence. Because of this, some of the fun side missions can lessen the impact of the story’s urgency and tension.

While the side missions in Cyberpunk 2077 are often really enjoyable, the game still struggles with feeling disjointed. Taking on these optional quests can pull you away from the main story, and this feels even more noticeable because Cyberpunk is meant to be a game where you have a lot of freedom to explore and make your own choices.

7. V Offers Very Little Many Options To Play As A Villain

Despite being set in a dark and corrupt world full of crime, it’s surprisingly difficult to truly play a villain in Cyberpunk 2077. While you can choose to attack people randomly, the game’s stories usually push you towards being a hero in Night City. Even when you make violent choices, they often target those who have it coming.

Although not a major issue on its own, the marketing for Cyberpunk 2077 promised more player freedom than the game actually delivers. Even with substantial updates, this remains a core limitation because the main character, V, has a defined personality and story, meaning players can’t fully create their own experience.

6. Exploring Night City Is Still Relatively Limited

Night City is a beautiful open-world game with detailed environments, but surprisingly, much of it is off-limits to players. Many areas are blocked off or lead to dead ends, which limits the feeling of discovery and doesn’t always reward thorough exploration of its distinctive locations.

Night City looks amazing while you’re driving around, but on a second time through the game, it often feels like a pretty background rather than a truly alive city that invites you to explore and interact with it.

5. The NCPD Is Still One Of Cyberpunk’s Weakest Aspects

Okay, so the NCPD in Cyberpunk 2077 has gotten better with updates, and they’re definitely more of a threat now. But honestly, they still feel off. They don’t really fit with how well everything else in the game plays. Instead of feeling like a real part of Night City, it’s like they just instantly punish you. And the chases? They’re nowhere near as exciting or complex as something like the police pursuits in Grand Theft Auto V. There’s just not enough escalation or strategy to them.

Although individually minor, NCPD Scan Hustles quickly become repetitive and frustrating. These generic missions don’t live up to the potential of being a distinctive feature of Night City, and it’s a shame because they could have been a truly innovative gameplay element in a future Cyberpunk 2077 game.

4. There Isn’t Much Variety Between Enemies In Night City

The recent 2.0 update for Cyberpunk 2077 added a lot of ways to customize your character and playstyle, which really highlights how few different types of enemies the game originally had. While each enemy faction looks and feels unique, their battles often end up feeling quite similar after a while.

Most enemies in the game fall into familiar roles – they’re either close-range fighters, use guns, or specialize in hacking. Because of this, combat can become predictable after a while. However, certain fights, including the updated Adam Smasher boss battle, demonstrate the exciting potential for even more dynamic and challenging combat in Cyberpunk 2077.

3. The Lack Of Flying Vehicles Is A Major Missed Opportunity

Although flying cars weren’t ever a guaranteed feature in Cyberpunk 2077, their presence in the game world makes it disappointing that you can’t own one. Since the game includes missions that showcase flying cars and even let you ride in them, allowing players to own one as a reward for completing the game would have been a great reason to play through it again.

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Although fans have made impressive flying car mods for Cyberpunk 2077, these aren’t as polished or fully integrated into the game as an official feature would be, meaning they lack the same reliability and realistic feel.

2. Night City’s Civilians Don’t Feel As Alive As Other RPGs

Although it’s a minor issue that doesn’t ruin the core gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077, the way NPCs repeat the same actions and don’t really respond to what you do can pull you out of the experience. You might not notice it much when you first start playing, but the longer you spend in Night City, the more you realize it feels populated with people, but not truly alive.

It’s good to see that the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel appears to be learning from past problems, based on a recent development update. While this update suggests the new game might be very large in scope – perhaps too ambitious – it’s still exciting to imagine how immersive the game could be, especially with improved crowd simulations.

1. Many Side Gigs Feel More Like A Chore Than Anything Else

While Cyberpunk 2077 has some fantastic stories and gameplay hidden in its side quests, many of these optional missions are quite repetitive. These ‘gigs’ often lack compelling stories and feel like simple tasks meant only for players who want to complete everything, offering little reason to play them again.

Replaying side jobs in Cyberpunk 2077 loses its appeal quickly, as the extra fights and rewards don’t feel worth it compared to the game’s other, more engaging missions. While these issues aren’t major, they become more noticeable the longer you spend exploring Night City.

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2025-12-20 17:04