Oh, Cyberpunk 2077, we all wanted so much more from you. 

CD Projekt Red, the developer behind The Witcher 3, worked on Cyberpunk 2077 for about eight years, only to have it massively blow. Fans (myself included) should have been more suspicious when CD Projekt Red got caught placing transphobic ads in the world of the game, then refused to apologize for it. I, like a lot of people, disapprove of the transphobia, but wondered if it was some mix-up in translation. After all, CD Projekt Red is a Polish company. Maybe they just didn’t understand the implications of the advertisement?

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Cyberpunk 2077 does wrong by transgendered people, and while I don’t personally feel qualified to speak on behalf of trans community, I do feel like enough of an expert to explain all the other ways the game sucks. While the transphobic issues of the game should be the number one issue why you might choose to pass on this game, let me introduce you to five other reasons Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t live up to the hype. 

1) It’s not what players were promised. 

CD Projekt Red made big promises to fans, but ultimately broke them. The game was supposed to be huge, supposed to include RPG elements that nod to the tabletop game, was supposed to, you know, work. None of these promises panned out, and that ultimately led to the downfall of the game. The video game community only has so much goodwill for developers, and while CDPR built up a lot of trust through The Witcher 3, gamers aren’t willing to be patient and just accept a buggy, messed up, underwhelming game. 

While I could write extensively on why I don’t enjoy The Witcher 3, I think that a few of its strengths could have helped Cyberpunk 2077. Where The Witcher 3 has an immersive world of characters, a rich plot, and an undeniable sexiness, Cyberpunk feels like it’s mashed down, concentrated into a lesser version of what it could have been. 

2) It’s boring.

Yeah, I said it. I think this game is boring. Part of why it’s so dull has to do with the main questline of the game, which focuses on protagonist V’s increasing connection to Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves. V doesn’t want the connection, and feels like they’re losing themselves, but V continues on anyway, trying to find a way to reconcile with the old rocker voice in their head. 

On its surface, this sounds pretty interesting to me. I’ve long noticed that I have a tendency to love stories about technology and robots, and especially how those things intersect with humanity and psychology. However, Johnny Silverhand is annoying, constantly butting in to offer his two cents on every scenario. I like Keanu Reeves, and I don’t think Silverhand is a bad character within the Cyberpunk canon, but Silverhand seems flat. Sure, he’s gritty and rough around the edges, but in a sad way. In the way of someone who just can’t let their causes go.

3) It’s glitchy, and often not in a funny way.

Yes, I have written publicly about the silly glitches in Cyberpunk 2077, and I surely have spent a lot of time laughing about them. That doesn’t mean they make players’ experience with the game fun, and it doesn’t mean that they should be overlooked because they’re funny. When I played the game on my PS4, I spent a lot of valuable time rebooting my system because the game decided to crash unexpectedly, often in the middle of a mission. Once, a mission couldn’t progress because V was trapped in a car with an NPC who stared straight ahead, lifeless. At first, I laughed, but then I started to wonder, isn’t this breaking my suspension of disbelief? Is it fun to have to restart your console because the game doesn’t work properly? It seems like a small ask to have a game that you paid $60 for work. 

When a game doesn’t function as promised––not in a gameplay way or style way, but in a basic mechanics way––shouldn’t players feel angry? Sony heard the outcry from angry fans and began processing refunds immediately. They also ended up pulling Cyberpunk 2077 from their online storefront, though they’re still allowing the sale of physical copies. Also, before anyone suggests it, the issue of functionality isn’t just a PS4 problem. PS5 players are having the same old issues that disrupt immersion and necessitate a system reboot. 

4) There’s a lack of character development.

Cyberpunk 2077 has, as one article from Polygon put it, put all their chips in one gross basket: exclusively catering to an edgelord audience that likely worships Elon Musk. It’s not a good look, and it’s not cute. The game feels tailor made to a specific demographic that cares more about looks than substance. Yes, the character design in the game (for the most part) is very cool. I love Judy’s turquoise hair, the prosthetics that seamlessly blend in to different characters’ style, but there are many aspects of Cyberpunk 2077 that lack development. While characters might look cool, they don’t have expressive dialogue or backstories to back up their beauty. 

Some of my favorite games are from the Super Nintendo era. Graphics weren’t the same then as they are now, and my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger, has laughable graphics compared to Cyberpunk 2077. I doubt that anyone in 1995 could have dreamed that consoles would have the power to produce the images that come from games now. That being said, what Chrono Trigger has that Cyberpunk 2077 doesn’t is personality, developed characters, and a moving story. That’s why I’ve replayed it so many times. Will people be talking about Cyberpunk 2077 in 25 years? Maybe. But only to talk about what a train wreck its release was.

5) CD Projekt Red doesn’t regret it––at least not publicly. 

This is the hardest thing to wrap my head around, honestly. Despite forcing their workers to participate in crunch, despite disappointing hordes of players who preordered their game, despite actively promoting transphobic images in their game, CD Projekt Red doesn’t seem to care. Yes, they offered refunds to anyone who felt dissatisfied with their purchase, but that seems like a reaction to backlash, not a genuine regret for making such a rough game. The most egregious part of all this is that even after transgender fans expressed their disappointment at the “Mix It Up” posters in the game, CD Projekt Red left it all in. They even made more features that seem transphobic in nature, like tying pronouns to voice. It’s disappointing that the studio has stood firm on their missteps. That’s not to say that the developers who worked on the game don’t deserve any recognition, or that all their hard work was for nothing, but like, take some responsibility! 

After putting about 20 hours into Cyberpunk 2077, I turned to Todd and said, are we having fun? Neither of us could really answer the question. There’s something satisfying about navigating the cyberpunk setting, a type of world I’ve been in love with since reading William Gibson’s Neuromancer early in grad school. But that’s not enough to make a game fun. That’s not enough to erase the cultural wrongdoings of a game. I ended up requesting a refund from Sony and deleting the game off my harddrive. I don’t regret that decision at all, and I wish I had been more sensitive to the bigger problems of the game while it was still in development. 

But hey, at least I made the mistake so I can explain why you shouldn’t buy the game.

I’d be interested to hear others’ experiences with Cyberpunk 2077, especially in the queer community who seem to have been disproportionately affected by the portrayals of trans people in game. That being said, I don’t think I’m looking to repurchase Cyberpunk 2077 anytime soon.