It's not a secret Cyberpunk 2077 When it first hit the market in 2020, it was a flop, and the game became one of the most notable examples of bugs and performance issues hampering player hype. Despite having an uphill battle after being delisted from the PlayStation Store shortly after launch due to these issues, CD Projekt Red has committed to improving the experience for players. The result of this work was publication Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Libertyand the 2023 DLC was the shot the game needed to put it in the same league as some of the best RPGs of the modern gaming era.
A year later it is clear Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is an excellent expansion that rivals the likes of another iconic CD Projekt Red franchise, The sorcererwith its legendary DLC Blood and Wine for Witcher 3who had only recently been dethroned Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree as the highest rated DLC of all time. Along with the new content included in Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 also received the 2.0 update on the same day, changing many of the game's systems that divided players at launch. The combination of these releases produced players who were written off Cyberpunk 2077The initial difficulty was a reason to give the game a second chance, and it more than made up for the game's slow start.
Phantom Liberty made Cyberpunk 2077 a whole new game
Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.0 has improved the gameplay
Without even touching the Phantom Liberty content, Cyberpunk 2077Update 2.0 has completely changed the way players approach the game. With changes to the perk system, cyber, and armor, players had a new way of thinking about building builds that felt more focused and emphasized certain play styles. The addition of vehicular combat and improved police AI also created a new way to play, centered around the Carhacker perk and dozens of in-game vehicles that players could purchase, leading to epic high-speed shootouts across Night City.
Dogtown has added new life to the Cyberpunk 2077 map
As expected from the DLC expansion, Phantom Liberty has expanded the areas of Night City available to players with the new area of Dogtown, located southeast of Pacifica. Along with this new region came a new enemy faction known as the BARGHEST, led by former NUSA Colonel Kurt Hansen. Dogtown also introduced a number of new side quests and tasks courtesy of Mr. Fixer. Hands, which helped flesh out the area in a way that felt natural with the rest of Night City, and gave players a great reason to further explore the game's setting.
Phantom Liberty's story set the stage for Cyberpunk 2077's future
The biggest draw Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty there was a new storyline related to the expansion that allowed players to deviate from their quest to remove the Relic chip in V's head and stop Orasaka. Instead, players were tasked with protecting the President of NUSA after her plane crashed into Dogtown with the help of Netrunner Songbird and FIA agent Solomon Reed. Narratively, the story was a sharp departure from the corporate underworld Cyberpunk 2077base game with players embroiled in a wider conflict involving the NUSA government.
However, Phantom Liberty's main quest took a lot of the RPG elements of the base game's storyline and turned them into something that Cyberpunk 2077A sequel, codenamed Project Orion, could be used as the primary force. Throughout Phantom Liberty's main quest, players were faced with far more impactful choices, with several important decisions leading players into completely different branches of the narrative. Certain actions even unlock an entirely new ending Cyberpunk 2077 this could have major implications for Project Orion if it's canon, showing just how important this expansion could be to the future of CD Projekt Red's franchise.