Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Phantom Liberty is a masterpiece. The story is one of the most tragic and genuinely cyberpunk stories I have experienced in a long time. It's a great one — play it blind. Stories like this should be shaped by your true intuition and by how you assess the situation as it unfolds, rather than by chasing rewards or achievements. Thumbs up. I wish I could experience it blind for the first time again.

Tbh I don’t even really know how to structure my thoughts after finishing Phantom Liberty. [b]It’s one of those stories where you reach the ending, sit there for a bit, and only then realize how much it actually got to you[/b] The biggest thing for me is obviously [b]the story[/b]. Cyberpunk 2077 is already a pretty dark and tragic game in general, but Phantom Liberty somehow [i]manages to push that even further. It’s emotional, depressing in the right moments,and, most importantly, – [b]it sticks with u for a long time after finishing it.[/b][/i] There are very few games where I actually keep thinking about certain choices,characters and endings days later, and this was definitely one of them. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3445129629 And honestly, calling Phantom Liberty just a dlc sometimes feels kinda wrong. It feels much closer to a completely separate game that was somehow inserted into Cyberpunk’s main story without feeling inserted at all(like really). Everything fits so naturally that it genuinely feels like this whole storyline was always supposed to be there. The characters, V’s situation, the way the main plot connects with what happens in Dogtown – it all feels like it was made with the base game at the exact same time and with 100% sync between both stories. Dogtown itself is another huuuuge win for the game. NC was already insanely diverse,[i]but Dogtown adds such a strong contrast[/i] that it immediately becomes one of the most interesting parts of the entire map. It's still clearly belongs to Night City, but at the same time it feels completely different from everything around it. [i]More broken,more chaotic,more militarized, basically a city inside a city with its own rules and rulers.[/i] And because of that contrast, it doesn’t feel like just "another district" added for the expansion to launder ur money – it actually gives NC another side that was missing before, or at least what it feels like after couple of visits to the place. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3454992405 But probably my favorite part of Phantom Liberty is the whole [b]political/spy-thriller side of it[/b]. The entire story constantly feels like everyone is playing some bigger game where nobody is being completely honest with you,everyone has their own interests, and [i]you’re never fully sure who is actually using who.[/i] And I think the official trailer represented this perfectly, with Myers and Kurt basically playing chess with the characters while you’re just another piece on the board. [b]AND THATS EXACTLY WHAT PL FEELS LIKE[/b]. Everyone is moving someone else. Everyone has a reason for what they’re doing. Everyone tells you just enough to make you trust them. And meanwhile V is stuck in the middle trying to figure out which person is lyin' less than the others (and whos better at convincing you that they could save our ass). U re not really the player here, you’re one of the pieces on the board: just another pawn in the middle of it with only one,single purpose – to make it to the other side, promote itself to a queen, become something faaar more powerful, only to be sacrificed in the endgame just in order to win. And then there are the endings. I genuinely think this is one of the strongest parts of the entire expansion, because I don’t feel like [b]there’s one obvious and "correct" ending[/b]. [i]Whichever side you choose, you understand why someone would make the opposite choice.[/i] Every option has consequences,every character has done smth that makes you question whether they deserve your trust, and even after finishing it I cant say there was one decision that felt completely right. [i]And that’s probably what makes the ending hit this hard.[/i] You can agree with Reed. You can agree with Songbird. You can hate both of em at different points. You can understand both. And somehow all of those reactions make sense. While playing Cyberpunk, I caught myself thinking that [b]this game actually wants to be mature, not just look or pretend to be mature.[/b] And PL shows this really great. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3553802707 So yeah, Phantom Liberty is one of those expansions where calling it an expansion almost undersells it. [i]It feels like its own game[/i], it adds one of the most interesting parts of NC, gives Cyberpunk a completely different political and spy thriller atmosphere, and finishes everything with endings that genuinely make you sit there and think about what you just did. [i]It’s tragic,emotional,and probably one of the most memorable stories(if not the most) Cyberpunk has to offer.[/i] And in the end, I think Phantom Liberty also perfectly highlights one of the most interesting ideas of Cyberpunk as a whole - [b][i]the illusion of freedom.[/i][/b] You constantly feel like you’re making your own choices, choosin your own side, deciding who to trust and where ur story goes. But the further you get, the more you realize how limited that freedom actually is. Everyone is trapped by smth – politics, corpos,loyalty, survival, their past, present or just the system itself. And I think the title Phantom Liberty describes that idea almost perfectly. The freedom is there(technically). It just might not be as real as you think. P.S. If anyone wants some kind of intro to the story or just something that gives u a general idea of its mood before playing, I personally really like [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u15tEo0wsQI&list=RDu15tEo0wsQI&index=1]the Official Cyberpunk 2077 Music Video[/url]

Dogtown feels a bit meh as a new district, but everything else is just perfect. Story is excellent, characters are just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ amazing, Solomon is a really cool dude. And if you take a certain path in the story, you will get a great horror sequence and more background story about the Blackwall. I really like how they handled AIs in this setting, really unsettling ♥♥♥♥. Also the new fixer - Mr. Hands, we don't see him a lot, but he certainly made an impressions. New gigs from him easily blow out most of the side jobs in the base game. And Aguilar side job is worth half the price of the dlc. This is a must buy just for the fact, that there will be a legendary Lizzy Wizzy live show in one of the missions. Easily one of the best gaming moments that I've ever had. 10/10.