I'm 40h into this on PS5 and the more I play it the more frustrated I become. Why? Because this is not only a GOTY contender but by the time it's all said and done I'm pretty sure I'll regard it as a stone cold classic. I'm frustrated CDPR released this in the reportedly disastrous state it launched in 2020. This should have *never* released on last-gen consoles, the scale and scope of the world is way too ambitious, I continue to be impressed at every turn. I'm frustrated CDPR forever sullied their own reputation, this 1.5 ver should have been the official release of the game, it would have been the big gaming event it was meant to be and celebrated far and wide.
Does the game still have bugs? Absolutely, as does *every single open-world game I've ever played*. I know they will continue to improve things (and they should!) but let's not pretend this is anything new in the genre. Putting all that aside I continue to be astounded by the world CDPR created, there is an attention to detail (peep the roof interior textures of Panam's car the first mission with her) that is rarely - if ever - seen (shoutout to RDR2, that's in a league of it's own). The characters, dialogue and story are all excellent with certain story sequences that literally made my jaw drop, they will stay with me for some time to come.
Emergent gameplay moments lead to unique and memorable experiences. Last night I took on a CyberPsycho in the Badlands, was in the afternoon, just so happened that a sandstorm rolled in, just so happened this psycho was a sniper in a tower, absolutely epic, the stars aligning. I've had numerous moments like this and each time I think to myself "man, this game is fucking awesome!". Aesthetically - not always but at times - this is the most visually striking game I've ever played. I could go on and on, if I have any real criticisms I wish the driving was tighter and there was a quicker/more intuitive way to sift through inventory and phone messages, that's about it.
Love the combat (props to DualSense implementation for the 3rd time), love cruising around listening to tunes while doing jobs for fixers, love the insane number of skills available to customize my character, love the story choices and yes, I even love Johnny Silverhand (though I can see how this character can be a love/hate thing). Pro-tip for anyone shitting on this game in it's *current* form: stop snorting laundry detergent, the neurological damage is irreparable. I'm happy to see *some* on this forum seem to be enjoying as much as I am, keep it rockin chooms.