Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty REVIEW - Does Dogtown Deliver? 

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I personally loved the main story and thought it delivered many heartfelt moments between the characters. The graveyard scene with Johny is one of my favorite moments ever. The endings did feel pretty weak, though. I hope Phantom Liberty delivers on the endings.

Wow you made me realize how great of an expansion it would be if CDPR also made another that takes place after we meet Jackie. Perhaps we could’ve seen how our relationship with Jackie and his family developed into the close bond we know we had in the base game. Instead we got fast forwarded clips of our time with Jackie at the start of the game. Imagine going on more gigs with him, endure some more serious/emotional moments with him, maybe some highs and lows in our relationship. Could’ve had a more proper introduction to fixers and ripperdocs like Vik. A true way of seeing us progress and climb up the ranks of gigs and fixers before the big Arasaka heist.

I chose the Nomad ending path in the base game, the first time out.....& I can tell you that the ending hit me like a sledgehammer. So can only imagine how hard PL will hit me.

The face models look stellar 😳🔥

Been following your videos for years. Thank you for the continued excellent content!

This expansion will take me at least 50 hours as I'll be wandering around listening to conversations and trying to find hidden secrets etc

Thanks for the review Choom! So excited about this expansion and the future of Cyberpunk as a whole!

Thanks Neon! Good one. Congrats on number 400. I was waiting on this all morning. Excited for the update tomorrow. Planning on getting a new start set up for day one of Phantom Liberty. It will be a new experience and especially since I'll be playing with no mods for the first time in a long time. I am a little sad that this will be the only expansion to Cyberpunk 2077, but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. The story and all the new mechanics just sound like a lot of fun. Still I have no idea what new ending(s) we have to look forward to, I'm hoping for the best. Tomorrow it starts and less than a week away we get into the nitty-gritty. Can't wait!

0:46 the fact that the ballistic coprocessor is no longer permanently on your hand is reason enough to get excited

Crazy. Just discovered your channel. Amazing work and amazing variety of points you brought up. Well done! Now just tell me if we get a happy ending! LOL

Thank you. Loved Cyberpunk 2077 and excited for new story content in Phantom Liberty.

I love the guns in Cyberpunk and as an enthusiast, I really hope there's a lot more toys for me to play around with in Phantom Liberty. I know they said there's 100+ new items overall, but that doesn't fill me with too much hope, considering it's not just the weapons in that count.

I've watched a lotta PL reviews and yours is far and away the best

I agree rounding this out with more Jackie content would have really made things much better. Still love this game

Thank you for the review Neon

Excellent video as always my dude! Would love to know your takes on the different endings man! A spoiler review would be dope. I absolutely loved every second of PL!

Thanks for early review! I think I will have to started fresh when 2.0 drop tomorrow. Cheer!

I am very excited about this, and I would like to note something on your lamentation over this being only one, large expansion. I feel the same about Elden Ring (apparently all of its story DLC is being combined/condensed as well). I miss the 2010 days where we got more bonus content in smaller packages, compounding replay value over time.

I have over 4000 hours of CP77 played. (my only entertainment during the Panemic) Each playthrough, I played each Gig differently, sometimes straight on, some times using the verticality of the game, and as you can imagine, with every possible combination of skills, cyberware and weapons. I know exactly what you mean by your comment "it was missing something" Thanks for this. I purchased the PL as soon as it was available, As i want to finish the arc. I look forward to circling back to this video after the 25th GG:GL:HF !!!

Good points as usual cant wait to play myself to compare 😻

Im glad you pointed out my original issue w the game that the world isnt as reactive as the first demo kind of portrayed but hopefully thats what the next game is. I will play this w proper expectations now, and Ive been craving another open world rpg and starfield just didn’t do it for me. I hope to jump back in and enjoy this game the second time better w all the changes

A very detailed review thank you😀

Great review, goddamn i cannot wait to play

That last scene where johnny helped v with the old phone was neat

Beat on the Brat missions were some of my favourite just because I love the hand-to-hand fighting in Cyberpunk 2077, have there been added more of these missions in PL or just general opportunities for fun boxing style combat?

Been waiting on this my guy. LOVE your Cyberpunk content. I'm excited to jump back in. So far I've heard it being compared to James Bond and now you with Mission Impossible. I'm so excited. PLUS the hints of Idris being James Bond fits perfectly

I was expecting some changes around the map, not so big but some noticeably increase in more bars, street vendors, car and npc density, and after the recent trailer I even contemplated the posibility of train stations being fuctional after all these years. I guess I expected too much from the expansion, my last hope is cdpr releasing redEngine to the public so people can make skyrim tier mods in cyberpunk

Wish they do more about the interactivity and immersion

It's gonna be awesome. Cannot wait!

I appreciate the honesty! The main story in the game had a few great moments, but like you I was underwhelmed by the end. I am definitely looking forward to playing Phantom Liberty if it outperforms when it comes to the story/characters. I agree with you about Johhny but by the end of the game, he was one of the few characters I ended up caring about lol

Having to watch and listen for changes in body language and reactions to diolauge reminds me of the Deus Ex games from the 2010s

Beyond hyped for this.

Your thoughts on the main story are mine exactly, there’s nothing bad about it but I was never really sad about a character death, the only thing that I actually got attached to was V’s fate in the end, depending on what you choose.

I’m surprised they never added a kicking fighting style and not just hand and arms, would be cool to be able to use your legs to attack while wielding weapons. Especially if you have leg mods.

You've got super objective review, btw, even some "negative" reviews don't make super good arguments, but you do (and it's great)

I definitely agree with the reactions to the base game story. It could’ve been better. Phantom Liberty has caught my attention on the espionage stuff.

Phantom Liberty the 26th and Ghostrunner II Oct. 26. DOPE

OMG Johnny Silverhand looks out of this world

Fantastic review. I can tell you really immersed yourself in this game. This was definitely one of the most derailed reviews that I've watched. Im curious to see if ill be able to have raytracing on after the new 2.0 patch like you did with my rtx 3080.

finally this game and hopefully this channel will become what they were always meant to be❤

Thanks for the review! Happy that you've enjoyed the expansion! Can't wait what other videos you have in store for us. :) Overall Phantom Liberty is not perfect, but way better than the base game at launch. As for the performance, the devs said that it'll need a better PC for the new areas.

Has the base city been expanded upon, especially where it would teleport you saying there's nothing there yet?

I've been waiting since my first playthrough back at release to get a good reason to dive back into cyberpunk. Glad to hear the expansion is good. I am curious about how you recommend going through the game now? Is it best to play the main game up until you unlock PL, then do all of PL, and then finish the rest of the game?

I plan to play 2.0 this weekend. If I get to the PL start point in the game before PL kicks off, will I miss any of the new items or quests being added in PL?

Dogtown so beautiful and detailed, verticality is immense! I spend so much time jut messing around and double jumping ledge to ledge. It's a real shame there is no wall running, but I also think that would be a bit too whacky!

Best Cyberpunk content creator. As always, you know how to explain everything cuz u have the same focus of real and smart player and fan. Can't wait to play this. Can't wait to see how Orion will be. Can't wait to see how the world will evolve the cyberpunk genre. This is the narrative context with the most potential ever and still less exploited. We are living the phase of continuous refence to the past (ghost in the shell, blade runner, escape from new york, etc.) Now I hope we will see something new and totally stunning and I hope phantom liberty will be the foundation stone. The benchmark to be surpassed in this genre. Today I will rebuild my nomad V after patch 2.0 lanch (here in Italy will be at 5 p.m. I think), cuz is my least character and the richest one (thanks to Widowmaker farming trick). So ehyyyyy Dogtown, I'm a Millionaire! But at the same time, I feel as you about the character: Female V is the best one, the Male one feels more detached and the game itself already has a problem with deep immersion. So I also will go in the game with my female streetkid melee player in the DLC. Then, probably, I will go with another Corpo run because is my "canon" V. In the past I worked in a multinational business consultancy company and then I left them to became a freelance, so I feel this path more "me" then the others. I think the same as you about the main game and I would be happy to discuss with you about this: - Jackie, Mama Wells, Viktor and Misty relationship are rushed. But at the same time, going on a new run in the game takes soooo long because the prologue is managed badly (and I finished the game like 5 times I think but it's because this is my favourite genre). - After the first time V meets Johnny there are anti climatic quests like the Delamain one. One minute before Silverhand wants to kill V. The minute after, if u go get your car (this is the most probable choise because is the closest quest...) and after the delamain crash V goes "ehiiii johnnyyy, buddyyyy, you see that? LOL" ok.... damn. Also, you like wake up from a big trauma and nearly coma. Man. - Voodoo Boys or Netwatch choise should have concequences in the world (at least in the quests that involves netrunners). - Same with the kill / don't kill choise with the gang bosses and the relationship with them. Sasquatch or Brigitte death are pointless. Royce and Brick choise is the best cuz this have concequences with the Nancy quest. Susie Q? Only some useless convo. Campo Orta, Gustavo Orta, Will Gunner, Jun Azegami, Marcus Ichida, Taki Kazo. Why we don't ever see them or have quests from/against them? Gangs should had a reputation system. - Where the fuck is Morgan Blackhand and why is he eraised from Johnny's memory!? - Few multiple choises feels important, less than The Witcher 2 and 3. - No immersive sim stuff, only shoot and loot. And other things that make me feel strange. Still, one of my favourite games ever. Probably, my dream, would be a game like Baldurs Gate 3 but set in Cyberpunk 2020 / Cyberpunk Red, because I think the GDR system is the most engaging. I'm happy about hearing that this expansion focused more on this aspect of the prodution. Thank you, as always, can't wait also on your future new lore videos!! And sorry for the long text but I don't have any friend as passionate as me about this universe so these kind of interaction are like gold to me. Stay safe Choom

DAMN those face models are a 100% improvment on the basegames already stellar models

Reminds me of how the quality improvement from the main game to Horizon Zero Dawn's DLC

I feel like not enough people talk about the in game first person cinematics. It's an open world with cinematics on par and sometimes better than the OG MW1/2 era cinematics. I say MW1 era cause newer CODS have kind of abandoned that style in favor of CGI stuff out of player controlled player controlled cutscenes are such a cool concept. I hope TW4 keeps this philosophy even if it's a 3rd person game. Something so cool about being able to look one way and see motion caption acting while also being able to look another way to see different acting going on at the same exact time. Love replaying a game and witnessing something in an in game cutscene you missed the first time around. Love those lil but amazing details

Good review, I'm actually very sad that they didn't expand on what was already there - night city itself, but at least its something to chew on for people that love the game like me If you do see this comment and read it - you mentioned the actual quest and sidequest count being a bit low - do you think there's any replayability in them? cyberpunk fans are eating good this week woo

what about space port? is there some side stuff to do there or is it for main story purpose

Jackies death killed me. I lost a broda a choom of mine to suicide. So i know the deaths arent the same but i dont think it matters how you lose a choom in your mid 20's because the pain is relatable. Loved this game. Especially since im a bit of a A hole like silverhand because of my lack of patience i guess you could attribute to my traumas. The sarcasm in it too i can relate with. Idk, personally its one of the best games and storylines ive seen personally for a game of this caliber because There's quite a lot of relatability for me.

Does your background have a bigger impact in PL then just an additional dialogue option?

Question, I plan to start a fresh run for PL since it's been recommended, would it be better to get a head start and start my new run tomorrow when 2.0 releases? or better to wait until the 26th and start the new run when PL releases?

incredible review!

I disagree about rhe main story, for the most part i absolutely loved the main story, my first playthrough took about a hundred hours before beating the story and i was definitely in tears by the end but its a bit tricky because obviously things will be different for every on their first try, im definitely excited for phantom liberty tho

“Sitting down on bench’s” There’s a mod for that… before they all broke.

Hey, I wonder which option do you think is better: start the expansion right after it becomes available to the player or reach the point of no return in the base game first and then start the expansion?

Happy review day

are there any new additions to character customisation? eg hair.

I kept saying I was gonna wait to get the expansion but after watching this I can't, gonna have to get it right away! Moneys tight, but I'm too excited lol

In the recent DigitalFoundry video on DLSS 3.5 they talk about why depth of field effects don't really work with DLSS yet. In the image processing pipeline the depth of field effects come before DLSS, so DLSS is trying to add "crispiness" to things that have no business being sharp. 17:37

really excited for the expansion, i hope CDPR learned from their mistakes and judging from this preview, it seems they have! the part you address aroudn verticality and night city as a postcard idyll rather than a playground is something i am a little torn about... on the one hand, cp 2077 is no gta or fac cry with open world, but at the end your meaningless checklist 'do race here, free outpost here, do side quest there', I feel because it was such a cinematic experience and the characters and story were good, cp excelled at its quest and not the "pseudo" open world activities that a lot of gamers seemed to want (i.e. being able to go for drinks, the barber, having better police). i do not outright dismiss more gameplay possibilities, they can be fun, but they are do not cater to the games strength in the first place I feel. so I was excited when you mentioned that the verticality which was one aspect at first but was later clearly dismissed in development (probably too complex and physically impossible in terms of memory and hardware if you can ride every elevator in every building to every floor and so on, but also from a level design standpoint) sort of will make a comeback. I think a closed off district like dogtown lends itself way more to that. this was also the strength of the little city hubs like in deus ex mankind divided. they were much more detailed, had multiple ways to approach goals, discover cool secrets and so on although on a surface level, they did not make sense at all. then again, imagine if you had an open world map, this would make things infinitely more challenging in terms of desiging areas, quests, etc. to imagine we would - in theory - had the possibility with more such expansions ... just remember heart of stone followed by blood and wine in the witcher - makes me a little bit sad cause I would have liked to see more opportunities in the vertical gameplay. the cyberpunk universe is not totally abandoned, but it will be a while until we might see orion... and which style, which timeline and so on is totally open. i personally loved the shadowrun top down games and would love to see something like that for cp instead of a FPS-RPG hybrid like we got with cp 2077 or maybe something akin to the new baldurs gate!

Even though i disagree with your view on the main campaign, I really enjoyed your review.

I'm super happy the game is scoring 90 on both metacritic and opencritic, the reception seems really good all around, like.. this is (kind of) the game that we were promised 3 years ago. Still, I don't know why I have this feeling, either from Neon's review and some others I watched, that Cyberpunk is still "incomplete", or its missing some elements, that although do not detract too much from the whole experience, is a shame, like having meaningful choices that ripple through the world and the game, better npc/enemy AI, being able to enter most buildings, or immersion features like the city metro/skytrain, sitting and eating/drinking at street vendors, you know those things. I think this will culminate in a very strong sequel some years down the line.

Im 10-12 hours into a new playthrough on 2.0 are weapon vendors more or less useless now? Seems like it.

Neon i didn´t play CP since the 1st perks reset (1.6 i think?), by the looks of it is a very good game now, and you got me curious about PL, i´ll reinstall the game and give it another chance on my full completion save (already did the majority of the endings, except the Johnny one).

Sounds cool.

Honestly after I stopped holding on to how they marketed/advertised this game, and just looked at Cyberpunk2077 for what it is, im really liking this game more and more. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone interested in the genre.

Do your romances like Judy and Panam send messages during phantom liberty?

Idris looks sooo badass in this. Definitely excited!

I can't wait to start a new game!

Should I start a new play through? My save right now is a 100% completion. Im not sure if I want to play through again or just use my current save.

No one mentioned the relic attribute. Is that still a thing?

how long is the expansion is it the same length of the base story of shorter

"As the credits rolled my eyes started to well up with tears" We will see about that

Any visual cyberware or are we gonna have to still rely on mods?

Am I tripping or does the close up of Johnny's model near the phonebooth look way more detailed

Thinking about it whose idea was showing Jackie dying on the cinematic trailer

Family💪🏾💙

Please.......... can you give me a little bit hints for the new ending?

Question: Does anyone know how armor will work in Phantom? Is it reworked?

Hey I know they added new clothes, have you noticed the famous fur coat that River and Eveline wears as clothes for V?

The Jackie montage in the base game was just so horrible man, like a cheap montage from B movies, I hated it so much to the point where it’s literally my least favorite park about Cyberpunk 2077. We should have been playing those moments and getting that sense of accomplishment meeting all the fixers and building our relationship with Jackie, and the feeling of stepping into the apartment for the first time. The game could have had a perfect release and that montage would still dock the game a couple points for me. I really really hope Phantom Liberty is that good. And also, I think abandoning the Red engine was a reactionary move and a huge mistake. Witcher 3/Cyberpunk have a very unique look and feel that other games don’t have, so it seems like a jarring choice.

Thank you so much for your review Neon! Yeah I truly believe some of the things they couldn't do in 2077 due to technical issues will be a sure reality for Orion with Gabe leading the charge! ❤

Excited for the new update and PL but not excited to clear out all the mods I’ve installed so far before they all break the game.

Yep

One thinh im curious about is i know police are a big part of car combat but do other random games chase you as well? And what is the incentive to get the cops on you

I feel a bit sad too that the game is done with the expansion. At least we know we're getting a banger sequel if this is the standard. What will you do in the meantime Neon?

I'm glad you liked it I'm interested in the xpac. But prolly won't buy it right away.

can’t wait ! what life path did u play for PL ? i know you recommend fem V but what did u think of the life path you chose?

Can you reflect bullets with mantis blades ?

Is the new ending like... satisfactory? Does it take any precedence over the base-game non-PL endings? Or is it just like the other endings thematically? I don't wanna play PL only for the new ending to somehow leave even more plot threads unresolved. And can decisions in PL lock you out of the new base game ending?

Does cyberware change your appearance now (it's now more visible you're chromed)?

Silverhand looks so much better than in the base game?

I agree the main story was very short. But the story was good. If the story was longer it would have been one of the best story.

The one thing i'm afraid of with the new ending is how it deals with romances. The aldexaldos ending is my favourite because i can bring Judy with me. I hope PL does something with romances.

being that Cyberpunk TTRPG was my favorite as a kid, i really wanted this game to be something special and it just wasn't...so i am hoping that this will reforge the game into something more along what ti was hoping ti to be. I just wish it could have been played in 3rd POV as i don't find FPS necessarily more immersive but i'll accept the design choice.

이제 여기에 후반부 사이버 스켈레톤 착용가능 + 실험체 데이비드 주검 나오면 95점 갑니다!