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Saying Cyberpunk is CD Projekt Red’s best game is a bold claim. After all, that puts it head-to-head with The Witcher 3, one of the most beloved RPGs of all time. Cyberpunk was a bug-riddled, crash-prone mess at launch, which makes it even more surprising that it’s now arguably CDPR’s crowning achievement. Yet there’s good reason to believe exactly that. Both games are stunning achievements in their own way, but one element sets Cyberpunk apart from Geralt’s tale — immersion. This feature is why Cyberpunk 2077 deserves to wear the crown of greatness, even with such stiff competition.
The Immersion of Night City
Immersion is as delicate an element of game design as balance. Players can’t always explain why one game feels real and draws them in while another feels artificial and keeps them at a distance. Art design, sound design, music, and writing combine with countless other elements to make or break a setting. You see it in Dogtown’s architecture, the construction sites, and the shanty towns that set it apart from the glitz and grime of Night City. You hear it when a tire explodes from the force of a bullet, sending the vehicle spiraling off the road. CDPR is relentless in establishing a consistent feeling of place and purpose in Cyberpunk, and it pays off.
For a game to be immersive, it must be cohesive. Take one of the game’s many bars, for example. In another game, it might be little more than a counter and some stools, a place to stick a quest-giver, and some cardboard cutout NPCs. In Night City, a bar serves the same purpose, but it doesn’t feel the same. There are posters on the walls for famous singers, some of whom exist elsewhere as actual characters. There’s dirty linoleum, scratched bar counters, and worn leather seats. Patrons chatter quietly amongst themselves while V goes about their business. You can order food, play a game on one of the arcade cabinets, or just soak in the sights. It feels like everything there is there for a reason, which can’t help but draw players in.
CDPR’s Writing and NPCs
Cyberpunk stands toe-to-toe not only with CDPR games but also with the likes of Yakuza and Grand Theft Auto in terms of its dense and rewarding urban exploration, and that’s a major factor in how immersive it is. At the end of the day, however, side activities and pretty sights aren’t enough to maintain the suspension of disbelief. A setting is nothing without the characters that bring it to life. Fortunately, Cyberpunk‘s characters are better than almost any. Jackie Welles, Johnny Silverhand, and Solomon Reed are the stars of the show, but it’s Night City’s countless background characters that set Cyberpunk above its competition.
Push your way through a busy street market in Dogtown, and you’ll hear snatches of conversation from all directions. In fact, go anywhere in Night City, and you’ll probably hear something interesting. Shoppers complain about their in-laws. Cops write reports after car crashes. Homeless people beg for change. When it was released, Cyberpunk was deeply flawed, and immersive was one of the last things you’d call it, especially on console. After countless updates and a major DLC, Night City finally feels real. Whether it’s more immersive than Toussaint and the best of The Witcher 3 is a matter of opinion, but there’s a genuine case to be made that the answer is yes, which is saying something.
Cyberpunk 2077 vs. The Witcher 3
CDPR’s other games do some things better than Cyberpunk, but Cyberpunk is arguably the developer’s best title overall. Its world feels the most lived in. Its shops and battlefields are the most believable. If your goal is simply to exist in and be immersed in a game’s world, the list of titles that beat Cyberpunk is short indeed. It’s true that bugs still shatter the illusion sometimes, but after the 2.0 update, that’s a much less frequent occurrence. The game’s flaws will always hold it back from perfection, but its sound design, art direction, and storytelling remain as spellbinding as they ever were. Cyberpunk isn’t just a great CD Projekt Red game; it’s a testament to the immersive power of video games as art.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
