I think a lot of the negativity also comes from misunderstanding what the game is.
Just like you, I played the game on release (on PC) and it is for me one of the best games of all time for one specific reason: immersion and story. That’s exactly what I expected from CDPR after Witcher 3 (another story and immersion focused game) and that’s exactly what I got. I didn’t expect a company known for their story focus and relatively weaker gameplay to deliver a game focused on gameplay or sandbox elements.
I think a lot of people wanted something that CDPR was never going to deliver, but it seems like Phantom Liberty is leaning more into the sandbox that people wanted and (unsurprisingly) didn’t get at release.
I see this argument a lot when people criticize this game and it seems like you are all suffering from some Mandela fever dream. Or maybe you just didn’t watch any of the trailers and dev commentary?
CDPR literally marketed the game as and constantly raved about how the city was the most immersive sandbox possible. With fully scripted AI living full lives and reacting realistically to you. A full police system that would enforce harsh punishments. They wanted players to believe it was going to be the same level of interactivity with the world as games like GTA or Watch Dogs.
Idk what made you think they were “never going to deliver” that when it was constantly being talked about by the PEOPLE WHO MADE THE GAME.
“Well, CDPR has never made a game like that and the Witcher series wasn’t like that so it doesn’t matter that they spent years telling everyone that it was going to be that way! It’s you’re fault for not knowing!”
Classic.
You can’t say that when for literally YEARS CDPR advertised the game as being exactly that. A futuristic, play-who-you-want RPG sandbox. Instead we practically got a Far Cry clone with light RPG elements. They just quietly stopped advertising it as such.
But people remember. Just because you didn’t expect it yourself doesn’t mean it wasn’t advertised as such.
