I have a lot of thoughts on this game.

First, the production and release of the game itself was like a living metaphor about how corpo assholes ruin everything good. It was obviously rushed for the Christmas release when they clearly weren't anywhere near finishing the game. I think they could've used another solid year, but no, the suits upstairs needed you to hand over those holiday eddies ASAP. Everyone knows about the bugs, so I don't need to go into that. My biggest complaint about the gameplay is that 90% of the dialog choices really don't feel like they have any substantial impact on the story overall.

Complaints aside, it is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played, and probably the best designed open world in any game, in my opinion. Night City really feels lived-in. The city itself is a character in the game, not just a backdrop. The different neighborhoods and districts all feel very unique without feeling like that uniqueness is forced. It just makes sense, and works really well. One improvement I think Night City could use would be more substantial random events happening independently of the player, instead of people just milling around. Like rock concerts, protests/riots, car meetups, parades, stuff like that. Not a big deal without them, but would be a big improvement, in my opinion.

The characters are also great. Judy and Misty are my favorites, and I wish there was a lot more story (or even side quests) with Misty. They are well written and have depth and their own motivations, and their stories were emotionally impactful. But all the characters are well done, and they provide a great experience, even when the main story itself feels thin at times.

Overall, I love the game. It's been a while since I played through it, so I might go check out the mods and see if anything catches my eye for my next play through.