Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2, analysis on PS5

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch 1.2

In line with the roadmap that would see a substantial update for Cyberpunk 2077 by the second half of March, patch 1.2 is finally available on PC and consoles. The changelog is so long that getting to read it all was a feat in itself, remembering more than twenty points, however, impossible. The changes are many and although they do not go to fix those that are problems upstream for which, as it has already been discussed several times, the whole game should be rethought, it cannot be denied that now the experience can be enjoyed without too many bass as in the past months. However, we are faced with the classic phenomenon of a blanket that is too short, so by pulling on one side it is obvious that another one will remain uncovered.

This is to say that where a bug has been fixed, other lesser ones may have arisen entity, that the crashes are perhaps not completely resolved and some oddities still occur, however our umpteenth dive in Night City turned out to be more enjoyable than the last time. Do we recommend diving into the game in this sense? Yes and no, in the sense that the decision is always yours: objectively the improvements are perceived, on PlayStation 5, but precisely with regard to the next gen - and even more so if this were to be your first game of Cyberpunk 2077 - it would undoubtedly be more appropriate to wait for the dedicated patch. Same goes for PS4: 1.2 is an excellent patch but there is still room to take the experience to the next level and it would therefore be a matter of waiting for further updates. We are not here to give you diktat and, we repeat, net of the aforementioned blanket that is too short, the steps forward are evident.

Good and bad news

Let's start with the good news: in total we have about eleven hours on this new version of the game, four of which consecutive and the rest divided into blocks more or less by a couple of hours each. We would like to say that we have not encountered crashes but we would be lying, the positive aspect however is that we have only suffered one during the most prolonged game session: considering that we have visited points known to be among the least safe in this sense, and to have done so on several occasions throughout the day, we could count that single crash as an unfortunate event in itself and not the norm as it was prior to this patch.

Also, although the resolution hasn't changed on PS5 (1224p to 60fps), the overall performance boasts greater fluidity especially in terms of framerate which proves to be more stable. They are far from perfect, declines still occur mainly in built-up areas, but overall it seemed more stable. Just the fact of being able to play consecutively without being interrupted by crashes or bugs that still lead to a restart of the game made us breathe a sigh of relief. It was like picking up another game and that says how little it takes to transform an experience. If patch 1.2 had focused only on crashes, however important they may be, we would not be here to write about them.

Cyberpunk 2077: the right punishment for a serial killer The other obvious improvement concerns the game world itself . Night City has always been a sight to behold, with the necessary differences between console and PC, but behind the postcard aesthetic was a dull city, inhabited by NPCs so inconsistent that they did not react even under direct threat. In this sense, we must admit that in this round the citizens appeared a little more reactive: we engaged in firefights in different situations and yes, we saw them flee instead of closing themselves up in no time at all, giving at least the idea of ​​having in front of a person (digital) and not a mannequin. Of course, even in this case there was no shortage of oddities, like a sort of city flashmob in which, exiting an alley where we had just fought the Arasaka scum, we found ourselves in front of four very tidy files of NPCs huddled despite the fact that several minutes had passed. from the clash. In its absurdity, however, we appreciated the precision with which they were arranged. You know, right? Those unlikely situations where one wonders what is happening and why, yet one cannot look away.

Anyway. Returning to the topic in question, yes, the artificial intelligence of the inhabitants of Night City has been fixed but do not expect levels of interaction to the Red Dead Redemption 2 - also because this would mean returning to the issue of agency and how much the world remembers. of our actions, which is not the case in Cyberpunk 2077. If nothing else, the NPCs now act with a semblance of logic. At least as long as I'm on foot. As soon as they get into the car they seem to lose any interactive ambition and it has happened to find vehicles planted in the middle of the road for no apparent reason, or to be run over as if we did not even exist for the drivers. Well but not very well, therefore, even if a lance in favor of driving in general must be broken: thanks to greater stability of performance, taking a tour of Night City aboard our racing car has become much more enjoyable thanks to sharply dropped frames. lower.

Cyberpunk 2077: every now and then a sightseeing tour of the city is good. Seamlessly we have moved on to the still painful notes of production and how not to put our beloved police forces at the top of the list. The agents, who have become one of the leading memes on the game over the months, unfortunately continue to be a sore point. Okay, now they don't show up behind you immediately after committing any crime, however the long-awaited improvements to this particular mechanic have been solved by simply extending the spawn time: count about twenty seconds and, if you are lucky enough to look in the right direction, you may notice them appearing out of nowhere down the street ready to hunt you down. Better than before? Undeniable. Better overall? Definitely not and we hope this solution is only temporary pending a better law enforcement implementation.

Pop-up issues still haunt the general experience. Expect to see people and cars appear or disappear, as the case may be, by rotating the camera from corner to corner. Needless to say, how often this disrupts immersion once again considering how often it happens. There is still a lot to do, too, when it comes to textures. For this reason, at least with regard to PS5, you will have to focus everything on the next-gen patch while as regards the PS4 versions it would be legitimate to hope in the small general improvements provided by the roadmap. Last but not least, there is the problem of loading times: they seemed worse and, in any case, still too long especially after being killed. We counted between fifteen and twenty seconds, sometimes even more.

Summing up, patch 1.2 brings significant improvements - even if only being able to play without crashing - but there is still a long way to go to do. Considering the conditions on the console at launch, if nothing else, the feeling of being in your hands is a different game: performance has improved, the NPCs are less plastered and inanimate, the missions as far as we have gone have never been. buggy and in general there have been a lot of tweaks that make the experience enjoyable. We didn't play from start to finish, so we can't assure you that there will be no problems over the course of an entire match. If time and above all the players are lenient with CD Projekt Red, the consoles will be able to have the version they deserved from the beginning. The next feedback, if all goes smoothly, we will have it with the next gen patch at the end of the year.

Have you noticed any errors?