I Completed Phantom Liberty - Spoiler Free Review

So I've completed Phantom Liberty. That's right  Chooms several days ago I was lucky enough to be given a review code for the cyberpunk expansion  and update 2.0 I've had time to play through the new story dive head first into the various  mechanical changes like weapons cyberware perks cars and more and just generally experience the  tremendous bulk of what's on offer and oh my god do we have a lot to talk about spoiler free of  course so with that said let's run through my impressions of the S

py thriller story that is  Phantom Liberty after which I'll be breaking down the biggest changes of update 2.0 now as  someone who's already broken down the mechanics of the old game in way too much detail believe  me when I say this is basically a remake with how much has changed most of which is awesome but  personally there's a couple things that I will miss still we'll get to that in a bit first a bit  on my impressions of the expansion which if you haven't already you can pick up a DRM free

copy of  on GOG via my link in the description after you're done here it's a great way to support the channel  at no extra cost you you and now let's get to it so as you probably already know Phantom Liberty  at its core is a spy Thriller expansion from start to finish V feels like the unwitting protagonist  caught up in a high stakes but also very personal tale we'll meet characters like Idris Elba's  Solomon Reed NUSA president Rosalind Myers Colonel Kurt Hansen and most importantly So Mi  AK

A Songbird who'll kick this whole thing off by giving us a call at the 11th hour and sending us  into Dogtown all on the promise that she has the ability to save V's life so begins Phantom  Liberty cue adrenaline pumping action sequences powerful new gadgets and gizmos and a quirky one  liner here or there that said the expansion is not heart-stopping action the whole time nor should  it be some of the high points in this storyline for me in fact don't feature action at all and  focus a lot more

on character interactions than shooting your way out of a situation cdpr's  ability to tell a great story has always been one of their strongest strengths and I think the  balance between action and story here lands pretty much just around right switching from one to the  other often enough to hold my absolute attention and emotional investment that said the main story  doesn't have to be a Non-Stop ride all the way through with plenty of opportunities between main  missions to go off and exper

ience Dogtown as well as the new side quests and gigs on offer most of  these are fresh stories in their own right though some do have nice little nods to events from the  base game we'll Circle back to them in a minute first though let's talk about how Phantom Liberty's  storyline compares to that of the base game for starters it's a lot more focused and linear  for the most part whilst the main story had you going off completing multiple main quests at  your leisure with multiple plot threads

storylines and friendships to complete which eventually  culminate with your fateful visit to Embers the main quest line of phantom Liberty occurs  pretty sequentially that said your choices can of course affect how future Missions play out and  most situations can be resolved in multiple ways this becomes more apparent towards the end of the  story which without spoiling anything let's just say you're gonna have to play Phantom Liberty  more than once to experience everything and by that I don'

t mean just a slightly different  outcome or slightly varying dialogue at the very end no there are choices in this which can  send you down wildly opposing Paths different characters locations hell a fundamentally  different experience in places seriously in a way it's got more variation than the endings  for the base game which is saying a lot oh and on that topic I can confirm that Phantom Liberty  also provides a new ending to the base game I will say nothing more than that but it's in there

  and I'll do a breakdown comparing it to the other endings in several weeks time probably now one of  phantom Liberty's strongest elements is without a doubt the new characters that it introduces and  the lore which gets expanded upon as a result to summarize briefly then we have Songbird or So Mi a talented FIA Netrunner who could probably rival spider Murphy in terms of skill and seems the  only one aside from Alt of course who can exert any kind of power over the Relic she's probably  the he

art of this expansion with your developing relationship to her playing an utterly crucial  role in the events to unfold next to So Mi is Rosalind Myers president of the nusa and former  CEO of militech our encounter with whom sets in motion all of the events to come thereafter she's  not only a great lens with which we compare life in the nusa to that of NC but she's also an  interesting and multi-layered character in her own right thrown into a situation where she  has the opposite of total con

trol and the plane crash rescue which has been heavily featured in  trailers for months now now that I think back is a real highlight which kicks off this expansion with  a bang and if you want my advice I'd say it's a moment definitely worth savoring however much you  want to get into the rest of the story just don't rush that part take your time read the shards  and emails lying around and explore all the extra dialogue with Rosalind because she is a character  with some of the most unique ins

ights with being the president and all that you'll get to meet Oh  and before I forget Phantom Liberty also expands slightly on our collection of tarot cards and  much like the base game where we find them and their explanations can serve as insights or even  warnings in relation to characters or events to come I did an explanation video for all the ones  in the base game and I will be doing another for the ones in Phantom liberty another character  who's been expanded upon and changed hugely fr

om the base game though is Pacifica's fixer Mr  hands The Faceless Enigma who gets us contact with the voodoo boys and provides just one gig in the  base game but no more Hands has a very big role to play in Phantom Liberty whilst Dogtown is run  by Colonel Hansen serving almost as a military mayor of sorts Hands then is dogtown's equivalent  of Rogue a fixer of great means whose nickname may derive from just how many cookie jars he  has his hands in he's a crucial presence during our time in Do

gtown with not just more gigs but  also other aid from time to time and it's clear when coming across him in the game that he's been  more or less redesigned from the ground up with a different costume different appearance if you  ever did the glitch to see him in the old game and even a new voice actor Pacifica never felt like  a completed District before with Mr hands being a big part of that problem fortunately now though it  is a problem no more but most notably of course is Idris elba's Sol

omon read and I think it's clear  now why they chose to cast such a well-known actor for the role aside from the obvious thing that  stars generate interest Solomon Reed is a guy with presents and not the type you get for Christmas  I'm talking stage presence much less volatile than Keanu Reeves as Johnny silverhand with much more  of a stoic charm which directly Rivals Johnny's philosophy of screw the system much like So Mi your  relationship with Solomon is going to be a crucial aspect to Phan

tom Liberty so pay careful attention  when you're making decisions which involve him as the character you probably spend the most time  with in the expansion putting another a-lister in the role was in my opinion a good but no doubt  very expensive Choice speaking of which though cdpr did say a while back that this is their most  expensive expansion ever which truly after sinking over 60 hours into it I can really see why the  production quality of this thing is insane and it really feels like t

hey've spared no expense  in any corner with gorgeously designed locations multiple returning voice actors as well as plenty  of new ones not to mention the insanely good theme song and title sequence which Rivals the likes of  Skyfall and no time to die seriously Dawid Posiadlo is absolutely right when he says you're gonna  [ __ ] cry afterwards you'll probably play it on repeat because it's a really good song overall  whilst I have a couple bones to pick with the 2.0 element or rather I don't

yet know how I feel  about all of those changes Phantom Liberty itself is one of the best freaking stories I have ever  played in a video game and bear in mind I'm not sponsored to say this in any way I received  Early Access with no expectation to do anything it just is my genuine opinion I don't want to talk  much more about the main story I think everyone should experience that for themselves but before  moving on here's a couple notes of advice for you one make plenty of hard saves as you go

through so  that you you can go back and see how other choices would have turned out and two take your time with  it don't rush the main story and use the natural break points to go off and experience some of the  side content it not only gives the Spy Thriller elements time to breathe but it means you can  cross off most of the side quests too by the time you reach the end of the main one three  then and this isn't something I did because I wanted this review made for today but start again  fr

om the beginning I mean literally the beginning of cyberpunk 2077 jumping into Phantom Liberty  amidst the Myriad of changes to the base game was disorienting to say the least and whilst grasping  the new systems during Phantom Liberty was still a fun experience don't get me wrong experiencing  those systems from the ground up by starting again is No Doubt a more fulfilling one luckily  you have five days starting tomorrow to get up to scratch with a 2.0 playthrough before Phantom  Liberty drops

plenty of time not for a full run but at least enough to speed your way through  to the end of the voodoo boy questline after which Phantom Liberty begins if you are doing it  that way though then make sure to complete all the relationship quest lines from the base game  preferably before you begin but definitely before you finish Phantom Liberty there's a couple  little reasons to do this not utterly crucial per se but you'll just have a better experience  trust me but vague discussion of stor

y elements aside let's get down to some of the new features  starting with the brand new District of Dogtown transforming the Eastern side of Pacifica into an  actual location finally dogtown feels way bigger than you'd expect serving as a densely packed  area utterly teeming with things to do it's so varied in fact that it's even categorized into  four different sub-districts of its own Longshore Stacks Luxor Heights Golden Pacific and Terra  cognita all of which capture a slightly different to

ne amidst this bizarre Wasteland-cum-Metropolis  seriously I've spent over 50 hours in here and still don't entirely know my way around with  things like different vertical levels and lots of buildings you can enter being used to break  the place up truly it feels so so different from anywhere else in night City and amidst that and  the mechanical changes I did sometimes find myself forgetting that I was still playing cyberpunk  in a good way like a more polished sequel or a remake which is kind

of essentially what this is  in addition to Pacifica itself the resident gang of the voodoo boys also gets a huge expansion  in here with enemies then comprised of vdbs Barghest militia and of course the ever-present  scavs who seem to seep their way into every dark corner like a festering mould no ncpd in Dogtown  though but if you commit a crime you'll instead get attacked by a specialist group of bargest  soldiers so it is a lawless town but actually not entirely Lawless apparently spoiling

nothing  about the nine new gigs on offer but I'm pleased to say I'd probably rank them all a or S tier  compared to those of the base game every single one is a mini story in its own right which can  last between 20 minutes up to an hour sometimes if you're like me and search tirelessly for  Clues and shards and every single little hidden detail additionally each of these have more of  an aftermath than the other gigs in the game with bonus Rewards or encounters which can be unlocked  afterward

s depending on your choices plus there's about 8 to 10 new side quests outside of the gigs  which sort of function in a similar way they're just not directly commissioned by Mr hands so  plenty of side content just there alone no new ncpd scanner hustles sadly the that does make sense  considering there's no ncpd in Dogtown however we do have events called increased criminal  activity which are basically big fights with lots of enemies I.E suspected organized crimes but  bigger than those in the

base game overall Dogtown is more than just another District of NC it's  basically a brand new city in and of itself not as vast and huge as Toussaint say but with probably  as much content packed into the smaller space once that's all done there's still the endless  events to turn to meaning there's never a shortage of chances to test out builds and equipment  in combat Dogtown features airdrops which continually land near you as you explore the city  with the sound effects and red smoke indic

ating one nearby of course this will mean fighting  off bargest and possibly Voodoo boys which can be relatively tough fights worth it though since  there's seriously good rewards at the end each drop usually comes with a carrying capacity Shard  increasing your capacity by two as well as item components skill shards and weapons character  skills have been expanded on from the base game and play a much more noticeable part now with  stat boosts and other Awards unlocking as you level them up cra

fting components will also be  crucial to keep in heavy Supply since crafting whilst simplified technically plays an expanded  role shall we say it's no longer intrinsically linked to the tech tree but weapons and cyberware  will both require upgrading to get the best out of your gear this again is why I recommend  a fresh run since whilst I found myself with incredibly high level gear when booting up my  level 50 save what I lacked was the ability to upgrade it to the maximum level whereas play

ing  from the Fresh Start should give you the time to acquire a proportionately balanced number of  crafting components as you go a good habit to get into in fact is to pick up and then disassemble  higher quality items from the world since that'll keep you ticking up with a fresh supply of  components as you switch out for more powerful gear which you want to level up to its maximum  next to airdrops then is Muamar El Capitan Reyes' new business venture hiring us to acquire cars off  the street

and deliver them to another location for a modest payment usually this will involve  fulfilling some sort of bonus objective which whilst not crucial to the mission success Nets  you a greater Ward getting it there within a time limit delivering undamaged and escaping pursuers  on the way are all ones which came up for me in fact the reward payout is similar to that which  we find in the airdrops I.E a crate of goodies but with an added bonus of a.) discount coupons on new  cars and B.) unlocki

ng new vehicles and I do mean Vehicles not from the base game on Reyes' website  Autofixer yes buying cars now is no longer a case of gallivanting about night City and picking  up the cars in person instead in this Modern Age of the new Net you simply point and click to  unlock said a vehicle as a new summon do I like this change I mean it's fine the cars still have  a story behind them in their website description and I guess it's more convenient than having  to drive to a specific place to get

the car I get why they've done it and since cars in  general are way more interesting now anyway acquiring a new one ASAP from any computer with  a Net Connection I think is probably a good move We'll Circle back round to new cars in a minute  because now it's time to break down all the big changes in just 2.0 and uh yeah we might be here  a while longer starting off with a nice simple UI change the phone now functions differently with  texts and contacts operating on separate tabs and texts ar

ranged by order of most recent it's just a  useful little quality of life update additionally Quest logs now feature relevant shards pertaining  to the quest in question so you can look back on extra key information without having to remember  it all also there's finally a reason to visit food vendors since many of them offer iconic items  which Grant small but permanent extra Buffs now as I already mentioned crafting now operates  entirely separate from Perks with all items available to craft a

t any time provided you have  the spec and the materials you don't need Edge Runner Artisan anymore which I think overall  is a good move since it paves the way for non-hacking builds to not have to have 18 Tech  in order to get some of the very best weapons instead focusing more on which combat moves are  going to be utilized and how powerful you want them to be perks are now divided into tiers  something you can test out right now with the link on my community tab to cdpr's build planner  with

15 attributes needed to unlock most of the things in a skill tree though you'll have to get  the full 20 if you want to have the most Ultra powerful creme de La Creme perks things such as  Edge Runner which gives you a major boost in the new cyberware capacity system now since Phantom  Liberty has increased the level cap to 60 it's now possible to attain a total of 81 attribute  points as far as I can tell we could in that case just do a balanced spec of 15 into everything  unlocking most abili

ties to be experienced and enjoyed indeed it is fully possible to experience  multiple builds in one playthrough this way with perks being individually refundable at any time  for no cost you just can't remove a perk earlier in the tree if you have dependables coming off of  it doing this I was able to switch out my stealth Netrunner build to a badass Sandevistan spy  build on a total whim however specking mostly into all of the attributes isn't necessarily the  best way to play as you'll never

get to experience some of the most powerful abilities on offer and  it may be worth picking a build and sticking to it to Max some stats whilst neglecting the abilities  of others though one tree I do think is utterly overpowered and now I can't live without it is  the air dashing skills from reflexes back in the base game I utilized the triple jump a lot  through a combination of Epic fortified ankles and the maneuvering system but this this is on  a whole nother level fully specking into air D

ash perks will allow you to get around night City  incredibly quickly not to mention moving around in combat with the speed of a sandevistan without  actually needing the sandevistan time just won't be slowed if I were to compare the feeling  of using this to another game I'd say it's kind of like a fully leveled cal Kestis in Jedi Survivor  who has a similar degree of maneuverability when navigating the world is it too overpowered it  would have been in the old game but 2.0 is a lot harder than

before and boss fights especially are  now pretty tough even with this capability without it actually I dread think and by the way briefly  I did replay the sun ending in 2.0 including the Smasher fight which I'm pleased to report is  both longer now and harder that's what she said with more stages to the fight as you  slowly Whittle away smashers health I'm presuming bosses like cyberpsychos have had a facelift as  well but I haven't got around to testing that yet overall with how much and how

quickly you dash  about the terrain with so many enemies loaded in at once it's seriously impressive how smooth the  game remains through this and I fully understand now just why the increased tech specs were so very  Hefty because honestly if this wasn't smooth it would be the worst thing ever yet I can run it in  path traced mode without so much as a hiccup and I think the fact I can do that two weeks before  the game even releases is Testament to how cdpr have indeed learned their lesson on

this this  ran incredibly smooth for me across the board and honestly Color Me impressed that's better  than games I've played on their actual release overall though daunting as these new perk trees  may seem they're actually remarkably simple to understand with each attribute having three main  focuses denoted by the three trees in each body focuses on heavy weapons like shotguns hmgs  and lmgs with things like reduced recoil and increased obliteration then this middle node  focuses on health r

egen and damage mitigation with the third helping you utilize the power  of blunt weapons such as a hammer or Sir John Phallustiff all in all what you need to become a  Berserker reflex then focuses on the mid-range ARs and SMGs air Dash as I mentioned and finally  longer blades like katanas as well as now Gwynbleidd white wolf which looks exactly like  its Witcher counterpart and it's very cool with these you can then block and defend bullets  as well as perform cool finishers onto Tech then an

d that's more about the items with boosts to  grenades and heals on the left which Now work on a cooldown rather than unlimited spam making the  game tougher but also more balanced in the middle are boosts to cyberware and on the right increased  proficiency with tech weapons intelligence then as before revolves around quickhacking and  RAM recovery with now kind of understandably the addition of smart guns whilst finally cool  is still mostly stealth based with a node on sneak sprinting and ano

ther on throwing knives but  also a third on pistols and revolvers for you know cool Cowboy Gunslinger builds Cold Blood  which was a big part of the cool tree before is now gone which I know some people might not be  happy about though elements of that ability have been redistributed into various other places  most notably the adrenaline rush ability from the body section I'll explore all of this  in more detail of course in future videos but for now after you're done here go check it  out for

yourself in the build planner now let's take a look at changes to cyberware and this  is probably where you're gonna see the most dramatic radical alterations and where I imagine  many people may very well not be entirely happy okay let's start things off here with the  undeniably good the new menu for starters shows where on your body the cyberware is going  to be installed and is defo a cool facelift what's more when exiting a Ripper's menu you'll actually  get up from the operating table addi

ng Just A Pinch more immersion to things now I gotta say  overall cyberware now is an expansion on what was available before and I cannot wait to make videos  on it all with Legs for example we have the new option to forego our extra jumps with instead a  piece of cyberware that lets us run faster a very welcome addition to that family of cyberware and  there are entries like this all across the board there's now a range of kiroshi Optics to choose  from specializing in scanning people cameras o

r landlines whilst there's also the option to trade  out a sandevistan cyberdeck or berserk for an item to increase cyberware capacity instead  becoming stronger in place of a special ability but and this isn't necessarily a bad thing  I'm still on the fence with this I'll form my full opinion after I've produced some dedicated  videos but the way some things work work now is completely different case in point sandevistans no longer are we going to be running around with a two second cooldown on

the QianT mark IV in fact  we're not going to be running around with the QianT mark IV ever again it's gone along with the  names of some other pieces of equipments in place of what I can only describe as a more streamlined  approach tiers have common through to Legendary are no longer all permanently available at various  rippers across the entire game with the tier of available cyberware in question instead leveling  up alongside you so with a level one character everything you can purchase w

ill be common and  with a level 50 character a visit to the clinic results in a list of full tier 5 items with that  orange coloring with ones that don't have a lower tier counterpart full-on unlocking as you get to  higher levels so in a nice way you will be seeing more stuff appear overall as you go through the  game from what I can tell it seems you can buy anything from any ripper now which I guess removes  say that contentious issue of punching fingers but also also makes it less of a treas

ure hunt  to find specific bits of gear don't fully quote me on this but it certainly feels like at level 50  we can buy any item from any Ripper at least when I was searching around and yes whilst the QianT  mark IV will sadly be mourned it does get a decent replacement less of an endless sandevistan  though and more of one that you're free to toggle on and off at will with a depleting meter  that recharges when not in use as usual some Sandevistans Slow Time less and offer other bonuses  too w

hilst others are all in on heavy time slowing capabilities I'll cover them all in another  dedicated video now my main problem here lies not in the fact that they're rebalancing systems  per se I fully think that this is a much better game than before and I'm seriously seriously  loving it my issue is in how these radical changes fully overwrite the old game it feels somewhat  more like a sequel sometimes which would be fine if not for the fact that what it actually is is  a full-on replacement

of what came before and I do believe that a handful of people are gonna wake  up to find their favorite way to play is no longer viable and on top of that pretty much every build  tutorial is gonna be made obsolete it's certainly an exciting prospect first and foremost to see  what crazy new stuff people are going to come up with but aside from that I really can't help but  mourn a little for what we've lost epic fortified ankles for example aka the hoverlegs gone replaced  with something better

of course the air Dash but still sad to see it go what's more modding  cyberware with specific extra capabilities has been replaced by simply upgrading it sure we  can still find perks which maybe enhance certain bits of cyberware but that's not the same as  slapping say three legendary heat sinks on a QianT mark IV we can still reduce sandevistan cooldown by the way by upgrading it but ultimately I think mods provided more of a range of boosts  than the one size fits-all Improvement that is ju

st upgrading it look my point here is that yes  whilst the devs may have looked at some things and gone actually that doesn't work as well as we  thought let's scrap it the problem lies in that every time you do that It ultimately changes the  entire game forever a little bit doing that on a scale such as this then and you have completely  changed the game's identity improving it yes but killing the old one funnily enough I can't help  but liken this to what happens with v and soul killer in the

base game though I guess sometimes  in order to save something you first have to kill it and regardless of the positives which may come  from that part of your original identity will be gone with the new you serving as a convincing  often Superior copy but with parts of who they were before now gone for good never coming back  anyway with these slightly more negative rounds out the way here's some good news about berserk  it's actually really good now for anyone looking to use a melee based bui

ld sending you into a rage  mode of sorts where you can't die but can only use melee weapons superhero Landing is still a thing  but not for every model and thankfully is manually activated now in fact that's what you can see here  in the new ways to play trailer as for cyberdecks they've probably been the OS least touched by this  update and looking at how they function I think they've actually done a really cool thing here  with six base models maybe more all of which lean into a different spe

cialization the tetratronic  rippler for example provides bonuses when you use different types of quickhacks together and with  weapons whereas the Netwatch netdriver now is fully specialized for hacking devices offering  bonuses when hacking enemies through cameras and such whilst The Raven microcyber is perfect for  contagion say since it has boosts to its spread quick hacks themselves then seem fairly similar  to before though maybe with one or two tweaks to stats as for us getting hacked by

enemies now  yes netrunners are much more threatening and will utilize a much larger range of quickhacks on  us things like weapon glitch reboot Optics and short circuit all spring to mind overall then  while cyberware has been one of the most major things to change in the base game I reckon it  may wind up being one of the most controversial especially to people who've got comfortable  doing things a certain way in the old game but now for a change that I really love or rather  several changes

which all kind of lean into one another cars vehicle combat and police for  starters small thing you may find some cars sound a little different the caliburn for example  I noticed has a lot more power behind its engine whilst the starter car and The Nomad prologue you  can now hear V's modification and it doesn't sound healthy but bigger than that some cars from  the base game now come equipped with guns for example the shion coyote which I rated the number  two best car in the game we'll see i

f that holds up when compared to some of the new cars though  being able to Blitz through roadblocks with James Bond style front mounted Gatling guns is certainly  a fun improvement though that said sometimes it is just better and more precise to shoot with your  own gun through the window you can point whichever way you want then and don't have to maneuver the  car to be facing the enemy again vehicle changes are probably something best experienced in a  new playthrough of the base game Dogtown

isn't really somewhere unique need nor would want to  drive in and getting into long high speed car chases is something best done on more open road  combat mode is activated by pressing alt on a keyboards to bring up the Crosshair which will  remove access to things like the radio so driving basically has two modes now it's essentially GTA  combat punctured tires will be highlighted with little red text flashing up saying punctured and  whilst it would feel like you could just drive away from h

airy situations if you're in a hurry  other vehicles are actually remarkably tenacious at keeping up with you now and I remember a few  times getting shot at only to turn around and find a bike literally behind me forcing me to  slow down stop focusing on the road ahead and shoot the crap out of them it definitely makes  the roads of night City feel a lot more alive than before improving and changing the driving  element of this game forever rest assured then I will have a breakdown and ranking

on all the  new vehicles coming in the next month hopefully if I can manage that anyway that's all of the  major points I think you need to know it's not everything else this video would be about five  hours long but it is a still rather long summary of My overall Impressions but there are definitely  way more things I am absolutely dying to discuss with you in the coming weeks including a rather  unassuming new discovery I made which when brought to light is going to turn absolutely everyone in

to  the Charlie meme from always sunny and possibly break the internet so make sure to subscribe to  find out exactly what I'm referring to seriously it's big I am so stoked to share more with you  about Phantom Liberty in the coming weeks and there are so many videos for me to make and remake  for you guys as always thanks again to my amazing patrons for your support especially in times  where I'm pretty much too busy to make videos because I'm just playing the games like recently  fortunately

now that time is over so prepare for a tidal wave of cyberpunk content along with  a smattering of Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3 over the coming weeks slash months slash years  because to be honest that's how long it's going to take me to make everything I want to make don't  forget if you haven't already and are planning to to pick up Phantom Liberty through my link  down below as it helps out a ton and keeps me Juiced up on caffeine and NiCola whilst I produce  these videos thanks so much for

watching I'm Sam Bram and I'll see you soon in another video  where nothing will ever be the same again