When Cyberpunk 2077 first arrived in December 2020, Night City was less a breathtaking metropolis and more a digital haunted house where every corner could trigger a new fright. The game's ambitious vision was drowned under waves of bugs, visual glitches, and NPC behavior that seemed designed by malfunctioning toasters. Fast-forward to 2026, and the conversation around CD Projekt Red's sci-fi epic has changed dramatically. A seven-minute side-by-side comparison video, shared by a player in the community, shows the jaw-dropping difference between the original launch state and the game after Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion.
Could a title once synonymous with broken promises actually become a comeback story? The footage says yes, and it does so with the confidence of a max-level V strolling through Afterlife.
The comparison covers more than just prettier puddles. At launch, character animations often made conversations look like a bad puppet show. NPC intelligence was so limited that citizens of Night City seemed to have a single brain cell they passed around slowly. Environmental details could pop in and out like they were shy. After the updates, the city feels denser, more reactive, and far closer to the role-playing fantasy originally promised.
A quick look at the glow-up:
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🎭 Character animations and facial expressions finally match the dialogue drama.
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🧠 NPC behavior and crowd reactions no longer suggest a citywide memory loss epidemic.
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🌆 Environmental detail and lighting create the moody, rain-slicked atmosphere fans expected.
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🏍️ Combat flexibility improved, including the ability to shoot while riding a motorcycle, a feature that somehow did not exist at launch.
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🛠️ Stability and general performance received major attention, making play sessions less of a lottery.
The table below captures the mood:
| Area | 2020 Launch Condition | Post-Update 2.0 / Phantom Liberty |
|---|---|---|
| Visual polish | Frequent glitches, pop-in | Sharper, more consistent Night City |
| NPC behavior | Erratic and immersion-breaking | More believable routines and reactions |
| Combat options | Limited in vehicles | Vehicle combat and drive-by shooting |
| Performance | Poor on many systems | Smoother with hotfixes and patches |
| Overall feel | Ambitious but broken | Confident and immersive |
The update also fixed something that seemed like a bizarre oversight: V could not shoot while riding a motorcycle when the game launched. Let that sink in. In a city full of cyber-enhanced mercenaries, gang shootouts, and high-speed chases, the protagonist apparently needed a driving instructor before shooting from a bike. That small but symbolic change shows how CD Projekt Red listened to feedback, even when the feedback was essentially, 'Why can't I do the cool thing?'
Of course, the comparison video does not claim perfection. A few minor wrinkles still linger, like a street vendor who occasionally phases through a wall or a side quest that forgets its own mission marker. But the overall trajectory is clear: this is not the same game that stumbled out of the gate in 2020.
CD Projekt Red spent almost three years issuing major updates, hotfixes, and eventually the Phantom Liberty DLC alongside Update 2.0. The studio's dedication has turned a cautionary tale into a case study in post-launch redemption. Does that excuse the original state? Not entirely, and no amount of neon polish can erase the frustration many early players felt. Still, the work deserves recognition because it proves that developers can rebuild trust through sustained effort rather than marketing speeches.
Since Phantom Liberty launched on September 26, 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, Cyberpunk 2077 has enjoyed a much healthier reputation. Players who abandoned Night City years ago may now find themselves lured back by the improved visuals, smarter systems, and the simple joy of firing a pistol from a motorcycle while rain streaks across the windshield.
If there is a lesson here, it is that redemption is possible when a studio actually commits to the fix. Night City still has its share of shadows, but in 2026, those shadows look intentional rather than accidental.