Cyberpunk 2077 is performing much better than it once did back in 2020. With smaller patches and DLC packages, the game slowly took form with CD Projekt Red's dedication to improving the game to become something beyond what it ended up shipping as. With the release up update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty, the game has never played better, with an entire standalone expansion full of content to go with it.

Cyberpunk 2077 and its story is a rare cautionary tale about video game development where things turned out just fine in the end. Thanks to patches and updates, these "redemption arcs" of sorts for games are much more common these days, which is great for developers and players. Instead of trying to continue to improve the game as much as possible, CDPR is closing the curtain on CP2077 to work on a sequel that already seems in good hands.

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What Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Delivers On

While some games that start off with terrible launches fix themselves and move on typically, CD Projekt Red stuck it out in order to send it off with a sizable bang with the Phantom Liberty expansion. While many of the technical problems were already fixed with the 2.0 update that came out leading up to Phantom Liberty's release, the DLC added hours upon hours of content for a story that carried an entirely different tone compared to the base game.

Not only is it rather incredible to have both sets of content drop back to back, improving the base game and inviting players back with more to do, but the story found in Phantom Liberty is personal, gripping, and full of exciting twists and turns until the very end. In interviews, the director of the DLC expansion, Gabe Amatangelo, said that Phantom Liberty was a prime example of CD Projekt Red's passion for making great games, and it certainly shows. For this reason, fans should be delighted to know that Amatangelo is returning to direct the sequel.

The Bright Future for CD Projekt Red's Project Orion

Sadly, while Cyberpunk 2077's launch was rather tremulous, it isn't exactly a trade secret that it had a difficult development cycle, either. Numerous members of CD Projekt Red left the company during its four-year development cycle, including four different directors, with the person who finally put CP2077 on shelves leaving soon after. As a result, Gabe Amatangelo was eventually put in the game director's chair. With his help, Cyberpunk 2077 eventually rose from the ashes to become the worthwhile action RPG gamers know it as today.

Amatangelo was naturally the director who oversaw the incredible 2.0 update, but his role also meant that he oversaw Phantom Liberty in its full development cycle. This means that everything fans liked about the expansion such as the espionage elements found within it, or everything fans didn't entirely like such as the sudden changes to Mr. Hands, were approved and worked into the DLC under him. As many players seem to be satisfied with the dual updates to Cyberpunk 2077, the fact that Amatangelo is spearheading Project Orion, CP2077's sequel, only spells good news.

While there are many names, people, hands, and minds that go into creating a large open-world video game like Cyberpunk 2077, it's ultimately the director who serves as one of the bigger final say on what goes into it, and they do their part to make sure the game works as expected. With Amatangelo's track record with what he's accomplished with CP2077, it's likely that the first thing on his priority list with Project Orion is to make sure history doesn't repeat, and it instead serves as a lesson learned going forward.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.

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