I finished Cyberpunk 2077 on the Nintendo Switch 2, now what?

Purchasing Cyberpunk 2077 was never on my mind. Because who would want to play anything apart from Mario Kart World on release?

The continuation of a franchise, that is the definition of fun.

But I wanted something more, something that would test Nintendo’s new hardware and push it to its limits. And after glancing over the third-party games available on release, I settled on Cyberpunk 2077 because it reminded me a lot of Deus Ex.

Youtube Video:

A Mesmerizing First Look

After booting it up in handheld mode and playing it for a couple of hours, I was hooked and completely mesmerized by the cyberpunk aesthetic of Night City.

It has an interesting mix of eastern and western culture, with tons of neon lights everywhere that really stand out in the evening. With the help of the Nintendo Switch’s 2 HDR, they really pop out and result in a visual experience that is difficult to look away from. And urged me to keep exploring. And there is a lot to explore.

If you take your time in this futuristic city, you will find things you’d never dream of.

• Ripper doctors, capable of upgrading your body with cyberware. Mechanical enhancements that can do everything from improving your mobility to granting night vision or turning your arms into lethal weapons.
• Strip clubs, where dancers are chromed from head to toe and shine under the disco lights.
• Brain Dances that can be jacked into allowing you to enter a recorded experience of someone else.
• A taxi service that is run entirely by an AI, which I weirdly got attached to.

And any time you decide to explore any of these places, you never know what you’ll get yourself into. Maybe it’s just a shady bar. Or the next gig that will echo your name through Night City.

Who Are You?

So, who are you in Night City?

You play as V, and you can be many things depending on your choices, starting with your LifePath, or background.

• You can choose to be a Corpo who got burned by its own company.
• A nomad that ditched his clan and is trying his luck in Night City
• Or a StreetKid, who knows Night City like the back of his hand.

Any of these won’t have a major effect on how you experience Cyberpunk 2077, but they all offer a different prologue section. Moreover, throughout the game, you’ll have several dialogue options specific to the life path you picked.

For progression, your background doesn’t matter much, and either way you’ll always end up in the same spot.

The Heist and the Relic

Taking on a heist to steal “The Relic” from Arasaka. The biggest and most influential megacorp in the entire world. A corporation so powerful it could start a world war if it desired.

But of course, nothing goes to plan, and you are forced to store the relic inside of you along with a bullet. Miraculously you wake up alive, with a major catch.

You now have Johnny Silverhand inside your head. A former rockstar from 50 years ago with a deep grudge against Arasaka. You’ll also find out that he’s not here to just make your life miserable at every moment possible; he’s here to replace you and take your body.

You are now racing against time to get rid of the relic and Johnny. Which is easier said than done because you both don’t see eye to eye. Any decision you make, he will be there criticizing you, and he’s not shy in saying how badly you screwed up.

As time goes on, you’ll get to know each other better. Eventually, you’ll get to explore Johnny’s convictions, which will explain why he hates Arasaka so much. Eventually, you’ll even take on specific side gigs related to Johnny that should be part of the main story due to how character-defining they are, and you should definitely look forward to the moment you can take them.

Exploring Night City

But this is just the main story; in this open world, there’s a lot to discover in the streets.

Night City is separated into different districts, each with different flavors.

Such are the examples of Japantown and Pacifica, two of my favorite districts.

As the name indicates, Japantown exudes Japanese culture, and you see its influence while walking around. From neon-lit sushi joints and noodle bars to Yakuza-run nightclubs and brothels. It’s vibrant, noisy, and electric.

In contrast, traveling to the southern point of the city, you’ll enter Pacifica, a district with an entirely different vibe. Being a place that seems forgotten, with dilapidated buildings, poverty, and criminal gangs like the Voodoo Boys running the show.

Despite the stark difference, these districts share one thing: there’s always work to be done.

Gigs, Fixers, and Side Hustles

Each district has a Fixer with plenty of side Gigs for you to take if you look around or wait for your phone to ring.

Gigs can range from target assassination to robbery, hunting CyberPhsycos, or even helping an AI taxi with family issues. Which I hoped was an actual system in-game to drive me around when I needed to. Driving in Cyberpunk is rough; there’s no analog control in the bumpers. If you press ZR to accelerate, you’ll always go full speed. As time went on, I got used to it, but it’s a shame there isn’t a button I could press to maintain speed, for example.

There’s a lot of freedom in how you tackle a Gig since, as mentioned previously, you decide what V will become.

Completing Gigs will earn you EXP to level up, and when you do, you receive attribute and perk points to spend in your skill tree.

Building Your V

You have access to an extensive skill tree that allows for several types of builds.

While exploring it, I saw it was possible to Air Dash, and I instinctively went all in with the Reflexes branch. Then I spent a few more points on Body and various Blade-related skills, and my path was set. I was an almost unstoppable close-range killing machine, air dashing to my opponents and hitting finishers left and right.

But I could’ve gone an entirely different path! I could’ve invested all my points in technical ability and intelligence and become a pro NetRunner capable of shutting down any foe from a safe distance.

Or I could say, screw all of this and use my guns to shoot my way through each obstacle.

I did play like this for a while so I could test the new Joycon Mouse functionality, but unfortunately, it didn’t match my expectations.

While the camera movement functioned properly alongside the shooting triggers, the face buttons were left awkwardly placed. Especially the Y button, which is used a lot in Cyberpunk 2077. In my opinion, swapping the right face buttons to the left arrow buttons of the blue Joy-Con would be an improvement.

An official Joycon Mouse would also be amazing to have, but until then we have to content with third-party ones:

It wouldn’t fix the terrible ergonomics, though; after a 1-hour session I had to stop playing because my right hand was cramping all over.

Fortunately, there’s freedom in how you control your game, and you can avoid the mouse feature entirely, although I can respect its vision.

A Game of Choices

Choice and freedom are the most powerful mechanics in Cyberpunk 2077, pushing you to play the game several times to see all possible outcomes.

When replaying, you might discover choices hidden behind high-stakes action moments that you didn’t notice the first time because you were too immersed.

The story has a ton of impactful moments and is a blast to go through, but if you just focus on the Main Gigs, your adventure will be cut short, taking you between 15 and 20 hours to complete.

Phantom of Liberty DLC

Luckily, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Cyberpunk includes the Phantom of Liberty DLC, with more story content to digest. After a couple of hours, I could confidently say this was my favorite part of the entire game.

From start to finish, you can feel the weight of your decisions; more than once I saw myself staring at the screen for countless times, not because I didn’t know what to pick, but because I did.

The action sequences, especially by the end, were phenomenal, but there were also many slow moments that allowed for character growth. The espionage missions with Reed while exploring the complicated relation between him and Songbird were definitely the highlight of the entire game for me.

However, there’s a major problem with Phantom of Liberty. Unlike the main game, the performance can be abysmal, so I urge you to play it in performance mode while in mode.

For most of the game, you won’t have any issues, and you’ll be able to explore Night City with no hiccups or major bugs that could potentially hinder your enjoyment.

Night City is there for you to make your own story, and I had a blast in my first 50-hour playthrough.

So… What Now?

But returning to my initial question, what now? What do you do after reach the end of such a great game?

Although I know there’s a lot of content to tackle, I’ve decided to wait before I do. This game took me on an emotional ride, and I need time to process it. For now, I want to keep it sealed inside a bubble I know I can pop one day once I’m finally ready to create a New V who will tell a different story.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be seeing you next time with brand new content, and please go play Cyberpunk 2077 on the Nintendo Switch 2, it’s amazing.

---