Stop telling me to start games from the beginning

We have done it, folks! Cyberpunk 2077 has finally become the game it was meant to be. It takes us on a magnificent adventure, showcasing impressively what the next generation consoles are capable of. And it only took approximately three years since the release of these consoles. That's not too shabby, is it? If you were to ask me for the precise duration of the game's development, I would say, "Oh, around one thousand days after the full version?" That seems like a reasonable timeframe, wouldn't you agree?

Perhaps I am being slightly unfair. There were earlier updates for Cyberpunk 2077 that eliminated a plethora of bugs and graphical glitches while simultaneously refining the, honestly quite magnificent, gaming experience. Despite its numerous flaws at the time of release, its fair share of issues in the months that followed, and its few remaining imperfections three years later, Cyberpunk 2077 is a good game. It has joined the ranks of No Man's Sky and Final Fantasy 14 in the realm of "You should no longer be angry with us because we have truly fixed things, we have, we have!"

What CD Projekt Red has accomplished with Cyberpunk 2077 is truly admirable. It feels like an entirely new game. However, here's the thing, and this is a minor point. For heaven's sake, please stop incessantly urging me to start games from the beginning. Goodness gracious. Is your father Time itself? Do you ever have anywhere to be? Restarting a game? In this economic climate?

Listen, I get it. Cyberpunk 2077 has a lot of new content. Some of the old content has been improved as a result. I completely understand where you're coming from. However, on the other hand, I've spent dozens of hours in the previous version of the game. I already have a character there who has experienced many stories. She has found friends. She has made enemies. She has accidentally crashed a motorcycle into a wall and soared over a beach.

That has taken many hours and a great deal of effort. And you know what? This is already the second time everyone is telling me to start this cursed game from the beginning!

When the first wave of patches was released, people around the world proclaimed that this was the right moment to start the game from scratch. Oh, you already had a character? Well, discard them. They are worthless. All the new adjustments and enhancements make this time the perfect opportunity to create a new persona and roam through Night City. Finally, the ultimate gaming experience awaits!

So I did it. I'm now on my second character. And I won't swap them again. I'm exhausted, folks. I love this game, but I don't have the energy to go through the Konpeki Plaza heist once more. It's a lengthy mission. Besides, I don't want to create another character and then agonize over whether to make the same choices as before to experience the story as it was, or make entirely different decisions so I never find out what would have happened to my old version of V. I don't want to undertake another eight hundred rescue missions just to improve my skills for future rescue missions.

Please stop it already. I know it's in good faith. I know you mean well. But not all of us have hundreds of hours to invest in experiencing the same thing over and over until a company gets it right. Sure, for some people, that's incredibly exciting! Some people enjoy replaying open-world games and dedicating thousands of hours to immersive worlds like Assassin's Creed or Grand Theft Auto. I am not one of those people. You would think I would be, considering I have no family or close friends, but here we are.

It's not just about liking my version of V, although that is the case. It's more about not wanting to start everything from scratch just to have the "full" experience that I should have had three years ago at the full price when this game launched. I acknowledge that I don't have to do it! No one is forcing me to restart a character. And I won't! Boy/girl, I've already loaded up my old saves, reallocated skill points, and got myself patched up by the Ripperdoc. I won't lose 35 hours because of a patch and DLCs.

Would I have a better time if I actually created a new character? Who knows! I'd probably have a better grasp of what's going on. In the past two hours of gameplay, I've been slowly scrolling through my journal to give my dumb self a summary of the events in Night City. So, I acknowledge the benefits of starting fresh. It must be great to get the full experience if you've never played the game before. But I have. I've created new characters too many times. I've had enough of making new characters. I don't want to make any more.

What is frustrating is the fact that "create a new character" is not an unreasonable suggestion. Nobody intends to be an asshole when they propose it. It's players, media, and companies saying, "It's so much better now, and you should see it all!" But when a game is released, it's the early adopters who invest their time to appreciate what the developers have created. They are the most enthusiastic and loyal individuals who spend hours playing. When you tell these people to start from scratch, you're essentially telling them that their game has been a waste of time until now. What they've done before? Meaningless. Start over. And it's their fault for trusting you from the beginning.

We all know that one should be cautious when it comes to game releases and promises. We all know that game companies release unfinished products under extreme timelines set by financial executives. But it's deeply frustrating when you're expected to restart your own gaming experience every time a developer makes changes to something you already own. I'm not talking about bug fixes. I'm not saying, "It's annoying that the game now works better than before." We know that. But the notion that the player is the one who made a mistake by having enough trust in you to delve deep into a game is somehow insulting.

Not to mention that players pay $60 for a video game when it's released. Or $70 for the extended version. Or $250 for the deluxe edition that comes with an embarrassing statue that prevents you from ever having sex again. I'm by no means the first person to say this, but demanding the full price and then repeatedly telling fans, "Now it works, wait, no, now it works, wait, now it finally works," is lousy. I shouldn't have to restart the game three times just to give developers the satisfaction of finally doing the right thing after a third of a decade has passed since its release.

Cyberpunk 2077 is truly amazing by now. And if you've never played it before, I would say that this is the time when it has reached its peak. But I won't turn my game upside down. I won't create another new V, only to be told in three months that I should replace them when the final, final, final update for the game comes out. Maybe that's shooting myself in the foot, and I won't get to enjoy the full gaming experience that I personally paid for. Or maybe I just know that if I have to hear Jackie talk about dying as a legend one more time, I'll turn off Cyberpunk 2077 and never play a video game again.

Anyway, let me know if Starfield adds maps and if, for some reason, I need to come up with a new astronaut.