One can’t say that it’s an understatement as to how pivotal it was that Cyberpunk Edgerunners managed to come out at just the right time as it did. With all the bad press that developers of Cyberpunk 2077, CDProjekt Red, was getting for what seemed like a train wreck of a release for the game, it was amazing to see just how one 12 episode show can bring so much hype back to such a broken game that it eventually made the community forget about all the bad things about the it for a moment to return back to give it another go (I’ll sum this up to everyone wanting to put another bullet in Adam Smasher’s head for what he’d done to Rebecca….me included). The main thing I ask myself about this is “why”? Why would anyone want to go through the trouble of buying or reinstalling a game they’ve deemed horrible? Keep in mind that this game has had some of the most jarring (and funny) bugs riddled into the game since its launch. It’s already been 2 years since the game launch before Edgerunners ever made it onto the scene, so the game was mostly a done deal in the eyes of most of the public. Since then, CDProjekt Red has been doing huge fixes here and there to get the game into a more stable and playable state which has seen some positive effects to it through the positive public opinion flowing through the net about it.
Things came full circle when Cyberpunk Edgerunners was announced to be in development and was produced exclusively in conjunction with the streaming service “Netflix”. Cyberpunk Edgerunners is deemed a prequel to the events that happen in Cyberpunk 2077 so we get to see events go on prior to players taking control and going on adventures as “V” in the game. For me, the story of Edgerunners really makes you stay glued to your seat as you watch the story unfolds. If you were coming from the game into the anime, then you’ll felt more attached to the world of Night City in sense. Edgerunners has its highs and lows but mostly highs and when you reach the end of the series, it really makes you want more story to the point that you’ll end up going back to Cyberpunk 2077, regardless of how bad your experience was with it initially. Some may have wanted to go on a pilgrimage and see if they could find any of the memorable spots from the anime or – again – wanting to take revenge on Adam Smasher. Regardless of your reasons, Edgerunners made a lot of people deal with the games issues and go back to playing it. This only made things better for game as a few months after Edgerunners finished its run, the new expansion titled “Phantom Liberty” was announced.
The updates before Phantom Liberty’s release, Cyberpunk 2077 received an update where it included many additional items and a side quest in conjunction with Edgerunners. Everything came full circle for the game with this update as players were able to collect memorable items from the show such as David Martinez’s jacket & Rebecca’s shotgun on top of being able to find the spots the characters visited in the show. Regardless of what people thought about the game initially, people usually credit Edgerunners for them liking the game more than they initially had before its release. If you look at it today, the game is nowhere near what it used to be and with the Phantom Liberty expansion, the game is one more played games on Twitch now. If Edgerunners didn’t come out like it did, I don’t think anyone other than a few hardcore players and the modding community would still be playing the game right now. Say what you will but in the end, Edgerunners did save the console game franchise of Cyberpunk and I for one am very happy for it.
