Cyberpunk 2077

I have no doubt that this game was a bug-ridden mess on release and that the critical backlash was well deserved, but playing it over two years on, I found it to still be a bit rough around the edges, yes, but underneath the flaws is one of the most engrossing and thrilling open-world games I've played in a long time. The story is a a gripping noir-tinged exploration of grandiose themes, set in a world with a vivid atmosphere that encapsulates cyberpunk; the mixture of griminess and real beauty throughout is something to behold, and several times I found myself stopping to gape in awe at the neon-lit sights that I stumbled across. The moment-to-moment gameplay is not as uniformly successful, with some major parts of the game like driving and combat never quite feeling right, and it's understandable that some won't be able to look past the jankier elements that still remain, but it's very often a dazzling and effective piece of work.