Phantom Liberty Downloaded

I've spent the last few months fiddling around in Cyberpunk, trying to figure out how to learn the new skill trees using my maxed out toons so that I could respec before I downloaded the expansion (that I had pre-purchased when it was announced) and play the new content. Then Atmost asked if the expansion had a boost. Hmmm.

So I downloaded the expansion to see, and found myself being asked if I wanted to start a new toon or to start directly with Phantom Liberty. The explicit suggestion was to start a new toon and play the game from the beginning. A bit of quick googling later, I was confident this wasn't in-game BS: the expansion fits within the first game's timeline somehow and will open up new endings for V's story.

With this info in hand, I opened up the character creation notes file (Eyebrows: 05, Nose: 13, Mouth: 19, etc.), and made a quick leap into a new play through. To keep myself from being stupid and indecisive and wasting more time, I also deleted all my previous saved games. I know I know. That sounds drastic. But I know me. I needed a fresh, unencumbered start.

My first impressions are:

• I like the new meta-quest that's keeping track of the story beats I need to complete to open the expansion's content.
• Moving through the main storyline so directly makes it easier to appreciate it.
• The new skill trees are pretty great. I like that I'm learning them by playing up from level 1 rather than trying to respec.

More as I go…