More than five years after its messy launch, Cyberpunk 2077 has made an amazing comeback with significant performance improvement patches and a compelling narrative DLC. Players who are visiting Night City for the first time in 2026, or returning after a long break from the game, have two main options for how to dive into the story.
Option 1: Start With the main campaign
The most obvious choice is going to be diving in where the game originally kicked off. Starting a fresh save slot with V is a much better experience than it was when the game first launched. The main campaign offers a compelling narrative and the sort of expected tutorial and introduction to the game’s mechanics and systems that would be expected.
The biggest selling point to this choice is the additional investment in V’s emotional journey. The prologue and opening quests establish some key relationships and will help players understand the protagonist’s complicated feelings and difficult decisions throughout the rest of the story.
Additionally, the early levels do a great job of introducing the game’s RPG systems and how they work. Players who aren’t familiar with this type of game would definitely feel a bit lost without this part of the experience.
Players who stick to the main storyline will have at least 20 or 30 hours of content to explore as they work through the campaign.
Option 2: Start Directly in The Phantom Liberty DLC
Alternatively, players also have the option to dive straight into the Phantom Liberty DLC. Unlike some narrative DLC, like Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree, Phantom Liberty does not require players to have progressed up to a certain main campaign milestone before unlocking.
This opens up a really interesting option for players who are arriving at the game late. Phantom Liberty released in 2023 and offers an exciting, and more recently updated, adventure. The DLC’s new quest line introduces a whole new district to the map and another lengthy 15-20 hours of main story content.
The main downside to this option is that jumping right into Phantom Liberty will set players to level 15 and skip the prologue’s heist. There will be some catching up to do and systems to become familiar with, so this is not a great option for gamers who are new to RPGs or complex systems.
Despite those downsides, the immediate jump to level 15 gives players enough points to visit the Skill Tree and immediately define their play style from the start. This allows players to feel distinct and powerful without working through the early game XP grind to level up.
The DLC heavily features Keanu Reeves again, but also adds Idris Elba via motion capture.
OUr Pick
Although there’s no wrong choice here, stepping into the world of Cyberpunk 2077 and starting directly into the Phantom Liberty content is our recommendation. Both campaigns have compelling narratives, but the extra polish and charm of the Phantom Liberty DLC make it a slightly superior option to get hooked and sucked into this world. Note that this recommendation is only for gamers who are very comfortable with RPGs and are not intimidated by skipping over some tutorial content in the prologue.
Keep in mind that players who want to pursue this option do need to own both Cyberpunk 2077 and the Phantom Liberty DLC. There have been a ton of sales on the game across platforms over the last year, so keep an eye out for deals. Shoppers who have picked up the Ultimate Edition already have access to both products.
Gamers who do own both products can go forward with this option by selecting “New Game” and then opting for the “Skip Ahead to Phantom Liberty” option from the menu prompts.
Players who make it all the way through the Phantom Liberty DLC and enjoy their experience should absolutely circle back and play through V’s original campaign, as well.
All of that said, starting the experience with the original campaign is still a great option too. Players who are completionists or who want to experience the game the way the developers originally intended should totally stick with the original starting point and then play through Phantom Liberty after they roll the initial credits.
Cyberpunk 2077 and the Phantom Liberty DLC are both available now on PC and consoles.
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