Nothing this good can be replicated. People would be better off if they kept their (coughCDProjektRedcough) expectations low after a smash hit that fans love.
I really disliked it for many reasons even though I had no bugs but can't pretend it wasn't ambitious, Guys did jump over their head with it and tried to do something entirely new for them. And they had a hard crunch to complete it. Can't hate the product, these devs, but honestly fuck their management.
I liked the story, I think Jonny was integrated fantastically, and the mechanics were decent
My only complaint is there wasn't enough. Not enough cyberware, not enough branches in the story, not enough ways to feel the power growth as your character levels and gets better gear
All in all, I don't get the hate. It was a good game. With more time to flesh it out it could've been an instant classic, the bones are all there... I've got the dlc sitting in my library for when I'm ready to devote the time to dig into it
Thanks, that increases my anticipation a bit, while giving me reasonable expectations
I tend to be obsessive with games until I'm done - I bought and installed it, but haven't started playing for a reason, I'll probably get 1.5-2 complete playthroughs within a week or two, I need to have a couple weeks of solid work before I dig in - a good rpg will take up most of my time until I'm done
The witcher games preceding Witcher 3 did very well, and TBH Cyberpunk turned out pretty ok as well. So I'm not sure your example really fits. For its own part, Larian was picked to make this game because the Divinity games are so popular and successful.
But I'll agree that it's really unlikely to do this more than once on purpose, but clearly it can be done by competent studios.
Cp2077 is a good game. Did they hype it too hard, overpromise, fumble the launch, and launch too early? Yes, to all of those. But it's one of the better games I've played recently.