Almost Three Years and an Expansion Pack Later is, "Cyberpunk 2077," Forgiven?

I knew it was a mess when, "Cyberpunk 2077," first was released, but damn it I loved it. It was my favorite video-game of 2020, with numerous flaws and all. Since that initial release, a lot of updates have been done with a massive variety of tweaks made in the latest free update that everyone can enjoy--it also aligns with a major paid expansion, "Phantom Liberty," as well. With this Update 2.0 folks are basically judging everything as one package, and they are pleased. Nearly three years since it first hit shelves, is "Cyberpunk 2077," finally meeting expectations?

This has happened before. "No Man's Sky," infamously was a bit broken at launch but a number of years later seems to (mostly) be the game everyone wanted it to be. That said, the disastrous launch of, "Cyberpunk 2077," basically has served as a blueprint to other companies that they might be better off delaying games than rushing them to the market only to spur outrage from consumers. "Cyberpunk 2077," has grown despite all that anger it once faced, and now might be considered truly, "Done," with no other expansions or such on the way. 20 new hours of content is arguably a game in itself, and Idris Elba has joined the fun as a mysterious character as well so don't worry that this new expansion lacks for star power after Keanu Reeves made a big splash in the main game as Johnny Silverhands.

I can't say if, "Cyberpunk 2077," deserves an overall re-review, or if the, "Phantom Liberty," expansion should simply be judged on its own. I also don't know if all the fixes make, "Cyberpunk 2077," retroactively as good as it should've been or if we should only now consider it a truly complete game (thanks to all the updates even if you don't pony up for extra content). The only thing I can say for sure is that hearing, "Cyberpunk 2077," is polished and less broken does make me want to revisit it for the first time in a while, whether I pay for the expansion right away or not. If an update to a game can be good enough I return years later, that says something, I'd argue.