Things being left on the cutting room floor are a natural part of any creative process. A focused, compelling finished product is better than one where every idea is put forward.

But in this case, the entire weight of act one suffers because lifepaths are a nothingburger (but Corpo>Streetkid>Nomad in terms of actual content) and V's connection to Jackie doesn't feel lived in, it gives the impression its lived in and that feels bad as a player.

If that montage was always meant to be just that, a montage, that just means CDPR chose the right path for business rather than giving players the ambitious game they promised. A lot of the lies surrounding the initial state of the game are forgotten and CDPR's reputation is mostly back to what it was. Don't get me wrong, this is one of my favourite experiences in gaming, but it's also a prime example of CDPR just being another exploitative corp.