Copying this from another comment /edit: all of these updates are coming to the base game
TL;DR: This is not a DLC. This is Cyberpunk 2.0.
• virtually every system of the main game has been changed and/or updated
• police system is completely reworked with multiple tiers of NCPD/mercs chasing you down in vehicles according to your wanted level, apparently on level 5 maxtac will chase you down and it will be some sort of bossfight against them (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riK1i8lQwRM&t=511s)
• perks and skills have been completely overhauled, no longer simple passive stat boosts, much more active abilities like different melee finishers, a dash, or the ability to deflect bullets with melee weapons
• the difficulty curve is reworked/rebalanced
• the loot tiers are reworked
• archetypes of enemies have been redone for more variety in combat encounters
• an entirely new 6th skill tree that uses a different type of skill points (relic points) that will be used to add new abilities to your cyberware
• installing cyberware now has an effect on your body and you cant install too much or else you will go cyberpsycho (no idea what that looks like in game)
• installing cyberware now has a first person cutscene added to it, just like in the prologue at Vik’s clinic
• you can now “attune” cyberware to one of your attributes, making it more efficient if you have invested in that attribute; example here optical camo is attuned to the “cool” attribute: https://i.imgur.com/1UI9SEX.png
• armor is no longer tied to clothing, it instead tied to your cybernetics
• vehicle combat is added to the game, you can even use your katana on your bike
• vehicles are no longer bought from fixers, but bought through a website set up by mama welles
• some vehicles have guns installed on them (machine guns, rocket launchers)
• new type of infinitely replayable/repeatable missions are being added where you need to steal certain vehicles marked on your map
• new activity introduced “airdrops”, loot caches that drop randomly on the map that you can fight over and retrieve for yourself
• tons of new random events/activities are added to make the world feel more alive, like car chases and gang fights
So I bought and played the game on release. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t as bad as most people made it out to be. It was in the shadow of itself with its built-up hype. It was a fairly flat cyberpunk shooter with some hacking mechanics. I paid 60 dollars for an overall generic experience. This DLC seems to be aiming to resolve the game and turn it into what the hype built it up to.
When they first started fixing Cyberpunk they said the first DLC was going to be free in exchange for their mess up and that it would fix a lot of the game. They didn’t seem to fix the game that much from a content perspective. One of the biggest arguments against this game at release was that even if it was technically well done, it was still a mediocre at best storyline with flat characters.
spoiler
Hell, the “BFF” montage was so silly to me that I immediately knew that Jackie was going to die.
So now we have their first paid DLC and it’s half the price of the base game. While I understand it’s 60 dollars now, that basically tells me “I shouldn’t have bought it when it was shit.” This means the next CDPR game that releases, I probably am going to skip it entirely until their first real DLC because clearly, they don’t care about their on-release customers.
I am still a bit miff that we didn’t get to play the montage, It would have been a great first half of the game and would make some story element much more impactful.