Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 Series Review

Released: 20th October 2026

Number of Episodes: 10

Certificate: 15

Where To Watch: Netflix

Created By: Bartosz Sztybor

Starring: Valeria Rodriguez, Kimoy Lee, Clancy Brown, Nazeeh Tarsha, Brittany Lauda and Cesili Williams

Back in 2022, Cyberpunk Edgerunners delivered a knockout dystopian story while redeeming its video game source material in the process. Further expansion is on the cards with a second standalone tale. It’s another visually stunning set, though it falls short in overall investment.

Once again, we follow several characters who try to make their way in the bustling and deeply corrupt Night City. Where the first iteration was a tragic romance, CE2 leans heavily into the psychosis brought about by body modification. It also detaches itself from characters and themes in the original game with only brief references to the original offering. The main perspective this time is Roman (Valeria Rodriguez), a young boy with a penchant for making and selling films on his retro cameras. He soon encounters Talia (Kimoy Lee), a heavily augmented and rebellious teenager and D (Nazeeh Tarsha), a teenager whose village was burned down by the mega-corporations years earlier. The trio comes into contact with an unstable AI named Capri (Brittany Lauda) who often seizes control of the lead characters. Meanwhile an aging mercenary named King (Clancy Brown) links up with his old flame Avita (Cesili Williams) to track Talia down. While Edgerunners 2 maintains the same dynamic action and drama of its predecessor, the plot isn’t very impactful. This comes down to a number of factors. King and Avita’s bond doesn’t have much time to develop and Roman’s filming feels pretty irrelevant by the end as he mostly tags along as an observer. In addition, the corporations don’t feel as threatening this time around which lowers the overall stakes. These inconsistent plot threads make the second season feel less cohesive when compared with the first.

Luckily, the voice acting is always on high form; it’s often over the top, but very precise in laying out the characters and their personalities. Roman’s filming may be pushed to the side, but Valeria Rodriguez presents him as more assertive and forthright over time. Kimoy Lee and Nazeeh Tarsha fall into common anime tropes, but they both do a great job conveying the more tortured side of Talia and D. Clancy Brown is great in everything he’s in and as King he shows an honest heart lying under all the machinery. If anything, it’s the plot that sometimes limits the performances. Cesili Williams conveys so much desperation in Avita’s bid to save Talia, but she needed more material to work with. Most of the side characters are small-scale, but some do stand out, most notably E.G. Daily’s maniacal turn as the researcher Kyoko. Every performance is dynamic and memorable, but they deserved a deeper narrative.

Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red have done another fantastic job on the visuals. When the characters slip into cyber-psychosis, there’s such a visceral tone in the animation which also uses quick flashes for the finer details. There’s a distinctive style for each cast member; Talia eats with crab claws extending out of her mouth and D is marked by burns across his face and body. Capri is the biggest highlight by far; as a digital being, the way she changes shapes, morphs her face and takes control of individuals is brilliantly done through a set of dazzling colours and strobe effects. The series continues to strike a fine balance between static shots of the landscape and more energised sequences. At times the atmosphere has its own immersive qualities; a battle in the rain feels very foreboding in the latter half. The soundtrack from Tsuneo Imahori is always firing on all cylinders, another solid complement to the future world.

Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2 keeps things humming along with more brilliant animation and stellar voice work from everyone involved. There’s no doubt that the story and characters aren’t as memorable as the original, but fans of both sci-fi and the IP itself will still be entertained.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars (Good)