The latest update 2.0 and the DLC, Phantom Liberty, have breathed new life into Cyberpunk 2077 this year. The revival of the game that was hated after release due to the several glitches and bugs, has been one of the most successful stories in the gaming industry over the past three years. So much so, that gamers are already looking forward to the second title.
Until more details emerge about a follow-up from the developers, fans have been busy coming up with a wishlist for elements to be included in the Cyberpunk franchise. One of the oft-repeated enhancements fans have mentioned is an improved life path for characters.
A Better Lifepath Coming in the Next Cyberpunk 2077
There’s not much known about a Cyberpunk follow-up apart from a codename, Orion. With the last big update already out for the first title, the developers are said to be working towards a new Witcher title, which is not to say that a sequel isn’t in the conceptual stage.
The title’s Narrative Director, Philipp Weber, recently appeared in the Answered Podcast along with Lead Quest Designer, Błażej Augustynek, to speak about quests in a game in general. Cyberpunk 2077 gives gamers a choice of three life paths to choose from right at the beginning, before players finalize their character.
Players can choose from a nomad’s path, a street kid’s path, or a corporate path. Whichever path the gamer chooses eventually merges into one storyline as the game progresses. Weber mentioned that he would make the life path a “bit less mudded” than how it was in the game.
The game’s Lead Quest Designer, Błażej Augustynek, also chimed in with his thoughts about the life paths, which he mentioned as being a life that players leave as V. Augustynek added that the paths never really mattered in the game once the actual story kick-starts. At the moment, the path is designed in a way that it ends as early as in the prologue of the game. This is an aspect of the title that Augustynek mentioned requires more work for it to matter more in the game.
Fans on a Reddit discussion shared their views about improving upon that by having a lengthier intro that can let players get a deeper look into each of the life paths. Others called for the life paths to be more impactful and have better consequences in the end. Some even wanted the life paths to be scrapped completely.
Improvements in Life Paths and Other Elements
Each of the three life paths could be improved with longer intros, as has been mentioned by fans on a variety of social media platforms. Many are saying the Street Kid Path should have brought Jackie and V together and set up connections. The corporate path with more involvement with Jenkins and more corporate espionage missions with V. This path could have also had an extended run where players made contacts early on to help out in later missions.
Nomad with a longer story about reasons behind leaving the Bakkers and making contacts within Aldecaldos. Missing out on what could have brought an interesting spin in the main campaign depending on the life path choices, was highly disappointing to fans. Choices made along the way had a high impact on consequences in previous Witcher games from CDPR. A similar approach here would have made things a lot more interesting.
There might be other elements as well that could drastically change in the sequel with the game switching to a third-person view either permanently or adding that as an option. Bringing in a morality system in the follow-up title could also make it more unique.
As seen in Red Dead Redemptions 2 where characters behave differently around NPCs for not killing everything that moves or if players choose to be an outlaw and gun down everyone and be hated and feared by the NPCs. This could bring in a more immersive experience for players as they stay wary of their approach.
It is still easily a few years away before the gaming community can expect anything related to the sequel to be officially announced by CDPR. Until then, Cyberpunk is sure to keep the fans engaged with its new update and DLC.
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