A big problem with any open world game is graphics.
In the case of say Fallout for the most part there wasn't a huge variety in what you could see from any given location so the graphics that needed to be loaded, processed, and displayed were manageable without undue lag. But if CP2077 goes for a "real" city the sheer volume of graphics required is going to be a very VERY significant issue when it comes to game play. And the larger the area the more that needs to be loaded, processed, displayed, reloaded, overwritten, displayed etc. And in the case of slower PCs (and most consoles) this is a significant issue developers must deal with.
Hubs can help if each has certain unique to itself but similar throughout the hub elements. And yes, hubs can certainly be used to convey/imply the time and distance needed to travel from A to B without needing to generate all content between A and B, making the game world seem larger then it necessarily is. But in to many cases the hubs themselves are small or one use throw aways.
Go to a location, see the immediate area (maybe), enter the location, do what you need to do in the location, never return.
How about something like; go to a location, enter a living-breathing neighborhood, some of the NPCs provide additional information or opportunities in regard to your target address/mission. Many of the non-plot building in the neighborhood are able to be entered but others are locked/guarded at this time. Do your mission. Later in the game you return to the same neighborhood, NPCs you didn't kill the first time are still there, possible doing something different (easy since you can tailor their AI to multiple independent time sequences), and now they have info/assistance relevant to your currant target location which is unlocked. The previous location is now locked/guarded/a smoking pile of rubble dependent on what you did.
If each neighborhood is large enough to contain 2-5 mission locations, and has content relevant to your current mission that hub feels alive, and saves the developers TONS of time and effort since all the exterior areas and still living NPCs can be reused.
In the case of say Fallout for the most part there wasn't a huge variety in what you could see from any given location so the graphics that needed to be loaded, processed, and displayed were manageable without undue lag. But if CP2077 goes for a "real" city the sheer volume of graphics required is going to be a very VERY significant issue when it comes to game play. And the larger the area the more that needs to be loaded, processed, displayed, reloaded, overwritten, displayed etc. And in the case of slower PCs (and most consoles) this is a significant issue developers must deal with.
Hubs can help if each has certain unique to itself but similar throughout the hub elements. And yes, hubs can certainly be used to convey/imply the time and distance needed to travel from A to B without needing to generate all content between A and B, making the game world seem larger then it necessarily is. But in to many cases the hubs themselves are small or one use throw aways.
Go to a location, see the immediate area (maybe), enter the location, do what you need to do in the location, never return.
How about something like; go to a location, enter a living-breathing neighborhood, some of the NPCs provide additional information or opportunities in regard to your target address/mission. Many of the non-plot building in the neighborhood are able to be entered but others are locked/guarded at this time. Do your mission. Later in the game you return to the same neighborhood, NPCs you didn't kill the first time are still there, possible doing something different (easy since you can tailor their AI to multiple independent time sequences), and now they have info/assistance relevant to your currant target location which is unlocked. The previous location is now locked/guarded/a smoking pile of rubble dependent on what you did.
If each neighborhood is large enough to contain 2-5 mission locations, and has content relevant to your current mission that hub feels alive, and saves the developers TONS of time and effort since all the exterior areas and still living NPCs can be reused.