Cyberpunk 20xx ... or, let's speculate about what comes next.

[Marquis_deShade]

Totally agree with your first bit but not the second bit . I am currently griping my head with both hands to stop the explosion

Ah. I understand. There's been a LOT of cultural conditioning to expect and desire a happy ending ... at least in Westernized culture.
The folks over at CDPR home base have had a couple decades away from the old Soviet hand on their shoulders, so, some Westernization I'm sure has crept in, but, if you're familiar with some of that good old Russian Classical literature, there's a LOT of really grim stuff, and often seemingly pointlessly grim if only to point out the futility of ever even trying to hope for happiness as if it's militantly anti-Western happy-ending.
There too, of course, is basic classical tragedy in theater going all the way back to the ancient Greeks, and it's a well worn, much loved genre in story-telling.

We're thus left to consider in what directions cultural and educational awareness will take their writing.
I suspect most people will hate any game they've invested time and love into turning out to be a grand Classical Tragedy.
We'll see.

 

[Guest 3847602]

I suspect most people will hate any game they've invested time and love into turning out to be a grand Classical Tragedy.

I think the reaction to Mass Effect 3 ending has taught the developers of RPG games all there is to know about how not to end the game and character people are invested in. Reading Tolstoy or Sophocles is not the same thing as playing video game. You should never railroad the player towards unavoidable tragedy.

 

[Rawls]

Hopefully an expansion rather then a sequel, I'd rather continue V's story rather then start a new character from scratch.

Oh I definitely think there will be expansions if I had to guess. Sequel or MP would be after those I would guess.

I think the reaction to Mass Effect 3 ending has taught the developers of RPG games all there is to know about how not to end the game and character people are invested in. Reading Tolstoy or Sophocles is not the same thing as playing video game.

I really liked that it was somewhat of a tragedy - though not really because most of your crew lives if you do it right. As long as the player picks destory ME3 ending is fine ... though there is an issue when two of the possible three endings are logically problematic.

 

[Guest 3847602]

I really liked that it was somewhat of a tragedy - though not really because most of your crew lives if you do it right. As long as the player picks destory ME3 ending is fine ... though there is an issue when two of the possible three endings are logically problematic.

Well, I agree that "destroy" is the least bad of three, but each and every ending is logically problematic because the presence of Reaper AI on the Citadel have demolished the entire plot of ME1:

Spoiler

- What's the purpose of Sovereign and Saren if Reaper AI is already installed on the station? What was preventing the Catalyst from activating the mass relay?
- How could Sovereign be unaware of Protheans reprogramming the Keepers? Was Catalyst trolling its own minion?

That's my main issue with the ending, but the point is that RPG should have a variety of endings, including the uplifting. I'm fine with tragic ones, I think I've picked "refuse" half the time I played ME3, but again, there should have been options.

 

[Marquis_deShade]

I think the reaction to Mass Effect 3 ending has taught the developers of RPG games all there is to know about how not to end the game and character people are invested in. Reading Tolstoy or Sophocles is not the same thing as playing video game. You should never railroad the player towards unavoidable tragedy.

Oh, I'm all for branching story lines with several endings. The post before that I think I tried implying that by mentioning the option as the canon ending.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of there being at least the option to have a tragic ending ... if written well. We've the Iliad, whether historical, or ancient historical fiction to show us the importance of illustrating the base humanity of our heroes by having them die, as anyone eventually will. Some heroes absolutely must die, just as Leonidas and his 300 did at Thermopylae, though, that's more historical as opposed to dramatic fiction device. Still, We've Hamlet, Cyrano de Bergerac, Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, and so much more to draw from

Some heroes should, or must die to be meaningful.
Cyberpunk has an underlying theme sometimes celebrating metal over meat, machine over humanity, but, a core mechanic of the dice and paper game was threading that line while maintaining your humanity. There are actual humanity points.
With that, at least one branch to the story line should have a satisfying reconciliation with and celebration of that humanity by having V die.
Machines don't really die. They can be rebuilt. Humans ...



In recognition of how many folks might not understand that, I suspect, even if written phenomenally well into the story as one of many endings, it'd be the least popular ending, and, I think that's a little sad as an indicator for Western culture.

 

[Rawls]

Lets move the ME3 discussion here - Mass Effect 3 - so we don't derail this thread.

 

[SigilFey]

That is definitely a sizeable amount of speculation!

For myself, I can foresee there being more than one Cyberpunk title. It would seem like a lot of time, effort, and money spent building such a huge world only to set the IP aside after only one title. But, weirder things have happened!

I'd like to see CDPR branch off into more obscure or unexpected literature, next. I think there are plenty of really amazing worlds that would lend themselves well to gaming and fit into CDPR's style: Anne McCaffrey's Pern series...L.E. Modesitt's The Saga of Recluse...or something set in the Dune universe.

Alternatively, it might be nice for them to create a unique IP. Coming up with something from scratch would generate a lot of excitement.

In the first "sequel", they'd not build a separate game, but only the content, and implemented it to the existing game for a second storyline with new protagonist (let's call him/her "B" for now), and another batch of three character archetypes. Let's say... Cop, Meditech, Nomad.

Kudos here! I was going to suggest this, too. I really appreciate games that do this, as it makes a series feel very cohesive. Lots of games suffer from that "different directors" syndrome, and it can make individual titles feel fresh...but...disjointed.

Plus, I think games like Minecraft and Terraria (not to mention Bethesda), have proven that there is a wide, long-term market for games that are built around a unified engine. What I'd like to see, though, are innovations to the engine and mechanics that will be built into the game retroactively. Hence, (e.g.) once Cyberpunk "3" is released, all of the new gameplay options, mechanics, graphics, etc. are built into CP1 and CP2 as well...so players wind up with the entire series being "remastered" as it goes.

(Of course, this would require the engine for the game to built from the ground up to do this, so not sure if there's any realistic way of expecting something like that for CP2077.)

 

[kofeiiniturpa]

What I'd like to see, though, are innovations to the engine and mechanics that will be built into the game retroactively. Hence, (e.g.) once Cyberpunk "3" is released, all of the new gameplay options, mechanics, graphics, etc. are built into CP1 and CP2 as well...so players wind up with the entire series being "remastered" as it goes.

Yeah, I tried to imply that too.

It's a bit like how Blizzard made SC2. So in effect, the "sequels" could be considered as very large expansion packs. The retroactive additions to already made campaigns, don't really need to be humongus in my opinion. Graphics can't get much better anymore, so some fiddling with mechanics and under the hood tech.

 

[MauricioMM]

I don't mind Cyberpunk 2077 having no sequel but it'll surely have at least one.

In Cyberpunk 2088 (or whatever they might call the direct sequel) they could try things like increasing the (horizontal and vertical) spatial scope of 2077. I don't think they'd add another huge city yet, they could actually prefer to create another district and make the existing ones bigger in all dimensions. Plus, I think they could probably add a sizeable, wasteland-ish region right outside Night City (a desert? ruined suburban outskirts? both?) where some vehicular gameplay and nomad role-playing could be further explored. Plus, at this point console tech could allow the devs to make it possible for the players to "freely" use aerodynes, assuming the players have the in-game skills and resources for them. Gameplay-wise, the usual: more mechanics, more classes, more weapons, more customization, more world reactivity, more relationships, more complex decisions, you name it.

In Cyberpunk 2099 I do believe they could include another city.

Regarding The Witcher, the next one could be distant reality, 4 years at the very least, but I don't mind, I'm overly pleased with the trilogy and the Gwent spin-offs (assuming Thronebreaker won't be the only one) sound like great-enough experiences. Even so, I read somewhere an interesting, if a bit too ambitious, idea for the next Witcher game: a Ciri-centered game set

Spoiler

between the books and TW3, in the time period when she travelled between different worlds.

Not a bad idea, regardless of plausibility.

About the new IP, I'm sure it's going to be a RPG but this time I believe that, whether an original IP or not, they might either try a "high" scifi setting (space, aliens, lightspeed, etc.), a mixed scifi-fantasy one or a more grounded-in-real-life one. I don't believe they'd try with another mainly fantasy or mainly "low" scifi game series again, they got those ones already covered for now.

 

[Georgy_P]

I truly hope we will have more.

Cyberpunk XXII (2030)
Year: 21smth
Place: Neo-Warsaw
Full sized city with every building available for exploration
2000000 NPC's living their lives
Destructible everything
Possibility of killing everyone
Infinite random side-quest generation
MMO
Possibility of making own mega-corp

I'm not asking much, am I?

 

[CyberBobber]

I truly hope we will have more.

Full sized city with every building available for exploration
2000000 NPC's living their lives

This is actually something what Ive thought as well, it could be possible if they expanded and improved the Night City with every sequel, so 1 day we could have this. Every building available for exploration is way way too big for 1 game, but as for the series, definitely attainable goal. Yeah, aim for full exploration when third or fourth game comes etc.

Btw, as for "Destructible Everything" I really thikn its no technically possible, Just Cause and Red Faction series are closest thing to this.

 

[Lucian06]

Diablo 4 is your best bet.

No thanks, i want a Rpg

 

[Garrison72]

They've been clear that Cyberpunk is a long term investment, so unless the first game completely flops we'll be getting a trilogy. And I'm sure in between they'll revisit the Witcher IP. It'll be like Bethesda and Bioware have juggled two main IPs over the years.

 

[Sardukhar]

They've been clear that Cyberpunk is a long term investment, so unless the first game completely flops we'll be getting a trilogy. And I'm sure in between they'll revisit the Witcher IP. It'll be like Bethesda and Bioware have juggled two main IPs over the years.

Yep. Unless Cpunk flops hard, it's their next major investment.

 

[Marquis_deShade]

Yep. Unless Cpunk flops hard, it's their next major investment.

About my only concern about CDPR doing Cyberpunk + something else is the potential division of focus that not only comes from working on more than one big thing, but, a company growing in size, and potentially experiencing the typical pitfalls involved with rapid growth.

I hope CDPR maintains a smaller, more easily organized group of folks that makes for much easier and more effective communication in directing everything a title requires into a unified, working game that can also be seen as art itself.
Larger organizations ... well, what's the current field, and the wares they're selling looking like these days?

 

[Sardukhar]

I hope CDPR maintains a smaller

400 plus people. Dunno what you mean by smaller, but that's not small from a development perspective.

Those days are over, I think. I share your concern about quality, but CDPR maintains focus well.

 

[Garrison72]

Iwinski said around the time TW2 launched that they were happy with staying at around 200 people. But clearly, they've changed their stance on that given the scope of TW3. At some point they decided to go whole hog on the AAA block buster experience. Now you hear Iwinski saying they want to be one of the top three developers in the world, bar none. So yeah, I think that means an even bigger dev team. The 'indie' years for them are long gone, but they still maintain that spirit.

 

[Suhiira]

What matter far more then the size of the team is the leadership.

Are they focused on profit or making a good game?
Are they open to ideas from the rank and file or dictatorial (your ideas don't matter management has made the decision)?

 

[slothman32]

Isn't CDPR a public corporation? If it is then I hope it is bought back so profit is less important than a better game.

2000000 NPC's living their lives ... Possibility of killing everyone.
That might take a while.

 

[Suhiira]

Isn't CDPR a public corporation? If it is then I hope it is bought back so profit is less important than a better game.

It is, but I get the impression they sell their investors on long-term steady-stream profitability not get rich overnight.