An example of different ways to solve a side quest - Kerry and UScracks (minor spoilers)

[pablo397]

Below is a side quest for Kerry and UScracks - minor spoilers!

We're supposed to get to the club where the girls are sitting in the back and make a confrontation.

Here is the full diagram of the different access paths. Each of them requires something from us:

- appropriate skills

- money

- perceptiveness

Ultimately, the path we will get to there is no direct course to the end of the quest - we can choose one of the two endings of the quest. But the path we choose has an impact on us - whether it is by paying a lot of money for tickets or by talking - thanks to one of the options, we can learn about the sad fate of the NPC from the previous task due to our fault, we can listen to interesting or malicious dialogues between V and Kerry or after just learn something irrelevant about the game world.

For me, it was great fun to look for all hidden solutions to problems. We can even refuse to lower Kerry's ladder, which makes him very angry !

Dialogue with NPCs depends on our gender.

The paths have unique dialogues, we can of course also interrupt the task by escaping from the mission place - Kerry first asks us where we are and if we still do not come back, he will break the mission and be angry with us, making it impossible to continue his story.

For me, these are the most extensive action-RPG paths since Vampire: Bloodlines!

ps. sorry for the diagram - I drew it for the first time and I don't know the rules: P

 

[Didacgomez]

Thanks for the effort, its a very nice example
This is a very nice example,and its all over the place in the game( in Saul rescue I counted 4 or 5 ways to get in,2 blocked by attributes and a course of action that was feasible only if you can survive a fall and 2 ways if going out 1 blocked by attributes).
The most linear level I can think is the Konpeki shootout,and even there you have options based on character development: in my 1st playthrough I was not using quickhacks so I ended in cover shooting a mech,in my 2nd I just shortcircuit that piece of junk.

 

[Guest 3847602]

Huh, wasn't even aware there's the option of finding a pass to the backstage by yourself, good to know. Good example, too.

 

[pablo397]

Huh, wasn't even aware there's the option of finding a pass to the backstage by yourself, good to know. Good example, too.

It's hidden in one of the rooms - you can pick it up and skip the dialogue with the technician at the bar.

 

[Didacgomez]

Wait 30 minutes so somebody can say that there is no player agency because NC doesn't change and V is not the new manager of US Cracks when they win the grammy

PS: Us Cracks + kerry I think is a dev reference to Babymetal + Rob Halford,i like those refereces

 

[iCake]

Wait 30 minutes so somebody can say that there is no player agency because NC doesn't change and V is not the new manager of US Cracks when they win the grammy

PS: Us Cracks + kerry I think is a dev reference to Babymetal + Rob Halford,i like those refereces

What that guy said! Saved me so much time, thanks to him! He must have managed to get a sneak peak into the Cyberpunk 2077's hater manual

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I liked this quest too.

Anyways, I think breaking down the quest this way is glossing over the difference between simple gameplay choices vs narrative oriented choices/consequences.

It would be like saying a crime in progress is the most choice/consequence heavy content because you can complete it 400 different ways. While you can make a long list of different gameplay choices the result, or consequence, is almost universally the same for all crimes in progress. You leave a handful of dead/incapacitated NPC's, collect loot, find a shard with a bit of lore and get an access point nearby (aka, more money/loot....).