I've had a stick up my ass about pacifist/non-lethal mechanics in games for a while now.
Back in the days of Deus Ex, the first one from 2000, going for a pacifist run was hard. Not killing anyone was very difficult and took a lot of creativity and careful progressing, avoiding boss battles, and going in for melee takedowns to avoid using lethal ranged weapons. Yes, there was the non-lethal crossbow, but you didn't have a shitload of ammo for it.
Much later came Deus Ex: Human Revolution and they wanted to honor the original and thus built in the possibility for a pacifist run. The only problem was that not only was this approach easier than going the lethal way, it was also cheaper AND gave you more experience. It was just the optimal way to play through the game, no need to engage with any of the shooting mechanics. I was so disappointed by this, that I never even touched on the next game (Mankind Divided) because in the footage they made it clear that going non-lethal was going to be even easier than before, giving you perfectly effective long ranged options on top of the already optimal system there was.
And now Cyberpunk has done the same thing.
It's so easy to go non-lethal that you have to deliberately go the murderous route. There are so many non-lethal options, from hacking, to melee weapons, to cybermods that make all your guns non-lethal. And even when you decide not to use all those options, important characters still don't die. You need to deliberately execute Cyberpsychos, for instance. The game protects you from going off the moral path at every turn and that just doesn't make for an impactful system. If you want to ask players to go the moral route, then that path should be harder than the immoral path but reward you with a better ending.
So how do I suggest the non-lethal system should work?
Well first of all, non-lethal options should never incorporate room clearing options. So the Contagion Quickhack should be a lethal one to start with.
Non-lethal guns should not just be assured by a cyberware mod either. I would actually overhaul the ammo system. Instead of having pistol, rifle, shotgun, and sniper ammo, I'd change the ammo types to the gun types, so power, smart, and tech ammo. Along with those three, I'd also add non-lethal variants for power and tech weapons: rubber and EMP bullets. Rubber bullets would be more effective against people with less cyberware and EMP bullets would be more effective against people with more cyberware. To make any gun non-lethal, you'd have to add a mod to the game and it will use the appropriate non-lethal ammo. Or in the case of smart guns, they'd simply target limbs instead. The kicker of course is that overkill and headshots would still kill the individual, even with non-lethal. Again, the moral path shouldn't be the easy path.
Non-lethal takedowns, non-lethal hacks, and non-lethal grenades should still be a thing and would be the more dependable way not to make any mistakes.
On top of reducing your options a little and changing how bullets work, the game really shouldn't hold your hand. No more having to execute important enemies, but rather having to put in the work to keep them alive if that's what you want. Make you work for that morally superior ending. Those cyberpsychos aren't going to automatically stay alive, so you'd better come up with a good plan, choom.
Finally, enemies who are not dead should be able to be revived, though how and by who should depend on the game's difficulty.
- On EASY : Unconscious enemies stay that way permanently, just like it works now.
- On MEDIUM : Unconscious enemies (with cyberware) can be revived by netrunners, if they have one in their team.
- On HARD : Unconscious enemies can be revived by netrunners, or just by any teammate that comes across their body.
- On VERY HARD : Unconscious enemy can be revived as above, but will also wake up by themselves in a couple of minutes (2? 3? 5? Will need to be tested).
For that last one, there will obviously be an exception for the cyberpsychos and any bosses. Defeated is defeated, you're not going to have to fight them again. Maybe if the devs can manage, there can be an animation to restrain them added to the game, but maybe that's too much effort for just the hardest difficulty.
So what would you get for finishing the game on the hardest difficulty completely non-lethal? Well, definitely an achievement (I'd call it Hardcore Pacifist) and the best ending in the game. Even if it's just a small improvement on the other endings.
Back in the days of Deus Ex, the first one from 2000, going for a pacifist run was hard. Not killing anyone was very difficult and took a lot of creativity and careful progressing, avoiding boss battles, and going in for melee takedowns to avoid using lethal ranged weapons. Yes, there was the non-lethal crossbow, but you didn't have a shitload of ammo for it.
Much later came Deus Ex: Human Revolution and they wanted to honor the original and thus built in the possibility for a pacifist run. The only problem was that not only was this approach easier than going the lethal way, it was also cheaper AND gave you more experience. It was just the optimal way to play through the game, no need to engage with any of the shooting mechanics. I was so disappointed by this, that I never even touched on the next game (Mankind Divided) because in the footage they made it clear that going non-lethal was going to be even easier than before, giving you perfectly effective long ranged options on top of the already optimal system there was.
And now Cyberpunk has done the same thing.
It's so easy to go non-lethal that you have to deliberately go the murderous route. There are so many non-lethal options, from hacking, to melee weapons, to cybermods that make all your guns non-lethal. And even when you decide not to use all those options, important characters still don't die. You need to deliberately execute Cyberpsychos, for instance. The game protects you from going off the moral path at every turn and that just doesn't make for an impactful system. If you want to ask players to go the moral route, then that path should be harder than the immoral path but reward you with a better ending.
So how do I suggest the non-lethal system should work?
Well first of all, non-lethal options should never incorporate room clearing options. So the Contagion Quickhack should be a lethal one to start with.
Non-lethal guns should not just be assured by a cyberware mod either. I would actually overhaul the ammo system. Instead of having pistol, rifle, shotgun, and sniper ammo, I'd change the ammo types to the gun types, so power, smart, and tech ammo. Along with those three, I'd also add non-lethal variants for power and tech weapons: rubber and EMP bullets. Rubber bullets would be more effective against people with less cyberware and EMP bullets would be more effective against people with more cyberware. To make any gun non-lethal, you'd have to add a mod to the game and it will use the appropriate non-lethal ammo. Or in the case of smart guns, they'd simply target limbs instead. The kicker of course is that overkill and headshots would still kill the individual, even with non-lethal. Again, the moral path shouldn't be the easy path.
Non-lethal takedowns, non-lethal hacks, and non-lethal grenades should still be a thing and would be the more dependable way not to make any mistakes.
On top of reducing your options a little and changing how bullets work, the game really shouldn't hold your hand. No more having to execute important enemies, but rather having to put in the work to keep them alive if that's what you want. Make you work for that morally superior ending. Those cyberpsychos aren't going to automatically stay alive, so you'd better come up with a good plan, choom.
Finally, enemies who are not dead should be able to be revived, though how and by who should depend on the game's difficulty.
- On EASY : Unconscious enemies stay that way permanently, just like it works now.
- On MEDIUM : Unconscious enemies (with cyberware) can be revived by netrunners, if they have one in their team.
- On HARD : Unconscious enemies can be revived by netrunners, or just by any teammate that comes across their body.
- On VERY HARD : Unconscious enemy can be revived as above, but will also wake up by themselves in a couple of minutes (2? 3? 5? Will need to be tested).
For that last one, there will obviously be an exception for the cyberpsychos and any bosses. Defeated is defeated, you're not going to have to fight them again. Maybe if the devs can manage, there can be an animation to restrain them added to the game, but maybe that's too much effort for just the hardest difficulty.
So what would you get for finishing the game on the hardest difficulty completely non-lethal? Well, definitely an achievement (I'd call it Hardcore Pacifist) and the best ending in the game. Even if it's just a small improvement on the other endings.
