Just because it's a game doesn't mean it can't be as "realistic" as possible (keeping in mind playability).
True, mostly here, it's an RPG, not an adventure game or a shooter, so no need to have an "arcade" kind of damage
(like, for example 1shot = -4hp, etc...), if I was playing to let's say Tomb Raider or Crysis and I'd die if I took a bullet or a hit at the wrong place, it would be really boring, but in a RPG you can do whatever you want, gameplay wise.
Just look at Shenmue, the game is great though it has it's own gameplay, totally different from any games at the time.
But here, one of the most interesting thing in the RPG is the realism of the combats, it's a whole part of the Cyberpunk lore IMO, as a GM, I've seen a bunch of "Rambo" player getting calmed down by a few street kids NPC with the right tool at the right time, and that's the funny stuff here, you have to play it like in real life, even if you're rich and with a lot of tools and weapons, you'll think twice before puttng your life in danger, where in an arcade game it's more
"I don't give a shit, there are medikits around".
Plus, in the pnp everything is planed for those kind of damages:
- Pain suppresors implants / drugs
- Trauma Team
- Armor implants (underskin-plates, weaved skins, etc....)
The lethality is also what makes the streets so dangerous, you prefer to take your car more than walking on foot and being annoyed by a bunch of stoned punks every block you go throught.
Sure, if you'd like "Cyberpunk 2077" as a shooter, then an health bar, etc... would be welcome, in a shooter you're supposed to.... shoot, and make a huge "High Score".
Here, it's an RPG,
"Make a character a live his story", if the rules says
"In this world, it's real life, bullets are deadly, so is this overall world, so don't think you're an invincible badass", I'd think
"Ok, it's an RPG, so I've to play my story throught this world and adapting my playstyle with it", the same when you play a medieval RPG, you've to play it in a
"medieval way".
Here, you should live your journey in a Cyberpunk setting, knowing it's better to talk than shoot, just like in the pnp, when you know that even a granny with a 9mm can shoot you dead, you'll build your character in consequences, more that trying to buff it out like in a beat em all, in the pnp setting, there are no "invincible" guy, all depend on how you build your skills, how much smart you are, and if you can get the right tools for the job.
If you have to rob a bank, it's smarter to dig a tunnel under it and rob it when no one is there than going inside in daylight, shooting at the crowd and screaming "Get the money out you bitches!", sure it looks cooler, but in Cyberpunk; as much in real life, you'll not end your day very well
(unless you're a fuckin badass, and even with settings as deadly as in Cyberpunk, it's possible, like I said, you HAVE to be talented and smart, outsmarting the machine, more than being "incited" by the gameplay like "you got the bigger gun = you'll win", like in most shooters)
Plus, the Cyberpunk genre has to be some
"hardcore grounded in reallity sci-fi" so I'd say the lethality would add to the deadly feeling, making the game really closer to our world, and more immersive, you'll be probably more carring about your beloved character if he can be putted down in 1 bullets than if he's a Shoot'em up-killing machine.
To finish, nowadays, games are really too much "kids-friendly" I mean, I love difficulty, the REAL difficulty, not when the game is coded by a bunch of monkeys, and so the game is so awfull that it becomes difficult, but the real difficulty, when you take times on a game, making your brain works, thinking about multiple angles to do your job, etc...
I'd like Cyberpunk to be something to "live", having my nerve cracking on some mission "
because that freakin corporate security is soooo unkillable and i don't know how to pass through it", you know, something challenging, where I'll freak in front of my screen, but I'll love to freak over it, more than just go through the game, killing peoples, and pimping your body with neon tits.