Figured this would be a good place to post some ideas I had. I don't wanna cover the stuff everyone else has like eating and sitting animations, fixing NPC A.I. or anything like that since everyone always talks about those. I'd love to hear some of your guys' ideas and such too, so feel free to post them. Without any further delay...
Optical Scan and NCPD Missions
Okay, I do like that we have a bunch of those blue NCPD missions all over to discover and explore but really, most of those shouldn't even be on the map as set events. Assault in Progress, Reported Crime, and Suspected Organized Crime Activity are so simplistic that they should honestly be random instance events and not set ones. I'd ditch the voiced NCPD dispatcher and instead replace it with a text message so you can randomly roll any suspect names or anything like that without needing to record new lines as a cost effective way to do this and make it over all less intrusive to our exploration. In addition to these, we should be able to scan crowds and randomly find people that have either warrants out (for the NCPD) or hit contracts placed on them (for gangs) and we can choose to engage depending on crimes and assessed threat level. I mean, I thought that's how the optics would work in the first place, it was sort of implied by Vik as well, so I don't know why that isn't a thing. Basically, at any time, one or more of the random NPCs in our field of view may be a person of interest that we can approach.
Data Shards (EXP)
We've already seen that we can hack shards, and we've seen that some shards can grant us Skill EXP. Really, this should be something we HAVE TO hack in order to get. We should find a shard that's clearly labeled for whatever skill, then have to hack it in order to get the EXP from it. Let's go a step further. We've seen at the start of the game with the Militech tutorial that shards are like virtual experiences we can run in our heads to hone our skills. So after we hack the EXP shard, we should then get presented with a scenario with an objective and maybe a couple of optional objectives for bonus EXP. Once we successfully complete the scenario, we get the relevant EXP. The objects and challenges should be oriented around what Skill we're getting EXP for. Breach Protocol and Quickhack should involve hacking, combat Skills should be combat oriented, and Stealth shards should essentially be Metal Gear Solid VR Missions.
Data Shards (Bonus Content)
Let's take the idea above even further. With DLC and Mods, we could build these types of data shards to be entirely new experiences adjacent to the game. This could be where a bunch of mini-games are, bonus missions/gigs, entirely simulated areas for us to explore and get new stories, even meet new NPCs. Imagine getting a shard and plugging it in and you get to play as a detective investigating a crime scene and then apprehending the culprit, or a badass 80's style action hero gunning your way through a gang that's got a mega building locked down (think the Dredd movie). Brain Dances can't really offer this, since they're more for experiencing without much input on your part, but the tutorial at the start of the game had us actively engaging in virtual simulations just like we would in the real world of Night City, so the potential is there for some really REALLY incredible stuff! I mean, because they could build these “virtual regions” and design them from the very foundation, we might even get some flying cars since it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the main game at all, or having more neat toys like the Flathead and Basalisk at our disposal in environments that wouldn't fall apart with us having access to those. Could you imagine a shard that simulates engagements during the Corporate Wars? This could be big for both devs and modders alike!
Night City Pregame
A DLC meant to give us more by front-loading it rather than tacking it on in the middle or at the end of the game. Instead, this would open up Watson and bypass the lock-down. Jackie wouldn't immediately tell us about the meeting with Dexter either. Instead, we'd get a series of gigs- some even with Jackie as a companion -and help us build our rep and stats before the Heist mission was even pitched. We'd get the chance to see more of Night City, meet more of the Fixers, engage with more of the NPCs, get more time with Jackie, and build more of a bond with V as a character BEFORE we got in tough with Dexter DeShawn and got roped into that disaster of a heist. Basically, this idea would give us a bunch of new stuff, and push the Heist mission more towards the middle of the game instead of being the conclusion of Act I. All that has to be done is changing the event flags and lifting the lock-down. We should have access to Night City right off the bat without feeling the pressure of the main story like the vanilla game did. This is entirely possible! It's just shifting a few of the key events around and making sure the game checks for if Johnny is present or not if certain things should trigger him (something that a few gigs already do depending on if you do them before or after the Heist). This would not only do a lot for the community asking for more time with Jackie and having more freedom from the start, but it would also give more developers on other games ideas for how expansions can actually work by appending them in different places in their main game.
Reputation, Life Paths and Fixers -> Oh my!
Fixers should be a mechanic of the game where building Street Cred and associating with certain people and groups should allow us access to them. General Fixers we have, and Street Cred should be a good way to get a few more to notice us as our reputation goes up, but things like our Life Paths could also help influence what Fixers we get and when we get them. For example, there might be a Fixer that works mostly in corporate espionage, but they can be hard to hook up with without a lot of Street Cred and a couple of other things under our belt to indicate that we're worth their attention – OR – if we took the Corpo Life Path, we might be able to get in with them sooner as they recognize us as having experience in the corporate game. Stuff like this would not only gives us more to work towards, but actually help make Life Paths meaningful.
More Weapon and Ammo Types
Look the weapon variety and their use is pretty awesome in this game, I wish shotguns got a little more love and that we had a decent revolver other than the Overture and the unique versions of it, but... where's the explosives? Where are our rocket and grenade launchers? Where's our flamethrowers (I've seen the Crisp-er advertised)? What about remote bombs or proximity mines? In addition to that, why is everything so generic when it comes to ammunition? Where's our shock or fire rounds, for when we have a weapon that doesn't have those on its own? What about armor piercing ammunition or something that detonates inside the target with the press of a button? What about a sniper rifle that when we fire it, we can steer the bullet ourselves or even a rocket launcher with that feature? What about around that highlight enemies we've hit so we can track their movement? There's a LOT of options here that haven't been tapped into at all, and with combat feeling as good as it already does, it would be great to add more new stuff like this to play with.
Power Suits and Mechs
Where is our power armor? I have no doubt stuff like that would exist in this setting, heck we even fight a couple of psychos and Royce in something resembling it, so why can't we get cyberware implants that let us interface with stuff like that so we can use it? It doesn't have to be easy, first we need to find the stuff, probably fix it up, if not pay huge amounts of money for it, and then we need the hardware to actually hook up into it, which could also cost a lot of money. This stuff would really be awesome to have, in addition to things like our own Flathead bot or flying drone for extra utility.
More Cyberware
It's nice to have the different OS modules for hacking, slowing down time, or becoming super-charged in combat, and the addition of the optical camouflage is a good start, but really think about some options we could have. Optics with different vision types is a given, but besides just the rocket, monowire, blades, and extra-strength arms, we could have like... grappling hooks, flamethrowers, disc launchers, maybe even things that just trip enemies up like nets and snares. Maybe even a multi-tool for easy door and vehicle access? And for goodness sake, lay off the automatic slow down time effect stuff, we already have the Sandevistan for stuff like that, we don't need it going off all the time.
Vehicles
I'm not gonna talk about tanks or flying cars, I'm just gonna advocate that we never have another variant of the Quadra again. We have eight different version of it in-game already, we're good. We could use a little more interesting designs when it comes to the bikes though, maybe some four-wheelers or trikes? I mean we're obvious drawing in some anime influences, so you're spoiled for choice when it comes to references for cool motorcycle designs. Also, where's our convertibles? I've seen them parked and inaccessible and in cutscenes, but besides the Vilefort (which you only get if you're a boxer), I've never been able to drive one around. What about boats or at least aquatic hovercraft? There's some water channels that could have those.
Anyway, just some stuff I had milling around in my head. Feel free to comment on some of them or post some of your own!
Optical Scan and NCPD Missions
Okay, I do like that we have a bunch of those blue NCPD missions all over to discover and explore but really, most of those shouldn't even be on the map as set events. Assault in Progress, Reported Crime, and Suspected Organized Crime Activity are so simplistic that they should honestly be random instance events and not set ones. I'd ditch the voiced NCPD dispatcher and instead replace it with a text message so you can randomly roll any suspect names or anything like that without needing to record new lines as a cost effective way to do this and make it over all less intrusive to our exploration. In addition to these, we should be able to scan crowds and randomly find people that have either warrants out (for the NCPD) or hit contracts placed on them (for gangs) and we can choose to engage depending on crimes and assessed threat level. I mean, I thought that's how the optics would work in the first place, it was sort of implied by Vik as well, so I don't know why that isn't a thing. Basically, at any time, one or more of the random NPCs in our field of view may be a person of interest that we can approach.
Data Shards (EXP)
We've already seen that we can hack shards, and we've seen that some shards can grant us Skill EXP. Really, this should be something we HAVE TO hack in order to get. We should find a shard that's clearly labeled for whatever skill, then have to hack it in order to get the EXP from it. Let's go a step further. We've seen at the start of the game with the Militech tutorial that shards are like virtual experiences we can run in our heads to hone our skills. So after we hack the EXP shard, we should then get presented with a scenario with an objective and maybe a couple of optional objectives for bonus EXP. Once we successfully complete the scenario, we get the relevant EXP. The objects and challenges should be oriented around what Skill we're getting EXP for. Breach Protocol and Quickhack should involve hacking, combat Skills should be combat oriented, and Stealth shards should essentially be Metal Gear Solid VR Missions.
Data Shards (Bonus Content)
Let's take the idea above even further. With DLC and Mods, we could build these types of data shards to be entirely new experiences adjacent to the game. This could be where a bunch of mini-games are, bonus missions/gigs, entirely simulated areas for us to explore and get new stories, even meet new NPCs. Imagine getting a shard and plugging it in and you get to play as a detective investigating a crime scene and then apprehending the culprit, or a badass 80's style action hero gunning your way through a gang that's got a mega building locked down (think the Dredd movie). Brain Dances can't really offer this, since they're more for experiencing without much input on your part, but the tutorial at the start of the game had us actively engaging in virtual simulations just like we would in the real world of Night City, so the potential is there for some really REALLY incredible stuff! I mean, because they could build these “virtual regions” and design them from the very foundation, we might even get some flying cars since it wouldn't disrupt the flow of the main game at all, or having more neat toys like the Flathead and Basalisk at our disposal in environments that wouldn't fall apart with us having access to those. Could you imagine a shard that simulates engagements during the Corporate Wars? This could be big for both devs and modders alike!
Night City Pregame
A DLC meant to give us more by front-loading it rather than tacking it on in the middle or at the end of the game. Instead, this would open up Watson and bypass the lock-down. Jackie wouldn't immediately tell us about the meeting with Dexter either. Instead, we'd get a series of gigs- some even with Jackie as a companion -and help us build our rep and stats before the Heist mission was even pitched. We'd get the chance to see more of Night City, meet more of the Fixers, engage with more of the NPCs, get more time with Jackie, and build more of a bond with V as a character BEFORE we got in tough with Dexter DeShawn and got roped into that disaster of a heist. Basically, this idea would give us a bunch of new stuff, and push the Heist mission more towards the middle of the game instead of being the conclusion of Act I. All that has to be done is changing the event flags and lifting the lock-down. We should have access to Night City right off the bat without feeling the pressure of the main story like the vanilla game did. This is entirely possible! It's just shifting a few of the key events around and making sure the game checks for if Johnny is present or not if certain things should trigger him (something that a few gigs already do depending on if you do them before or after the Heist). This would not only do a lot for the community asking for more time with Jackie and having more freedom from the start, but it would also give more developers on other games ideas for how expansions can actually work by appending them in different places in their main game.
Reputation, Life Paths and Fixers -> Oh my!
Fixers should be a mechanic of the game where building Street Cred and associating with certain people and groups should allow us access to them. General Fixers we have, and Street Cred should be a good way to get a few more to notice us as our reputation goes up, but things like our Life Paths could also help influence what Fixers we get and when we get them. For example, there might be a Fixer that works mostly in corporate espionage, but they can be hard to hook up with without a lot of Street Cred and a couple of other things under our belt to indicate that we're worth their attention – OR – if we took the Corpo Life Path, we might be able to get in with them sooner as they recognize us as having experience in the corporate game. Stuff like this would not only gives us more to work towards, but actually help make Life Paths meaningful.
More Weapon and Ammo Types
Look the weapon variety and their use is pretty awesome in this game, I wish shotguns got a little more love and that we had a decent revolver other than the Overture and the unique versions of it, but... where's the explosives? Where are our rocket and grenade launchers? Where's our flamethrowers (I've seen the Crisp-er advertised)? What about remote bombs or proximity mines? In addition to that, why is everything so generic when it comes to ammunition? Where's our shock or fire rounds, for when we have a weapon that doesn't have those on its own? What about armor piercing ammunition or something that detonates inside the target with the press of a button? What about a sniper rifle that when we fire it, we can steer the bullet ourselves or even a rocket launcher with that feature? What about around that highlight enemies we've hit so we can track their movement? There's a LOT of options here that haven't been tapped into at all, and with combat feeling as good as it already does, it would be great to add more new stuff like this to play with.
Power Suits and Mechs
Where is our power armor? I have no doubt stuff like that would exist in this setting, heck we even fight a couple of psychos and Royce in something resembling it, so why can't we get cyberware implants that let us interface with stuff like that so we can use it? It doesn't have to be easy, first we need to find the stuff, probably fix it up, if not pay huge amounts of money for it, and then we need the hardware to actually hook up into it, which could also cost a lot of money. This stuff would really be awesome to have, in addition to things like our own Flathead bot or flying drone for extra utility.
More Cyberware
It's nice to have the different OS modules for hacking, slowing down time, or becoming super-charged in combat, and the addition of the optical camouflage is a good start, but really think about some options we could have. Optics with different vision types is a given, but besides just the rocket, monowire, blades, and extra-strength arms, we could have like... grappling hooks, flamethrowers, disc launchers, maybe even things that just trip enemies up like nets and snares. Maybe even a multi-tool for easy door and vehicle access? And for goodness sake, lay off the automatic slow down time effect stuff, we already have the Sandevistan for stuff like that, we don't need it going off all the time.
Vehicles
I'm not gonna talk about tanks or flying cars, I'm just gonna advocate that we never have another variant of the Quadra again. We have eight different version of it in-game already, we're good. We could use a little more interesting designs when it comes to the bikes though, maybe some four-wheelers or trikes? I mean we're obvious drawing in some anime influences, so you're spoiled for choice when it comes to references for cool motorcycle designs. Also, where's our convertibles? I've seen them parked and inaccessible and in cutscenes, but besides the Vilefort (which you only get if you're a boxer), I've never been able to drive one around. What about boats or at least aquatic hovercraft? There's some water channels that could have those.
Anyway, just some stuff I had milling around in my head. Feel free to comment on some of them or post some of your own!
