Everything We've Heard So Far About Cyberpunk 2077

[Rawls]

Hey Choombattas! This is your one stop shop for most of we have heard about Cyberpunk 2077 so far. For a less comprehensive dive into the game, check out the Unofficial Cyberpunk 2077 FAQ! I will continue to update this as we get new information up until December of 2020.

Sections include:

1. A Brief History of Cyberpunk - Cyberpunk 2020 & Red Source Materials, Themes of the World
2. It's a City of Dreams, and I’m a Big Dreamer - Night City, Open World, Level Design, Vehicles & Driving
3. The Age of Braindance Decadence - Life in Cyberpunk 2077, People of Night City, Factions
4. We’ve Got a City to Burn - Story Design, Choices & Consequences, Characters
5. Tales From the Street - Quest Design, World Economy
6. Style Over Substance - Character Creator, Appearance, Style
7. Character Creation - Lifepath, Roles/Classes, Stats
8. Take it To the Edge - Character Progression, Skills, Perks
9. Putting the Cyber in Punk - Cyberware, Ripperdocs, Humanity Cost
10. Getting Fitted for the Dark Future - User Interface, Inventory, Crafting, Inspection System
11. Gear From the Streets - Weapons, V's Phone, Clothing, Consumables
12. Friday Night Firefight - Gunplay, Melee, Stealth
13. Virtually There - Cyberspace, Netrunning, the Dangers of the Net, Braindancing
14. The Gift of Gab - Branching Dialogue, Interactive Scene System
15. Soul and the New Machine - Companions & NPCs, Romance, V's Apartment
16. Datafortress - Platforms, First Person Perspective, Post Release Content

A note on citations: if a article/interview is being referenced, quoted or paraphrased, it will be linked. The World of Cyberpunk lore book is cited by name and page number to the portion being quoted or paraphrased. However, quotation marks are being omitted for formatting purposes.

If you have any suggested additions or corrections, let me know in the comments. Buckle up, it's gonna be a long ride!

 

[Rawls]

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CYBERPUNK​

Cyberpunk 2077 is a direct continuation of the world built by Mike Pondsmith and R.Talsorian Games Inc. in the pen and paper role playing game Cyberpunk 2020.

World history in Cyberpunk is largely shared with our own history in the real world until the late 1980s. Total economic, social, and political breakdown began with the Crash of 1994 and resulted in the disintegration of American society and its standing as a world superpower. The subsequent years would come to be known as the Collapse, and would see the deaths of roughly 100,000,000 people as a result of plagues, mutated viruses, terrorist nuclear attacks and complete ecological collapse. The disintegration of NATO and the hardline foreign policy pursued by the "Gang of Four" isolated the United States politically and economically; with trade wars increasing the suffering of the American people. On August 17, 1996, the U.S. Constitution was suspended and direct military rule was established to deal with the crisis.

It was around this time that an enterprising man named Richard Night set off with the dream of building the perfect city. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 88). He bought the entire town of Morro Bay, a small neglected settlement near the border dividing North and South California that had nearly been destroyed by roving boostergangs two years earlier. He saw this depopulated land as the perfect place to build a clean, corporate city free from crime, poverty and chaos. He called his project Coronado City. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 89).

Night attracted major corporations to the new city with lucrative tax benefits that boosted the economy and created a stable base for corporate employees to live and work. The project was a resounding success until four years after construction began, when Night was murdered. Most assumed it was the budding organized crime world in Night City behind the murder (World of Cyberpunk, p. 89). The mob successfully filled the power vacuum left in the city, turning the city into a haven for illegal activities of all kinds: prostitution, assault, drug trafficking and cyberterrorism all became commonplace. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 89). Also the city was renamed Night City, after it's now deceased founder.

It wasn't until a decade later that the corporations decided to reassert their influence over Night City. But once they did, the results were immediately apparent. Over the course of a few short days, the heads of almost every major criminal organization died at the hands of unidentified mercenaries, and a new city counsel was established. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 89). The first order of the new city counsel was empowering the provide security forces of the powerful corporations of Night City to act "in the best interest of the city, and to establish peace and order within it's limits." The resulting purge and building led Night City into a golden age. But the gilded future, like all things that burn to brightly, wasn't made to last. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 89).

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Most say the end of the golden age was caused by the 4th Corporate war, where in late 2021, two rival aquatech companies, OTEC and CINO, came to fiscal-and then physical blows. As the situation escalated, each side brought in heavy muscle to back them: Militech for OTEC and Arasaka for CINO. By early 2022, a violent and pervasive Shadow War was in full swing between the two armament companies. Arasaka began using a program called Soulkiller made by Johnny Silverhand's girlfriend, ALT Cunningham, to attack Millitech through the net. Edgerunners around the world were hired on for a breakneck series of vicious-but-covert-black operations and strikes. Eventually, the fighting erupted into all out war. During the hot war, several cities (notably Hong Kong and Rio de Janeiro) were reduced to rubble, and the net itself became corrupted to the extent that it's mostly too dangerous to use. Eventually Millitech and what remained of the United States Government teamed up to take down Arasaka. The final battle took place in downtown Night City itself.

At the end of the 4th Corporate War, most of the major characters, led by Johnny Silverhand, gained entrance to Arasaka Tower, assaulted the labs on the 120th floor, destroyed Soulkiller, and rescued Alt (who had been previously consumed by her creation Soulkiller) by uploading her into the net as a digital construct. However, the team was ambushed by Adam Smasher, who killed Silverhand, and hunted down the rest of the team until confronted by Morgan Blackhand. Simultaneously, another team made it's way to the Arasaka Database, trying to make a copy of it and then destroying it with a small tactical nuke. As Smasher and Blackhand fought in Arasaka tower, the tactical nuke exploded and the tower collapsed, damaging a large part of the City Center.

In the years that followed the 4th Corporate War, times were hard for the people of Night City. Due to the mass destruction and radiation, a red pall hung over the skies worldwide. Most people installed radiation filters in their bodies. With major cities in shambles, people reclaimed the once-abandoned towns and settlements throughout the country, soon becoming targets for bandits and other questionable types. Most people who ventured out of the cities stuck with armed nomad caravans. Europe and Asia attempted to revive global trade regulating the surviving corporations in order to reestablish governmental control. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 18). In the United States, President Elizabeth Kress took a more direct path, enforcing martial law, declaring Arasaka responsible for the detonation of a nuclear device in Night City, and nationalizing Militech's corporate assets. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 18). Technological development stagnated, and Nomads became the lifeblood of the tech trade.

Rumors that Johnny Silverhand’s body was found in a cold storage body bank under the wreckage began shortly after the 4th Corporate War. Morgan Blackhand, on the other hand, was rumored to be covertly working for President Kress and the US Government.

Spoiler: Where's Johnny?

The NET had been irreparably damaged, so Netrunners had to learn how to physically jack in to local networks if they wanted access. Along with localized networks, Night City created a city-wide network called "DataPools" which could be accessed through Data Terms or Agents (which are similar to modern cell phones). In the DataPool, people can message friends, share information, buy stuff, and conduct research. It also became home to PopMedia, an entertainment and news programming service created by independent producers instead of MegaCorps.

Kress's government did little to help Night City recover from the 4th Corporate War unless Northern California rejoined with the United States. However, the residents of Night City refused to concede, and began the arduous process of rebuilding Night City themselves. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 18). By 2030, Night City’s outskirts and districts less affected by the Arasaka Tower bomb had become overcrowded. Thus sweeping reconstruction projects began in the City Center. By 2045 the first Mega Building was erected. While it was still functional, Night City’s NCART system had frequent issues with flooding and it commonly experienced delays. City planners began working to raise a majority of the track into a new monorail configuration. With the public transportation system constantly on the fritz, cars and cyberbikes became the most reliable way of getting around.

Between 2020 and 2077 certain fashion styles and architecture styles evolved with the times. The first came entropism, connected with the post war times when people were poor so the aesthetic is very practical. It just had to work. You can see it in the architecture, the fashion, and the vehicles. Then later came kitsch when the city's economy was getting a lot better. People started wearing much more colorful clothing; even the cars and buildings had brighter colors. The angles became more rounded and there are softer shapes. So now if you drive around Night City for instance and you see a building that's bright yellow and the windows are really rounded then you know it's kitsch style. After kitch came neo-militarism which is very corporate and neo-kitsch, which is for the super-rich who in order to show their supremacy have created their own style. Neo-kitch frequently uses natural animals because in Cyberpunk 2077 a lot of animals are extinct so if you can afford to have an animal print on your clothing you must be really rich.

Between 2045 and 2060, the world slowly rebuilt from the horrors of the 4th Corporate War and it's aftermath. Many cities were rebuilt with the aid of governments, as well as corporations such as Arasaka who saw these acts of good will as a chance to fix the negative public opinion they had earned. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 20). Many citizens of Night City continued to prefer corporate sovereignty over the idea of a return to Federal rule. This perception became reality with the Unification War in 2069 and 2070. President Rosalind Myers presented a unification program to extend federal rule over the remaining rogue Free States. Some negotiated agreements, but others including Northern California refused to join. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 22). This conflict became known as the Metal Wars.

Night City avoided the brunt of the fighting, but just barely. Southern California joined the New United States, meaning the Night City was on the front lines of the newly declared conflict. In early 2070, an NUS Army Division advanced on the city from the south. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 22). However, councilman Lucius Rhyne used his contacts on the city council to beseech the long-shunned Arasaka Corporation for protection. Within days, an Arasaka supercarrier arrived in Coronado Bay, leading the NUS troops to withdrawal. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 22). Arasaka's intervention enticed the New United States to come to the table and offer a peace where the Free States retained their autonomy, but agreed to participate in the new federal government, and to cease hostilities among themselves. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 22). This compromise-though unsatisfactory to all parties-was preferable to risking another global conflict and crises. As part of this accord, Night City was rededicated as an international free city, independent from both the Free State of California as well as the New United States of America. Night City paid for this liberty by further submitting itself to the megacorporations, who pumped money into revitalizing the city. Later that year, the city allowed Arasaka to rebuild their new American Headquarters on the same ground where it had stood 50 years prior.

The Themes of Modern Times​

By the time we get to 2077, MegaCorps manage every aspect of life from the top floors of their sky-scraping fortresses. The gangs rule the rest. The world of Cyberpunk 2077 presents a grim vision of the future. It's trying to say something about who has power and who doesn't, and why that is. In the world of Cyberpunk, it's the corporations in charge with everybody else scrounging to get by on the streets. It didn’t just happen overnight. It was the slow corruption of society, and now there’s a system to keep it in place. You have people that believe they should be the people at the top. The structures in place don’t allow true freedom, you’re just a slave of another kind. This world is a shining example of consumerism run rampant. No matter where you look, you’re pitched a product, an aspiration. Whether you’re riding the metro, brushing your teeth, or pissing in an alleyway, the glitter, vibrant color, and allure of it all sucks you in. Corporations are selling an unattainable dream and the masses are buying into it hook, line, and sinker. If you don’t think you’re one of the people that’s going to wind up on top, there is a seductive energy living on the streets still so rippling with texture and life.

There's also a cynical take on transhumanism. Technology did not liberate the people of Night City from their flesh, their foibles, or their failings. Tech advancement went hand in hand with the decay of society. Body augmentations invented to serve society simply multiplied the problems, and sometimes lead to mayhem on the streets. New inventions led to addictions, and poverty became an ever growing problem. Drugs, violence, and exclusion haven’t disappeared by 2077, as people stayed as they were for centuries – greedy, closed-minded and weak. The world is broken. Down here, where the streets are run by the drug-pushing gangs, tech hustlers, and illegal braindance slingers, is where decadence, sex and pop culture mix with violent crime, extreme poverty and the unattainable promise of the American Dream. It's this place were high tech and low life meet, that's the feel of Cyberpunk.

 

[Rawls]

IT'S A CITY OF DREAMS, AND I'M A BIG DREAMER​

Welcome to Night City! It's a fictional metropolis in the free state of Northern California, a remnant of a collapsed America. A planned urban community founded in by the late entrepreneur Richard Night, Night City sits with the Pacific Ocean to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by "the Badlands", a desert area occupied by the fighting Nomads and Raffen Shiv. Hosting a Corporate Center with representatives from over a dozen of the world's most powerful megacorps, Night City is a City of Dreams.

Night City is separated into seven districts. Each district is divided into subdistricts that act like different biomes. They have different architecture and different groups— like gangs. A lot of these areas have their own points of interest, side quests, things to find. Travelling between these districts will be seamless with no loading screens. If you see some place interesting, CDPR wants to let you get there and experience it. If you enjoy big open worlds, this is definitely a game for you. You can check out maps of the city here and here. The districts are:

• City Center: Night City's biggest pride, this is the heart of corporations, the cluster of neon, and the quintessence of luxury. It is the seat of Night City's economic and financial power. It's hard to believe that fifty years ago this was a ruined battlefield and radioactive zone.
  • Corpo Plaza - It is both one of the most recognizable fixtures of Night City, as well as the symbol of the return to power for corporations in Night City, after decades of humiliation and disgrace. It even houses the sprawling complexes for both Militech and Arasaka on the very ground their conflict destroyed half a century ago. Armored aerial vehicles pass overhead carrying corporate executives, and NCPD and corporate security constantly patrol the streets (World of Cyberpunk, p. 106)
  • Downtown - home to rebuilt hotels, restaurants, and office and apartment buildings, Downtown is filled with people and traffic. Neon signs are everywhere, advertising every kind of service and social thrill imaginable. While it's extremely expensive, there is a seedy underbelly to downtown, where drugs and illicit braindances are common, and gangers from all over the city come to have fun outside their home turf.
• Watson: A unique mix of Asian cultures, it is a fallen corporate giant now populated by immigrants, hiding various bazaars and markets in a tangle of narrow alleyways. During the rebuilding, some Japanese corps had big plans for the district and pour millions of dollars into it. It all ended when Arasaka returned after the Unification War. Once they returned, Arasaka pushed out all competition from Watson. With the other corps pulling out, lots of jobs were lost (World of Cyberpunk, p. 90). Now Watson is considered one of the lower income parts of Night City.
  • Arasaka Waterfront - the bulwark island of corporate authority in the lawless sea of Watson. Hundreds of shipments from abroad come through the Waterfront of month, packed and sorted by robots before being shipped to warehouses for storage and ultimately sale. However, the Waterfront is off limits to those not invited by Arasaka. The corporate giants have erected a wall around their slice of Night City, reinforced with motion detectors, electrified razor wire, and gun turrets (World of Cyberpunk, p. 95).
  • Kabuki - perhaps the poorest area in Night City not named Pacifica, home to the shadiest bazaar imaginable ... full of chop suey joints seedy cosmetic boutiques, and cheap junk shops. However, one doesn't have to look to far to find the heart of Night City's black market with all sorts of illegal transactions. None of the major gangs claim Kabuki as their own, though the Tygerclaws and Maelstrom have some presence. This power vacuum has given a toehold to "The Mox," a group interested in providing protection for sex workers, around the braindance bar and brothel called "Lizzie's Bar" (World of Cyberpunk, p. 94).
  • Little China - used to be the northern extension of City Center. It's home to a number of corporate-funded skyscrapers and a state of the art Med Center. But now the luxury apartments and legitimate businesses sit right next door to illegal gambling and low-income housing. In the 2040s the area was flooded with Asian immigrants, giving it a distinctly eastern cultural flair. The food, shops, neon lights, lingo, and flavor are all distinctly Chinese (World of Cyberpunk, p. 92).
  • Northern industrial District (NID) - was once Watson's prosperous factory subdistrict, but it's now mostly abandoned and neglected. Most people who still live there work in one of the few remaining functional factories. There are no prospects of moving up in the NID. This environment makes the perfect home for the Maelstrom gang, a large collection of near-cyberpsycho gangers who strike fear in the hearts of the most steeled edgerunners (World of Cyberpunk, p. 94).
• Westbrook: Featuring tourist-oriented Japantown, it is a place for the wealthy who like to work hard and play hard. During the rebuilding years after the 4th Corporate War, Westbrook was revitalized to serve as housing and recreation for the corporate employees of Night City.
  • Charter Hill - a relatively new and well maintained corporate district built from scratch during the rebuilding period. This is where the aspiring mid-level corpos rest their heads after a long day in the rat race to serve the almighty dollar. If you see someone not in corpo attire, they're likely an up-and-coming musician, artist or freelancer whose made it enough to get out of Little China or Wellsprings (World of Cyberpunk, p. 102)
  • Japantown - as the name suggests, Japantown is primarily inhabited by people of Japanese descent. During daylight hours it is crowded with tourists whom are attracted to the many bars, restaurants, gaming parlors, the cherry blossom, and the Shinto Temple. After dark, Japantown becomes the party district for the rich and powerful. However, those venturing into Japantown need to be careful not to cross the powerful Tyger Claws, the gangers who rule the district after dark (World of Cyberpunk, p. 100).
  • North Oaks - the newest and richest sub-district in Night City. It's an idyllic corporate Eden, free of gangs and poverty alike. However, these estates for the rich and famous were literally built on the graves of the impoverished. After the 4th Corporate War, North Oaks was a shanty town for refugees. Then the corporations declared the "War Against Crime" and cleared the area by force. These days, outsiders are not welcomed in North Oak, and private security is tight. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 102-03).
• Heywood: Living in one of the neighborhoods of the predominantly Latino area means you successfully managed to climb the social ladder -- it's a massive suburban housing district, with an underlying gang problem. It's a district of contrasts. In the northern parts of the district, bordering Downtown and Corpo Plaza, it's well maintained with public parks, clean skyscrapers and public service buildings. However, the further south and east you get in the district, the poorer and more dangerous the streets get. This is where gangers like the Valentinos and 6th Street run their businesses, both legal and illegal alike (World of Cyberpunk, p. 110).
  • The Glen - at one point the Glen was planned as the new seat of power for the Night City government. Near City Center, the state-owned sub-district seems like a nice place. Reconciliation Park and City Hall accompany many other final architectural designs at the Northern edge of the district. However, not far beyond City Hall, things start to look much worse. If the City Government runs the Northern Part of the district, the southern portion is run by the Valentinos and 6th Street (World of Cyberpunk, p. 113).
  • Vista Del Rey - gangs have overrun Vista Del Rey, and they're convinced that neighboring Corpo Plaza has it's eyes on them as it's next "resettlement" project. If it weren't for the bad PR that would come from pacifying and entire district next to the heart of the city, many believe the corpos would have already struck (World of Cyberpunk, p. 114).
  • Wellsprings - the safest sub-district in Heywood. Near City Center, there are some of the newest modern high-rises in Night City. As you travel south, the buildings get smaller and older. Apartments here range from mid-tier to cheap, but it's a relatively nice place to live. As you travel east, you start to notice some shanty houses, and more Valentino's graffiti on the street corners (World of Cyberpunk, p. 112).
• Pacifica: On the other end of the spectrum, this is the most dangerous part of town, abandoned and overrun by gang activity. Separated from the rest of the city, it's a place of immense poverty. It was once a billion dollar investment property that was abandoned when the money tried up due to the threat of the Unification war. This left thousands of people without a place to go, but the power vacuum was filled by a local gang of Haitian immigrants called the Voodoo boys, who have created a new Creole community south of Night City. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 122)
  • Coast View & West Wind Estate - After the unification war, investors tried to return, but were pushed away by the locals who were already turning this area into their own favela. When NCPD tried to enforce rule of law, the riots lasted for weeks. Fearing that clearing the neighborhood would result in a bloodbath, NCPD withdrew from the area.
• Santo Domingo: All of Night City is powered from here, with its countless power plants and industrial factories, stuck in an endless cycle of modernization. Santo Domingo is one of Night Cities oldest districts, and serves as Night City's southern industrial park. Various corporations are endlessly buying and selling land here to make room for new projects. Projects are protected by corporate security supported by drones. Competition between the rival corps is fierce here (World of Cyberpunk, p. 116).
  • Arroyo - an area subject to constant change depending on it's current corporate owners, Arroyo is currently home to a nuclear power plant, robot factories, and a gigantic junkyard. Not every corporate venture turns a profit, and several buildings in the area remain unfinished. Whether it's Arasaka or Petrochem, all the corporate zones in Arroyo are restricted. The rest of the area belongs to the 6th Street gang.
  • Ranchero Corronado - the self sufficient company town consisting of numerous almost identical cookie-cutter homes for the workers in Arroyo's factories. Corronado is advertised as the place for workers to live out the American Dream. It has it's own bats, shopping, a school, park, restaurants and a metro gas station. Security is overseen by the 6th Street gang, who keeps the area secure. While it's residents are among the lucky few in Night City who don't have to worry about jobs, shelter or food, one can't shake the feeling that it's all one giant hamster wheel designed to keep workers where they are, just shy of living in neglect and disrepair (World of Cyberpunk, p. 118).
• The Badlands: Sparsely populated by Nomads, the Badlands are the vast plains outside of the city proper. This district makes Night City feel like a rich oasis, but it holds golden opportunities for those in the know. Nomads aren’t the only ones who call Badlands their home. A a gang made up mostly of exiles from local tribes and families known as the Wraithsreside here, these are the guys responsible for the corporate transport disappearances. Crossing into their territory without armed transport is suicide.
  • Unchecked resource extraction and derelict oilfields dominate in the north.
  • Wastelands full of chemicals and landfills reign supreme in the east. Acid rains are a result from the massive pollution, this guarantees nothing will ever grow here anytime soon, perhaps ever, while the winds carrying the unbearable stench make sure that Night City doesn’t forget this place exists.
  • The south side is comprised of desert. Due to Biotechnica's many protein farms, as well as the Jackson Plains power plant, this part of the badlands is less apocalyptic than the rest. Some even think it’s safe around here, but let your guard down for a second and it’ll eat you up alive.

AN OPEN WORLD​

If you look at pure surface in terms of square kilometers, then Cyberpunk 2077 might be a little bit smaller than The Witcher 3 (which was roughly 140 km2 before expansions), but it’s the density of the content that has really increased in 2077. Night City is big, but it is also very vertical. Some buildings within the world are so big they're called "megabuildings," and take up entire city blocks. Megabuildings function like cities within a city. They are self-contained architectural behemoths that offer housing, food, firearms, medicine, training — you name it, it’s there.

The world's design includes a day-night cycle and dynamic weather system that not only provides aesthetic variety but can also impact gameplay. During quests some places might be less or more guarded based on the time of day or in the night ... or you may find some guards sleeping, making it easier for you to sneak in. Some story scenes might also change depending on the time of day they are taking place.

The amount of open world content has significantly increased from CDPR's The Witcher 3, with the team designing and creating a world where players could explore and discover events, stories, and activities that felt like a part of the world to provide context and room to develop your character beyond the main story. While Cyberpunk 2077 does feature an open world, every location is hand crafted. Each of these locations is designed to allow for multiple paths the players can take to approach situations. Due to the hand crafted nature of the world, you can’t go into every building, but the buildings you can go into will allow for a variety of play styles.

LEVEL DESIGN​

Level design begins on the macro level with the six different districts of Night City, which are designed to create as much variety as possible without being unrealistic. It's about finding the balance between unique districts but making sure it still feels like one city. Level designers put a lot of effort into the areas between the districts to make sure they flowed together in a very natural and believable way. CDPR actually had an urban planner help create the layout of Night City to make sure that you always have cool views and can always know where you're going, which is difficult because it can quickly become confusing in a city if you can't see where you are.

On a smaller scale, levels are designed to allow for multiple playstyles navigate their various challenges. If you want to try and barge in, guns blazing, levels will accommodate that. If you want to sneak around hacking systems, levels will accommodate that. If you want to be able to used tech you've made to navigate areas, the level design will accommodate that too.

VEHICLES, DRIVING AND TRANSPORTATION​

To navigate the open world, Cyberpunk 2077 lets you collect and drive a range of cars and motorcycles. V can drive vehicles in either FPP or TPP . V can take any vehicle you can see in the game, other than aerial vehicles. V may be able to ride in an AV in a few story moments, but she can't take control of flying cars in free roam. V can participate in conversations with other characters while driving her car or bike. If she comes to an NPCs standing on the side of the street and looks at them - a prompt may appear and she can participate in a normal dialogue with the NPC without getting off/out of the vehicle. V can spend her time simply roaming the streets in her ride, listening to the radio and searching for something to do.

When it comes to ground vehicles, a potential owner has a lot to choose from. Mass produced economy cars come in all shapes and sizes, from the the Japanese Makigai compact passenger cars, to Mahir Motors popular series of passenger vans. Slightly higher quality durable passenger vehicles come from American manufacturer Thornton and Chinese manufacturer Archer are favorites of nomads in the badlands. For sportier mid-tier models, you can find what your looking for with Mizutani, Villefort, or Quadra. Top-tier luxury cars are dominated by European manufacturers, such as Spain's Herrera and Great Britain's Rayfield. Motorcycles are a lower-budget alternative to passenger vehicles, but are Yaiba and Brennan remain popular options those in search of high speed mobility (World of Cyberpunk, pp. 56-58).

V's apartment has a huge garage that allows V to collect vehicles. She will also be able to label one vehicle her "main vehicle" that, because in 2077 cars are equipped with AI, you can call the car to come to your current location and have it arrive shortly.

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Reviews of the drving mechanics have been mixed, with some reviews calling it "stiff" or "aracadey". However, combat will be a feature while involved in driving, if V so chooses (and maybe sometimes when she doesn't).

But if V decides to forego driving herself, there are other options in Night City, including taxis and NCART, the city's light rail service. Most public transportation services are handled by automated vehicles. These trains and buses are practically entities in their own right — able to communicate with each other and learn in order to improve efficiency.

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[Rawls]

THE AGE OF BRAINDANCE DECADENCE​

For many Night City residents, crushing poverty and homelessness are significant and likely inescapable problems. This mood is prevalent not only in what you see, but also in the sounds and music of Night City. The music of the city pervades the air from personal media players, P.A. systems in clubs, boomboxes and car radios. But it may not always be all about dour electronic tones, the music of the city is as varied as our own world. Everything from electronica, to hip hop, to punk and rock and roll.

CDPR's cooperation with the acclaimed Swedish punk rock formation Refused has resulted in the greatest hits of SAMURAI, a legendary, long dead, chrome rock band led by Johnny Silverhand for whom music was a way to rebel and fight the system. Tracks born from the partnership include ones both heavily inspired by the original source material, as well as original tracks created by the band exclusively for Cyberpunk 2077.

Spoiler: Sample of SAMURAI's Music

Another partnership has Grimes performing as the controversial front-woman Lizzy Wizzy from the band "Lizzy Wizzy and the Metadwarves," of which she is the only human member. Lizzy Wizzy's ethereal electronic style was on display at the 2019 Game Awards in a live performance of the track "4 a.m."

THE PEOPLE OF NIGHT CITY​

The city is full of people. Dozens if not hundreds of NPCs casually milling about. Not just walking, but doing things—stopping to look at stores, or talk to each other, in ways that seem entirely natural. In one scene, an NPC boxes with an android in a back-alley ring, while onlookers crowd around. In another, an argument can be overheard between an upset customer and the owner of a kiosk in the middle of a busy market. The crowd system is based around those built for the Witcher 3 but taken to a new level. NPCs on the street may not have more than a few lines of dialogue for the player, but those connected to the story or gameplay will have much more to say.

Spoiler: The People

There are many ways to enjoy yourself in both the digital world and the real world Night City. It is a diverse place with people from all walks of life, backgrounds, and cultures. It's a mix of all sorts of art styles to create almost a museum of cultures. It's like a wall of noise to just blast at you and make you feel like you're in this alive, vibrant yet oppressive place.

FACTIONS​

Each of Night City's Districts have there own distinct look and style, and power players, but the city is truely run by the corporate giants.

Megacorporations in the dark future rival most countries in terms of power and wealth. Each has their own hierarchy, with the cleaners, drivers and security at the bottom selling themselves for sixteen hours a day to the corporate machine in order to receive medical benefits, staff housing and a shot at a better life be middle management. To be mid-level corpo, these low level workers have to show they're either persistent, clever, ruthless, or all of the above. If they make it though, they'll earn themselves a better apartment, and maybe even a car. However, the mid-tier of a corporation is by no means "making it" as it's much more ruthless and cut-throat than the entry levels of the hierarchy. Those at the top are either there from years of successful scheming, or more likely because they were born into corporate royalty. Here are some of the corporations we can expect to see in Night City:

• Arasaka - specializes in protective services and the distribution of their Japanese-made products throughout North America. Over the years, it has developed a dark reputation as a corporation that is to be feared and one which covers its tracks using cyberassassins, an army of lawyers as well as an alleged connection to the yakuza.
• Militech - an arms dealer based out of the eastern US. Working closely with police and military forces, it has substantially contributed to civilian security systems. It’s a powerhouse manufacturer of high-grade military technology — from simple firearms to heavily armored combat vehicles.
• Kang Tao - despite its relative youth, this Chinese-based company is already one the highest regarded weapons manufacturers in the world thanks to its bold choices, courageous strategy and government backing. It is the premier seller of "Smart" weapons around the world.
• Night Corp - Night Corps is a public procurement firm interested solely in the affairs of Night City, building roads, bridges, tunnels, metro lines, power plants, net transmitters, waterworks, sewerage and alternative energy projects.
• Orbital Air - based out of Nairobi, Kenya, Oribtal Air is a corp that specializes in cargo and passenger transport to Earth orbit. They have space sports in every major city across the globe, including Night City.
• Trauma Team International - being a corporation operating in the US, Canada, and parts of Europe, Trauma Teams can be called by calling 911 on any phone, and can trace a call to the phone. You are billed immediately when you call and the charges continue until you arrive at the hospital. The Trauma Team is composed of paramedics expertly trained in combat, who will go to any length to deliver their clients from harm. Those wealthy enough to afford a Trauma Team medical plan receive a card and biochip implant. When the chip recognizes a medical problem in a client’s system, it immediately informs the Trauma Team who rush to the scene to stabilize and extract the patient — rain or shine, war zone or picnic.
• Petrochem - with the collapse of most national oil companies after the Fourth Corporate War, Petrochem kept the world running, literally. They're the world's largest producer of CHOOH2™ (under license), and control millions of acres of arable land across the NUSA — land used to grow the genetically altered wheat that is used to make CHOOH2™. Petrochem is also one of the world’s largest oil producers.
• Kiroshi Optics - an industry leader in optics design and manufacturing. Kiroshi is well known to most users as a producer of high quality cyberoptic implants and scanners, but the company is also heavily invested in orbital programs across Asia and the Americas.
• Zetatech - once a relatively small company based out of Cupertino, California. Zetatech had always maintained its strong presence in Night City. Specializing in computer hardware, software, and wetware design, the company was among the main providers of neural processors, microchips, and robotics on the American market. In the past 30 years, Zetatech has diversified their product range and invested heavily in avionics research and manufacturing to become one of the major players in the transportation sector. Their aerodyne gunships and security, combat, and utility drones are currently their most recognizable products, used widely by all megacorporations.

Trying to keep the peace, the streets are patrolled by the Night City Police Department (NCDP). They don’t react lightly to people stepping out of the line, and their cybernetic enhancements and enhanced weaponry make them a formidable force to take on. The police won’t intervene when they see you committing some smaller crimes, like for example beating up some random dude on the street, because they treat it as just an everyday occurrence in Night City, but if they see you committing more extreme crimes, like pulling a gun out and shooting bystanders or driving through them with your car, they will terminate with extreme prejudice. You can earn yourself a police wanted status, triggering them to come after you, their determination and strength rising depending on the severity of your crimes. If you end up in a confrontation with the law, your options are to run away, fight them and then run away, or fight them, fight them, fight them, and then die.

The streets aren't the only place that need to be kept safe. Netwatch was formed in response to the development of the Net and the corresponding number of computer crimes. They started as a private company in the European Union, but now have global reach and a feared across the United States by corpos and cyberpunks alike as the boogeymen and hellhounds of the net.

There are also less "professional" security powers in the city. In some parts of the city, gangs are the true power on the streets. It’s a dark, dangerous world and some people can't or don't want to make it in the megacorps. Still, those people still have the human need to seek identity and security. It touches upon a universal feeling we all have: the need to belong to a group. Some people gravitate towards gangs. The gangs of Night City each have their own distinct style, turf and background:

• 6th Street - Founded by veterans of the 4th Corporate War tired of the helplessness of the NCPD, 6th Street was meant to serve and protect the community of Vista del Rey. Today their interpretation of the law and "bringing justice to the city" is questionable and self-serving.
• Animals - The Animals are an aggressive street-fighting gang with no permanent turf. Their members are known to abstain from the most common electronic implants in favor of customs-brewed body enhancements and modifications. They use ultratestosterone and animal supplements, including horse growth hormones, to make themselves bigger and stronger. Experienced brawlers and trained in various forms of martial arts, Animals are keen on cage fights, duels, and other displays of brute physical force. Their ferocity and toughness makes them sought-after bouncers and bodyguards.
• Maelstrom - A dangerous, violent gang from Night City's Northern Industrial District. Fascinated with the Net and cybertechnologies, much of the gang is on the verge of developing cyberpsychosis. Mealstrom's physical appearance is distinguished by the gang's dehumanizing heavy augmentation and occult inspired black metal tattoos.
• The Mox - relatively small, non-territorial, and consist of of mostly sexworkers, anarchist, punks, and sexual minorities in Kabuki. Formed in 2067 in the interest of mutual self-defense purposes, their name comes from the old slang term "moxie," denoting their determination to stand up against their oppressors. The Mox like to wear outfits that are a mix of the punk aesthetic and the inexpensive fashion worn typically by prostitutes, however they usually do not wear clothes that would restrain their movements in any way, leaving them looking more like gangers than your typical sex workers.
• Scavengers - ruthless lowlife scum who prey on unwary law-abiding citizens and gangers alike. They emerged as a side effect of the mass availability of body augmentations. Harvesting cyberware and organs is a nasty but profitable business, and Scavengers fill this niche by assaulting their victims on the streets. They are absolutely brutal with zero regard to human life. To a Scav, a human is just a set of products waiting to be sold on the black market
• Tyger Claws - a ruthless territorial gang based in Japantown. They are one of the largest gangs in Night City with a number of 5,500 members. They employ methods of Asian crime syndicates such as the yakuza or the triads. The gang is predominantly Asian and the primary goal is maintain control over their own territory and occasionally annex other gangs' businesses. Tyger foot soldiers are easily recognized by their Asian luminous tattoos, fast street bikes, katanas, and tantos.
• Valentinos - The Valentinos are one of the largest gangs in Night City with a membership of about 6,000. Strictly territorial they operate in the vast impoverished Latino barrios in Heywood, the Glen, and Vista del Rey, where they are strongly rooted in the local communities. They are representatives of the Chicano culture of Night City and have cultivated those traditions for more than a century.
• Voodoo Boys - a mysterious gang from Pacifica with a dark reputation for their netrunning skills and their mystical voodoo flavor. Presumed to be entirely consist of members with Haitian blood, the Voodoo Boys are are exclusive, secretive, and distrustful of outsiders. The gang was originally comprised of voodoo priests and priestesses, the prominent caste in the Creole culture of the Haitian diaspora. In 2062, climate change wiped Haiti off the face of the earth and initiated a new chapter of the Voodoo Boys' history. The gang became the self-appointed guardians of Haitian refugees' interests and safety in the Pacifica combat zone.
• Wraiths - while Nomads usually usually operate in a judicial grey area, the Wraiths ignore the law. They are vicious as well as aggressive and have dominated the Badland areas surrounding Night City. They raid small villages as well as attack small groups of Nomads and attack weakly guarded corp transports.

As you can see, there are many factions, groups and gangs in Night City. We will be able to work for many of the factions, but we won't be permanently joining any of them.

 

[Rawls]

WE'VE GOT A CITY TO BURN​

***MILD SPOILER ALERT*** In Cyberpunk 2077, you play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality. Over the course of the stroy, that biochip will be implanted into V against her will. Also, after the biochip is implanted, V starts being haunted by a digital hologram of Johnny Silverhand (voiced by Keanu Reeves), who has long been believed dead. Unraveling the mystery of the chip and Johnny will be a large part of the plot. ***END OF MILD SPOILERS***

To create the story, CDPR looked for interesting themes and concepts that could only be told in this vision of the future, but of course they also riff on existing tropes and try to put their spin on it. Cyberpunk 2020 already had a whole lot of PUNK in it, and CDPR wants to continue that legacy. However, one of the keys to the story is also how the player approaches it. In Cyberpunk 2077 we take the role of V, but we can also shape her a lot through our decisions and through our relationships with characters like Johnny Silverhand. So when the credits roll, one interesting thing would be to think about what the game actually says about us as the players.

That ending will be heavily impacted by player choice, with there being more possible endings than there were in the Witcher 3. And after those credits role, CDPR says the game will feature more replayability than prior CDPR titles due to it's branching storyline. CDPR also said they "found a really cool way" to let players keep playing after the main quest is concluded.

CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES​

All CDPR's narrative firepower is poured into allowing gamers to experience their story, one in which their decisions will shape who their character really is. However, the dystopian future we’re being put in is a dark and violent place. You’re never trying to save the world, it’s always about saving yourself.

It's not a linear story. That means really involved choices and consequences where you make the decision not knowing what the outcome will be. There's no karma meter here, only consequences. The game keeps track of everything you’ve done, and characters remember acts for or against, which can have effects on how situations, or even parts of the world, react to you.

There’s also a system to help the player know when missions contain an element of urgency. it's about subtly telegraphing to the player, "right now you shouldn't get too distracted. Because if you do, there will be consequences to it." Also having other times where the the player knows they are given space for slower exploration, because nobody's in danger.

CDPR always had this rule in the main storyline - Never fail the quest based on choices. Those things are outcomes. The only way to fail is if the player dies. If it's a side missions, the player can fail, but that failure has an outcome. If you were supposed to escort someone, and they died, it has consequences, not just a game over screen.

Spoiler: Keanu Reeves on Johhny Silverhand

CHARACTERS​

The story in Cyberpunk is about the characters in the world, so lets learn a little about some of them:

• V - The player character, he or she is a cyberpunk. In a world of cyber enhanced street warriors, tech-savvy netrunners and corporate life-hackers, the game is V becoming an urban legend.
• Johnny Silverhand - Throughout the game, the player will be haunted by the "digital ghost" of Silverhand, suggesting that he is physically dead.

• Jackie Welles - A gun for hire, Jackie is a highly skilled assassin. In the Wild West setting, he'd surely be a gunslinger or a bounty hunter. 2077 has him as a cyberpunk, just outside the big league. And he really wants to get into the game.
• Dexter DeShawn - Fixers like Dexter juggle illegal contracts -- burglaries, assassinations, you name it. They do it for a price, of course. They're links between clients and mercenaries. He's a top level player, with a wide net of contacts and the best mercenaries on demand.
• Rogue - One of the former lovers of Rockerboy Johnny Silverhand, she was also a legendary solo in her own right. After the Fourth Corporate War, she later became one of the best Fixers in Night City. She's the current owner of the Afterlife bar in Little China.
• Meredith Stout - Corporate executives are the new aristocracy of this world. Meredith is an egomaniac who will stop at nothing to reach her goals -- and she's highly successful. She lives and breathes corporate. She despises the common folk and spits all over people from the lower classes.
• Victor Vector - A ripperdoc who can patch you up in no time, stitching your gut after it has been slashed open and tending to bullet wounds. And if your tech is broken, he can either fix it or install new, illegal wares. Victor is a master of both -- the scalpel and the screwdriver. Having been a ringside physician for years, he sure has enough experience.
• Judy Alvarez - Judy is Night City's premier braindance technician, heavily respected for her skills, innovation and creativity. Motivated to change things for the better she teamed with the Mox and currently works for them as a BD technician and editor.
• T-Bug - it’s hard to find a netrunner who's more of a pro than Bug. Her consistency and persistence have brought her respect and trust in the field. As the mercs say: if Bug can’t do it, who can?
• Maman Brigitte - Brigitte is the leader of the Voodoo Boys gang. She is mysterious and unnerving, threatening even. She pursues her aims with a dogged, merciless ambition – it’s much better to have her as a friend than a foe. Although she doesn’t pose a major threat in Realspace, she’s deadly in the Net.
• Evelyn Parker - Evelyn Parker's intelligence and ambition drives her to demand more from life. Her goal of becoming a professional actress, and her rational head for the biz, led her to a job at the Doll House, but this stepping stone in her career quickly became something much more permanent.
• Adam Smasher - A full fledged Cyborg, with little humanity left to be seen. He is the Rival of Morgan Blackhand and dealt the killing blow to Johnny Silverhand in the Fourth Corporate War. Adam has no empathy for people or even his fellow employees. Arasaka kept him alive, so he lives to repay their kind deeds to him. By killing the enemies of the corporation.
• Lizzy Wizzy - Lizzy is the controversial frontwoman for the band Lizzy Wizzy and the Metadwarves, of which she is the only human member. She will be voiced by the artist Grimes.
• Yorinobu Arasaka - Yorinobu was the original heir to the Arasaka Empire, before he rebelled and cut ties with his father. For many years he lead the Steel Dragons and sought destruction, but soon realized that the corporate giant’s power was impossible to defeat. At least from the outside. Yorinobu still rebels against his father, but has not seen him in decades.

It is very unlikely that Ciri fom TW3 will make an appearance in CP2077. When asked, Adam Badowski (2077's Game Director) said -

I hate this question. We are not Kingdom Hearts ... We are not joining universes, and I know that there are a lot of fans on the team and they would like to have Ciri in the game. But I am totally against it, still.

 

[Rawls]

TALES FROM THE STREET
​

CD Projekt always starts with the story which is designed by quest designers and writers. The story begins with the main quest and then side quests build off of that. It all starts with quest designers pitching hundreds of ideas for quests and choosing the best ones. Once an idea is accepted, the quest designer builds the whole quest from start to finish to create a very basic playable version that the writers, level designers and others then use to create a unique story. Setting a story up in an open world game requires anticipating when players may enter into a scene and from where. Writers coordinate with the quest designers to ensure that the characterization remains consistent across the whole game.

QUEST DESIGN​

There are four different types of quests in Cyberpunk 2077 - main quests, side quests, street stories and minor quests.

Main quests are the ones players may have to play to get to the end of the story. However, it's a non-linear game, so not all main quests are always required. Paweł Sasko told metro that it was hard to say how long it would take to finish a play-through of the main quest, because of vertical exploration, the addition of vehicles, optional side quests, and the non-linearity in the game play. Those make the variability of play time very large. He did say CDPR received feedback that the main story in The Witcher 3 was a bit too long, so they’re trying to make CP2077 a bit tighter. However, he emphasized that this was not to say there is less content. It's going to be huge. According to Marcin Blacha all the dialogues written for the game make for a two massive books, director commentary for them another two books and all the non-voiced text probably four books.

Side quests can be as large or even bigger than a main quest, or just very short. Sometimes they also have a specific purpose, like introducing a new theme to the game, or telling the story of a specific community or location. Sidequests are great opportunities for CDPR to elaborate on certain parts of the world in 2077, like the characters. CDPR's rule for side quests is that the story has to be something that you’ve never seen before, and there’s gotta be something in that story that’s different. These sidequests can continue the story of a main quest or even set up a new branch in the main storyline. Characters you only meet in a side quest can then suddenly show up later in the main story or sometimes a small quest can turn into something much bigger and then change the whole main story of the game. It’s all interwoven.

This means that the choices the player makes in the game will lead to one of the multiple endings. There can be many different story consequences to a player's decisions, but one part of CDPRs design philosophy is not to have a game over screen other than player death. There are solutions as to how the quest can continue, even if the player makes a big stupid mistake. We can make these decisions, but then have to live with the consequences, which sometimes can feel like we failed someone. If we get a job and it’s specified that we shouldn’t go on a rampage, but we do anyways, we simply fail our job and won’t get paid.

Street Stories are a bit like contracts were in TW3. These are the jobs that V gets from fixers, and doing these jobs gives V more street cred, so she gets a reputation around the city. These jobs can be very varied and of course also benefit a lot from our different play styles. Street Stories are designed and implemented by CDPRs Open World Team.

Finally, there are minor quests, which is just a term for short or smaller side quests. Sometimes they can just be a few minutes long, but they all should tell an interesting story nevertheless.

There will be faster paced quests and slower paced ones as well. Some quests will be built around investigation and solving mysteries. These investiagations offer different ways for V to gather information, such as V’s Kiroshi Eye Implant she can get. Another special feature that's been mentioned as useful in investigations is Braindances, in which we can experience the memories of another person who recorded the braindance.

There can be times where a quest changes when player choices lead to a companion deciding to join V or not. It essentially means having to implement a good chunk of this quest two times, because CDPR wants to create a different experience if you have someone with you. Companions who tag along will take part in dialogues and the whole story can go into a different direction if they’re there or not. So in some ways it can feel like playing a completely new quest.

Every quest in the game is handcrafted. For CDPR, quality is always more important than quantity, so there will be no procedurally generated random quests. CDPR doesn't just want to keep people busy, but actually give them something to do that’s worth their while. However, it's still an Open World RPG, so that means that despite the quests being handcrafted, the devs tried to make a whole lot of them, so players can have fun in the game for many hours.

ECONOMY OF NIGHT CITY​

Try to think of Night City as a place where the evil isn’t a particular person, but society. The economy of Night City makes the poor stay poor, and makes the rich get richer, so someone like V is supposed to stay down in her station and just deal with it. It’s a real struggle to try and get out of this loop, but V can make it, and of course that's her big dream. The best way in-game to make eddies (aka Eurodollars - Night City's currency) is of course doing quests. So if we ever need some cash, checking what kind of jobs a fixer has on offer can be a good option. The more street cred V gains around the city, the higher quality job offers she receives. Those are of course much more dangerous, but they also have a much nicer payday.

Loot and rewards in 2077 are connected with the story and locations within the game. If you are going through All Foods factory inhabited by Millitech armed Maelstrom, you are able to find artificial meat, Mealstrom gear and Millitech gear there. There is no random loot laying about that magically appears, rather it is strongly connected to place and story. The items you find can also teach V something about area you find it in, especially if you inspect the gear. Finally, V can get gear as quest rewards. Some quests are even built around trying to get specific items of gear.

Spoiler: Vendor Screen

You can purchase items at the many vendors selling items in Night City. From clothing, to cyberware, to weapons, to food, to software like daemons, everything is a chance for someone else to make a buck off of you. These items not only frequently have different looks to them, but also have varying stats to help V along the way in her journey. At some level, V is always a edgerunner so she will always be connected to the street, but she can become more wealthy in the game depending on choices, quests as well as connections with various NPCs/groups.

​

 

[Rawls]

STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE​

Cyberpunk 2077 begins with character customization. The player character's name is fixed as “V." Other characters perceive V's sex through our choice of the male sounding voice or female sounding voice. Male V will be voiced by Gavin Drea and Female V will be voiced by Cherami Leigh. However, to better represent the transhumanist nature of the world, you can mix and match physical traits as you build your face and body that could be assigned to a man or a woman. Choosing a male-ish or female-ish body will be a separate selection from choosing a male or female voice. The choices we make regarding V's appearance are not merely cosmetic, as our appearance may impact the behavior of other characters.

APPEARANCE​

We will further be able to customize V's biological appearance. There are options to customize eye shape, eye color, nose, ears, mouth, jaw, beard, surface wiring, hairstyle and skin tone … with each option having multiple possible settings. It appears that the appearance features that can be customized are a variety of presets which can be mixed and matched. It does not appear that they are "sliders" (like Bethesda titles) that allow for the face to be molded from one extreme to another. One of the previews of the game mentioned that there are 252 individual options to select from regarding V's appearance, including 6 skin types, 35 hairstyles, 17 eyes, 8 eyebrows, 17 mouths, 17 jaws, 17 ears, 8 bits of “cyberware” (as well as no cyberware), 9 types of scars plus off, 6 types of tatts plus off, 11 piercings plus off, 5 types of teeth, 8 bits of eye makeup, 5 bits of lip makeup plus off, 3 blemishes, 3 types of nipples, 5 types of body tatts, 2 types of body scars, 2 penis types (plus size options), 1 vagina option, and 5 types of pubic hairs. For a glance at the most recent iteration of the character creator from Nifght City Wire: Episode 5, take a look at the stills below.

STYLE​

But it's not just V's biological appearance we can customize, but also her style. The categories in the 2018 demo we could change includes style, clothes, and etc. There are a variety of styles prevalent in Night City:

• "Entropism" represents the look of poverty that derives from humans grappling with and struggling against technology and its unforgiving advance. It denotes a lack of design blending with a general poverty of means and ideas.
• "Kitsch" is the look of a long lost golden age on people entirely unwilling or unable to forget it. It’s flashy, bold and usually cheap – filled with gold-plated cyberware, implants encased in brightly colored plastic and larger-than-life makeup.
• "Neomiliterism" is the look of global conflict and corporations jockeying for power. Cold, sharp and modern. Making everyone look as if they are ready to drop out of an AV’s cargo door and head straight into combat.
• "Neokitsch" is the look of infinite wealth and vanity. Synonymous with luxury, it has been blossoming among Night City’s wealthiest elites – those who can afford to buy anything, who can afford to be anything they want to be.

​

 

[Rawls]

CHARACTER CREATION​

Your V's appearance is not the most important aspect of the character though. It's where she's come from and the choices she'll make that are most important. To that end CDPR has created a character that has her own background, role in the world and stats to get it done.

LIFEPATH​

Players can choose V's backstory through a mechanic called Lifepath. V’s birthday is set, and (s)he will be 22-23 years old. It's been confirmed that we will be able to choose V's background between three options:

Street Kid - They say if you wanna understand the streets, you've gotta live 'em. Gangs, fixers, dolls, small time pushers - this V was raised by them all. Down here law of the jungle dictates the weak server the strong - the only law in Night City V has yet to break.

Nomad - Roaming the badlands, looting scrapyards, raiding fuel depots - life on the road wasn't easy. But growing up in a Nomad clan has it's perks. Honesty, integrity and a love of freedom - qualities only a few in Night City possess, and no amount of money can buy.

Corporate - Few leave the corporate world with their lives - fewer still with their souls intact. You've been there - you've bent the rules, exploited secrets and weaponized information. There's no such thing as a fair game, only winners and losers.

This choice will effect how we are perceived by various NPCs in the world, and will each give the player unique dialogue options and flavor. For example, a street kid will know more about how gangs operate, while a corporate will know better how corporate bureaucrats work and think. There are also structural changes to the story based on V's Lifepath. Each of that Lifepaths has a different starting location, as well as a questline, background and equipment that are strongly connected with their origin story. Characters from different lifepaths know different characters. Eventually each of the paths find the main quest of the game, but they still add unique flavors to the path through the story. Furthermore, your chosen backstory unlocks specific sidequests from the off.

Spoiler: Corporate V May Have More to Say with These Folks

ROLES/CLASSES​

Roles are important to the design of the game. They will form the archetypes of different ways to approach missions and the environmental levels in Night City. While there are three builds to focus on, levels are actually being designed so that while there are three roles, those roles actually fit into one of four archetypes - strong solo, fast solo, techie or netrunner. In layman term this means you can build your V to be a tank, a "cyberninja," a hacker or an engineer. For a bit of a closer look at the three roles, here are some brief descriptions:

Netrunner: The elite hackers of the world, their skills can grant them access to mundane objects like doors, to more intricate systems such as security cameras and encryption, and even people's brains. This is also the class most likely to resort to stealth in gameplay. So lots of sneaking around, overhearing enemy conversations, stealth take-downs and hacking systems. Just about everything in Night City is connected to some sort of network, and a network can be hacked.

Spoiler: Netrunner

Techie: The engineers, renegade mechanics and medics, techies are able to build and use a variety of weapons, gear, and items to augment their playstyle. For example, techies use engineering to tinker their way out of bad situations. Techies are also more efficient with collecting supplies and crafting than other builds.

Solo: Mercenaries whose skills focus on combat and weapon usage. They are strong and fast, and the most capable melee opponents. If your preferred means of dealing with challenges is violence, then becoming a Solo may be just the ticket for you. Whether you want to shoot it, slice it, or hit it, the Solo is the one to make it happen.

So depending on what you want to do in the game, V can specialize in one area, or can make a hybrid build using the game's fluid class system. Each class is going to have some great abilities, so no matter what the player picks, they'll have fun ways to approach challenges. There is no class to pick at the very beginning of the game in the character creator. Instead, the stats, skills and perks we use and improve over the course of our game slowly over time determine our build for us.

STATS​

While the look, style and history of your character will effect dialogues, story, and NPC relationships, it the mechanical customization that makes the gameplay of each play-through unique. That starts with stats. At last we saw, V will have five stats - Body, Reflexes, Intelligence, Tech and Cool. Body appears to be a combination of strength and constitution (which were originally going to be two seperate stats).

Spoiler: Character Stats

Cool isn’t just the Cyberpunk version of the more traditional RPG stat Charisma. You can have a tremendous amount of cool and have very little charisma. Basically, there’s a difference between talking your way out of situations and just throwing off a vibe that commands respect. People who might otherwise draw weapons on you when you walk in the door would not want to mess with a particularly cool character. Stats like cool, tech, body, and etc will at times influence dialogue options.

 

[Rawls]

TAKE IT TO THE EDGE​

So we've built our V, she's got her look, her back story, and her stats. Now it's time to talk about how all of that allows for freedom of gameplay within the narrative CDPR wants to tell in the open world of Night City. CDPR has explained that Cyberpunk is a progression from there last game, the Witcher 3. The Witcher 3 was about showing that games can have both open worlds and fantastic non-linear narratives. Cyberpunk 2077 is about offering those two things, plus adding in an emphasis on freedom of gameplay. Thus character progression is supremely important.

CHARACTER PROGRESSION​

The character creation options we choose in character progression give benefits to the player. For instance, stats play a huge role in character progression. A stronger character with a high body stat and the appropriate cyberware installed can rip open locked doors with her bare hands. A higher cool stat makes it so that V's aim with guns is steadier during combat. These stats progress depending on whether you invest points in them, as well as if you install cyberware that improves them.

However stats also have another purpose, they act as gates to skill/perk progression. Skills and perks are separate mechanic systems that each provide ways to customize and improve V. For instance if your body stat is too low, you’ll eventually hit a wall in some melee skills/perks until you increase your body. If you get stuck, you’ll be able to respec attributes in some fashion, too. From what we've heard about in the 2019 demo, and a Twitter Post Regarding Stats & Skills last year, it sounds like skills will be broken up into twelve sections that improve as you use them. Skills are improved by successfully performing actions, or by installing Cyberware. The twelve skill categories that were reported from the E3 2019 demo included, Pistols, Rifles, Blades, Shotguns, Two-handed, Hacking, Assassinations, Cold Blood, Sniper Rifles, Engineering, Melee and Athletics.

Here are a few of the perks mentioned in one preview: having a rocket launcher for an arm; having no weapon sway or bullet spread for full, 10 second killing sprees; being gifted with 50% less shotgun recoil because you’ve dismembered somebody; receiving a cyberdeck memory regen speed that gives you God-like, Neo from The Matrix hacking abilities for a while.

Spoiler: Skill/Perk Tree

The other progression systems (like stats and perks) are improved by leveling up and earning XP through the main quest, or street cred through side quests. XP is your traditional experience points like Geralt earned in the Witcher 3. Street cred is how is how V improves her reputation, which in turn gets more people interested in her services. The more you work on the streets, the more assignments you do, the more contracts you complete, as a merc, you gain a bigger name for yourself. This works both for gangs and for the other potential employers that you might get and results in unlocking new quest givers and vendors as you increase V's street cred. However, building up your street cred as a mercenary also has some drawbacks. Once V's name gets out there more she becomes more recognizable, that actually might be a detriment in some missions. People will recognize you and that's not always a good thing if you want to stay incognito. Separating main quest and side quest experience points is important to the balance of the game, because it will help ensure that V does not out level the main quest.

Once you earn these experience points, V can use them to invest in various perks that exist in a perk tree. Attached to each of those skill categories will be a group of perks, which the player can spend points in to effect gameplay either by opening up new abilities or buff existing stats or skills in the 12 branches. The perks seemed to be organized so that they fit within the skill categories mentioned above. Each attribute has two-to-three perk trees which each have 20-30 different perks in them (so at least 240 perks total).

Here are some of the perks we've had described: improving critical chance by 15 percent; a global 15 percent/25 percent damage bump to human and mechanical enemies; 30 percent faster move speed while sneaking; unlocking aerial takedowns; unlocking the ability to throw knives; or just getting more movement speed generally after a takedown; unlock the ability to breakdown turrets; increase your Breach Protocol buffer; get better hacking programs; better headshot damage with handguns; health regen during combat; double the carrying capacity. Here is a list of all the perks we know of so far:

• BODY
  • BRAWLING
    • "Guerilla"- Kiling foes increases crit hit by 60% for 1 0 secs
  • ATHLETICS
    • Gladiator - reduces damage taken while blocking by 20%.
    • Regeneration - slowly regenerates health in combat.
    • Pack Mule - doubles carrying capacity.
    • Invincible -increases maximum health by 10%.
    • Super Hero Landing - reduces fall damage by 5%.
    • Multitasker - lets you shoot while sprinting, sliding and jumping at the same time.
    • Transporter - lets you shoot and sprint while carrying a body.
    • Hard motherfucker - at the start of a fight, armor and resistance are increased by 20% for 10 seconds.
  • ANNIHILATION
    • "Redacted" - Dismembering foes reduces recoil by 50% for 6 secs
• COOL
  • STEALTH
    • Embrace the Shadows - 25% HP Regen when in Stealth/Sneaking
    • Crouching Tiger - Movement Speed Increase by 30% when in Stealth/Sneaking
    • Attraction and Replsion - Unlock ability to push grabbed enemies. (can probably allow you to throw enemies off cliffs to kill them)
    • Dagger Dealer - Unlock ability to use Throwing Knives
    • Hidden Dragon - Unlock ability to perform Aerial Takedowns.
    • Ninjutsu - All Sneak attacks with melee weapons will deal 100% more damage and 100% Crit hit.
    • Stunning Blow - Fast melee attacks will stagger enemies.
    • Hasty Retreat - Gain 50% movement speed when spotted by Enemies.
    • "Toxicology" - Poison duration increased by 5 secs *
  • COLD BLOOD
    • "Merciless" - if Cold Blood active, crit chance +1 0% and crit damage +2%
• INTELLIGENCE
  • DEVICE HACKING
    • "Transmigration" - Increase Breach time protocol by 25%
  • TARGET HACKING
    • "Master Memory" - Increase memory regen speed by 25%
• REFLEXES
  • HANDGUNS
    • "Redacted" - Land a critical hit and get an armour boost for 20 secs
  • RIFLES
    • Bullseye - Increases rifle damage while aiming by 10%
    • "Punisher" - Kill an enemy to nullify weapon sway and spread for 1 0 secs
  • BLADES
    • Flight of the Sparrow - reduces the stamina cost of all attacks with blades by 50%
    • Slow and Steady - Armor is increased by 15% while moving
    • Offensive/Defensive - Defensive attacks with blades deal 200% more damage
    • Unfair Advantage - deal 10% more damage to enemies with higher Max HP.
    • Ninja - Unlock the Block Bullet ability to deflect bullets and perform dash attacks (seem certain Perks will unlock certain skills for V)
    • "Dragon Strike" - Strong attacks consume stacked bleeding effects and deal 15% damage
• TECH
  • CRAFTING
    • Master Gunsmith - 5% chance of getting an additional prototype component as crafting material for every item made.
    • R&D - the said skill that enables you to upgrade items to the legendary quality level.
    • Revamp is a trait, a kind of master skill at the bottom of the talent tree, which increases the sales prices of your items by 25%.
  • ENGINEERING
    • Mech Looter - you can loot scrap from drones, robots and mechs and have a 30% chance of finding weapon parts.
    • Blast Shielding - reduces your explosion damage taken by 10%.
    • Shrapnel - adds 20 additional damage to all previous garnet effects.
    • Grenadier - make the explosion radius of grenades visible to you.
    • Reverse engineering - lets you take off weapon mods.
    • You can't touch this - make yourself immune to the effects of your own grenades
    • "Crazy Science" - Increase tech weapon damage by 25%

 

[Rawls]

PUTTING THE CYBER IN PUNK​

The final method of personal customization is cyberware. In Night City, Cyberware has become a matter of style and lifestyle choice. Cyberware has become as commonplace as tattoos and jewelry. The reasons for installing it are many and varied, including simple tech upgrades, combat enhancements, and even fashion statements.

CYBERWARE
​

The possession of trendy cyberware has become an integral and defining part of Night City culture. Uniqueness is just another form of currency. To make it big, you need to look the part. Style is everything. Cyberware has gone through several generations since it was first designed in the beginning of the 21st Century:

• Generation Zero of cyberware was strictly made for medical purposes. It is extremely bulky and unintuitive by modern standards, and completely obsolete compared to the more modern generations.
• Generation One began as reinforced spines and joints for heavy laborers, air filters to help those who had to work in overly polluted environments, and HUD imaging for various purposes. Shortly thereafter, these types of body modifications began making their appearance in warzones across the world. This began a cyber-arms race between the megacorporations that continues to this day. These wares were made almost exclusively of metal and plastic, and can today only be found on the black market ... sold for cheap to those who can't afford anything better.
• Generation Two cyberware came in the aftermath of the first two Corporate Wars. The battlefield dust had barely settled before the cybermedical industry started booming. And the same time the style call "kitsch" and the explosion of braindance technology met a society that was ready to party. The age of cyberware and style over substance had begun. Generation Two cyberimplants are still the most common implants you will find on the street more than half a century later. They are relatively cheap, are powered with artificial cyber-muscles instead of hydraulics for improved strength, and can be upgraded with many of the most popular improvements, such as realskin.
• Generation Three improved on the older models by becoming much lighter and more durable. They also began to incorporate biological enhancements (called bioware) to better integrate cyberpentetics and enhancements with the human body. This allowed for a new series of improvements, such as skinweave, nanosurgeons, toxic binders and synaptic upgrades. Though bioware is less powerful than it's cybernetic equivalents, they are immune to EMP attacks, are harder to detect with scanners, and are less likely to cause cyberpsychosis.
• Generation Four is the newest state of the art cyberware the market has to offer. Gen Four comes in two types: top-tier corpo gear and overtly visual fashion ware. Corpo-gear includes implants like improved neural processors, netrunning hackware, and grade IV cybereyes. Fashion ware is becoming ever more popular among the socialites of Night City. Gaudy gold, platinum and crystal enhancements are becoming symbols of celebrity status and wealth. Unique wares such as these obviously come at a premium, and you need to know the right fixer to get your hands on such merchandise on the street (World of Cyberpunk, pp. 30-39).

So far we've seen all sorts of body modifications we can install into V's body. In the Cyberware loadout screen, there are 11 separate body parts V can upgrade. You can upgrade your brain, your eyes, your internal systems (immune, nervous, etc.) and your limbs. Some of the bigger modifications, like arms, legs or spine, can come with slots on them for additional benefits, for instance making your artificial legs quieter for sneaking. Some implants will be required in order to progress but most are optional. But there will be lots of options for cyberware. So far we've heard about:

• Mantis Blades - a bladed weapon implant that extends from the forearm, giving the player to both melee weapons and wall scaling utility.
• Optical Scanner - an eye implant that allows V to zoom in on objects, and scan them to obtain information on NPC, machine and vehicle targets like threat level (Victor’s is “very low”), damage resistances, and gang affiliations. This is a mandatory piece of Cyberware, and works in a functionally similar way to "Witcher Senses" from TW3, where key hidden details can become known to the player.
• Subdermal Grip - an enhancement of V's hand that increases the damage done with "locked" weapons. It also increases melee damage done by V and makes a ammo counter available for V in her HUD.
• Translator Implant Chip - allows for instant language translation of foreign languages to English.
• Smart Gun Targeting Link - in order to use smart guns you will need a specific connection to the gun via a piece of cyberware that will unlock the ability to use the targeting system. This will multi-highlight enemies, so that bullets track them. The targeting system itself is from an eye augment so that is what unlocks the bullet tracking, but how efficient it is at tracking is based on the weapon.
• Cyberdeck - used to install chips & software through a small plug on the base of the neck. Allows for tools such as daemons (which can hack into enemies, blind them, disable their weapons, or turn their cyberware against themselves) to be used. Cyberdecks often use interface plugs to allow users to gain access to networks more quickly.
• RealSkinn — synthetic skin designed to cover cybernetic implants.
• Gorilla Arms - This cyberlimb enhancement was mentioned in the E3 2019 reviews and interviews. It could only be installed on a character with enough stat in body, as sometimes the cyberware you can install is gated by V's stats or skills. However, once installed, it allowed V to Rip open locked doors, and pick up heavy objects (like a machine gun turret).
• Cyberlegs - We see V use these in the E3 2018 trailer. They give her the ability to Double jump, hover jump, wall run and etc. With the correct implant, they can also improve V's ability to move stealthily.
• Projectile Launch System - The Projectile Launch System is a missile launcher in the palm of your hand. Manufactured by Arasaka, it comes with a varied warhead selection for it's projectiles.

RIPPERDOCS​

Basic cyberware is easy to obtain in Night City. Shops and cosmetic clinics can install "lite" cyberware on the spot, with some add-ons even available to install yourself at home. However, more specialized cyberware needs to be installed in specialist clinics, or by visiting the less expensive Ripperdocs, who install all sorts of cybernetic prostheses.

There are many Ripperdocs that operate legally, but some conduct illicit deals, such as installing military-grade cybernetics for the right price. In the 2018 demo, we saw V have a neural processor, dermal grip and optical scanner installed. Perhaps the coolest part of this is we watch the process happen in first person. V places her hand into the a machine, and the Ripperdoc named Victor shoots her full of anesthetic. After a few moments of chatting, Victor plucks out her old eye … and everything goes dark for a moment. Then he links our neural processor with the new optical scanner, and we can see ourselves. There’s a nice touch where the eye glitches for a split second as it’s put into place. Soon the jaws of life dermal grip installer-thingy over V's hand has done its job. We can actually see that it made a visual difference on V’s hand, which has interesting implications for other cyberwares. Victor tells us to take two wiffs of medication now and another two later.

Some cyberware will require the ripperdoc services in order to install it into V, but there will be some cyberware modifications V may be able to install herself. For example, while only ripperdoc can install the mechanism of Mantis Blades in our arm, afterwards the blades themselves can be detached and replaced on our own.

Spoiler: Installing a New Eye

HUMANITY COST ​

You need to be careful with body modifications in Night City though. In CP2020, if you installed too much Cyberware, you could become a "Cyberpsycho" who has completely lost touch with their humanity and control of their actions. However, in a cRPG cyberpsychosis would essentially be a Game Over for the player, so CDPR is handling it another way. They are limiting cyberware in 2077 by dividing V's body into sections (head, arms, legs, torso) which then have slots. Each area can only have some much cyberware installed into slots before the humanity cost is too high. At that point, you cannot install anything else. So while there will be lots of ways V can make use of cyberware, she wont be able to become a full blown soulless cyborg.

While V wont be a cyberpyscho, Cyberpsychosis will be represented in the game, and will be a part of the story. In the E3 2018 trailer, we saw a NCPD Tech recreating the scene of a psycho going on a killing spree. The tech says the psycho was on Sadvestian (a type of reflex booster) on full blast. In the recreation, the perpetrator charged at an onlooker with an ax to before getting themselves zeroed by a member of MAX-TAC (the Psychosquad ). They are a specialized sub-group found in most major police forces, established to deal with rampaging Cyberpsychos. They are armed with the best in armor, communication equipment and vehicles.

Even if you become a perfect machine and manage to avoid psychosis, you still had to buy those body parts from someone, and now you’re in debt to them. If you need parts, you’ve got to go to their store. Players will have to pay for their cybernetics in-game, and cybernetics are expensive. Furthermore, once installed, you haven't been liberated by technology, your problems did not fade away. The problems are still there, and technology actually makes them worse. ‘High tech, low life’ is one of this world's mottos.

 

[Rawls]

GETTING FITTED FOR THE DARK FUTURE​

The gear you bring can mean the difference between a big score and the big sleep. The tools in your inventory can make all the difference. V's interface was organized into seven sections in the 2018 Demo: Codex, Quests, Biomonitor, Inventory, GPS, Crafting and Social. The game world pauses while V browses her inventory/user interface most of the time. But there are times when inventory changes happen in real time in the game, such as when V has new cyberware installed. However V can replace any corresponding software anywhere on her own. The goal here is realism: it makes sense to do a software update on your own - but it does not make much sense to build your own eyes in the middle of the road. We do not know what the quests, biomonitor, GPS, or social sections do, though all of them seem self-explanatory.

CODEX​

The codex is like the wikipedia of Night City. So we will be able to learn a lot about the world that way, but it's not necessary to complete the game. The people who want to learn more about a company, or a piece of cyberware absolutely can.

INVENTORY & OUTFITS​

Cyberpunk 2077's inventory works similar to the Witcher 3, where V can only carry a certain weight. We will not have to play inventory Tetris. What you can do is collect loot, upgrade your items and weapons, and make your own items. When we got a look the inventory in the 2018 demo, it was separated into three sections: style, equip and backpack. The section "equip" appeared to show the items V was currently using. Equipped items are assigned to various "slots" in V's inventory.

​

Protection in Night City is essential. Many residents of Night City wear bulletproof clothing as they go about their lives — just in case. The only armor we have seen this far is V's Samurai Jacket. V has a total of eight clothing/item slots at her disposal. The ones that have so far been identified include shoes, pants, jackets, t-shirts and cyberdecks with software that increases our capabilities. It is unknown if other clothing items (i.e. hats or gloves) are available.

V's clothing will be important mechanically in the game. The clothes you choose to wear all have stats associated with them. Take for instance V's jacket in the E3 2018 demo. It had no visible "level" to the jacket, but did have several damage “resistances,” namely 30 resistance to physical, thermal, electrical and chemical damage. Also, the jacket increased V's “street cred” leveling speed by 5%. So clothes are more than just what you look like, it's important to how the game plays.

CRAFTING​

While cheap electronic devices and services are available to even some of the poorest members of society, most cannot afford to buy the newest toys or replace broken equipment. As a result, from a young age many learn to improvise and work with discarded scrap to make repairs, to build their own diversions, to craft their own weapons. There is a very robust crafting system in Cyberpunk 2077. Gear such as weapons can be altered into two different ways: (1) in appearance with various skins and (2) mechanically to change / upgrade the abilities and stats of equipment. CDPR is trying to balance players ability to make home-made things while keeping the crafting system from becoming annoyingly tedious. You wont have to keep every single item you collect out of fear that one day it may turn out to be useful.

ITEM INSPECTION​

There is also an inspection system within the inventory that lets you learn about objects, lore and other useful information. In the 2018 demo, V uses it to link with the flathead through a chip she removes from a Maelstrom gang member. When she looks at the looted flathead chip, the inspection system zooms into an up close image of the item. Through the inspection system, V learns the chip is a type of cybernetics wetware called an BCI Interface Motherboard. The carbon nantubes within the chip allow for V to manipulate the flathead with reaction times comparable to the central nervous system. V also learns that multiple devices can be connected to the brain via the same shard, however the inspection warns us that there may be negative side effects to using this wetware too much as “prolonged overload may lead to gradual degredation of the central nervous system and death.” Yikes

 

[Rawls]

GEAR FROM THE STREETS​

Night City is a living, breathing place. You can interact with advertisements, which can tell you where to buy certain products. Different vendors sell goods and services in exchange for EuroDollars, or "Eddies." Night City is home to many shops, restaurants, and decor that draw inspiration from Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian culture, among others. These include Kiroshi Optics, Kabayan Foods, Fuyutsuki Electronics, and Masala Studios as well as maneki-neko figurines and tengu imagery that enrich the world.

CONSUMABLES​

V has a number of consumable items she can take which impact her stats and/or abilities within the game. The 2018 demo displayed V ordering a meal in her apartment, purchasing a drink from a vending machine, and also showed us several restaurant in the background. In addition there are a number of pharmaceutical items that V can take.

Some of the consumables we have seen include:

• Reflex Boosters - inhaler based pharmaceuticals players can use that gives them temporary access to specific abilities, such as the Kereznikov ability (which acts as a sort of bullet-time effect).
• Health Boosters - inhaler based pharmaceuticals that restore health over time.
• Cirrus Nix - a drink that V can consume to restore a small amount of health over time.
• Juice - a steroid like phamecutical. It is unknown if this consumable will be available for V.
• Dum Dum's Controlled Substance - an inhaler V takes in the E3 2077 demo. It is unknown what effect this has or if V can become addicted.

Using some consumables (like inhalers) has specific animations and effects that go along with using them. Regarding health regeneration, we will be able to restore our health using consumables like food and the drug inhaler. Some healing items will have an instant healing effect, while others will just slowly restore our health over time or work only in specific circumstances. There is also a cyberware that provides health regeneration, however it will take a spot that could be potentially used for types of cyberware.

V'S PHONE
​

The mobile phone make's it so you don't always need to visit people in person because you can video call them instead. Press the d-pad to answer or, send them a quick text. Video calls have dialogue options like face-to-face conversations, and you can use the phone to send data and files to complete quests.

WEAPONS​

There are both melee and ranged weapons in Cyberpunk 2077, with everything from bazookas to beer bottles having been mentioned as options for self defense. Gun laws are lax in Night City — anyone can own a gun and just about everyone does. However, some places - like courthouses, police station, municipal buildings, and corporate zones - are more strict about carrying weapons and possessing offensive implants. Also, heavy weapons - also called weapons of war (i.e. miniguns) - are strictly prohibited in Night City, with certain exceptions for Corporate Security. In order to detect hidden weapons, security forces use full body scanners at the entrance to such zones and buildings (World of Cyberpunk, p. 41-42).

The top tier of the weapons market is dominated by Asian manufacturers - Arasaka, Tsunami Defense Systems, and Kang Tao (who specializes in Smart Weapons). Mid tier manufacturers like Militech are focused on military grade, mass produced firearms. Midnight arms specializes in heavy weapons and borg technologies - weapons designed to be used specifically by heavily augmented users. Techtronica is known for their high-tech weapons, including a new line of military robots. If price is an issue ... you could always use one of the lower tier weapons manufacturers such as Budget Arms of Darra Polytechnic. (World of Cyberpunk, p. 43).

Guns in Cyberpunk 2077 fall into three general categories: power, tech, and smart. Power weapons are high-impact firearms that can be charged. They can create exaggerated hit reactions to emphasize the hit impacts. Tech weapons focus on penetrating through walls, NPCs, and other objects. Smart weapons, can track and follow targets. Smart weapons were designed for people who aren’t necessarily fans of twitch-based combat. The player’s skills do not affect the smart weapon technology at all, it’s all based on the gun.

Here are some of V's options:

• Vindicator - a fully automatic pistol that has a ricochet targeting system available for upgrade later in the game.
• Budget Arms "Blunderbuss" - a tech grade shotgun.
• Kang Tao Type 41 - a smart assault rile, allowing bullets to track and follow their target.
• Militech "PDU-5" Mine - a shrapnel-based anti-personnel explosive produced by Militech. The mines are first encountered in the Maelstrom gang's All Food Plant hideout.
• Electro-Magnetic Katana - a katana capable of emitting a magnetic field that deflects bullets.
• Nanowire - a glowing orange thread that acts like a whip. It can be used to cut, strangle or even hack into enemies.

In addition to these, we have heard about hammers, knives, glass bottles, heavy guns, light guns, light machine guns, revolvers, sniper rifles.

Spoiler: More Weapons

View attachment 11008810

A large percentage of weapons can be modified through modules. V can acquire a Tech pistol but then replace the module so it becomes a Power or Smart pistol. Gameplay mechanics can change based on what modules you pick. You can attach add-ons like scopes, sights and silencers. It’s based on how many slots for improvements a weapon has. Then there is ammunition choice, where options include EMP rounds, incendiary rounds or ballistic acid (World of Cyberpunk, p. 50).

The quality of weapons is organized into categories like "common," "uncommon," "rare," or "legendary." As the the category of the weapon goes up, so does it's power. V can obtain more powerful weapons based on her Street Cred in various areas. If, for example, you take appropriate side missions in Pacifica, the traders there show you more of their offer. You will then get better manufacturing recipes, ingredients, clothes and weapons.

 

[Rawls]

FRIDAY NIGHT FIREFIGHT​

Combat in Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be a pretty important part of the game. The game will definitely be an RPG first and foremost, but it’s Cyberpunk. Things are gonna go south, and you’ll have to be ready. Combat is real time action in first person perspective (FPP) which can take place close up with melee weapons, quietly with stealth tactics, or at range with firearms. The most important thing for CDPR is to offer as many tools as possible for the players to do what they want.

Enhancing your weapon skill through use will affect weapon handling and animations, so you'll see character reloading more smoothly as you become more skilled. The gameplay is also effected by how skills and cyberware mix. For example, V can use a ricochet targeting system linked between her gun and scanner to aim shots off walls and into enemies. CDPR is trying to ensure that quality of gameplay remains even with so many varied systems. Enemy design, environmental design and character progression design are all crafted to balance freedom of gameplay with high quality encounters.

The 48 minute, work in progress Gameplay Demo from E3 2018 gives us an extensive look at the combat. However, we're going to talk about what we've heard and seen so far by breaking it into three sections: gunplay, melee and stealth.

GUNPLAY​

Depending on how you play V, Cyberpunk 2077 may involve a lot of first-person shooting. With lots of guns. It's chaotic and fast-paced. V ducks and peeks around cover to spray enemies with bullets from her automatic pistol, with damage numbers popping when she hits them. CDPR’s Community Manager Marcin Momont confirmed that a lot of HUD elements (including damage numbers) will be optional. At least some items and environments in CP2077 are destructible (i.e. the bottles and pillars in the room), and both V and NPCs can shoot through walls. As mentioned above, guns are divided into three types: power, tech, and smart.

Reviews of the gunplay have been mixed so far, with impressions ranging from great to limp and piddly. One reviewer offered this impression - Large-scale open-world RPGs typically struggle with moment-to-moment combat -- the Fallout series, Grand Theft Auto and, yes, even The Witcher 3 are good examples of that fact. Cyberpunk seems leaps ahead of those games but, gunplay did still feel a little unpolished. Cyberpunk 2077 is no Doom Eternal, but it still feels eons away from, say, Fallout 4.

Gunplay is one of the systems CDPR is still working on getting "right." While CDPR is happy with what they have, there’s still lots of space for improvement. Combat sequences are mainly done by the encounter design team and the combat design team working together just to make sure that the combat feels good and that everything that happens has correct rhythm.

MELEE​

Cyberpunk 2077 has taken what CDPR learned from the combat in Witcher 3, and has translated that into first person and the dark future. There will be varied combat styles with a variety of weapons, from katanas to sledgehammers to whip-like nanowires. Players can single out particular limbs, chopping at arms with a katana via the dismemberment system. This isn’t spray and pray – you approach an enemy tactically and switch up your weapons based on their defenses, weaknesses discovered by V's scanner, or skillset.

CDPR hopes the switch to FPP will make the melee combat feel more dangerous and visceral. Because dialogue and interactions can lead immediately into close quarters combat, the moment to moment gameplay should feel more tense. The camera doesn't zoom out to signal a combat encounter has begun, the player is experiencing it as the character would. However there is still work to do. Like gunplay, the melee combat animation system still requires some work, making sure that all the hits feel good – especially for all the weapons.

STEALTH​

There is a full stealth system for V to take advantage of. V can use skills to remotely distract, incapacitate, and disrupt enemies, or she can get in close for stealth takedowns with a variety of melee weapons and even her own two fists. V can pistol whip a scavenger, dunk his head in the tub, put her gun underwater, and shoot him in the head. Also we have seen prompts showing options for “pick up body” or “take.” Logic would say “pick up body” to move/hide it.

Most weapons in the game have a nonlethal option (with some obvious exceptions for things like rocket launchers). Most melee weapons and cyberware can be used in a nonlethal way. You're able to knock NPCs down, choke them to make them sleep and so on. CDPR revealed that you can complete the entire game without killing a single soul. There are some NPCs V wont be able to harm, such as children and characters essential to future story beats. Non-lethal playthroughs will be quite difficult. Night City is a dangerous place, and enemies won't necessarily live by the same code you do. A non-lethal approach will not always lead to a "good" outcome.

ENEMIES​

Enemies have large amounts of abilities whose archetype are largely based on cyberware. Most enemies are specialized in some way. But just about everything V can do is able to be done by at least some NPCs. The enemy AI in the 2019 demo seemed a little slow to react in combat when stringing moves and other behaviors together. There were times during the E3 2019 demo that enemies appeared to get stuck on the environment, melee flailing wildly at nothing at all. It has also been remarked that enemies looked to be bullet sponges. CP2077 is trying the blend RPG systems and FPP combat, so while it sounds like the combat will be varied and intense, we may not end up with impeccably realistic action in the vein of dedicated First Person Shooters.

 

[Rawls]

VIRTUALLY THERE​

It's not just Night City that we have to navigate in 2077, but the digital networks of Night City and the net itself. Netrunning is an interactive and immersive experience where you will “jack in” and run the Net. Night City is an omnipresent network, offering countless access terminals. Within them you will find layers of hidden systems, firewalls and security programs deployed to fry your brain. Missions will stack you against other hostile Netrunners who defend corporations both in cyberspace and the real world. Netrunning will mostly be accomplished in local networks around Night City, though V will also be able to access cyberspace, a rarely used and dangerous global network.

CYBERSPACE​

In the original Cyberpunk 2020, Cyberspace was a place you could visit, where you could travel from one computer to the next on a massive, global network. After Rache Bartmoss - a brilliant netrunner who helped create the net - was killed, a dead hand switch released RABIDS into the net, burning and corrupting everything they touched. So now the expansive global network has changed. The malware and rogue AIs that were released into Cyberspace made it so dangerous that it was basically worthless for common use. That crisis was mitigated with the help of the Netwatch, a kind of Cyberspace police force. Rather than disabling the malware, the Netwatch cordoned off the area to keep people out with the Blackwall. The Blackwall is a major plot point in Cyberpunk 2077 will have players trying to break through that wall to find out what lives on the other side.

Spoiler: Cyberspace

Given the new dangers of the net in 2077, only the bravest Netrunners immerse themselves in ice baths before connecting their personal links to Cyberspace itself by breaching the Blackwall. Cyberspace is harder to access in 2077 because CDPR and Mike Pondsmith wanted to force Netrunner V to be in the action. She can't sit back in a comfy chair with her keyboard and say 'go to the fifth level and open the door'. No, she has to go in there and be under risk. So most of the time, normal users and V only have access to a system of fractured local networks. One needs to find an access point to connect to the local network in order to hack different devices within the network. Once they breech a network though, they can disable weapons, make enemies' own cyberware betray them so they commit suicide, and find all kinds of things to mess around with in the world.

Spoiler: Hacking Minigame

LOCAL NETRUNNING​

Interaction with the digital world within Night City is important. Every company has their own systems that V can hack with seperate networks. Netrunning in local networks will be represented by a hacking minigame. It's a grid of hex code characters. For example, you'll see the value 1C, which you can easily paste. Then it could be 1C 55, so you have to add a 55 to open a door. The game world slows down for such actions, so you can hack something "safer". If you have expanded your hacking skills, the beginning of the code is automatically resolved. You may then throw yourself on the trickier part. If you do not like such riddles - then you just hack your base access and continue playing as normal.

Each player’s Cyberdeck will have a “buffer” and a finite number of “programs” that can be used at a moment’s notice. Options included things like “Camera log” as well as secured data caches. Players mix and match combinations while the clock ticks down, racing to match as many of the available options as possible before they’re discovered. That means, under most circumstances, there’s no way to hack the entire system. Instead, players must pick and choose what parts to crack. But you never know exactly what you’ll get; you’ll need to guess at what you might be unlocking every time you perform a hack. That leaves room for CD Projekt to embed interesting narrative elements or perhaps unintended, story-based consequences for even the most successful hacks.

With less skills you have limited access - you can open the door, but you can not deactivate any cameras or listen to the opposing communication network to determine your opponents' positions. Once successfully hacked, new options for interactions hover over objects in the game-world, each one represented as a contextual option on the in-game HUD. They allow you to cause distractions or set traps. These “quick hacks" let you instantly access certain systems, so you won’t always have to play the minigame. For instance in the E3 2018 Demo, V incapacitated and "jacked in" (directly connected via interface plug) to a Maelstrom ganger. When she did, she gained access to other members of the gang through their integrated digital personnel system. Through this, V gained the options to get access, reduce aim or disable cyberware of the other members of the gang.

Spoiler: Netrunning Gameplay

You don't always need to be withing arms reach for direct access either. You can use nano-wire, which is not just a laser-whip, it's also a physical hacking cable she can throw at enemies at close range to jack into their brains, cooking them alive or causing them to attack themselves or their friends if you've purchased the right malicious software.

NETRUNNING GEAR​

Netrunning requires specialized gear to properly hack systems. There are a variety of options available:

• Tier Zero - These old decks from the 2020s are considered obsolete by modern standards. Still, they can be modified to allow moderate data transfer, and their handheld nature allows their runner mobility while putting the unit to use. However, their manual operation slows reaction time which severly limits their utility in the net.​
• Tier One - The simplest modern technology is through the use of a personal link. This tech allows netrunners to issue commands to computer systems without using a external input device. It is used by physically plugging the user into the chosen device. If she wants to, the user can then install illegal malware to gain control over simple devices like doors, elevators, car computers and utility robots.​
• Tier Two - Cybergoggles, when combined with a personal port allows a user to enter the deeper regions of the net and achieve better data transfer. However, this comes with some risks, including overheating the body to dangerous level.​
• Tier Three - This equipment is what you will find professional netrunners using. On this tier, a netrunner station is a must-have, including a specialized chair, high-capacity neural port, medical equipment, and cooling suit. A skilled runner with this set up can run toe-to-toe with the corpos on the net.​
• Tier Four - This stuff is for the most distinguished professionals, with the most sophisticated upgrades - including life support, cryostasis, blood cooling systems and other improvements.​
• Tier Five - This gear is mostly indistinguishable from Tier 4, however the most important difference is it is entirely mobile. You wont see this type of hardware except on the most hardcore black magic level corporate netrunners and Netwatch (World of Cyberpunk, pp. 90-93).​

THE DANGERS OF THE NET​

In the E3 2018 Demo the Maelstrom gang's netrunner had already been killed. Things can go differently if there is another runner in a network. In the E3 2019 Demo, there was another Netrunner trying to counter-hack into you, and that's no small thing. In Cyberpunk, hacking into people can quickly turn deadly. It turns out that this runner in the Demo was from Netwatch, a government cybersecurity group. If V got hacked successfully by the the Netwatch agent, they could disable her cyberware or even kill her if they so desire. Once the netrunner gained full access to V in the 2019 E3 Demo, a timer started where if V didn't act fast enough, she would get "fried." Game Over man.

Furthermore, V has to be careful who she trusts and joins networks with as far as allies are concerns. In the 2019 Demo, a netrunner named Placide wouldn't help V unless he could hack into her body to keep an eye on the mission. Later, Placide betrayed V, trying to incapacitate and install a deadly virus into all everyone (including V) connected to the network. In the demo, Placide's attempt to kill us failed, but not because of V's own decisions. Bottom line, the Net is a wierd, interesting, powerful and very dangerous place.

BRAINDANCING ​

Most people are still entranced by the glitz of showbiz and luxurious lifestyles of the privileged elite. Breakthroughs in neural technology paved the way for people to share recordings of their own personal memories and emotions via tech known as “braindance” (or BD). Some BD productions put actors in staged situations to create “false” memories, to give viewers the feeling that they’re living in an action film. Other BDs are simple recordings of a day in the life of the world’s biggest and brightest stars. The ability to “become” a celeb and experience a life of luxury gives many a chance to escape their own miserable reality. As a result, braindance addiction has become an ever-growing problem for the city’s poor. Also, as with all forms of entertainment media, illicit braindance recordings (XBDs) can be found easily in the seedy underbelly of Night City’s black market.

A user can experience braindance alone or in group sessions designed for interaction with multiple participants. All a BD user needs a few pieces of equipment before they can utilize the technology. First you will need a BD headset "wreath" and a feeder home entertainment device. The feeder not only processes the braindance data for the user, but also monitors vital signs and sustains your organs in the event of a days-long session so that you don't starve or dehydrate. When you activate the wreath, your mind is forced into a trance like shallow dream state. Without some sort of drug based medical treatment, proper experience of trance-induced braindance requires a willing participant. You can try to experience braindance without first entering the trance, but this can cause disorientation, confusion, and potentially even minor brain damage (World of Cyberpunk, p. 63-64).

V can use these BD recordings to uncover hidden information. In analysis mode, V can look around within the memory to try and find hidden secrets. V can scrub back and forth through a memory, rewinding, pausing, and fast forwarding to analyze items and pick out details that might reveal the location of a wanted object. She can also switch between three different layers (visual, audio, and thermal) to hunt for clues.

 

[Rawls]

THE GIFT OF GAB​

Fighting and hacking is all well and good, but a "story driven" RPG has to have a great story. That is in large part told through the conversations V has will other characters in Night City. Cyberpunk 2077 will offer players tons of variability in how often the choices you make will influence dialogue and the story the game tells you.

BRANCHING DIALOGUE​

There are fixed scripted dialogue options for your responses when speaking with NPCs, as well as other dialogue options that open up based on context and the unique aspects of your character. The idea of certain dialogue options only being available to players who have made certain choices is an old RPG standby. What makes it interesting in Cyberpunk 2077 is the variety of ways that you can add those kinds of options. It isn’t solely about reaching a certain threshold in a core ability score. Depending on which backstory you’ve selected for your character, what stats or skills you've selected, and the choices you've made in game, V can open new conversation paths. Extra skill in engineering can lead to unique dialogue about mechanical issues. A higher body stat can open up new dialogue to intimidate NPCs. Having a street kid backstory can lead to unique dialogue in dealing with gangs. Investigating side objectives may give you an edge in a more important conversation, helping you gain leverage over another character during a negotiation. This means the actions you’ve taken are frequently recognized and brought to the surface.

Based on what we saw in the E3 2018 Demo, there is no dialogue wheel. Rather, dialogue is organized much in the same way that it was in CDPRs last game, the Witcher 3. That means choices are arranged in a vertical list with colored dialogue options advancing the plot of the conversation, and white ones offering opportunities for conversational depth and flavor. There appears to be no indication within the dialogue options as to how successful a particular dialogue choice will be. No "pick the blue colored option for paragon auto-win" here.

Spoiler: Example of Dialogue

The main thing that is different about dialogue in Cyberpunk 2077 (when compared to CDPR's last game The Witcher 3), is that in 2077 dialogue and scenes are still part of gameplay. Now the dialogue options don’t feel as stationary as The Witcher 3. While most of the time taking a long time before picking a dialogue option will only result in the person that you are having a conversation with throwing some annoyed comments at you, in some situations, like during conversation with Royce and Dum Dum from the E3 2018 demo, doing that will have gameplay and/or story consequences.

Occasionally casual dialogue or non-verbal action choices will pop up while walking around. That, coupled with the first-person camera, makes Cyberpunk 2077 seems significantly more immersive than having more structured conversations as Geralt. This system of still in gameplay conversations and scenes is called the "interactive scene system" by CDPR.

INTERACTIVE SCENE SYSTEM​

The “interactive scene system,” is where the player is still allowed agency within scenes. In CP 2077, CDPR is splashing together open world and RPG mechanics and narrative driven cinematic scenes. You don’t have to sit through what you’d normally consider a cutscene, listening to a character spout pre-scripted dialogue until the last full stop. Instead, players can interact during the scene with NPCs and different objects, meaning that this is a fluid and seemless transition into conversations where the player is still in control. So V could be in a conversation and just stand up and leave, meaning that her non-dialogue decision then affects how NPCs will react to her. V can interrupt by poking the barrel of a gun in someone’s face, motion for someone to hide, offer to shake a corpos hand, or stick a cred chip in someone's face during negotiations.

While these interactions in the open world feel like a conversation, they are still "scenes." For example, when V enters Maelstrom's hideout, and she's negotiating with the gang, it’s tightly choreographed with all those people moving around and all of that. And that is actually really difficult to create for developers in a seamless open world. A lot of effort has gone into how the NPCs look, how they move and how they sound throughout dialogue. The characters move around in dialogue so they're not stuck in one place while you speak so it gives a sense of character performance. You're also free to move around in dialogue; you're not locked into a dialogue camera angle. Dialogue occurs fluidly (apart from in set scripted moments). Walk up to someone and dialogue choices appear, walk away and they disappear.

It’s a matter of, figuring out that when V is going to a specific location under certain conditions, the game knows to trigger these specific NPCs to walk around the corner. Doing that across a big open world is hard because you don't know where the player’s going to be coming from. Then add environmental artists lighting these open world scenes to make sure that if they want to showcase that specific character, the lighting will always work so the player can see them well.

 

[Rawls]

SOUL AND THE NEW MACHINE​

Part of the fun of cyberpunk is building relationships with the characters and places that inhabit the world. These characters, be they human or otherwise, are a huge part of the draw of any narrative driven game.

COMPANIONS​

if the story calls for it, you may have a companion or two for a mission, but there is no "companion system." In some quests you will be by yourself, in some you will have one person like Jackie Welles or even a whole group, and in other quests you might be alone or with someone depending on your choices. Companions have to fit the story. V will have someone with her if it'll be interesting.

ROMANCE​

Keeping a Soul in our New Machines is about more than just talking though. Even in the world of Cyberpunk, relationships matter a lot. They are easier to have in some ways, and in the same time harder to cultivate. It's important to makes characters feel genuine, natural, and real ... so CDPR is paying a great deal of attention to characters in the story and the bonds that can be formed with them, as characters are the main pillars of the plot. The game does not treat romances as something stat-based that you need to level up to unlock. Rather it is a narrative situation where who V is and how she interacts with the NPCs determines whether they like her or not.

Some NPCs can form long-lasting romances with V under the right circumstances, and some NPCs can be seduced (or can seduce V into) into one night stands. Romances will be similar to the Witcher 3, but with more diversity. There are a lot more options. You're defining your own character here, which means defining V's sexuality the way you want ... it's up to you to decide.

The same is true for NPCs, who each have there own romantic preferences That means an NPCs sexual orientation (i.e gay, straight, bisexual) will determine if they can develop interest in V. Additionally, players will meet lots of characters with their own goals, motivations and needs. Sometimes those goals align with what V is trying to achieve and, depending on the player's decisions, it may spark interest on the side of the NPC. Side characters won't fall for V in every scenario though. When something is not right, they may choose friendship over a romantic relationship.

Spoiler: Apartment

NO PLACE LIKE HOME​

But what are relationships if there's no where to take your romantic partner to? There’s an array of nightlife establishments, each with their own appealing theme and atmosphere as well as other ways to relax, as well as the option of hanging out in her own studio apartment. There V has her own armory, kitchen, a place to watch braindances, sleep, get dressed, and etc. It has been revealed that there will only be one apartment for V, and at launch she won't be able to customize it. However it will be important to the story of the game and there will be a garage there for our storing vehicles. V’s apartment will look differently based on the Lifepath we chose and it will change in some ways over time. They also included certain mechanics tied to V’s apartment, which will allow us to, express the personality of our V

On top of relaxing in her apartment, V can let off steam racing cars, boxing, or heading down to the firing range for some target practice.

 

[Rawls]

DATAFORTRESS​

As a final matter, we're going to discuss some odds and ends regarding the development and release of Cyberpunk 2077. Included in this section will be information on release date and platforms, the decision to go with mostly FPP and possible post release game content.

Spoiler: Note on The Video

In the video above it says that CP2077 and CP2020 are separate timelines. That is no longer accurate as discussed above in "Age of Braindance Decadence" as the two share a unified timeline.

PLATFORMS​

Cyberpunk 2077 is releasing for PS4, XBox and PC on November 19, 2020. While they are focused on releasing for current generation consoles in November, later releasing on next generation consoles has not been ruled out. The game is being built using CDPRs own proprietary engine, RedEngine 4. If you want Cyberpunk digitally, it is being currently announced to release in the GOG, Steam and Epic Gaming stores. It appears the size of the download will be pretty substantial, with the PS4 version of the game being approximately 70 gigs, not including the inevitable day-1 patch. Here are the PC system specs:

CDPR is partnering with Nividia as an official technology partner to bring real-time ray tracing to the game. There are no current plans to include VR Support with Cyberpunk 2077. There are substantial changes that must be taken into account when working on a VR-specific product. CDPR's not focused on moving in that direction right now.

There is a standard edition and a collectors edition of the game.

• The physical SE includes the following contents: (1) world Compendium detailing the game's setting and lore; (2) postcards from Night City; (3) a map of Night City; (4) stickers; (5) a digital copy of the game soundtrack; (6) a digital art booklet featuring a selection of art from the game; (7) a digital cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook; (8) digital wallpapers for desktop and mobile.
• The CE is sold out in most locations now, but includes: (1) a Collector's Edition box; (2) a map of Night City; (3) a collectible SteelBook; (4) a 25cm x 10" statue depicting V - the game's protagonist - in action; (5) a hardcover art book; (6) a metal pin set; (7) a quadra V-tech metal keychain; (8) an annotated copy of A Visitor's Guide to Night City sealed in an NCPD Evidence Bag; (9) embroidered patches; (10) world Compendium detailing the game's setting and lore; (11) postcards from Night City; (12) stickers; (13) a digital copy of the game soundtrack; (14) a digital art booklet featuring a selection of art from the game; (15) a digital cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook; (16) digital wallpapers for desktop and mobile.

Spoiler: FPP Puts you in the Action

FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE​

Cyberpunk 2077 will be mostly in first person perspective, with TPP in optionally while driving. For those concerned about seeing your customized V, you’ll also be able to see the player character in the inventory, in mirrors, very occasionally in cutscenes, and possibly in a planned photo mode. The photo mode will allow players to see V in third person, and players can also have V pose for photos while within this mode.

CDPR choose the first-person point of view for a few reasons. First, in the thick of action gameplay, it allows players to see things happening up close as the character, so that V can really interact with things in a visceral manner. Also, there were narrative-based considerations to make. The FPP camera helps to place the player into the interactive dialogue, the story and the environments that CDPR are creating. To really experience that verticality of Night City, you need a first-person perspective. Finally, the HUD is incorporated into the FPP so that V is seeing everything the player sees.

CDPR are aware that not everyone likes FPP. However they are firm in that decision. Having said that, they are very aware that there are a some people who can’t play first-person for a variety of reasons. CDPR is looking into offering difficulty options and sensibility options to hopefully manage to turn Cyberpunk 2077 in the first first-person game that some of those people will like, or that some will be able to play. For example, FOV will be adjustable for PC (no official word yet on consoles). There will also be options to disable bobble-head mode and motion blur on V's vision.

POST RELEASE CONTENT​

CDPR's support for Cyberpunk 2077 wont end on November 19, 2020. On top of the patches, tech support and etc, CDPR told fans to expect nothing less than you got with The Witcher 3. For those of you who didn't play that game, stop what your doing and go play it. You'll discover that it had a ton of post release content, including 16 free DLC (including four unique quests, ng+, several new armors & weapons, and outfits for some NPCs), as well as two excellent paid expansions that together offer another 40+ hours of game content - Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine. So a statement of "expect nothing less" than we got with TW3 says quite a lot.

In addition, there have been whispers of multiplayer in Cyberpunk 2077 for a long time. Well we now know that CDPR has been working on multiplayer, but that it will come post-launch. At release, the game is going to be a purely single player experience. The plan for now is to deliver Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020, then follow up with DLCs (free!) and single player content, and — once that's done — invite us to indulge in some multiplayer action.

Spoiler: May One Day get to Play with Your Friends Here

They're also keeping in mind the modding community's desire for some sort of modkit after the game is released. It's something that is on their list, but there are no promises that it will end up getting released, nor how expansive it will be. It is not currently a focus of development.

RELEASE DATE​

The game is releasing globally at the same time at midnight on December 10, 2020 UTC.

Well Choombas, that's it for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you've enjoyed.

 

[Rawls]

reserved​

 

[Rawls]

Take it to the Edge added.

 

[Sild]

Bloody well done mate! This thread is oozing with dedication