Life path and why so many perceive CP2077 not as an RPG

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Crudeo

Forum regular
I thought long and hard why CP77 rubs me the wrong way as an RPG.

In comparison to TW3 it has more rpg elements in, so why do so many, including me feel so different?

In my eyes the lackluster life path is to blame.

Gerald was always a witcher, the witcher.
You could approach the quest differently and make some different choices, but in the end you are playing as the Witcher. Hunting monster, being a mutant etc.

With V it's a bit different.

When you play as female street kid V everything feels as it is written for you. The dialogues, the choices all feels tailored to her.

And it makes sense from your motivation and goals as a street kid.

You grew up with only 3 viable options.
Suck up to a Corp, most unlikely they would want you...it's more like a slave contract.

Join a gang.

Or become a merc.

So everything is and feels cohesive.

As the nomad you also can stretch it that you want to become a merc and act as you do.

You lost your family and never knew something differently. Similar to Panam, and like her you either can rejoin a nomad family or die in the city. Alone.

Still viable and understandable goals.

But then comes corpo V.

Why does he/she act like they do?
You are not your average Joe/Jane, you are V from Arasaka counterintelligence. You are an agent.

You got caught up in a power struggle between your boss Jenkins and his boss Abernathy. To the culmination of him ordering you to kill her and you get booted out by her.

So what goals would corpo V have?

We don't get shown in the intro that V is terrible uncomfortable with his/her position. That V is struggling and would love to get away.

We see V at the top of her game. Deciding over the fate of other agents, have recognition within his department and a name to it.

There was no deep desire shown to leave Arasaka and get a new start.

If this would be an RPG about corpo V, I would go to a different Corp. Millitech or another.

They clearly would love to have one more agent, especially one with a agenda against Arasaka and that much info about their inner workings. About placed agents and what not.

I would want to get it back to Jenkins and Abernathy. Proof to Arasaka and everyone that you belong there. That you worked your way up, and it wasn't just luck that landed you this position.

But no. We just say fuck it. Revert to a gang goon slang spewing merc and just make a new start.

You already had a prestige position.
You made it in Arasaka.
So all the hype around Dex and the Heist feels out of place. At least for me.

We could have been a vengeful V that has it in for Arasaka. Delusional yes. Hammer it home that V wants, need to pay back Arasaka to play him dirty.

Doesn't matter that doesn't make sense. It's his unhealthy obsession and only driving goal. And he wants to achieve it on his terms. Not as another corpo-slave.

That would make more sense in the narrative of the game, but we never get shown this.

For me this create such a discrepancy between the life path I choose and the gameplay I got, at it feels like playing a different character hence not roleplaying mine.

One other big issue I personally have, I cannot tell for certain if this is because cdpr got over their head with this project. If there was more content but got cut for what reason. All this uncertainty don't sweeten the deal for me. In contrary, it makes me angry and salty.

Inexperienced can be forgiven, but a rushed product for no good and communicated reasons not.

Sorry for my lengthy post.
 
The higher they fly, the deeper they fall.

Corpo-V is a mess at the beginning of the story arc. Her body is a wreck and she is barfing like a drunk sailor.
She needs hormone regulators just to think straight. Her calorie intake is far too low and her boss gives her a pretty shitty job.
The moment the regulator is shut off, she has a massive panic attack.

Corpo-V might have the hardest time adjusting to the new situation but as an agent, she knows how to assimilate into the new society.

The alternate would be far worse.
 
In comparison to TW3 it has more rpg elements in

What are these "RPG elements"? Stats? Builds? Body, Int, Tech etc...? Those elements are secondary.

Cyberpunk 2077 is very linear. This is the problem. There's very little C&C, V is always the same predefined character, dialogues are on rails, skill checks and lifepath checks in dialogue change absolutely nothing.
 

Crudeo

Forum regular
The higher they fly, the deeper they fall.

Corpo-V is a mess at the beginning of the story arc. Her body is a wreck and she is barfing like a drunk sailor.
She needs hormone regulators just to think straight. Her calorie intake is far too low and her boss gives her a pretty shitty job.
The moment the regulator is shut off, she has a massive panic attack.

Corpo-V might have the hardest time adjusting to the new situation but as an agent, she knows how to assimilate into the new society.

The alternate would be far worse.

But what reason does she has to adjust at all?

Why not go to a different Corp.

Wouldn't someone like this think better a known evil that I am used to that one that I first have to adapt?
 
In comparison to TW3 it has more rpg elements in, so why do so many, including me feel so different?

It’s not just about having a checklist of certain elements, but how those elements are used in conjunction with each other, the world and gameplay as a whole, and the narrative.

I don’t really consider Witcher 3 an RPG either.

A better comparison would be something where there’s no confusion whether it is or isn’t an RPG like, say, D:OS2 or Wasteland 3 (to keep the examples chronologically relevant).
 
But what reason does she has to adjust at all?

Why not go to a different Corp.

Wouldn't someone like this think better a known evil that I am used to that one that I first have to adapt?
She is burned.
I would not hire her. Why? Arasaka counter intelligence. She is a spy and spys tend to crawl into other corporations.

Why trust a spy who was fired? Normay they end up killed by their corporation so they don't talk.
 
Just +1 to the op, totally agree and corpo start is just ridiculous and crappy

I could only add that let's be honest: the only lifepath that seems harmonic is street kid, because you have some intro into how mc and Jackie met, you have this kind of "brothers in poverty" friendship where you were shown a gun into your face then beaten up by cops and presumably half an hour later you're both sitting leaning to junk buckets and talking about mama Welles' famous homemade food, - and it may look strange, but I can buy it because of this dystopian city setting and corresponding high life tempo multiplied by insanely low life expectancy

BUT no way I'm buying nomad or corpo, and corpo I'm not buying at all and it starts with "why are we choombas with Jackie?" and "how are we even know each other?" and through op's argument it never ends

I could even say that lifepaths should've been cut as well, - they have neither plot nor immersion into them, lifepaths are empty and thus bitter, even your character's temper isn't affected by his\her origin: corpo swears and throws "peasant slang" right and left just like street kid and also lots of people in this game talk about "family comes first" just like they all, and even your corpo V, are originating from nomads, so your nomad does nothing more in terms of character than assents "yeah, the family is the most important thing in one's life, that's right choom, that's right"

So concluding: lifepaths ought to be implemented if not in Dragon Age Origins way (couple hours long prologue leading to the moment of receiving Keanu chip), then at the very least should have an impact on V's character, and just as they are - they are nothing but one more mechanic with no depth at all and thus probably it'd be better to just cut them out, for the better future or not - but this is the way, I believe
 
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