From the original announcement of the game, CDPR had been adamant that the games mechanics will remain faithful to the Cyberpunk 2020 PNP game upon which it was based. Visually, the game is spot-on, 100%, a perfect adaptation. In terms of, looks, sounds, fell, and atmosphere, the execution is flawless.
Mechanically however, after watching the game play video, as beautiful as it was, I can't really spot a single mechanic that seemed faithful to the PNP upon which it based. Just a short list of things that seem to have missed the mark... (please understand, I am posting these criticisms here and now, in hopes these things can be changed before release to achieve the desired faithfulness to the PNP mechanics)
I truly, truly, hope I am wrong, that I am misunderstanding or misinterpreting things, or that if I am right, that pointing these things out, now, while the game is still in development, allows them to address these issues. I am making these observations not out of malice, but out of love for the original property and unbridled excitement for this ridiculously ambitious endeavor CDPR has undertaken. I have faith in CDPR. I am 46, I have been playing video games since Pong, I have been playing Cyberpunk 2020 since 89/90. I am HEAVILY invested here guys, and am more excited about this game than any other video game in history.
May the road rise to you...
Mechanically however, after watching the game play video, as beautiful as it was, I can't really spot a single mechanic that seemed faithful to the PNP upon which it based. Just a short list of things that seem to have missed the mark... (please understand, I am posting these criticisms here and now, in hopes these things can be changed before release to achieve the desired faithfulness to the PNP mechanics)
Clothing, weapons, and items being "level" dependent. This is a poor mechanic, i disliked it in The Witcher games as well. This is not present in the Cyberpunk 2020 PNP at all. The only levels in the original PNP game are skill levels, between 1-10, and they only determine how good you are at any given task, they do not, in any way, EVER, prevent you from owning or using anything. In the pnp, anyone can wear or use anything they can get their hands on.
Weapon Damage being being effected by level, by items, etc... Again, in the original PNP, there are no levels other than skill, and the ONLY thing that determines or effects damage is the caliber of ammunition itself, which is a set number unaffected the weapon firing it. Specialty ammunition can change the damage dynamic slightly, but outside of a process called "electrothermal enhancement" (ridiculously expensive, requires special ammo, and dangerous to the user) there are no mods that will effect the damage of a weapon. The idea of clothing or even cyber having any effect on weapon damage is not present at all in the PNP RPG and it should not be here. This is not dungeons and dragons where you get a plus one banana hammock shooting with extra damage against gang members .
Also, and this a more minor nitpick, the idea of "epic weapons". You can call it rare, and limit it's appearances in the game, but calling it "epic" has different implications.
Health of either Player Characters or NPC's increasing with "levels". And again, this mechanic is completely absent in the PNP game. In fact, this is the mot popular feature of the PNP game and what sets it apart from all other RPG's. Combat is lethal and fast. Everyone has the same, relatively small, amount of health. This amount of health does not change. A 16 year old kid and a hard core special forces combat vet both die from a single shot to the head or getting stabbed in the heart.
Armor only protects what it covers. In the original PNP, armor is not magical, if your limbs aren't covered by armor, expect them to get blown off or maimed. If your head or face isn't covered by armor, expect me to aim at it for the instant kill... There are no magic force fields. Yes, you can get skinweave and subdermal armor, but getting it high enough to withstand more than a single medium caliber attack drastically alters your appearance, and even then it's not super armor.
Other things that have been drastically changed.... The stats are wrong, though they are more in line with V3 and fusion, Cyberpunk 2020 uses Interlock. Lifepath seems to be extremely simplified (which I get, but is still disappointing), The limits on Roles (which, again, I get, but again is disappointing)
Watching the video, I could not identify anything, mechanically, as being a faithful representation of Cyberpunk 2020 rules'. Did anyone else see anything I missed that drastically differed from the source rules? Did anyone notice a mechanic that WAS faithful to the source material?I truly, truly, hope I am wrong, that I am misunderstanding or misinterpreting things, or that if I am right, that pointing these things out, now, while the game is still in development, allows them to address these issues. I am making these observations not out of malice, but out of love for the original property and unbridled excitement for this ridiculously ambitious endeavor CDPR has undertaken. I have faith in CDPR. I am 46, I have been playing video games since Pong, I have been playing Cyberpunk 2020 since 89/90. I am HEAVILY invested here guys, and am more excited about this game than any other video game in history.
May the road rise to you...