I really like games that implement character progression in a clear and easy to process way. For example after improving my sneaking by one level I'm able to tell right away that I'm harder to detect by enemies. Or when I improve my stamina, I'm able to clearly tell that now I can run longer.
I have big issue with skills/perks/abilities/call them however you like, that improve my abilities by percentages. Like "now you can do this thing 1% faster", or "increase duration of this thing by 0.5%". Usually improvements are so negligibly small that I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference.
As I'm writing this I have my Cyberpunk opened in the background and I'm looking at my character stats and my character progression screen. My character is pretty low level and I don't have all that many perks and abilities unlocked. Most of the perks and abilities are represented by percentages. A percentage to base speed, base sneaking ability, base damage and so on.
Now, the problem is: percentage based skills systems are incredibly difficult to keep track of, as you have to do your own calculations based on the base skill level. It's even more complicated when skills are not represented by one consolidated number but are spread out over many different perks. I wanted to give an example of critical hit chance but I couldn't find the number. After a short search I've found it... in the Inventory screen. I don't even know which perk under which attribute would let me bring that number up. And I can't even tell if the base number in the Inventory tab is the base number or it's summed up with perks.
What I do like are systems that give you immediate benefits and advantages when you buy perks or level up stats. For example the Stamina bar expands and you can clearly see that it's longer than before. I like when I can unlock completely new skills or being able to access new game mechanics. But all of those new things have to offer something tangible and attractive. Something that will immediately make you think about benefits you could get by unlocking it.
Now, let's look at Cyberpunk's progression system. There is a lot of conditions you have to meet in order to benefit from some skills and perks. Some look very attractive but from my experience I can't even tell if they actually do anything. Some of them are very circumstantial or require some good timing in order to benefit from them. Some of them can gain you certain percentage to something for a few seconds after performing certain action. It just doesn't sound... fun. Things like that work really well in games that are focused on constant action and throw encounters at you all the time. But even then keeping track of all your stats and perks and preparing strategies and lines of attack just doesn't work well if all that isn't absolutely esential to your survival...
I have big issue with skills/perks/abilities/call them however you like, that improve my abilities by percentages. Like "now you can do this thing 1% faster", or "increase duration of this thing by 0.5%". Usually improvements are so negligibly small that I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference.
As I'm writing this I have my Cyberpunk opened in the background and I'm looking at my character stats and my character progression screen. My character is pretty low level and I don't have all that many perks and abilities unlocked. Most of the perks and abilities are represented by percentages. A percentage to base speed, base sneaking ability, base damage and so on.
Now, the problem is: percentage based skills systems are incredibly difficult to keep track of, as you have to do your own calculations based on the base skill level. It's even more complicated when skills are not represented by one consolidated number but are spread out over many different perks. I wanted to give an example of critical hit chance but I couldn't find the number. After a short search I've found it... in the Inventory screen. I don't even know which perk under which attribute would let me bring that number up. And I can't even tell if the base number in the Inventory tab is the base number or it's summed up with perks.
What I do like are systems that give you immediate benefits and advantages when you buy perks or level up stats. For example the Stamina bar expands and you can clearly see that it's longer than before. I like when I can unlock completely new skills or being able to access new game mechanics. But all of those new things have to offer something tangible and attractive. Something that will immediately make you think about benefits you could get by unlocking it.
Now, let's look at Cyberpunk's progression system. There is a lot of conditions you have to meet in order to benefit from some skills and perks. Some look very attractive but from my experience I can't even tell if they actually do anything. Some of them are very circumstantial or require some good timing in order to benefit from them. Some of them can gain you certain percentage to something for a few seconds after performing certain action. It just doesn't sound... fun. Things like that work really well in games that are focused on constant action and throw encounters at you all the time. But even then keeping track of all your stats and perks and preparing strategies and lines of attack just doesn't work well if all that isn't absolutely esential to your survival...