Phantom Liberty or "What would you like to see improved in the future of CP2077"

+
2 Playthroughs of Cyberpunk down I'm feeling I've scratched that itch enough and it's time to move on to other pastures for the time being. I'm going to to keep a look on Phantom Liberty's release but won't buy at launch, both for the personal philosophy of never buying something day1 and also CDPR's handling of patch 1.62 (I did buy on sale when the game was v1.61 so that left me quite sour), but I will keep a look on it.
Even then, there's always things a developer could improve in their game. Let's be real here, there will never be a complete satisfaction to a degree that a decade old modding community will achieve, but one can hope.
With that said I still would like to share a small list of things that I would like to see improved with future patches / DLCs. I have not taken mods into consideration for this.
Discuss or add if you will. :)

- Focus on fixes and improvements, game stability over tech showcases shoehorned in (that's what betabranches and tech demos are for!)
- Fix DLSS for Ryzen users with nvidia GPUs
- Fix the myriad of visual bugs, LoD, draw distance, ...

- More interactivity with the world and the people. Doesn't have to be build engine levels of detail (like Ion Fury or Duke) but it'd be nice still.
- More places: strip clubs, gambling dens, dime stores, arcades, super markets, car stores... endless possibilities for interesting gameplay, chance meetings and unique characters
- Car garages to modify / recolor / repair your cars
- Refund skill points at ripperdocs only for more immersion (can also be roleplayed so whatever)
- No camera reset when driving
- a flashlight / lowlight vision (more eye mods?)
- smart scrapper perk that allows you to set what should be scrapped and what shouldn't including itemtype and rarity
- Revamp craft / breakdown system. Right now it's much more feasible to sell a gun and buy parts instead of breaking it down for parts unless it's a common gun that you break down to craft ammo.
- A better way to upgrade iconic weapons if you don't have tech 20 (so you don't have to reset perks just for upgrading, then resetting perks again to your og build)
- more comprehensive system to build weapon mods, special mod sellers around town
- add craftsmen around the city that can upgrade stuff
- more romances and joytoys would be nice. A depraved city and only 2 joytoys? More romances would be nice for flavor, as someone who can't really identify with River as an example
- Give romances an AI package so they can at least roam around their own area instead of standing in one spot
- Fix the Aldecaldo's bed in the new camp so one can sleep in it (and wake up next to a romanced Panam)
- optional hardcore mode with thirst & hunger
- reorganization of the call & messages tabs to sort fixers and quest givers from friends and romances
- restructuring NCPD assault areas to be radiant quests, or at least repopulate after a couple of ingame days (I noticed some areas already do)
 
Last edited:
Just more. I'm really hoping for a real expansion experience, like when you would get an expansion pack for pc game back in the day.

edit:
Specifically new clothes, weapons, armors, cars, homes, characters, areas. These are the bare minimum.
 
Just more. I'm really hoping for a real expansion experience, like when you would get an expansion pack for pc game back in the day.
To be in dev for 3+ years? I hope so. I mean, that's how long most games take to make. It's crazy to think that Jedi: Survivor a fully fledged out sequel is coming out on Friday. It arguably has the same amount of dev time that PL is going to have, and we still don't have a firm release date and or price for PL. Hopefully in June we get a release date announcement.
 
Agree with the flashlight / night vision …
I disagree with the thirst and hunger mode, that only made my game more stressful in other games, not more challenging and drew me out of the experience.
 
Agree with the flashlight / night vision …
I disagree with the thirst and hunger mode, that only made my game more stressful in other games, not more challenging and drew me out of the experience.
Thirst & Hunger should be an optional thing sure, unless it's a survival game. It'd just be nice to give it a bit more necessity in the world for those who want it.
 

"PHANTOM LIBERTY OR "WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IMPROVED IN THE FUTURE OF CP2077""

Only the traffic, and then mainly the spawning of cars right in front of you when looking to the left and right while driving.
 
SMALL ASKS

Some things that are presently inactive or reasonably doable, Ignoring what they've stated is coming:

More basic RPG mechanics - According to the mod author of Life Path Bonuses and Gang-Corp Traits; all the strengths and vulnerabilities for the various factions are in the game, but at some point someone changed this. I would usually expect more depth from the devs but please, bring that stuff back at least.

Loot system/armor - Just no. It doesn't belong; It's garbage. I doubt it will change though sadly as it's a system they took the time to intentionally implement. I do expect a better armor stat system though as a mod for this has been made already; A common set of hobo rags can have more armor than a rare jacket with armadillo in the vanilla game - it’s silly.

Reputation system - keep knocking over members of a certain gang in front of people and the word should get back to them. Bounty on your head, could even trigger gang shoot out by drawing them into a rival district, etc. Something...it's really not a big ask that a barebones version of what's been done in this type of game for over twenty years finally be present over two years post-launch. Honestly, guys...

Random encounters, random events, random anything - Half-Life was good but scripted everything isn’t novel anymore. I don't buy for a second this world is alive when it never deviates from basic scripted behaviors - cars can't even drive through/around even the smallest obstruction when they aren't in the panic state. Good lord.

Better Open World AI and functionality - It's reasonable NPCs would be capable of navigating even minor obstructions, stairwells, alleyways, walking bridges, etc to reach their destination. Traffic coming to a complete halt because I pushed a cardboard box into the road is laughable. Please fix cars and people spawning inside the ground.

Day/Night cycle for vendors - It's a nice way to enforce immersion through gameplay. We have a wait function already so it's not like people can't skip ahead if Vik being closed is that big of an inconvenience. It's not much to expect when CDPR devs bragged about how totally advanced the Day/Night cycle and ai for even basic NPCs would be.

NICE TO HAVE/CAN BE DONE; DON'T EXPECT

Driving - Immersive Driving 1.6 is fantastic. I would not expect something like the, somewhat functional, cruise control to be implemented. However; being able to just drive/reverse slowly, accelerate/decelerate, reliably drift, and such are all easily accessible for a controller so there's no good reason not to do implement something a modder already did that improves the game for everyone.

Driving2 - In World Navigation. I'm stunned they decided to use a, still unhelpful, minimap. Really, please put this in the game and set the minimap on fire.

Drugs of Night City - Just put the mod into the game. Really, just give Scissors some money and throw it in there because these buffs right now are trash.

Toxicity/Addiction - Exactly what is says. You can suffer toxicity from using too many drugs temporarily, and you could suffer an addiction debuff long term from prolonged use.

Cyberpsychosis - Enough said.

BIG ASKS

They're harder and I don't expect much if anything from the following.

Clothing matters much more - I did honestly expect I would be locked from certain locations or quests based on my dress, but characters themselves have nothing to say even. Street Fashion is a good start for general gameplay purposes, but something more than just incorporating a mod in this regard would be nice. "You look nice, Choom" or "You really wearing that?" from main/side characters would help.

Being able to strip enemies ala Fallout/Skyrim would be appreciated - meaning tougher enemies have better gear, you have an incentive to attempt the risks, and you get a just reward for overcoming the obstacle. I don't expect this... even for the sequel. I played TW3 NGE and that armor system is mid, too.

Open up many locations/add new ones - random stores, bars, hotels, brothels, strip clubs, mega buildings, etc. and put some quality gigs/quests/vendors/characters in there. The Tavern is an RPG trope that has even broached mainstream attention, with comedy skits surrounding such a scenario. Being able to have a drink and a random quest or encounter occur would be great - hell, that's a good way to shoehorn in some hidden gem noir type quests. There's an international airport in Night City, too, but not in this Night City. I don't understand how they missed this...
 
Last edited:
1. (APARTMENTS) Apartments need to feel more rewarding for the grind you do to buy them. I expected a lot more from the CORPO apartment, but it was small and did not feel lavished. The GLEN was probably the best one because of it's size. Outside of that, the nexus apartment mods feel more rewarding than what CDPR gave us.

2. (CORPO Life Path) Though it would be hard to create a game+ mode. CDPR could probably leave V with a little bit more cash stashed somewhere in her apartment after Arasaka takes their line of credit from V. Realistically, it would make sense for a CORPO employee to have some cash saved just in case something were to happen. It's never said how long V had been working for Arasaka during the CORPO playthrough, so I'd assume enough time and making a decent wage to afford a savings. This would have made certain things in the CORPO playthrough a lot easier from the start. It makes sense that you'd be able to afford some nice cyber-ware that a STREET KID or NOMAD CAN'T AFFORD. Also, paying back Victor would be a lot easier.

3. (CUSTOMIZATION+ UPDATE FOR PC) It's understandable if limitations on character customization had to be placed due to console restrictions, but maybe there could be a perk for PC. Most of the better character customizations are nexus PC mods. It would be rather rewarding to see more of this added to the PC version, since most PC gamers have more space than a console. I'd like to be able to do more with tattoo placement on V's body and more with the overall tone of where things like blemish and hair can be placed. These things are possible with PC versions of Cyberpunk 2077.

4. (BRAIN DANCE SIDE MISSIONS) There is so much that can be done with the brain dance material. I can't even begin to fathom about epic side missions that could be made with the brain dance content in Night City. You could build an entirely new campaign from that by itself. No to mention all the perk points that could be obtained during these long side quest. I'd like to really be able to build V up, without having to engage in the main quest. It feels more realistic that the events in Cyberpunk 2077 actually feel like a long time to a gamer if V was able to brand off into other campaigns before finishing the Arasaka story. Characters that were mentioned in the lore but were not seen in the main quest could be uncovered in the brain dance campaigns/side missions. Maybe through this, V would discover that Silverhand's memories may not have been entirely accurate and from there our side story takes off.
 
You are already be able to mod your game upside down but still ask for official pc only content because console didn’t suffered enough in this games history? Jesus…
 
For how beautiful the game looks, it’s a real shame that so many “easy” opportunities for immersion — Like more bars, hotels, random encounters, or even being able to sit in more of the chairs as a basic example — weren’t included. I wouldn’t expect them to transform the core fundamentals, but building on what exists to make it more widespread would be helpful. Otherwise, it can often feel like you’re just observing the city rather than engaging with it. (I would rather the new areas be smaller in scope and have more interiors than have a massive addition where 95% of it are shell buildings.)

On the same theme of immersion or world reactivity, even a minimal or temporary reputation system (similar to wanted stars for NCPD) with gangs would be nice. It’s strange you can wipe out the entire district of them, and come back 24 hours later where no one says a thing.

Outside of that, I hope the vehicle combat update comes with an overhaul in vehicle handling generally.

Unlikely but quick mentions: Being able to use flying devices or boats (what’s with not having that? That’s a pretty basic open world expectation if it’s set in modern times), subway access (I know they’ve already said it’s not happening, but mentioning it anyway since that’s borderline criminal to have such dated fast travel spots), and a revamp of romances so you can engage with them outside of their set locations/houses.
 
I agree that I expected the Corpo apartment to be lavishly large but I guess that’s what V’s Penthouse is for.

Yep. And the Penthouse cannot be purchased in game. This was a big miss for Cyberpunk 2077 because we needed something a lot more standout from V's apartment. Not to mention the additional material that could have been unlocked from owning a apartment in a particular area. This is where CDPR is missing it. More interaction in your own apartment complex is where side missions should originate from. Lizzy's Bar was a big miss in this category for the STREET KID life path. Since the center focus of the story is around ARASAKA, the Mox are not mentioned too much.
 
3. (CUSTOMIZATION+ UPDATE FOR PC) It's understandable if limitations on character customization had to be placed due to console restrictions, but maybe there could be a perk for PC.
I don't think it have something to do with "console restrictions" :)
For example, Jedi Survivor will "weigh" around 150GB on PS5 and Series X, so almost 2.5 times bigger than Cyberpunk, so the size is no an issue (at least for studios... for players probably^^).
 
Lizzys bar & SK?…

It's likely possible that CDPR has more in store for this game and they don't want to give it to us all at once. The Nexus Mod community has been saving them a bit of money, not having to spend time designing to cosmetic features for the game. I'm confident that Phantom Liberty will add a decent expansion to the existing game and answer more questions about the story that were not revealed to us before. The Edgerunners story got so much popularity, that CDPR could probably craft an entire DLC behind it. If I remember correctly, Edgerunners content can be found in the game, which means it takes place in the same universe as the game. If another expansion were to be done; CDPR would have to decide whether or not it should be crafted in the year of 2076 or a post-Edgerunners. Since the story has already been told, I'd assume CDPR would make it post-Edgerunners expansion.

But what has not been answered is what ending CDPR chose to go with for the post story expansion. Eventually they will need to answer whether or not Silverhand's memories were accurate and what choice V chose. Since Silverhand is still apart of the story, it is likely possible that V found a way to live with Silverhand in her head.

The only thing I pray is that CDPR doesn't do the ARASAKA main quest approach, where you step near the door and press a button to start the Phantom Liberty expansion. This approach would mean that we are only post-Arasaka timeline where V only has a certain amount of months or weeks to live. With all the technology in Night City I am shocked that V hasn't found someone else that is able to move Silverhand's data to a data base that V has or possibly create a new body for him. It would have been more interesting for CDPR to leave the question unanswered on V's whereabouts and just introduce an entirely new character with a letter initial alias that gamers can customize in the male, female or transgender form.
 

Guest 3847602

Guest
Scrap the idea of in-character cutscenes, make normal cutscenes that are better, easier to make, and allow developers to create non-linear quest lines with choices having actual in-game consequences, like you did in TW3
A) Are you seriously expect them to add TPP in a story expansion!? Sweet Christ... :facepalm:
B) How does having "normal cutscenes" allow developers to create non-linear quest lines?
C) Have we played the same TW3? Cause, last time I checked, it had completely linear main story + sidequests that allowed you to make actual decisions and consequences to play out. Exactly like in Cyberpunk.
 
Top Bottom