Sorry punk, I'm all out of favors.
The topic of player agency within the plot has been bothering me ever since I finished TW3. For all it's amazing approaches to quest design, it embraces a gaming convention that I feel is abused in RPGs, and one I think would be out of place in Cyberpunk: servitude to the quest giver. By way of example, anyone who's played the game knows how many people Geralt is obligated to. The Initial setup, in fact, is him being placed in service of Emhyr. And then in service of the Baron, in service of Dijkstra, in service of the Crones and on it goes. Geralt is continually told ' you do this for me, and then I'll help you.' The problem is, this occurs so often the narrative device becomes strained. The writers have to justify why the fuck a capable badass like Geralt is simply not striking out alone. Compare that to Geralt in TW2. He breaks out of prison, practically spits in Roche's face, pursues Letho to Flotsam and can leave the town in flames all based on his own actions. He can even choose later on whether to rescue Triss or continue with his own agenda. Geralt in TW2 is proactive, even straight up selfish if you want him to be. Geralt in TW3 is passive and often plays errand boy. Isn't TW2 more in keeping with the themes of Cyberpunk? Shouldn't we be working for ourselves instead of other people?
The topic of player agency within the plot has been bothering me ever since I finished TW3. For all it's amazing approaches to quest design, it embraces a gaming convention that I feel is abused in RPGs, and one I think would be out of place in Cyberpunk: servitude to the quest giver. By way of example, anyone who's played the game knows how many people Geralt is obligated to. The Initial setup, in fact, is him being placed in service of Emhyr. And then in service of the Baron, in service of Dijkstra, in service of the Crones and on it goes. Geralt is continually told ' you do this for me, and then I'll help you.' The problem is, this occurs so often the narrative device becomes strained. The writers have to justify why the fuck a capable badass like Geralt is simply not striking out alone. Compare that to Geralt in TW2. He breaks out of prison, practically spits in Roche's face, pursues Letho to Flotsam and can leave the town in flames all based on his own actions. He can even choose later on whether to rescue Triss or continue with his own agenda. Geralt in TW2 is proactive, even straight up selfish if you want him to be. Geralt in TW3 is passive and often plays errand boy. Isn't TW2 more in keeping with the themes of Cyberpunk? Shouldn't we be working for ourselves instead of other people?
Last edited: