Late-game builds are cool, but becoming overpowered with no consequences limits some of the joy and thrill of late game gameplay.
Stacking tons of cyberware on your character is cool, and you can eventually become an unkillable machine of destruction. However, to some degree it may become unsatisfying if you reach a point where nothing is a struggle anymore, or when there are no drawbacks to your actions. Lore wise, incorporating tons of cyberware comes at the increased risk of cyberpsychosis, which is an incredibly well thought out concept - and I think adding something similar into the game could be great for late-game replayability.
Let's make a list of potential cons that could be implemented for specking heavily into cyberware:
Option 1: For each cyberware mod you add to your body, you increase the %risk of any cyberware-based ability malfunctioning - up to a certain limit. For example it could be that you have a 20% risk that a quick hack malfunctions and drains your cyberdeck ram.
Option 2: For each cyberware mod you add, the risk of the Relic malfunction happening during fights increases, making it more and more difficult to engage in fights consistently.
Option 3: For each cyberware mod you add, your senses get overloaded -as in lights become brighter, peripheral vision blurs, sounds echo, saturation of colors fills your vision (again, this happens during fights).
More can be added.
Now, of course just adding this to the game would not be enjoyable as it would limit a lot of character builds and hopes of achieving Adam Smasher levels of chrome. Therefore, I also suggest to balance the cons, there could be implemented a system where specific cyberware synergies ease the symptoms of the psychosis. For example, lets say you have mostly Arasaka cyberware in your body, that could provide a benefit to your tolerance to the symptoms so that, for example, instead of risking 20% malfuntion rate of quick hacks, you instead only risk 5%.
It could also be that certain cyberware types harmonize better with each other, or with certain character specs that lift some boundaries - in this way building your cyberware could be seen as a spec tree itself where some paths lead to increased benefits, while other parts leads to chaos and higher risk of cyberpsychosis symptoms.
As someone who has a couple of end-game characters, this is an element I would truly enjoy playing around. The struggle, the thought that goes into builds, the pros and cons - all of this is great for diving even deeper into the state of what it truly means to be a Cyberpunk.
Stacking tons of cyberware on your character is cool, and you can eventually become an unkillable machine of destruction. However, to some degree it may become unsatisfying if you reach a point where nothing is a struggle anymore, or when there are no drawbacks to your actions. Lore wise, incorporating tons of cyberware comes at the increased risk of cyberpsychosis, which is an incredibly well thought out concept - and I think adding something similar into the game could be great for late-game replayability.
Let's make a list of potential cons that could be implemented for specking heavily into cyberware:
Option 1: For each cyberware mod you add to your body, you increase the %risk of any cyberware-based ability malfunctioning - up to a certain limit. For example it could be that you have a 20% risk that a quick hack malfunctions and drains your cyberdeck ram.
Option 2: For each cyberware mod you add, the risk of the Relic malfunction happening during fights increases, making it more and more difficult to engage in fights consistently.
Option 3: For each cyberware mod you add, your senses get overloaded -as in lights become brighter, peripheral vision blurs, sounds echo, saturation of colors fills your vision (again, this happens during fights).
More can be added.
Now, of course just adding this to the game would not be enjoyable as it would limit a lot of character builds and hopes of achieving Adam Smasher levels of chrome. Therefore, I also suggest to balance the cons, there could be implemented a system where specific cyberware synergies ease the symptoms of the psychosis. For example, lets say you have mostly Arasaka cyberware in your body, that could provide a benefit to your tolerance to the symptoms so that, for example, instead of risking 20% malfuntion rate of quick hacks, you instead only risk 5%.
It could also be that certain cyberware types harmonize better with each other, or with certain character specs that lift some boundaries - in this way building your cyberware could be seen as a spec tree itself where some paths lead to increased benefits, while other parts leads to chaos and higher risk of cyberpsychosis symptoms.
As someone who has a couple of end-game characters, this is an element I would truly enjoy playing around. The struggle, the thought that goes into builds, the pros and cons - all of this is great for diving even deeper into the state of what it truly means to be a Cyberpunk.