I know there are a few posts on this issue already. I, however, think I took a different approach.
For the longest time, since I read
this thread, I pondered the question that my mind seemed to be asking of me. The title, in case you are curious. Whenever I saw anything about this game, the fact that it had full-frontal, uncensored nudity was mentioned. It was not just the chest, like we expect, it had the other parts, too. Not only that, surprisingly, but the fact that you could customise your wang was another tidbit that was thrown around. Seeing an actual wang, outside of pornographic material, is almost unheard of in media. It is very, very rare. There are two videogames off the top of my head that actually have it: Conan Exiles and Rust.
So, naturally, this was going to be huge. A stepping stone, if you will. It was not only that you could see the wang. No, no. No, it was the fact you could also customise it. You see, I am certain the male obsession with the wang does not wane over age. We spent our youth graffiting them everywhere, defacing any and all surfaces with them. A constant source of research, the wang. “Is that one bigger than mine?”, “Does that one bend slightly?”, “How do I measure up to my friends?”, “Is it normal?” I could do an in-depth study on it, but I will not.
The simple point is that we live in a time where the media will smile whenever someone is sawed in half, whenever a war crime is committed, whenever some sort of gore happens, it is all fine. You show a nipple, however, and you are the worst person on earth. This bubble wrap nonsense is suffocating and Cyberpunk 2077 would be the air – which we all need. The game, in Australia, has an R18+ rating. Essentially, adults only. I doubt it has a similar rating everywhere. Australians fight wildlife daily, but our stance on media is quite tight-gripped and causes more issues than it solves. Sadly, I am too young to join the government to attempt to fix it. Soon, maybe in twenty years when I meet the age requirement – also, an age where I conveniently will not be playing videogames.
My point is as clear as a sunny day: why bother including the penis at all? Why let us see it in the character creation screen and the inventory screen? Why allow us to customise it? Why did I spend fifteen minutes deciding on size and appearance when it hardly matters? You sold us on the fact that it was possible… that there would be consequences for running around nude.
Honestly, dialogue for being nude would have been amazing. Running around naked, getting arrested, having people react to it. Having an impact. Imagine killing someone when nude and they mock themselves in their death throes? “How did I lose to a naked man with a small penis?” or even people commenting on the street, whether in awe or mocking. People comment on the size of the penis, whether it is cut or uncut. Imagine you hire a joytoy and he or she just laughs. Some people may feel emasculated by it, but I find it amusing and immersive. So much potential lost due to it. That is what has me the most upset… except for the promises that were broken.
I did not expect, nor do I want, pornography. I hardly expected there to be penetrative sex. However, the fact it existed and was something that mattered was there. It was a promise that was broken. It now sits upon a throne of other broken promises.
Forcing V to wear underwear was lazy. Enabling nudity should straight up enable nudity. Otherwise, it is a useless option that serves no purpose and should be removed. We see a vagina in the story. We see dildos in stores. We can see the bulge on the male joytoy. We can see it in the character creation screen. We can see it in the inventory screen. Why can we not see it when we take off all our clothes? What, in all honesty, is the difference? It can be seen in a menu, why can it not be seen in-game?
It is a useless feature that does nothing. Potential immersion and story-telling wasted. Just remove it. Remove the feature and no one will bat an eye as no one cares about a half-finished feature that was used as a marketing gimmick and nothing more.