CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 has been one of the hottest topics in gaming lately, particularly due to its disastrous launch and related repercussions. The launch version of Cyberpunk 2077 was plagued with bugs and glitches that soured the experience for those waiting out eagerly for the release. In addition to this, console players had to put up with unplayable framerates on top of all the other technical problems.
Despite a bunch of problems, many have enjoyed Cyberpunk 2077 for reasons such as its interesting cast of characters. However, it cannot be denied that CD Projekt did cut some corners in the making, and the addition of these features may have made Cyberpunk 2077 all the better for it.
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Cyberpunk 2077 has a long history of touted features that were noticeably absent from the game. Wall running is one such feature, and the removal did upset quite the number of fans. While the developer did let fans know about such removal well before launch, it seems that the feature could have a lot of potential if added to the game.
Night City is touted to be a bustling playground of possibilities, and wall running could've done wonders in radically increasing the explorable area. On one hand, there are a couple of parkour moves available to players such as the double jump and super jump which opens up a bunch of new possibilities where players can reach many new places. On the other, this does put a lot of things into perspective about how much more exciting and fun systems could originate out of the mechanic.
Another in the line of heavily touted features, Cyberpunk 2077 lacks the promised character customization options. While there may be a perfectly serviceable character creator which allows players to customize the character's appearance to his or her liking, no such choices exist after starting the game. CD Projekt Red's immaculately crafted Night City lacks any barbers, surgeons, and tattoo artists which is astonishing as it is a part of other, similar open-world games. Adding insult to injury is the fact that the game wants to put player choice and, by extension, player expression at the forefront.
Many fans wanted their V to be an embodiment of their own selves, and the character creator does help with that. However, no ability to change such things afterward can be a disappointment. Furthermore, players who started the journey in a haste are stuck with their choices which can be quite upsetting.
This extends to the player's accessories as well, where there isn't any option to customize the players' vehicles and weapons. There isn't any option to tweak the performance of Cyberpunk 2077's vehicles and neither is there an option to change the look, and it can feel like a radical departure from the RPG elements found in the game. In a similar vein, players have no option to change the look of their weapons by means of skins. It may sound nitpicky, but all of this can combine to make Cyberpunk 2077 feel lacking in the department of customization.
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NPCs in video games, particularly open-world ones, have been a pretty standard affair for some time now. Most developers seem content in filling the map with tons of NPCs with set routines and patterns that give out the illusion of a real city. Much of the reasoning behind the fact lies with the cost attached in making each NPC unique in one way or the other.
Cyberpunk 2077 promised to deliver a next-generation system where each citizen would have an actual daily routine alongside believable behaviors and unique appearances. The final release showcases a day and night difference where NPCs can appear out of nowhere at times and disappear in a similar fashion. It's very easy to spook an NPC and they show no signs of emotion when assaulted by the player, which is odd to say the least. It's particularly disappointing to see such a downgrade when fans were promised a significant upgrade with the system.
While Cyberpunk 2077's lifepaths mechanic is great in its own right, it's far thinner than what was promised to fans. During the 2018's gameplay walkthrough, it can be seen that in addition to what looks to be modified versions of lifepaths, there are two more choices that dictate the player's backstory. This could very well have tied into the narrative and related choices, opening up a bunch of new possibilities for deeper role-playing. Not to suggest that the system is deeply flawed, but fans waiting for such mechanics to be implemented in a game of such a huge scale have definitely been disappointed, and suffice to say, the game would have been all the better for it.
There are still more subtle elements that were promised but had to be sacrificed for some reason or the other, with the standout highlight being Cyberpunk 2077's police AI. Cyberpunk 2077's current police system can be a technical mess at times, and CDPR has acknowledged the issues.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions coming in 2021.