10 Features Cyberpunk 2077’s Sequel Needs To Leave Behind

Cyberpunk 2077 has seemingly completed its journey with the release of the Phantom Liberty DLC and various updates that have markedly improved the player experience since its somewhat disastrous launch. Now that players have sunk dozens if not hundreds of hours into the core Cyberpunk 2077 experience, clearing up every Gig, NCPD Scanner Hustle, and side quest, they’ll be looking to the next entry in the soon-to-be series.

Fortunately, CD Projekt Red has confirmed that there will be a Cyberpunk 2 at some point, even despite the fact that the first game is one of many video games unfairly criticized. There is plenty of speculation surrounding what the sequel could be about, where it might be set, and what new features it will introduce. However, while a lot of the original Cyberpunk 2077 experience is amazing, a lot of it needs to be removed in order to make the sequel shine.

10

NCPD Scanner Hustles

They’re Inconsistent With V’s Character

The NCPD Scanner Hustles in Cyberpunk 2077 are short side missions that really just require players to kill a group of enemies and occasionally read something. They’re light on story and content, largely existing to offer busywork for those who are content roaming around Night City with a vengeance. However, NCPD Scanner Hustles aren’t bad because of their lack of meaningful content, but rather because they ruin the immersion in Cyberpunk.

V assisting the police in their quest to take down the various gangs of Night City doesn’t really play into their morally ambiguous character, especially when they’ve grown to generally distrust the NCPD. The missions with River are clear evidence of just how much V, at least initially, lacks any faith in the NCPD, and V often has conversations with other characters that also points to this. NCPD Scanner Hustles should therefore be removed in the sequel and replaced with more meaningful missions that better reflect the protagonist’s beliefs.

9

First-Person Only

It Would Be Great To See V

Cyberpunk 2077 absolutely works as a first-person experience and is far better off for it. Witnessing the horrors of Night City from a first-person perspective is not only more immersive but also helps players revel in the minute details that make the city such a special place to explore. Removing the first-person perspective in Cyberpunk 2 would absolutely be a mistake, as it is largely integral to the overall experience.

However, it often feels like Cyberpunk 2077 was, at one point, intended to be a third-person game, much like CD Projekt Red’s other series, The Witcher. The extensive character customization options, the fact that players can customize their clothes, and the ability to switch to third-person while driving – something that is missing in other first-person open-world games like Far Cry – definitely speaks to this. Having the option to switch between both perspectives in the sequel at any time, not just driving, would make it a more accessible experience and greatly increase the value of character customization.

8

Pointless Factions

So Many Of Them Have Little To Do

Cyberpunk 2077 has an incredibly rich and vibrant world, elevated by the source material it is adapting. It has had a number of spin-off media, including comics and a phenomenal TV show, that has greatly expanded the world and invited players to witness other sides of both Night City and its various factions. However, while all the surrounding lore absolutely makes the world of Cyberpunk 2077 more interesting, the way the game handles its factions is disappointing.

Outside a handful of missions, none of the factions in Cyberpunk 2077, from the NCPD and Trauma Team to gangs like The Mox and Tyger Claws, have anything to do. They’re fairly pointless beyond occasionally chasing V or popping up to antagonize them. Their effect on Night City is rarely felt, despite lore entries teasing something bigger, and V doesn’t get to interact with them in meaningful ways. Cyberpunk 2 needs new gangs and must implement them better in order to make both the world feel more alive and the player more involved in it.

7

Meaningless Gigs

They’re Detract From The Main Story

Gigs, much like the factions of Night City, have a lot of potential but rarely deliver it. These are short – although not as short as NCPD Scanner Hustles – missions in Cyberpunk 2077 that are completely optional and usually reward the player with a bit of money and XP. They are also tied to Fixers, characters with their own backgrounds who V interacts with every so often. These Fixers have a set number of Gigs for players to complete, after which they’ll hand out a rare reward and never show up again.

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The implementation of Gigs in the base Cyberpunk 2077 game – not Phantom Liberty as that improved upon them slightly – is incredibly poor, as not only are the Fixers vastly underutilized, but the Gigs themselves are rarely challenging or interesting. While there are a few exceptions, Gigs largely devolve into the player visiting a location, killing a group of enemies, and reaping the rewards. Cyberpunk 2 either needs more of the introspective character-driven Gigs or find a way of introducing more full-blown side quests like The Witcher 3.

6

Night City

It Is Time For A New Setting

Night City is an incredible setting for Cyberpunk 2077 and is largely what makes it such a success. While a cliché, it is very much a character in and of itself, with each little detail, NPC interaction, and mission helping to further immerse the player in this awful yet occasionally hopeful world. Cyberpunk 2077 is absolutely better off for being set in Night City, and its story is stronger for it too.

However, while Night City is the right location for Cyberpunk 2077, its sequel should be set somewhere else. Of course, if Cyberpunk 2 ends up being set in Night City, that’s no great shame, but there’s little new that CD Projekt Red can offer that players won’t already be expecting. Everyone already knows the key players and events, and going further into the future – or even back into the past – won’t change that too much. Instead, Cyberpunk 2 should be set somewhere else to give the developers a new foundation to build upon and fans somewhere new to play with.

5

The Life Paths

They Do Little To Elevate The Game

Cyberpunk 2077 starts by letting players pick a Life Path, something that determines V’s background and changes which opening they experience. The Nomad Life Path, for example, sees players start off in the Badlands and have to navigate through border control with Jackie. It also makes relations with the Aldecaldos much easier thanks to the new dialogue options. However, while Cyberpunk 2077’s Life Paths do offer some replayability as well as an illusion of extra choice, their implementation isn’t the best.

The extra dialogue choices aren’t strictly necessary, as if players lack them, they won’t fail a mission or end up in a less appealing situation. Additionally, while a change in the opening sequence is fun, it also doesn’t really add much to the game, with players only bumping into some of the characters featured in them in optional missions. Life Paths should be removed in Cyberpunk 2, and in its place, CD Projekt Red should allow players to simply choose their background information at the start and have it play a much greater role in the narrative.

4

The Janky NPCs

They Ruin The Immersion Of Night City

Cyberpunk 2077 had a buggy launch, and there is no escaping that. However, the plethora of patches and updates since its release has largely addressed those major issues, making it a far more playable and enjoyable experience. The work that CD Projekt Red put into improving Cyberpunk 2077 should absolutely be commended, and players across the world are better off for it. Of course, that being said, Cyberpunk 2077’s NPCs make no sense.

It isn’t just the glitches that see them warp into one another or T-pose in an alleyway that makes them feel so artificial, but rather their reactions to the player and the way they’ll purposefully endanger themselves as if they’re on a mission to get V the highest Wanted rating possible. NPCs in Cyberpunk 2077 do not act like normal people, and no amount of patches can seemingly fix that. It’s understandable to an extent, especially considering the scale of Night City, but Cyberpunk 2 must find a way of leaving behind the dangerous behavior of Night City’s population.

3

The Bad Driving Mechanics

Cars Handle Terribly In Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077’s driving mechanics aren’t technically bad, but they don’t work within the context of an open-world game or Night City. To an extent, driving in Cyberpunk 2077 is meant to feel more realistic, with the handling of fast cars going haywire the minute players attempt to blast around a corner at ridiculous speeds. This will almost always result in players crashing, being thrown from their car, or killing a civilian and earning themselves a Wanted star. The problem is that all the cars in Cyberpunk 2077 reach top speeds pretty quickly.

This means players need to show a great amount of restraint when driving in order to maintain a respectable and law-abiding speed. Additionally, the fantasy of running amok in Night City and getting up to no good is quashed somewhat by having to drive at a snail’s pace just so players don’t crash. To make matters worse, NPCs drive incredibly slowly, far slower than the speed limit, which can make traversing Night City in a car specifically – motorbikes are far easier to stomach – a nightmare. Cyberpunk 2 either needs to ditch cars altogether or make driving more arcadey.

2

Buying Cars

It Makes Stealing Them Redundant

In Cyberpunk 2077, players can buy cars to permanently unlock them. This includes the absolute worst cars imaginable, Akira-inspired motorbikes, and basically tanks kitted with machine guns and rocket launchers. Once purchased, fans can then access them from a handy menu and have them appear in a matter of seconds, ensuring that they’re never without their favorite car. In theory, this system works much like Roach in The Witcher 3 and gives players access to cool-looking cars as a reward for earning so much money.

In practice, however, it makes stealing cars a completely redundant feature as, not only can players not keep stolen cars – as they disappear whenever a main mission starts or if V goes too far away from them – but they can also just summon a car whenever they want, mitigating the need to steal one in a hurry. Removing this feature also robs the player of a further opportunity to be a criminal, something Night City should encourage, not dissuade. It’s a shame, especially after Cyberpunk 2077’s surprise Update 2.2 added a swathe of car customization options.

1

Johnny Silverhand

He’s Too Connected To V’s Story

Much like a lot of Cyberpunk 2077’s features, Johnny Silverhand is completely integral to the core experience. He not only makes V’s story all the more emotional, with their bond being the backbone of the entire narrative but his connection to the wider world and short-term absence from it give him a unique perspective that makes exploration and side quests all the more interesting. Johnny Silverhand is, unequivocally, one of the fundamental features of Cyberpunk 2077 that has made it such a legendary game.

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However, as great as Johnny Silverhand is great – and he really is great – Cyberpunk 2 will be far better off without him. Not only do some of the endings see him die, but he also feels far too connected to V’s story, something which similarly shouldn’t carry over to Cyberpunk 2. Shoehorning him into the next game would only be a disservice to his role in Cyberpunk 2077, and would take away from a fresher perspective that could introduce a new level of intrigue to the series.

Source: PlayStation/YouTube, GamersPrey/YouTube

Franchise

Cyberpunk

Released

December 10, 2020

Engine

REDengine 4

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

How Long To Beat

25 Hours

X|S Optimized

Xbox Series X|S players can also download Update 2.1 and enjoy all the new content available in the game

Metascore

75

PS Plus Availability

N/A

Steam Deck Compatibility

yes

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Cross Save

yes

Cross-Platform Play

ps, xbox, pc

Expand