Cyberpunk 2077 is shaping up to be one of the hottest titles of 2020, and for good reason.
The AAA RPG by CD Projekt Red has taken the world by storm long before its March 6, 2020 release with a slew of pulling factors: Keanu Reeves, intricate open-ended storytelling, genderless character creation, and even simply by namesake alone.
The new Deep Dive gameplay video that launched at PAX West 2019, however, gave us a more nuanced look at the gameplay. This particular video was already shown to us at E3 2019, but of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t still nitpick it for you.
As we’ve already seen in last year’s gameplay demo, the FPS-style gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077 has long been the main talking point of the community, as it is a departure from the third-person action-RPG gameplay we’ve grown accustomed to in the CDPR’s Witcher games.
The Deep Dive video reminds us that Cyberpunk 2077 that it is still very much an RPG through and through, just through a first-person perspective. Specifically, the option to choose Life Paths is indicative of this, as you’ll be dictating the way your iteration of V (the game’s protagonist) looks, behaves, and fits within the context of the social structure of Night City.
From there, what relationships you’ll be getting, up to even the kinds of quests you’ll have access to, is dependent on what you’ve picked at the start of character creation. That, combined with the various class and skill combinations you can pick from, certainly spells more playthrough opportunities for players.
Speaking of which, the Netrunner class offers a more subtle way of getting around Night City, as opposed to the violent physicality of the Solo.
The best part about the Netrunner? Hacking, of course, and you’ll be able to perform lots of it across your playthrough. Whether it’s on soda vending machines, training bots, or even the cybernetic interface of a boss enemy, you’ll always be a few steps ahead of your foes — unless they themselves are Netrunners.
Of course, the Netrunner and the Solo won’t be the only classes available in the game; since Cyberpunk 2077 is heavily derived from the tabletop RPG, you’ll most likely see the likes of the engineering Techie, the charismatic Rockerboy, or even the nomadic, er, Nomad, come to the fore in some form.
Finally, the video gave us another taste of how open your options are with which to complete missions and advance the story.
You can either do a more subdued, even pacifistic approach, or go out guns (or hacking devices) blazing and rip gang members to shreds. You can even approach the head of a gang, take up their offer on helping take over a portion of the area, and later on betray them by giving their location away to the Netwatch authorities.
Open-ended gameplay is another staple in a true RPG like Cyberpunk 2077, and it seems CDPR have learnt from their experience in The Witcher to bring forward the same open-world concept with added flexibility in dialogue and mission approachability, and you have yourself a pretty comprehensive role-playing experience.
To say that the world of Cyberpunk 2077 is nuanced is an understatement. It feels as if you’d definitely need to play it through more that once to get the most out of CDPR’s upcoming heavy-hitter. And with why not?
Cyberpunk 2077 rolls out on March 6, 2020 for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Google Stadia.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
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