Senior quest designer Philipp Weber answered a selection of questions, occasionally casting deflection to avoid spoiling anything or revealing details the company doesn’t want to unveil just yet. Here’s all that we learned:
Minor Russian influences - Night City is a huge futuristic metropolis, and anyone who visited a big western city will know just how much of a cultural melting pot they can be. In the grim future of Cyberpunk where half the planet is uninhabitable, even more people flock to urban population centers. As such, there will definitely be a Russian element active in Night City, and we may encounter Cyrillic graffiti as well as occasional Russian gang members. V can perform mundane “roleplaying” actions any time - None of these are mandatory, as Weber points out Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t a survival game, but V can eat and drink with some consumables imparting set bonuses, take a shower, use the toilet, or look at themselves in the mirror when in their apartment. NPC population is dynamic - A couple of screenshots in the past had fans worried that Night City may be a little devoid of average citizens, but the fact is CDPR has ensured a dynamic and realistic population simulation. Different districts have different population densities, where it is more dangerous people are less likely to be on the streets, when there are weather effects like acid rain most people will be indoors and so forth. There will definitely be areas with large crowds, or districts with a very active night life. Many companion characters beyond Jackie - RPGs often feature companions or party members who tag along, help in fights and sometimes interject in conversations. We’ve seen footage where Jackie does pretty much this, but never heard anything about other companions. We now know that there will be a lot of them, and many haven’t been seen at all yet. Different decisions will result in different relations with some, so certain playthroughs might pit you against people who are your allies in others!
There is a faction reputation system but V cannot “join” any gang or corp - Reputation systems aren’t new to RPGs either. When there are many factions in a game, some of which oppose one another, getting friendly with one team might put you at odds with another. There are many prominent gangs and corporations active in Cyberpunk 2077, and while V can definitely work up a trusting cooperative, you can never full-on join any such faction. Ultimately, V will always be a mercenary whose only allegiance is to themselves. Law enforcement prevents killing sprees - A key feature of Cyberpunk 2077 is that you can kill just about anyone, even if they are key characters in the story. Their deaths will simply steer the plot in another direction. However, if you walk through the street gunning down every civilian you see, there are gameplay mechanics in place to stop you. The developers prize player freedom, but at the end of the day they want to tell a story, and some limits must be imposed. You can be peaceful and non-lethal, but complete pacifism is impossible - Stealthy and diplomatic approaches are possible in basically every encounter and mission, and there is a plethora of non-lethal weaponry. It is entirely possible to complete Cyberpunk 2077 without ever killing anyone, but there are some fights that are inevitable, so even if everyone gets out alive, cracking a few skulls is inevitable. Ask characters for a drink - You can ask to hang out with certain characters at various points in the game and socialise, like have a drink or maybe some harder, less legal substance. Your previous choices and interactions will determine their answer. There is limit to the quantity of cybernetics - Cyberware is a big part of Cyberpunk 2077 and you can deck out V with all sorts of funky augmentations - some for combat, some for utility, some just for fashion - but there is a limit to it all. You can’t push V to the level of, say, Adam Smasher who is basically a complete robot aside from half a face. Appearance locks in after character creator - The character creator is really detailed with a lot of options, but you need to be absolutely sure about your choices before starting the game. For all the advanced tech available in the setting - like that one screenshot of a woman with a removed cyberware face - no plastic surgery is available, and you can only alter V’s clothing during gameplay. We’re not quite sure why re-customizing your character isn’t possible, since it would be the easiest thing to explain in-universe, but there you have it.
Perk redistribution - You can redistribute skill and attribute points at any time, but there will be a cost involved. Dynamic weather effects - As mentioned previously when discussing dynamic NPCs, Night City and the Badlands will feature dynamic weather effects ranging from calm, sunny weather to storms, regular rain and even acidic rain, owing to the devastating amount of pollution present in the setting. You can control cars and bikes, but air and utility vehicles are scripted - One of the most well known cut features from the game we know about is vehicle customization, but V can still own and drive their own car or bike. You can buy these or earn them via quests. Some aerial vehicles and large utility vehicles are also present in the game, and at some points in the story V may even travel with them, but you’ll never be in control, and these sections are scripted. Earn money with contracts, racing, bounties, fist fights - Story missions and your typical cyberpunky side-quests aren’t the only sources of income V has. As a mercenary, you can take part in all sorts of lucrative activities, like odd-jobs, street races, fighting tournaments and taking down dangerous individuals with large bounties on their heads. A wide range of cultures will be represented - CDPR took the whole melting-pot aspect of megacities very seriously, with both the main cast and the huge pool of insignificant NPCs all representing a wide and diverse range of cultures and ethnic backgrounds, which also means that some characters will be speaking different languages in-game. As in actually voice-acted in various different languages. V will be able to acquire cyberware that provides real-time translation, but until then you’ll be left guessing - unless you happen to speak that language yourself. Mission failure isn’t game over - While every circumstance of V dying is an immediate game over, you can fail missions without having to reload a save. In Cyberpunk 2077, failure is a viable outcome, and if a mission doesn’t go your way, instead of being booted back to your last save, V will have to deal with the consequences of screwing things up.
With the November December release date quickly coming up, we expect the developers to be progressively more and more loose lipped about Cyberpunk 2077 details, and can’t wait to bring you more news. Here’s the full video:
