Cyberpunk 2 devs promise to fix 2077’s biggest narrative letdown

On the AnsweRED podcast, Cyberpunk 2077’s devs explained their development philosophy when it comes to quest design and narrative, as well as some of the challenges that come with it. They addressed one of Cyberpunk 2077’s biggest letdowns and explained what they’d like to improve in the sequel.

Though it had an infamously rocky launch and a long road to the game it currently is as of update 2.1, Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most successful video games ever made. It’s done well both critically and commercially over the past few years, with player sentiment only improving as the game became more and more stable.

Now, the devs at CD Projekt Red have the daunting task of trying to follow that up. Not only will they have to launch the game in a much better state than 2077, but they’ll have to top what the original Cyberpunk did without alienating what made it such an groundbreaking game.

CDPR devs sat down on AnsweRED, a podcast that features devs talking about what’s in progress at the studio, and confirmed that they’re looking to fix one of Cyberpunk 2077’s biggest pitfalls right out the gate: The character’s chosen background will actually have impact on the story in Cyberpunk 2.

Cyberpunk 2 sets out to make characters’ life paths matter

This podcast confirms a few things about the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel that we, admittedly, probably won’t be getting for a while.

First up, it’ll allow players to choose a background. It’s hard to imagine that the same V would need a different background, so there’s a good chance it’s a new MC. At least, if development continues in the way the devs talked about in their podcast. The game is in early development stages, so everything’s subject to change.

Two, CDPR devs aim to give life paths an actual impact on the story next time around.

(conversation starts at 17:30)

“I do think there are things, as an example, with the life paths that it kind of gives you a promise of being able to play more different kinds of characters. This is a thing that, in the future, is an example of something we’d like to improve.” claimed Narrative Director Philipp Weber.

“I do think we gave a promise there that, maybe, in the end, we did not really sell. The game begins with this very specific thing – you can be a Nomad, a Corpo, a Street Kid, but then… it sometimes goes away a little bit.”

Weber explained this as being part of the “growing pains” with CDPR tackling Cyberpunk 2077 as an IP that had never had a game made from it before. Seeing as he came into the studio for Witcher 3, he already had two prior games and a bunch of novels to work with. Meanwhile, Cyberpunk 2077 was wholly new. A blank slate can be exciting, but also very daunting.

Their conversation covered much more than that, with a focus around what makes good quests in both The Witcher and Cyberpunk. With those in attendance being mainly focused on Polaris, the next Witcher project, there’s a good chance that it’ll be a while until we get the next Cyberpunk. But that doesn’t make their insight on the game’s development any less valuable.

Even now, the masterminds behind one of gaming’s most successful new IPs are thinking about how they can improve the formula for their next go at creating a story within that universe.