With a heavy emphasis on player customization and player choice, Cyberpunk 2077 is shaping up to be a one of a kind RPG experience. Despite multiple delays, my excitement has continued to grow, and here’s why I think Cyberpunk 2077 could be the best game we’ve ever seen.

Key Takeaways

  • Cyberpunk 2077 will offer an almost unparalleled amount of character customization.Players will be able to approach the various quests and stories from different lifestyle backgrounds and classes.Huge emphasis on player choice and freedom makes each playthrough unique.

Since its original announcement in 2012, and then the subsequent teaser trailer that gave us our first look at Night City’s futuristic world, Cyberpunk 2077 has been at the top of my most anticipated games list. Every additional trailer and gameplay reveal brought more information, which only helped to fuel the nuclear energy in the hype train that I’ve been riding for almost eight years now, despite a series of delays through 2020, the most recent of which pushed Cyberpunk 2077’s release back to December.

As a huge fan of RPGs, being able to create a character and then make that character truly yours is a massive part of the genre’s appeal. While the studio’s work on The Witcher series was exceptional, Cyberpunk 2077 will offer players something that almost no other RPG has offered, at least not at the same level that CD Projekt Red (CDPR) will: Complete character customization.

Based on everything we’ve seen thus far,

Becoming the Character

One of the most crucial parts of the RPG experience is becoming one with the character and finding yourself truly immersed in the world and the person you’re playing as. With premade characters like The Witcher’s Geralt, this can be extremely difficult. From the start, Geralt is who he is, and despite some branching questlines, you cannot change his fundamental nature. 

With Cyberpunk 2077, though, CDPR is giving you complete control of who your character is, what they look like, and even where they come from. Being able to customize what kind of hair your character has, what their body looks like, the color of your skin, and even what kind of genitals you’ll have, CDPR has given players everything they need to be exactly who they want to be.

This is a huge step forward for character creation in video games, which has often left very little room for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ players to truly express themselves in their characters, something that the studio has pushed hard throughout the game’s development. By putting so much power in the player’s hand right at the start, CDPR is ensuring that your character is exactly who you want them to be.

There are also three Lifepaths for players to choose from, all of which will give players different ways to approach the world and Night City itself. These act as background for your character, letting you choose whether you come up as a corporate suit, a street kid, or a nomad living out on the edge of civilization. From new dialogue options to completely different starting points, the Lifepath you choose will help shape your character to fit into the world where you want them to.

Raising the Bar

The most impressive thing about Cyberpunk 2077 is the scope CDPR has been promising players. By setting players loose in Night City, CDPR is opening up the entire world for players to make it what they want it to be. A slew of side quests await, and not just your typical RPG fetch quests, either. On top of having internet personalities like Jessie Cox set to appear—and even with their own quests attached—CDPR has also managed to pull in one of the most beloved actors on the planet: Keanu Reeves. 

Reeves, who has appeared in multiple big hit movies over the years, will be beside players the entire time as one of the main characters of the game’s story. Did I mention that Reeves’ reveal was absolutely breathtaking?

In Cyberpunk 2077, CDPR has given players almost as much freedom as they would have in a traditional pen and paper RPG. While there will no doubt be limitations to the system—the developers can only code in so many alternative paths for each encounter—being able to choose your path and play your way is a feature that many RPGs tend to miss out on.

Almost every encounter has multiple ways it can play out. Will you choose to work with the corporation or turn your back on it? In a 2018 gameplay demo, CDPR discussed how players could walk away from a deal and try to find some much-needed money some other way, or even try to steal it from the group selling it. With multiple ways to approach scenarios, players will be able to truly make the experience their own.

CDPR is giving you complete control of who your character is, what they look like, and even where they come from.

Based on everything we’ve seen thus far, Cyberpunk 2077 is going to be beautiful in more ways than one. The visuals, the amount of player freedom, and the sheer detail that has been put into the world to create a living, breathing, and immersive city for players to explore is almost unfathomable.

If CDPR can completely deliver on the game it’s been promising for the past eight years, then the studio will completely raise the bar for game developers for years to come.

Now all we have to do is survive all of the delays.

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