Cyberpunk 2, codenamed Orion, may feature grander branching storylines determined by the player’s starting life path, which were Street Kid, Corpo, and Nomad in Cyberpunk 2077.
Speaking on the Answered Podcast, CD Projekt Red narrative director Philipp Weber said the Life Paths’ lack of influence in the majority of Cyberpunk 2077 is something the studio wants to improve in future titles. While Weber is currently working on the next mainline Witcher game, codenamed Polaris, Cyberpunk’s sequel is currently in the conceptual stages of development too.
“I do think there are things with, for example, the life paths, that kind of gives you a promise as being able to play more different kinds of characters,” Weber said. “I think this is a thing where, in the future, that’s as an example something we would like to improve. Since I do think we gave a promise there that maybe in the end we did not really sell.”
Cyberpunk 2077’s opening changes depending on which life path is chosen, but within an hour the three essentially merge into the one main story. While it does have various branching paths and different choices of its own, the influence of life paths is subsequently limited to occasional additional dialogue options.
“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. We move it all together. Then sometimes you can do it,” Weber said. “As a quest designer, I think in retrospect we can see the old topic, given more experience, given more time, I think maybe we would make it a bit less muddled than we did it there.”
The lead quest designer on Polaris, Błażej Augustynek, who also worked on Cyberpunk 2077, said the starting life path isn’t too important to the game’s main story though. “I think with the lifepaths, it’s the life that you leave as V,” he said.
“So whatever you used to do, there’s a clear moment where it all crumbles, right? And you start a new life with Jackie. Obviously we would like it to matter more, but I think the way it plays our right now, it’s like you come from a certain kind of life. And that life has ended. It’s in the past and now you’re living this new life which, ends, spoilers, in the prologue, and then you have to deal with the consequences of that.”
Little is known about Cyberpunk’s sequel as key gameplay decisions like whether it will be first or third person are still being made. The original Cyberpunk 2077 has finally received its last big update though, so attention will be turning more towards its sequel at CD Projekt Red.
The developer told IGN in November it’s determined not to repeat the same practices that led to Cyberpunk 2077’s turbulent launch, which saw the game removed from sale on the PlayStation Store, and has already changed several significant development processes as a result. It was this rocky start that led CD Projekt Red to work on Cyberpunk 2077 for three years, as the developer sought to turn it around and regain the trust of players.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.