Yes, yes; I know I talk about this game way too much but I have too; literally nothing else get's me the same sort of excited as this game does by the merit of merely existing. (as sad as that might sound) But what I want to address today is less a comment on the many features that have revealed to us within the past week or so; nor a comment upon the B-roll footage that I'm still watching daily because I am definitely a Cyberpunk addict at this point. Rather the opposite, in fact, I want to talk about a topic that runs contrary to something I declared in my last blog; about how this game was 'uncompromising at every turn'. And that is because this title very much will be making compromises just not the sorts of ones that you would expect as we barrel towards that latest deadline firm in the fact that CDPR are literally incapable of prolonging the release date any further else they risk the poetic rhythm they'd achieve by nailing a release this year. (That and some boring financial promises would be at risk too, I assume.)
Recently is has begun to pop off on Twitter about the smattering of ideas and features that have been expressed by the CDPR team, not just distantly but recently (as in, within the last two years) but which were revealed to be left on the cutting room floor. Of course, this is the way that things work during the construction of literally every single game ever, one must always juggle their ambition with what they can afford else they end up becoming 'Cloud Imperium Games'. (And not even they went to be themselves.) But something about this revelation being made for 'Cyberpunk' seems to have set a few folk off, and I think it's because this project has adopted this 'infallible' reputation that it seriously shocks people to the core when it turns out that not everything made the cut. But perhaps these particular omissions that have made the news cycle aren't quite as 'world changing' as some news outlets, specially, are painting them.
Perhaps the first cut feature that has made it to my attention over the past week, and probably yours too with the speed at which this story has been picked up, is the removal of wallrunning. This "promising" feature was bought up during an interview with the Lead Level Designer for the game, Max Pears, as conducted by Eurogamer. This is one that struck home likely because it was a feature that wasn't only spoken about with some excitement, but one that was actually demonstrated in that iconic 2018 gameplay trailer that won over so many people's, including my own, hearts. (albeit, this specific feature appeared but briefly.) According to Max, this decision was made for "design reasons", which would makes sense given his position. But let's explore a possible reason why the choice could be made for such an omission; shall we?
The act of wallrunning is one that comes with it a certain freedom for the player's exploration at it allows them to traverse the environment without following the set-path of the world layout. However, by that same merit it does demand that the world be catered for such an ability as much as possible else the entire system ends up being a useless gimmick that rarely, if ever, gets used. Perhaps this could be the reason for the loss of wallrunning, as CDPR might have feared that they couldn't build enough opportunities to use it in the gameworld in order to justify it's existence. On the otherhand, maybe the mere existence of wallrunning made it difficult to design the world, as we already know how the majority of the game will take place on the steetlevel instead of in or atop those impressive skyscrapers we seen on the skyline. Perhaps wallrunning allowed folk to reach areas that the Devs didn't want them to be, and proofing that method of travel in an environment so big and detailed was just impossible. Of course the last, and most simple, explanation is thus; maybe the system itself just didn't feel/function right and the team didn't have the time to dedicate in order to get it right. As I said, CDPR are up against a wall right now when it comes to deadlines so it makes sense that something is going to give eventually, perhaps that something was wallrunning.
The second omission making the rounds is certainly a bit more esoteric, with CDPR having not shown any example from which to base our expectations, but it still makes me a little sad none the less. Apparently the 'unparalleled' customisation that is heading towards us this November will not be extended to vehicles as that feature has been scrapped to the graveyard of ideas. Again, this was a concept presented at a time when folk were still struggling to wrap their heads around what it was that this game could be, so it's hard to say that any lasting attachment was built with the feature, but I'd imagine more than a few 'dreamers' were set off by the implication. The ability to mess around with and customise one's car was so openended that simply anything could have come of it, but now it seems we shall never know as the concept met the reaper before it could ever touch us.
Although to be honest I never really accepted that vehicular customisation would ever be a thing, especially not after seeing the actual cars themselves that CDPR had designed and being consistently blown away. The amount of believable detail that has gone into the futuristic cars of the Cyberpunk world is simply unparalleled by any other sci-fi property that I have ever seen; I don't know who they got to design those beauties, but they knew exactly has to evolve upon what we see in the world today with fidelity and tact. What I'm trying to say is that every vehicle in this game comes out the box as a work of art, why do we need to tweak with it anymore? Of course, the hard truth of the matter likely comes back to workload and that which would be needed to create alternative looks for every high-quality car in the game without sacrificing that design integrity; it was probably just too much to juggle. Another possibility is that the scope of the planned customisations just didn't align with what the team were going for; perhaps they were all cosmetics whilst the team were shooting for something more tactile, or perhaps they were more physical upgrades whilst the team couldn't finesse a way for, said upgrades, to be necessary. And the most simplest explanation; maybe another system and interface just proved to be too much clutter for the game and the team wanted to streamline things. (God knows CDPR are no strangers to throwing too many systems to the player at once)
This last removal, at least that I've been made aware of, is an honest-to-goodness headscratcher. Something I've turned about in my old noggin' time and time again but can't get to the heart of, not because the omission itself is so blasphemous, but simply because I'm struggling to come up with reason why it was killed off. Did you know that 'Cyberpunk 2077' is, apparently, not going to feature any subways or trains? I know, right! Wasn't that first trailer that we saw (after the teaser trailer from years back and before the gameplay reveal) characterised by V entering Night City via train link? In fact, hasn't a more recent (as in last year) official marketing image for Cyberpunk featured V sitting on a subway train holding a gun whilst Arasaka Corpo Security try to break their way in? (As shown above.) Why feature such locations in the marketing if there's no place for them in the finished game, this one literally makes no sense to me. Sure, the wallrunning was shown off in a 'proof-of-concept' gameplay showcase, it's honestly more surprising how much of that footage made it to the final game over what got omitted, but the subways getting the axe doesn't fit into that; it's bizarre.
To really stretch at playing Devil's advocate; perhaps CD Projekt Red found it hard to devise an actual gameplay purpose for the subway system? Like, maybe they figured that with the inclusion of fast cars and byways there was no longer a requirement for a train fast-travel system. (Although that doesn't track considering how this world is slated to be as large, or larger, than 'The Witcher 3's and even that game had fast travel points) Or perhaps they team couldn't find an actual story reason for having subways, as in they couldn't figure out how to get a mission down there, and thus the choice was made to get rid of them. (But then they obviously had some ideas, as displayed by last year's concept art. Yeah, maybe it was 'just for the posters' but there was a story in that image which, apparently, now will never be told.) And finally; maybe it was the act of coding in a train system itself that proved to be a hassle; I don't know, this one really does confuse me. Personally, I'm hoping that this omission in particular turns out to be joke because it just doesn't compute with me.
So is Cyberpunk 2077 'losing content'? No, not really. What is happening is that a decent amount of the 'chafe' and 'half-formed concepts' are getting reduced or cutdown in order to allow for the good of the game to thrive; as what happens with most entertainment products: games, movies, television shows and books. At the end of the day, the health of Cyberpunk 2077 is assured by the team focusing on nailing those features that they have the capacity to, rather than stretching themselves too thin and leaving everything feeling a little flimsy. Nothing that has been 'removed' thusfar has been a dealbreaker with me, and I'd imagine that's the case with most out there as we've been sold on so much more than a few customisation systems and wallrunning. (The Subways do sting abit though, strangely.) Fingers crossed that the months to come are dominated by headlines talking excitedly about the features that Cyberpunk will be delivering us, rather than those it will not. (But then, knowing current gaming media; that's not really their style, is it?)
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