I think I've made it very clear thusfar, that I am a believer in the Cyberpunk dream. It hasn't always been that way, but where we sit know, less than 5 months away from total release, and I have successfully drunk the kool-aid and patiently await ascension into the next realm. However, I'm also a realistic with a natural leaning towards fatalism, as should be equally as obvious to you, so I can't completely shake some nagging concerns about the potential realities that could make the 'Cyberpunk experience' not everything that it could be. As I'm currently playing through 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' again to get myself into the mood, I've been able to highlight specific areas that I hope would be improved on for Cyberpunk, but cannot be sure about. (For we've yet to hear literally anything on these matter, despite us being so close to potential launch.) Now I realise that with the potentially monthly streams there's a good chance that some of the concerns will be waylaid in no time, but I think that's an even better reason to lay everything on the table now as a sort of checklist for the months to come. So let's start.
My first issue is a big one, and something which is very much beyond the scope to be fixed by any amount of active mod community or even a few more months of development, unless these systems exist already. I worry that Cyberpunk may be an open-world, and not a simulated open-world. "But what's the difference?" An Open world is rather self-explanatory, it's a free space within which to wander through that the player can spend their days in, stepping away from the main story and picking up quests, hunting collectables and enjoying a little freedom without urgency every now and then. A Simulated Open World, on the otherhand, is the exact same premise elevated to the next level. Whilst not an official, cast-in-iron definition, the off-hand use of 'Simulated Open world' is often used to denote the kind of open world that is designed to simulate the daily goings-on of a world and fully immerse the player in that setting. That means a fully realised day-night system, proper NPC packages and others. Now Cyberpunk 2077 certainly has those initial stipulations down pat, but where the 'simulated open world' really shines is in the way it can achieve near-total immersion for the player, by making them feel part of the open world instead of as just a heroic demi-god passing through it.
Ubisoft is a great example of a developer who consistently put out open-world titles but rarely achieve that special brand of immersion that comes from 'Simulated Open Worlds'. Their Assassin's Creed games, for example, are beautiful sprawling spaces filled with missions, enemies and collectables, and yet after the main quest is done they lose all their soul as everything stops mattering. The world settles into this platform for completing the checklist of objectives you have left and most players move on long before completing that pointless task. So what bridges the gap? It's hard to say really, there's no real sure-fire method to success. I think, however, that a part of it comes from the sort of game we're talking about and the player's role in it. For an example of what I mean, take the celebrated 'simulated open world' darling; the Grand Theft Auto series.
Those games have the player assuming the shoes of a mostly unremarkable civilian who becomes extraordinary through their actions as controlled by the player, therefore if the player chooses not steal cars, shoot gangsters and run away from the police; they can immerse themselves in the world as an ordinary nobody. Not that anyone would, but the option is there. Simply by creating the choice they empower the player's choice of playstyle. In Assassin's Creed it doesn't matter what you do, you're still a super-human assassin who clambers over buildings instead of walking the street like a normal human. Your most prevalent way of interacting with the world is still murdering dozens of guards who, if we're being honest, are just doing their jobs. In the Witcher you are a mutant monster-hunter who's primary purpose in life is to go toe-to-toe with hideous Necrophages and ghastly Spectres. This is by no means all that goes into making a simulated world, and in fact there are some which defy even that descriptor, but I think it's sufficient enough to grasp the concept of what I refer to when I use the term 'Simulated Open World'. (Which, again, is not it's actual definition. This is just how I'm conveying my point.)
Now whilst I think that Cyberpunk 2077 has all the ingredients there to be a stellar 'Simulated Open World', there's still the matter of how the world itself is constructed to accommodate for such a play style. If the makeup of the openworld consists of missions and map pings in the same style as Assassin's Creed, that might hurt the desire of the player to explore without the prompt to do so. Now that doesn't mean I think the game will be empty unless they thrown in minigames and such, just that I think there's a fine-line to walk in the world design department that we've yet to catch wind on in all the expos we've had on Cyberpunk. (Fingers crossed that the following months change that around.) Honestly; I'm not sure what I'm looking for in this department, but any amount of information that isn't related to furthering the main plot works to soothe my concerns, so more of that please.
Another, longer held, concern comes down to customisation which, once again, is an issue of personal contention around Cyberpunk 2077. I know that those outlets which got their three hour playthrough tried to tell us all how extensive the customisation was, but to be honest, I don't know how on earth they could confirm that. (And I suspect a little confirmation bias) These people had three hours of gametime and still came away with grand superstitions like how this was "the most extensive character customisation (they've) ever seen in a game." (The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that quote came from a sports-game player, it's the only explanation.) And maybe my scepticism is fuelled by the incredulity of it all; why would a predominately first person game feature an extensive character creation system? It makes no logical sense. I mean sure, I would prefer if they did; but were I in charge of this project I would find it impossible to justify dedicating resources to such a blatant oxymoron. (But hey, maybe that's why I'm not the guy in charge.) So yeah, I hope there's a robust character creation system, but I'm expecting there to not be one. Take that for what it's worth.
Finally there are my concerns with melee combat, and the fact that I'm doubting how this can be seen as a viable gameplay option. First person melee is always a hard toss-up between making things comprehensive, challenging and entertaining all in one; which is what makes such systems so hard to pull off. Most games opt to making such mechanics as simple as possible in order to bridge this gap, which is what we've seen of Cyberpunk so far, but such a direction rarely makes for the most enduring of gameplay so I wonder if melee Cyberpunkers are going to have trouble enjoying their playstyle. That being said, there are some first person melee games that take a simple tool set and make it into an effortlessly fun affair, such as Dishonored, so I'm praying for a feeling like that out of Cyberpunk come November. Recent gameplay doesn't look so encouraging, but that footage is short enough that it's fair to say we haven't seen the full picture. (I'm putting my hopes in you guys again.)
So there we have it, my three biggest concerns when it comes to Cyberpunk 2077. Of course, my worries about the open world count as my biggest, but the other two are areas which I hope get expanded upon in the marketing material to come. What's impressive to me is the fact that none of these issues are enough to sink the experience, and even if Cyperpunk comes out as only what we've been promised so far and nothing more, it'll still shape up as an excellent experience. It's not often that I have such confidence in a title but that's just what CDPR have earned from me and I'm sure many others out there. Now with all that out in the open, I've just got to sit back and wait for CDPR to hopefully prove me completely wrong.
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