We've all had a very complicated history when it comes to the game known as Cyberpunk 2077; but I'll bet you know of it. Hell, we all do. The dreams, the legends, some foolish about a game that was going to 'redefine the next generation of open world games'- a game which fell far short of those loftier-than-thou estimations and was mocked into the dirt for it. A game which would take it's time to rise, first in popularity and then slowly out of the gutter as they focused down on what the original did right and delivered a fully solid game for the world to get behind. Phantom Liberty is not the game that CDPR originally promised, but it's not trying to be either. It's just trying to be the best possible product for what it is and in that way they surpassed any other pretender to this genre-types throne, and in an instant killed any desire I have to catch up to Far Cry. (I may never play another one of the those games again, I just can't find a way to get myself excited for them!) But this is the end.
As bittersweet as it is, with the drop of Phantom Liberty there is really nothing left for CDPR to do when it comes to 2077 beyond patch the thing of it's final bugs. Everything is moving on, the team, the resources, the very engine that CDPR are slaving under. From here on out its' Unreal 5 all the way, which means a reset back to the starting block in a lot of areas. (But not all, according to CDPR themselves. Which is the kind of optimism I can get behind.) From here on out the team have been surprisingly forthcoming with their plans- next it's Cyberpunk 2. Although... they're also working on The Witcher 4 and some other game... so I have to wonder if they're double developing games, because that too sounds like a recipe for disaster all over again... but meh, I bet they know what they're doing... hopefully...
Which means we can sit down and really ask ourselves, what is in store for Cyberpunk and how do we feel about a totally brand new story in a new era of Cyberpunk? Because to be absolutely honest with you, it feels utterly bizarre to be apart from one of Cyberpunk's key defining characters, Johnny Silverhand. Johnny is quite literally the soul of 2077, personifying the moralistic and oftentimes fruitless thrashing against the forces of control that have enraptured us squeezed and all freedom from our lives. A raging against an overwhelming might of metal and money, whilst simultaneously an indulger in hedonistic excess and narcissistic acts of self aggrandization. He is Cyberpunk, as well as a meticulously well written and performed character who was more of a main character than V in a lot of ways. (Poor V gets sidelined a lot actually. Totally got the boot for Songbird in Phantom Liberty as well.) I can't rightly imagine a vision of the franchise without him, and yet that is what a sequel pertains too.
I've also been wondering where a Cyberpunk sequel might take us, because at this point I think it's fair to say that Night City is done and dusted. We've seen her, we've explored her, we're set her aflame- as fun as the place is, there's no way we're sticking around for a sequel, surely. But the thing is, Night City is the only totally original city that I know of being widely explored in Cyberpunk lore. All their other locations are Cyberpunk-fied versions of real cities such as Chicago, Tokyo, Seoul and so on. Sure, Night City bares more than a little resemblance to LA in parts, but it's still a unique location of it's own. It would feel like a step backwards to go for the tried and tested idea of 'make-over a real world location' like any other developer might do. So what, then? A brand new city introduced into the lore? Day City? If we have to stick with the lore, my vote goes to Seoul; how many other games take the chance to go to Korea?
A new Cyberpunk would probably do best distancing itself far enough from 2077 for the world events to be entirely their own. Afterall, the immediate possibility of a corporate war, Arasaka's potential downturn- there's so much consequence for the various routes through-out the game that would rattle the entire Cyberpunk world, there's no way they can just set the game a couple of states away and pretend that V's shattering of global Arasaka confidence doesn't reshape the power makeup of the modern world. Best bet- why not go for something neat and flashy looking, like 'Cyberpunk 2100'. (I would say 2099, but the new Bladerunner beat them to it.) Of course, that might mean a totally new aesthetic needs to be devised, given that the 2020 table top was based on a futurized 80's and 2077 was based on a futurized 90's. (2000's futurism just sounds like a Jamiroquai music video, no thanks...)
Curiously, scuttlebug seems to be that CDPR are debating once again whether or not to introduce Third Person mode into the sequel, which tells me a little bit about the philosophy going into this new game. Originally 2077 was going to be a lot more of an 'open' narrative, with much more in the way of character agency put in the hands of the player. With the reduction of the players role into that of an intermediary mercenary who's allegiances were pretty much decided by the flow of the story, somewhere along the line the third person perspective was cut and first person play became the definitive. I feel this was a way to ground us into the role of a character who, in all honestly, isn't really a player created person. We decide their face and guide their decisions, but the personality and drives, key most factor of any character, are set rigidly in stone. If CDPR are picking perspective again, that tells me they're looking to get a bit more open next time around.
But whatever they do, I pray that CDPR find the time to really try and make the world they build feel alive in the way it just doesn't with 2077. My advice, look to the king- look to Yakuza. (Or 'Like a Dragon'.) Yakuza is fuelled by it's love of depicting Japanese culture in sparks of specificity; bars that tell you the flavour profile and origin of every drink you order, detailed baseball management minigames, back-room Shogi tournaments; none of these are set dressings but actual side content the player can get involved in whenever they so choose. They don't have to be of significant consequence to the plot, but simply as distractions they enrich their respective corner of the world and give the player a way to soothe into not just the world but their role within it. For better or for worse that's something that Starfield really understood! (If only those roles weren't so darned boring...)
I am decently happy with the fact we're going to be getting more Cyberpunk, although mostly just sad that we're losing this one the minute it hit that universal acclaim that the devs were chasing for so very long. I'm also a little bit concerned for the future because I can't forget that time when the game director tried to gaslight us all into believing that 2077 wasn't a barely functional mess of a game at launch, which makes me think the team are going to make the same mistakes all over again in the future. But putting those fears aside and taking the game we got, I hope Cyberpunk has a future and I hope it's grand. I hope in the future we get even better contracts, train robberies and corporate heists. I hope we get greater freedom of choice with a broader range of consequence. And most of all- I hope we actually get to live up to some of those lofty online prospects CDPR were toying with all that time ago. Here's to the future of the Dark Future!
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