Summary
Fans looking forward to the sequel toCyberpunk 2077may be in for a long wait, as developer CD Projekt Red has a lot of irons in the fire at the moment betweenThe Witcherseries and this upcoming title. Following the release of the Phantom Liberty DLC forCyberpunk 2077, interest in the game has been reignited following a controversial launch back in 2020. Since the sequel is still likely a way out, CD Projekt Red should take its time to improve one lackluster customization feature present inCyberpunk 2077from day one, and it might find inspiration in other modern sci-fi RPGs.
Despite the Phantom Liberty DLC having just been released in Fall 2023, CD Projekt Red is already officially working on the development of asequel toCyberpunk 2077, codenamed Project Orion. The changes thatCyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 update and Phantom Liberty brought to the game were a huge improvement over its state at launch, and CDPR should look to follow that same trend with Project Orion. However, one area that Phantom Liberty failed to improve upon was the character background choices players could choose for V at the start of the game, which deserves a major overhaul in the sequel.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Sequel Needs More In-Depth Character Background Choices
Players starting their journey intoCyberpunk 2077’s Night City can choose one of three options for V’s background, orLife Path: Nomad, Streetkid, or Corpo. Each of these options gives players a unique prologue that shows what life is like for V on this Life Path before things come crumbling down. However, beyond these unique but short prologues, each ofCyberpunk 2077’s Life Paths has very little influence over the rest of the game outside of some additional Life Path-specific dialogue options and a couple of Life Path-specific side quests.
With these limitations in mind, players will need to look to their own imaginations when committing to role-playing with a certain Life Path. However,Project Orionhas the potential to double down on the role-playing groundwork laid byCyberpunk 2077and introduce a more robust Life Path system. Not only would doing so drastically improve the game’s role-playing potential, but offering wildly different Life Paths would give players a reason to keep coming back to the game for multiple playthroughs to see all the content exclusive to specific backgrounds.
The Cyberpunk 2077 Sequel Could Look Towards Starfield for Character Background Inspiration
Bethesda’s sci-fi epicStarfieldis a great example of a game that Project Orion could look to when revamping the Life Path system. AlthoughStarfieldhas received mixed reactions from players regarding certain gameplay choices, one area the game nails is its character backgrounds, which go beyond simply being the basis for role-playing and provide noticeable in-game variations to a player’s character depending on their choices.Starfieldhas a total of 21 background choicesfor players to choose from, and each grants the player access to three specific starting skills that can dictate their play style from the get-go.
Project Orion could follow a similar formula and tie certain Life Paths to specific perks and attributes, giving players a starting bonus of points in these attributes and perks after they select their Life Path. For example, theCorpo Life Pathcould lean into the scheming, underhanded life of a corpo rat and give players higher starting Cool and Intelligence stats along with initial investments in perks like Killer Instinct and Eye in the Sky. Additionally, opening up the number of available Life Paths beyond the three featured inCyberpunk 2077could allow for more starting build diversity with different combinations of initial attribute and perk investments for each one.
