You know I like to try different character builds. I mean, see the name of the blog. But while Cyberpunk 2077 is absolutely an RPG, where rather than breastplates and helmets you have Frontal Cortex and Circulatory System cyberware, it's also, I'd say, a more narrative-focused game despite being built around an open world model. I mean, it shares a lot of DNA with something like the Elder Scrolls games.
But while I could keep a save file right at the moment you actually customize your character in Skyrim and start a bunch of different alts who would go off on very different adventures, Cyberpunk 2077 does sort of need to funnel you down the path to telling its specific story, really requiring you to do the heist at Konpeki Plaza that sets the rest of the plot in motion. (It's hilarious to me that we don't even actually get a title screen until the end of that mission, which might come like three or four hours into the game).
Anyway, as far as I can tell, it's after that mission and its lengthy aftermath (necessary to introduce the way that Johnny Silverhand plays into the rest of the game, his presence far more ubiquitous than I had initially assumed it would be) that the game opens up and kind of lets you do what you want (I could be wrong - I haven't explored the whole map on my second character yet,) which means that you do need to do a pretty lengthy amount of main story stuff before you can really just cut loose. And unlike Skyrim, character creation happens before there's any gameplay, so you'll be re-playing the whole intro every time (I do appreciate that the various backgrounds at least start off in different places - I started with a Streetkid and my second character is a Corpo).
Point is: it's not the easiest game to make a ton of alts for.
Anyway, my first character was an Intelligence-focused Netrunner-style character. It's honestly pretty rare that he even uses any weapons, as his quickhacks are good enough to take out nearly any enemy pretty much instantly. The only adjustment I think I might make to him is to actually use lower-grade hacks simply because they're cheaper with RAM - especially when dealing with high-level foes, sometimes it costs a huge amount of RAM to get someone. Given the game's encouragement of stealth, I'm also often layering this with Memory Wipe, which is very expensive.
But Quickhacks really give you a ton of options as a player: my MO when going into some building full of bad guys is to park myself somewhere out of the way and take remote control of their security cameras, using them, rather than my own eyes, to mark everyone in the building and then proceeding to take them down with hacks. Sure, I can't go around hiding bodies, but even if they find them, they won't find me.
It has, to be fair, kind of gotten me to a point where the game doesn't feel like a challenge anymore, and this stealthy approach is kind of unnecessary because I could probably just charge in there with a smart weapon and my monowire, or just not bother to use Memory Wipe and just spread Contagion among my foes.
Naturally, for my second character, I've gone a very different direction.
My female, Corpo V has prioritized Cool as her main attribute. While I haven't fully filled out the perk tree (I mean, I'm not intending to get every Cool perk, but I think a lot of them will help with my build) my growing sense is that my favorite way to go about it is focusing on throwing knives (I've been using the iconic one from Konpeki Plaza).
One thing I really appreciate about CD Projekt Red's approach to the game is how it (mostly) doesn't make us worry about consumables. Healing items, grenades, and even our thrown weapon all just come back after some time. It reminds me of how you could recuperate all of your potions and weapon oils in The Witcher III with ease once you had crafted them the first time. It lets you feel good to go.
Anyway, the biggest, craziest change to how I'm approaching the game is that I'm using a Sandevistan operating system - this allows you to slow down (and I think at higher qualities even stop) time briefly, which I've coupled with Cool's Juggler perk to take down multiple foes before they could react to my presence - actually quite handy when trying not to raise the alarm.
But what this does not allow is any Quickhacks, even the ones you don't need installed that command pieces of technology, like "turn off" for cameras.
It honestly makes the Stealth game significantly harder - on my Netrunner main, even if I wasn't doing the whole "death from your own surveillance equipment" routine, I could at least set off a radio or a light to distract foes and get them to turn around while I hustled past. But it is presenting me with a challenge that I did feel was lacking (though we'll see if when I reach the high levels that Streetkid V got to if it will still feel as challenging. I am also literally playing it on a higher difficulty).
I will say, I appreciate that the game tries to be a bit more of a balanced RPG, with lots of non-combat options to tackle certain situations. But I also do wish there were a few more environments where we could just let loose. I'm constantly seeking out side-gigs, but most of Night City, reasonably enough, is just indifferent and innocent civilians. Makes perfect sense, of course. But it does mean that if I want to test out my combat skills, I often have to drive a pretty long way (or more likely, try to find the nearest fast travel point).
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