With the Phantom Liberty expansion and 2.0 update for Cyberpunk 2077 finished and released, developer CD Projekt RED announced that it is ceasing direct production on the game. While this means Cyberpunk 2077 is basically finished minus some future tweaks, it means CDPR is now starting work on the next game to use that universe. Though the end product of Cyberpunk 2077 is a terrific game, there is much potential to be explored with a sequel, and we have some big ideas.
Also, be aware there might be spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty below.
Keep It First-Person
Recent developments have revealed that CD Projekt RED isn’t sure whether to continue the first-person perspective or make Project Orion into a third-person game. Considering players have already enjoyed Night City directly through the eyes of V, that change could be unnecessary. There’s also simply no better way to truly breathe in the uniqueness of Night City.
I’m not saying there can’t be a third-person aspect, but it shouldn’t be the only option. If the developers want to go down this route, the best method would be to do it like Bethesda and give the option to toggle between both. This way, everyone wins. The best move for this sequel, considering the baggage the base game will always have, is not to remove any features but to add on instead.
Reworked Fast Travel
I don’t know if everyone feels this way, but fast travel in Cyberpunk 2077 is an annoying chore. The issue is that it can’t be done anywhere. Instead, you have to find specific terminals to do it, and even then, you can only fast travel to found terminals. The density of these things also varies wildly. Somewhere like Watson might be covered in them, and you will find them by accident, but the Badlands? Nope, you gotta trek to where the next one MIGHT be unless you went out of your way to find them all for the Frequent Flyer trophy/achievement early on.
Project Orion can keep the terminals around Night City. I have no problem with that, and that honestly will greatly help. However, just make fast travel an option from the map because I don’t always want to drive the short distance down the street just for a shortcut to my objective.
Don’t Focus the Story on V
There is only one ending in Cyberpunk that ends with V still alive. Every single other ending ends on a cliffhanger with the promise of V’s inevitable death, or they surrender to Johnny. The only ending with a surviving V comes with Phantom Liberty but ends with V entirely unable to use/install Cyberware. This leads to them disappearing into the streets of Night City to become just another face in the crowd.
This ending truly encompasses everything you need to know about Night City. It is a reckless place that will chew you up and spit you out. In order to fit the theme, it would be better if there isn’t an appearance of V or if they are just mentioned in rumors and whispers.
Let Players Choose Their Cyberpunk 2077 Ending
With Phantom Liberty, there are six endings you can get to experience at the end of Cyberpunk 2077. I say, instead of CDPR picking one of these as the canon ending, let the players decide on one when starting the game. Similar to picking a Life Path, let players choose their preferred ending to carry into the new sequel.
This would not only give a huge boost to the uniqueness of playthroughs, but it also lets players continue their own story, even if they can’t continue as V. Plus, it still respects all the different outcomes that players spend their game time achieving.
Offer More Than Three Lifepaths
Cyberpunk 2077 offered three Life Paths. While they gave a unique starting position in society and unique dialogue choices/opportunities, they never felt substantial enough. There are surely more than three possible origins for the average Night City president.
For instance, it’d be neat to be an NCPD officer or have the option to start out as a Joytoy. There are many other choices here that can be utilized, so it would be nice for a sequel to reflect that. At the same time, lifepaths should include more bonuses, like special passives and such.
More Romance Options
As it stands in Cyberpunk 2077, there are four characters you can romance, and they are separated by whether you choose a male or female V. There simply aren’t enough important side characters in the game that you can grow close to, and that should certainly be improved.
More proof of this issue is that once there is an exactly intimate moment with each character. That’s all you get, and the rest of the time, it’s all random texts when you’re in the middle of other tasks. This was especially disappointing after all the build-up with Judy Alvarez.
Actually Make it Co-Op This Time
A year before Cyberpunk was released in a September 2019 Tweet, CDPR announced, “We’d like to confirm that multiplayer’s in the works!” It should be noted that this is when the release date was still April 2020. However, that was the first anyone had heard of any sort of multiplayer coming, and it increased hype for the game. It was never meant to be included at launch, but all official information had it definitely coming post-launch.
Around three months after launch, CDPR announced they had “decided to reconsider” a multiplayer component, and the idea was scrapped. Looking at the production credits for the game, the multiplayer team is still mentioned. So, a great thing to do for the sequel would be to include the co-op aspect that wasn’t possible before.
Make Player Choices Matter for Endings
Regardless of the choices you make as V in Cyberpunk 2077, you always arrive at the same endings with not much variation. This is unusual, especially considering the number of lives you touch and the ways you impact the city. More of that should actually hold significance in the way the story ends in the game.
If the whole idea of an Edgerunner’s life is to leave some lasting impact as a way to prove to Night City that you lived, more of that should show through after everything is said and done. V’s story might be over at this point, but the next mercenary or Netrunner might actually see something big come of their options.
Better Side Content
Outside of Gigs (and more Gigs), there isn’t much else to do in Night City during Cyberpunk 2077. Surely there are things that residents do for fun because drink or pay for Joytoys? Sure, the game has gambling and a chain of race missions, but those grow tiring rather quickly.
I’d love to see more fun, normal activities, maybe a functioning movie theater so you can actually watch Bushido X like you do with Rogue. There have to be more potential activities to offer than the current selection, and it would further expand the prestige (or infamy, depending) of Night City.
Cast More Big Name Stars
Keanu Reeves and Idris Elba gave incredible performances throughout Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty. This game is a pinnacle of performance capture, and if the writers and directors can get these amazing performances, I’d love to see more terrific actors and actresses also show what they’ve got in this medium.
Stars like Margot Robbie would be perfect for this sort of thing, and the developer’s popularity is in a perfect spot to make these sorts of deals happen. Regardless of the technical issues at launch, Cyberpunk’s stellar performances have always been one big aspect in its favor, so the developers should play that up.
