What Is CyberPunk 2077?

By now you've probably heard all the buzz. If you were not part of the band wagon before, the delay drama, and fan base; #CyberPunk2077 is out and about. Consoles and PC have access to the game, and if you're considering partaking in the #NeverEndingStory that is #NightCity consider the game overview below. Wouldn't want you jumping in head first and frying all those neurons. #NetRunnerLife, go figure.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a 2020 action role-playing video game developed and published by #CDProjekt. The story takes place in Night City, an open world set in the Cyberpunk universe. Players assume the first-person perspective of a customisable mercenary known as V, who can acquire skills in hacking and machinery with options for melee and ranged combat.

Cyberpunk is a #dystopiantabletop role-playing game written by Mike Pondsmith and published by R. Talsorian Games. It is typically referred to by its second or fourth edition names, Cyberpunk 2020 and Cyberpunk Red, in order to distinguish it from the genre after which it is named. Our 2077 here unofficially is the 2020 redux. We're in the future ya'll.

Disclaimer: Experiences may vary depending on the platform you choose to play the game on too!

#PS5 v #XboxSeriesX comparison

To be even further distinguished from game play on a last gen console.

#XboxOne

And then of course there is #PC

Life Path

There are three “Life Paths” that you can choose in Cyberpunk 2077 at the start of the game. The Nomad, Street Kid, and Corpo (corporate) paths will determine the early story and starting location for your character.

Your life path choice isn't a frivolous element in the game. On the contrary, it can affects your social status and therefore how your story can unfold in a variety of ways:

Starting destination
The Prologue
Prologue length
Dialogue options
Starting clothes
Characters they meet

Each Life Path has exclusive missions, and every now and then you'll see options for V to refer to their Life Path in a conversation. While this is generally inconsequential, it is only something you can experience while on different life paths.

Your choice doesn't give you any Attribute or Perk advantages, but some characters you'll meet will have different things to say to V depending on your Life Path. For instance, if you meet another Nomad, V can refer to their time as a Nomad and that can spark more conversation. Some characters will refer to V's origins too.

Attributes and Character Perks

There are five main attributes that you can upgrade to change your character. They each come with different perks, or skills, that you can upgrade under the five attributes.

Attributes and Character Perks (Skill Tree)
Body Perks
Reflex Perks
Intelligence Perks
Technical Ability Perks
Cool Perks

Body

Body Determines your raw physical power. In addition to allowing you to force open doors, each level of Body (starting from 3) will:

Add 5 Health Points
Add 3 Stamina Points
Increase damage with fists and Gorilla Arms by 3
Increase damage with melee weapons by 1.5%
Decrease movement penalty while grabbing an enemy and wielding an HMG by 6%
Increase movement while grappling an enemy and enemy grapple duration by 5 seconds.

Body is broken down into three subcategories of skills which are Athletics, Annihilation, and Street Brawler.

Reflexes

Reflexes determine your maneuverability, in addition to increasing your overall movement speed, each level in Reflexes will:

increase your passive evasion from enemy attacks by 1%
increase Crit Change by 1%
increase damage from Mantis Blades by 3.

Reflexes is broken down into three subcategories of skills which are Assault, Handguns, and Blades.

Technical Ability

Technical Ability represents your technical know-how. It allows you to unlock doors and use Tech weapons. Each increase in level will increase your Armor by 5%.

Technical Ability is broken down into two subcategories of skills which are Crafting and Engineering.

Intelligence

Intelligence determines your netrunning proficiency. Every level of intelligence will:

increase cyberdeck RAM capacity by 4%
increase quickhack damage by 0.5%
increase quickhack duration by 1%.

Intelligence is broken down into two subcategories of skills which are Breach Protocol and Quickhacking.

Cool

Cool determines your resilience, composure and effectiveness in operating from stealth. Each level of Cool will:

increase Crit Damage by 2%
increase all Resistances by 1%
increase stealth damage by10%
reduce the speed at which enemies detect you in stealth by 0.5%
increase monowire damage by 3.

Cool is broken down into two subcategories of skills which are Stealth and Cold Blood.

Combat

A wide variety of weapons was on display in the demo, from shotguns and pistols to rifles that fired tracking rounds. The gunplay itself was "slower than something like Borderlands, but definitely faster than Deus Ex," and there was a focus on using cybernetically-enhanced abilities as well. Sadly while some of the characters you meet will be able to dual-wield, you at this time cannot. One can hope for a future DLC that will allow this, right?