Cyberpunk 2077: 10 things you wish you knew before playing

After eight long years of hype and anticipation, Cyberpunk 2077 has finally officially launched around the world. Although many gamers are reporting serious bug issues, especially on the PS4 and Xbox One platforms, the game is already breaking Steam records. As fans would expect from a game from CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk is a massive and complex game, with a gigantic open world to explore in Night City.

I have spent over 45 hours with the game so far. It’s many hours, but I still feel like I’ve seen only a fraction of what Cyberpunk 2077 has to offer. Still, there are some useful things I’ve noticed for those using Cyberpunk – tips and tricks that you wish you knew before loading the game for the first time.

What a difference backstories make

When you start the game, you will have a choice of three backstories for V: Street Kid, Nomad, or Corpo.

Your choice will have two main impacts. First, it will affect the opening time of the game, as you will start in a different part of Night City, mixing with different characters, depending on which one you choose. The Corpo begins in an office building, the Street Kid in a seedy bar, the Nomad in the Badlands desert outside of Night City. However, about an hour later, you will end up on the same trail as a rental gun alongside your friend Jackie.

The second, more lasting effect is that you will get different dialogue options depending on the backstory you choose. I went for Corpo, which gave my V the ability to maneuver politically in certain difficult situations. In other words, your backstory doesn’t make a big difference as you might be concerned.

Stack attributes

More consequently, you will have the option at the beginning of the game to distribute points to six different attributes: Body, Intelligence, Reflexes, Technical Ability and Cool. Within each of these attributes, you will have perks that you can unlock.

At first, I distribute attribute points and perks semi-annually. I had an idea in my head that like the skill trees in most AAA games, I would end up unlocking all perks eventually anyway. Actually, it is much better that you choose up front how you want to approach combat and tailor your attribute points and perks accordingly.

Generally speaking, there are two ways to handle combat: force and stealth. But within this there are subdivisions. Within the force, you can specialize in melee weapons, punching, or gunfights. Within stealth, you can optimize your detective (the Cool attribute and related perks that make it difficult for enemies to detect you), your hacking abilities (you’ll hack into nearby tech to distract / damage enemies), or stealth kill offense (like throwing twisted daggers).

You will obviously adjust your style as you progress through the game. But don’t do what I did and try to keep balance – balance is for fools.

Pump body and technical ability to open doors

The body attributes and technical ability are very useful when navigating Night City, as both are used to open closed doors. They both have other benefits too, as getting higher body points allows you to hijack cars and open parked cars, while Technical Ability will allow you to hack mainframes for Eurodollars (in-game money) and crafting components.

Don’t just play the main mission

I had about five days to (try) beat Cyberpunk 2077 and get a review, so I was largely forced to ignore the side quests and focus instead on finishing the main story. I recommend that you do not do this.

Cyberpunk’s history is one of its strengths. The relationship between V and Johnny Silverhand, a mercenary played by Keanu Reeves trapped in V’s head, gives it a welcome focus. But Cyberpunk is as much about exploring Night City as it is about seeing the narrative through to the end. The game itself encourages this, asking you to take a break from the main mission to do other things.

And those things are Okay. The side missions are really fun, often more than the main missions. They are varied, from controlling seven AI-powered taxis that have gone rogue (this was one of my favorites, as the rogue taxis had personalities that were often legitimately funny) to solving the mystery of a murdered mayor and turning Night City as a living and expanding city.

Just as important, doing more side missions will give you access to better endings. I “finished” the game in about 25 hours (some critics, having done even fewer side quests than me, did it in 15-20 hours), but it’s clear from the ending that I got that there are many possible endings, and that I have the worst. . Do more side quests and you’ll get more determined and satisfying endings for V.

Don’t always use fast travel

This one is in a similar vein. There are fast travel spots throughout the city that you can use, especially tempting when your objective is on the other side of Night City. Sometimes you will not have time to waste time, but you will often be rewarded for traveling by car or motorcycle.

There is so much, so much to do in Night City, and you are sure to find something great if you travel by hand. You will often find various interesting things to do, as I would find myself making regular stops on the way to the next mission location after seeing this or that icon calling me on the HUD map.

At the very least, you will often come across crimes being committed, and the Night City Police Department will pay you if you break it down and arrest (read: kill) the criminals. Fighting crime often also generates solid loot, so you will rarely be disappointed in the payoff.

Do gigs to earn money

Aside from the side quests, in which you’ll help a character complete a primary objective, there are “jobs.” These are more mercantile: a “repairman” will ask you to go do work for them, such as incapacitating an enemy, sneaking through a hideout and placing a tracker on a vehicle, or carrying an ally at risk from one place to another. . You’re a gun for hire, after all.

These are fun and often challenging, and will take no more than 10-20 minutes. You will need Eurodollars in Cyberpunk, to buy cars, new weapons and various upgrades, and so far I have found that doing these gigs is the best way to go. (There is definitely some kind of get-rich-quick scheme in the game, but I haven’t found it yet.)

Loot everything

Another way to earn money is to sell weapons and armor. Most enemies will drop a weapon or armor after you kill them. I recommend collecting basically everything. You can sell them to make a couple of big cheeks or take them apart. Crafting is a great element of Cyberpunk as you can craft weapons, armor, and more, plus you can also use disassembled weapon parts to upgrade the weapons and armor you already have.

Hack your body

In addition to upgrading weapons and armor, you can also upgrade your body in Cyberpunk 2077. To do this, you will need to see what is called a “ripperdoc” – a doctor who implants cybernetic software on you. You will do this as part of the opening mission, where a friend from ripperdoc will implant a new eye system. But that’s one of 11 possible categories of cyber software, and each one should be used to help you progress in Night City.

Some cyber software updates bring quality of life improvements, such as one that allows you to carry more weight in your inventory. But just like attributes and perks, you must apply cyber software consistent with your play style. For example, if you’re dealing with melee weapons, make sure you get arm upgrades that give your punch more power.

Plus: For 45,000 Eurodollars, you can get legs that allow you to double jump. Do that.

You can totally fail in side missions

Just a quick thing to keep in mind: you can absolutely fail the side missions and will never have a chance to do them again.

The first time I experienced this, I was halfway through a quest that revolved around a murderer trying to apologize to the mother of the guy he killed. Towards the end of the search, one of the dialogue options I had was “Alright, I’ve seen enough” (or in that sense). I thought it was a cool reverse psychology trick, so I chose it. No, my employer just said, “Okay, okay,” and the search ended. No repetitions.

The same goes for challenges. At a concert, I participated in a shooting contest, with a special rifle as the top prize. I came in second place and got nothing. There was no option to redo it: I just lost, and that was it.

No two games will be the same

As you can see, choices matter in Cyberpunk 2077. This is especially true of the main story. Don’t go into the game under the impression that your choices make only minor cosmetic differences. The way you react and how you go about completing missions can have a drastic effect.

I discovered this early. In the opening section of the game, you are tasked with obtaining a piece of military technology from a gang, and you have the option of meeting with an operative from the megacorporation from which the technology was stolen. When I demoed the game in June, I didn’t bother meeting with the operative, and as a result, I had to bolt out of the gang’s hideout. When I played during this time, I met the operative, and as a result, the forces in his body had a shootout with the gang, letting me slip away more easily.

The result was a completely different experience, and I suspect the same is true for basically all missions and in more drastic ways. Keep this in mind when you play – your decisions matter.