Much ink has been spilt on the many failings of Cyberpunk 2077 (at least in its launch incarnation), but we should give credit where it’s due. From the title’s disastrous launch to its almost entirely unprecedented pulling from the PS Store, after many moons of patching, it finally feels like the game is in a good place ever since the PS5 update launched.
But it still isn’t perfect, something that CD Projekt Red’s quest director, Paweł Sasko, has copped to during a recent stream over on his Twitch channel, as relayed by PCGamesN. The developer was asked by a viewer how he felt about criticism that Cyberpunk 2077 ended up being a far more linear gameplay experience, at least compared to how the title was billed before launch. Sasko replied, stating, “well, I think it’s completely justified.”
Players can experience drastically different opening segments (depending on their chosen character background); there are multiple branching questlines and no fewer than five endings. Still, Sasko acknowledges that “players expected more.”
Noting that there are enough systems on hand to have at least two playthroughs that feel meaningfully different, Sasko notes, “that’s not enough,” before explaining why he thinks that is the case. “Players expected more, they expected more because of how The Witcher 3 is built, and I think that Cyberpunk has an insane amount of non-linearity, but I think expectations were higher”.
It’s nice to see a developer acknowledging respectful feedback, and perhaps we will see some more non-linearity in future products. Cyberpunk’s first and only expansion, Phantom Liberty, is slated to launch sometime in 2023 and will reportedly boast an unprecedented budget. The company is also beefing up for Project Orion, the sequel to 2077, and is opening a new studio in Boston to assist in the task.
Do you think the criticism of Cyberpunk 2077’s structure is fair? Did the developers oversell the freedom on offer, or were we just spoiled for choice in The Witcher 3? Let us know in the comments section below.
