It’s not exactly news that Cyberpunk 2077 was not what it promised to be at launch. It took several rounds of fixes and patches for CD Projekt Red to even get the game to a state where it was anything close to what it should have been. But the problem is that there are still parts of the game where it fails to live up to its inherent potential, and that’s where the modders come in. Every day, it seems like there’s a new Cyberpunk mod that I absolutely must download because it will fix a problem with the game I didn’t know I had.
Probably the latest of these fixes is the “Skillful – Skills always gain XP” mod uploaded recently to NexusMods by breadswonders, which removes the cap on gaining skill XP. Says the modder: “This means that you will continue to level skills that you have not spec’d into and receive the associated rewards/unlocks.” It’s a new version of an older mod that has since been removed from the site. It’s a little thing, but could potentially change the entire game.
I’ve already expressed my appreciation for the StreetStyle mod, which gives your fashion choices an actual impact in the game. This is the kind of mod that doesn’t sound like it’s a big deal, but once you hear it exists, you can’t help but wonder why it wasn’t a thing in the game, as it’s built entirely around the game’s lore. Then there are mods like Perfectly Normal Beast’s “Wall Hang,” which gives your nimble cybernetic warrior V the ability to wall jump and which turns Cyberpunk 2077 into a knockoff Dying Light.
Sometimes it can be as simple as a pocket radio that allows gamers to listen to music outside of their cars (a.k.a. the “Pocket Radio” mod). It’s really the little things that make the game worth spending more time in. Mods will probably continue to give Cyberpunk the new life that it needs, at least until CDPR elects to give us DLC. Until then, we’ll have to make do with what the creative player base can come up with.