CD Projekt Red is known for delivering thrilling RPGs. After their success with The Witcher franchise, the development studio started to hype up their next major release, Cyberpunk 2077. We were trading in the high fantasy world for something futuristic. Swords became guns, and by adding cyberware, our protagonists became more than human. It was a thrilling concept, and fans couldn’t wait to get their hands on the game. However, after a series of delays, CD Projekt Red pushed the project out before it was ready for the public.
The result was a very buggy game. Even some platforms had a real problem just running the base title experience. Ultimately, that forced the studio into scrapping some post-launch content ideas to work on the game. It took quite a long time, but they managed to turn around the gameplay experience. Now, players can enjoy Night City as the studio intended. From now on, the game development team is hopeful that Cyberpunk 2077 has a similar evolution to that of The Witcher franchise.
Consider The Witcher games and how much they changed with each installment. We want a similar evolution here.
Igor Sarzyński – PC Gamer
Speaking with PC Gamer, narrative director Igor Sarzyński stated that The Witcher games all had some major changes with each installment. That’s something the studio wants to see with Cyberpunk 2077. Each installment should bring out a more prominent and bolder experience for players to enjoy.
Cyberpunk 2077 was our first venture into a futuristic-sci-fi world with a ton of new gameplay mechanics, narrative tone, themes, and art direction. Some of the stuff worked almost right out of the box, such as the art, city design, music, interactive scene system, playstyles. Other aspects took more time to get right, like character progression, NPC interactivity, and optimization. That’s natural; it’s impossible to nail everything on your first try. Now with all the game elements iterated and working well, we’ll focus on connecting them even tighter and creating a coherent, total immersion experience.
Igor Sarzyński – PC Gamer
As noted in the interview, the narrative director noted several aspects behind Cyberpunk 2077 worked immediately out of the gate. Of course, other aspects took the developers longer to get right, such as the character progression and NPC interactivity. So now that with Phantom Liberty and 2.0 out for Cyberpunk 2077, we’re getting a look at the base game that CD Projekt Red had likely intended for players to enjoy.
The big question is just how well the sequel will hold up to these new expectations fans have. We know that CD Projekt Red has moved to the Unreal Engines, so that could further help in creating the next big Cyberpunk experience. Unfortunately, we’re likely a long way out before the next game is ready to be released into the marketplace.
