Cyberpunk 2077has come a long way over its lifetime, receiving a massive turnaround in public perception after its developers stuck with the game long enough to fix its largest issues. From redesigningCyberpunk 2077’s entire progression system to patching out countless bugs and performance issues,CD Project Red has managed to transformCyberpunkinto what was originally promised in its marketing material. WithCyberpunk 2077’s sequel,Project Orion,reportedly in development, CD Project Red has everything it needs to avoid the catastrophic mistakes of its past.
WhileCyberpunk 2077’s massive updates helped rework its public perception, projects likeCyberpunk: Edgerunnersboosted it to even greater heights, especially after adding in-game content that references the popular show, likeDavid Martinez’s Jacket. Unfortunately, there are no release dates for either ofCyberpunk 2077andEdgerunners' sequels, but plenty more to come from the beloved universe. Although Project Orion is still only in its early stages of development and far from an official launch, a recent job posting has raised some concerns over the future of the sequel.
CD Project Red’s Goals Are Eerily Similar To Cyberpunk 2077
Too Much Ambition Could Harm Cyberpunk’s Future
According to anofficial job listing by CD Project Red, the studio is looking for a Lead Encounter Designer. One of the goals is “to create the most realistic and reactive crowd system in any game to date.“While this description doesn’t sound harmful on its own,it’s fairly similar to some of the promises made duringCyberpunk 2077’s development. The latter’soverly ambitious nature weakens other aspects of the game.
Cyberpunk 2077 Made Me Realize It Is Impossible To Play As A Villain
After multiple playthroughs, I’ve realized that Cyberpunk 2077 has one significant flaw: that it can’t make me play as a bad person.
To give credit to CD Project Red, the information’s source as a job description is drastically different from a public marketing campaign, with the latter being more likely to make ambitious promises to generate excitement. Even without every feature promised leading up toCyberpunk 2077’s release, it’s still one of themost immersive open-world gamesout there, made even better with its current improvements.It’s hard to imagine how many improvements could be made toCyberpunk 2077’s background NPCs without impacting performance too significantly, but hopefully, CD Project Red will have plenty of time to find solutions before its release.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Scale Was Its Biggest Downfall
Overlooking The Basics Of What Makes A Good Game
Even beforeCybernpuk 2077’s launch, there was concern that the game was simply too ambitious to deliver everything it promised, making its numerous delays less than surprising. Given how massive an undertakingCyberpunk 2077was on its own, on top of being a significant departure from CD Project Red’s past work withThe Witcherseries, it was bound to face problems when it was finally released. The unrealistic deadlines and inflating expectations over its massive game world were the most likely culprits toCyberpunk 2077’s disastrous launch, with performance and key features taking a backseat to its expansive world.
Unrealistic deadlines and inflating expectations over its massive game world.
One of the issues with Cyberpunk’s ambitious scale is that, although engaging, many ofCyberpunk 2077’s sidequests felt disconnectedfrom the story and themes it was trying to tell. Although even with the issues with V completing fetch quests while suffering from a life-threatening ailment,the tone of the game and its character writing were consistently excellent throughout. Despite its poor initial reception, the enhanced framework did have the benefit of allowing future updates to build upon its initial foundation that could match what the project sought to accomplish in the first place.
Project Orion Has The Potential To Be CD Project Red’s Best Game Yet
Further Developing Cyberpunk 2077’s Successful Formula
While it took a significant financial and time commitment to bringCyberpunk 2077to its current state, it helped repair perceptions of its developers, much likeNo Man’s Sky’s own legendary comeback story.With every game from CD Project Red somehow managing to be more ambitious than the last, the upcoming Project Orion seems to be no exception to the trend, based on the goals of its developers. Although Project Orion will likely be under additional scrutiny after the disastrous launch ofCyberpunk2077, CD Project Red has all the experience it needs to deliver another legendary game right out of the gate.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Most Immersion-Breaking Feature Could Become A Game-Changing Mechanic In The Sequel
Cyberpunk 2077 has one big immersion-breaking feature, but the problem could very easily be transformed into an incredible mechanic in the sequel.
After the years it took to bringCyberpunk 2077up to the overwhelmingly positive reviews it’s managed to achieve,CD Project Red claims to have taken great lengths tonot repeat Cyberpunk 2077’s mistakeswith the upcoming release ofThe Witcher 4.It seems one of the waysThe Witcher 4will achieve this feat is by taking a more conservative approach to its scale, as its map will reportedly be roughly the same size as its predecessor.
The longer time in the oven could be just what the studio needs to deliver its best game to date.
WithProject Orion’s development focus taking a greater focus afterThe Witcher 4finally releases, it’sthe perfect chance for its developers to showcase the lessons they’ve learned fromCyberpunk 2077 when it comes to delivering quality over quantity, best seen in its highly ratedPhantom Libertyexpansion. WhileProject Orionlikely won’t see the light of day for some time, givenThe Witcher 4’s ongoing development, the longer time in the oven could be just what the studio needs to deliver its best game to date while tying up the biggestunsolved mysteries inCyberpunk 2077’s story.
Source:CD Project Red
Cyberpunk 2077
Based on the 1988 tabletop game, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action RPG game set in a dystopian cyber future developed by CD Projekt Red. Players will tackle the streets of Night City as customizable protagonist V, who struggles to keep their memories intact after receiving a strange cybernetic implant that slowly overrides their memories by a deceased celebrity known as Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves.
