Summary
One of the more understated improvements thatCyberpunk 2077made over the years was perfecting the random citizens of Night City, as players seem to be obsessed with how visually striking and memorable some of its background NPCs can look like. WhenCyberpunk 2077initially launched, the game had plenty of technical and design issues, and CD Projekt Red spent an insane amount of money to bring the game closer to its original vision. While the main story itself was well-written and gracefully tackled complex existential themes with its cast of characters, it took untilPatch 1.5 forCyberpunk 2077to improve its background NPCs.
The open world inCyberpunk 2077is a far more immersive experience in 2023 than it was in 2020. The completelyredesigned police system in Patch 2.0 forCyberpunk 2077has finally given players a feature that many have been clamoring for since release. Night City has become a living, breathing metropolis, and most fans would argue that it’s a lot more fun to engage with this version ofCyberpunk 2077’s open world, as opposed to the flat urban landscape that it used to be.
The immersion-breaking clones that once dotted the streets inCyberpunk 2077are gone, as more visual variety was introduced to the pedestrians of Night City. A player named nopalskucing couldn’t help but share one of these pedestrians on the officialCyberpunk 2077subreddit, claiming that the woman was the most elegant and beautiful random NPC that they’ve ever seen in a video game. Most comments found it difficult to argue against the statement, and even cited an uncanny resemble to actress Sophie Turner, known for her role as Sansa Stark inGame of Thrones.
With the way NPCs inCyberpunk 2077work, all the pedestrians are hand-crafted non-randomized characters pulled from a long list, and subsequently spawned in appropriate neighborhoods of Night City. Players who turn off HDD mode inCyberpunk 2077’s settings have even more NPC variety, though the option is easy to miss. Some fans couldn’t help but notice the juxtaposition betweenCyberpunk 2077’s background characters and thedisturbing NPCs ofStarfield, but the comparison will likely end up feeling less lopsided onceStarfieldreleases its official modding tools.
Phantom Libertyand Patch 2.0 represent the culmination of CD Projekt Red’s efforts in redeemingCyberpunk 2077, and its developers are shifting their focus on developing Project Orion. WhileCyberpunk 2077’s sequel is in the early stagesof development, many players would agree that the project is in good hands, if the commercial and critical success ofPhantom Libertyis anything to go by.
Cyberpunk 2077is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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