All the Small Things--What I Love About Cyberpunk

My mental state concerning my current obsession with Cyberpunk 2077 is deeply complicated--on one hand, I'm absolutely in love with the world and characters, but on the other, certain aspects of the game can be irritating.  I decided to go back and replay the entire thing to see how male V stacks up to the female character, to see how the street kid lifepath differs, and to maybe make some different choices (that's a hard maybe...we all know how hard it is to change up our choices).  I'm also focusing on some of the smaller, less significant parts of the game that I am enjoying. (*Potential light spoilers for some side content--nothing that's main story related though)

Street kid V and one of my favorite vehicles--Cthulu

Small Thing #1: Minimal Lurching

Doesn't it just irritate the bejeezus out of you when games give you an escort quest or ask you to follow an NPC and the walking/running speeds don't match?  You then get to engage in a movement that I call the "lurch"--poking the forward button sporadically while you awkwardly try to match speeds.  The good news--99% of the time your character automatically slows to walking speed if they're directed to follow an NPC.  The NPC continues their dialogue and it feels very natural to have walking and talking rather than your dopey character running, stopping, running...stopping--just thinking about it is making me cranky.

Small Thing #2: Smart Guns

In my first playthrough I didn't pay much attention to "smart" weapons and opted to stick with tech or power weapons.  Smart weapons will automatically target enemies and can shoot around cover--pretty freakin' awesome.  The downside is that you need to install specific cyberware to be able to use them (and, if you're planning on switching between smart and power weapons you can't fully utilize both due to that restriction).  It's easy to gain access to smart weapons as Wakako rewards you with some Tyger Claws themed cyberware for one of the first jobs you complete.  If you're out tangling with Tyger Claws you might discover that your smart weapons don't work so well on them--another function of the Tyger Claws mod is that it disrupts smart targeting--it's a good idea to have a more traditional option when dealing with them.  If you actually fully read the description for the mod that Wakako gives you it does state that it has a disruptive function (something I missed the first time around).

Small Thing #3: Small Details and Random Discoveries

Even though I mostly like to be thorough, Night City is huge and there are soooo many details.  I decided to be more patient and try to actually read the computer entries and to just generally pay more attention to things that seemed weird.  I've already inadvertently stumbled across a couple of random missions (that are totally chance--simply being in the right place and seeing bodies in weird places).  One involved a netrunner who was trying to direct some sort of orbital drop of gear (noticeable by the flaming car and netrunner corpse next tot he car in the Badlands) and was detected.  The mission directs you to the location of the drop and you can find some rare quality quickhacks and netrunning related items.  Word of advice--if you're running around the Badlads, keep your eyes peeled for random corpses that look out of place.  I found another body and it was revealed to be someone who was wounded while running from Militech--I got some nice loot.  The best discovery so far has been a legendary smart submachine gun that is hidden in a specific crate during the main story mission to hack the floats in the Arasaka warehouse.  I stumbled across that one by reading a message on a couple of terminals.

Small Thing #4:  Every assault/gig has its own story.

I've complained about the absolute glut of map marker tasks, but if you try to take your time with them you will discover that each has its own story and some of them are actually interesting.  Most assaults involve a small number of enemies and a bunch of dead bodies (loot those bodies--you can get lots of ammo and eddies)--once you've cleared out the enemies you will usually find a message shard on an enemy and a shard on one of the victims that will pain a clearer picture of what happened.  Some of the most disturbing ones involve corporations and their disregard for basically everyone--a homeless camp that has been decimated because they were looking for one person or dead workers in an industrial area who were killed because they were trying to unionize.  Screw the corps!

One of the side gigs that sticks in my head involves recovering a datashard from a woman who has stopped reporting to a fixer.  You enter the house and find that it's empty, but once you read through the computer messages you learn that the woman was caring for her sick sister.  The bad news is that the sick sister had numerous implants and seems to be suffering from cyberpsychosis.  As you explore the house more you find the sick sister...and the body of the woman with the data shard.  It's one of the sadder stories.

Interior details are amazing.  Especially lit up at night.

Small Thing #5: Vehicle details

Sadly, there aren't a ton of vehicle related missions (I hate to keep making the comparison, but it's inevitable--it ain't no Grand Theft Auto) and most of the vehicle experience in the game comes from either purchasing or stealing vehicles.  Basically, your vehicle is a unique way to get around the city and woo boy is there a futuristic boatload to choose from--from tiny, clown car-esque cars all the way up to sleek, luxury rides.  The only time you can switch to third person is while you are driving...buuut, I would highly encourage everyone to at least spend a few minutes in first person just to check out the interior details of the different vehicles--it's pretty amazing to see all the gauges and futuristic doodads in each car.  There's an achievement for purchasing all the cars offered for sale (which is bonkers because the actual cost of all the cars is much, much higher than what you earn by completing everything) and it's one of my goals to buy and drive them all.  (I know that some people are bummed that there's no vehicle customization.)

Small Thing #6: V's apartment gets some quest related flair

Some side quest related items in V's pad.

One gripe that I read had to do with the fact that other than quest related reasons, you don't need to spend time in V's apartment at all.  It's not an invalid point, but if you do return (especially later in the game) you will notice some changes.  A couple of different posters will appear on the wall next to the door--one is tied to the mission with mayoral candidate Jefferson Peralez and the other is related to the chromed out artist and celebrity Lizzy Wizzy (also tied to a side mission).  If you complete the activity where the bums sell you the laptop of a dead corpo (or, if you're a Street Kid--you convince them to give it to you) you will also see the painting that you find.  You'll also notice a box with diving gear that is a gift from Judy after you finish up her storyline.  It's not customization (again, something that people seem to want), but it is fun to see these small changes (*and, if you want to see the full list of items that can appear in V's apartment, I would recommend a quick Google.  I didn't realize how many changes there actually are!)

Another reason to return to V's pad is because items will be added to V's closet as you level up.  There's a mix of common, uncommon, rare, and even a couple of epic items (once you get to higher levels).  They aren't great, but they could tide you over until you get something better.

Rare/Iconic weapons get a special display in the stash.

I also like returning so that I can view the side room with V's weapon stash.  There are special cutouts where certain weapons can be displayed--these weapons are the special "iconic" weapons that are rewarded for quests and other activities.  I haven't come close to filling up all the spaces, but it's always interesting to see what shows up on the wall.

Small Thing #7: Bodily Fluids

Okay, that sounds grosser than it should, but if you look closely at the bodies of enemies that you kill sometimes you will notice a difference in what's leaking out.  Less chromed out enemies will be laying in a pool of blood and the more chromed out variety (your Maelstrom baddies, for example) will be laying in a puddle of...something white and apparently the fluid of choice for those who opt for life in a more mechanical form.  Explosive deaths can also leave the bodies of your enemies in chunky form.  Look closely at the chunks on chromed out enemies and you'll see mechanical innards.  Neato, right?