My Big Fat Cyberpunk Wishlist v2.0

Welp, I'm still firmly ensconced in Cyberpunk 2077 and my brain still wants to ponder ideas about improvements or additions that (in my addled head) I think would make it better.  Will these things ever happen?  Nope, but I can indulge myself in even more wishful thinking about an imperfect world.

1.) More Jackie & T-Bug

We need more Jackie!

I think the beginning of the game would be much more interesting if rather than seeing a montage of Jackie and V's early exploits in Night City (which look like a damn good time) there were playable missions.  Jackie is such a fun character and players only get a very brief time to get to know him.  Rather than the brief datashard tutorial, why couldn't it have been tutorial-style story missions to establish the Jackie & V relationship?

I also wish that T-Bug got more attention.  She's an interesting character who gets very little screen time and doesn't even get a proper goodbye.  The "squad" vibes with Jackie and T-Bug are also a fun route that I wish was explored some more.  Your best bro backing you up and a badass netrunner for support?  Yes, please!

2.) Consequences for choosing the lethal/non-lethal route

It's still a bit puzzling to me why the lethal/non-lethal option is in the game.  I'm certain it's largely there for Regina's  cyberpsycho hunting mission, but it feels pretty pointless outside of that context.  It would be cool if the missions you received differed based on your playstyle--if V is a killer, they receive more hit-style missions or, alternately, if V chooses not to kill, more missions about capturing a target alive.  

3.) More corporate intrigue/more moral decision making around the concept of the corps.

The corps run everything in Night City, but I would love more storylines built around the concept of playing along with the corps or actively working against them.  I felt like it was a part of the game and world that was lacking.  Johnny hates the corps, so there's some automatic internal conflict.  There are a few gigs that hint at a deeper story and the potential for an impending corp war between Arasaka and Militech.  There's an entirely untapped moral conflict around this concept--do you sell out to the corps or stay independent?

4.) A few storylines get fleshed out--namely Rogue and Evelyn Parker.

In the case of Evelyn, it's hinted at that there might be more to her story.  This could simply be nudging you toward the story mission to figure out who was behind the plot to steal the Relic, or it could be more.  When V first meets Evelyn in Lizzie's Bar, he/she remarks on the fact that it's not the type of place where they would expect to meet someone like Evelyn.  Takemura also pointedly asks V if he/she thinks Evelyn works for a corp (at that point in the story V has no idea or way of actually knowing).  Evelyn's storyline does have closure (completely depressing closure), but I can't help but wonder if her character was meant to have a deeper plot.

Hints are also dropped in Rogue's story and then left unclear.  During the mission to track down Grayson (and potentially, but disappointingly NOT Smasher) there seems to be some sort of shared past between Grayson and Rogue.  He mentions "not playing for the same team" any more and also brings up Rogue's rise to the top of the fixer pile in Night City.  It's very suspicious that she avoided the violent fate of most of the others who participated in the 2023 Arasaka raid.  Unfortunately, Rogue ain't havin' any part of this conversation and knocks Grayson unconscious before V can probe any more details from him.  It seems like Rogue isn't exactly the anti-corp rebel that Johnny thinks she is...  I get the impression that Rogue knows how to play the game in Night City...and that game involves working with corps.  It would be fun to learn more about her story and to know more about her journey to becoming the top fixer.  

5.) Dialogue options that make it clear--V's just not into you.

These options do eventually happen, but I wish that they 1.) happened earlier and 2.) included an option if V has already entered into a relationship.  It feels weird when you're in the middle of a storyline and the person (who might not even be a romantic option for your V) is still angling toward the romantic (i.e. playing as femV and having Panam question why V is helping her).  River in particular drops some awkward bombs that I wish V could have the option to gently, but definitively make it clear that it ain't happening.

6.) Day/Night Cycle

I wish there was a discernible course of daytime vs. nighttime activities for NPC's.  It would be cool to see streets filled with people heading to work in the morning or busy clubs at night.  I like to go visit Judy in her apartment (post-relationship sealing) and she's always just standing by the window.  She needs some variety--(also gotta admit that I wish she had more dialogue since her romance takes place so early in the game).