Everyone and their Western RPG-loving mothers are looking forward to CD Projekt’s latest sci-fi epic, Cyberpunk 2077, that’s basically their version of the Shadowrun games. Which is a lovely thing. Seeing as it’s from the folks who brought us the meticulous and expansive Witcher 3, you can expect the same level of detail in this title.

Based on recent previews, it really shows. Which is why we are going to recap all the info we know so far for your reading convenience. So let’s deep-dive right in.

It’s a first-person RPG

The first thing to clear up here is the kind of game Cyberpunk 2077 is. It’s a first-person RPG in the veins of your Elder Scrolls titles, but sci-fi. Basically a huge contrast to CD Projekt’s Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077 puts you in the shoes of V who has to do crime-related deeds in Night City. You also have a retro-fitted car that takes you to places.

Speaking of V…

You can choose your background identities….

Just like in Dragon Age, you can choose your origins. If you are a Nomad, you start off in a small trailer trash area in the game’s Badland. If you start off as a Corporate, you’ll begin in the skyscraper-filled City Center. No matter which origin you start with, you’ll eventually make your way to Jackie in the Watson district.

…And even tweak your own “junk & pubes”

We are not kidding. Cyberpunk 2077’s character customization system is so in-depth, you can even set your own “various size and combo of genitals”. You can even select up to five types of pubic hair, three kinds of nipples, two dick types, and one vagina option.

And we thought Saints Row IV and Black Desert Online were the apex of character customization.

There are multiple ways to tackle missions

Just like in many open-world RPGs, Cyberpunk 2077 has multiple avenues for quest completion. Whether it’s via hacking, or talking your way out of trouble, using brute force, or just taking your time and stealthing it, CD Projekt will have multiple ways open for its assortment of missions that should cater to your playstyle.

Your guns are divided into three categories

Speaking of brute force, your guns are split into three types: power weapons, smart weapons, and tech weapons. Power weapons favour the head-on approach, while smart weapons feature lock-on and self-guided systems in their bullets/rockets/projectilesTech weapons use non-conventional means to debuff and disarm enemies, like a shotgun that shoots magnets that stick onto enemies and make them latch onto nearby metal surfaces.

You can hack into enemies

The deep-diving cyber aspects from the many Cyberpunk 2077 trailers aren’t just for show. You can infect goons using a virus transmitted from objects like credit chips given to them. Or just hack a robot or two and make them your temporary allies for the current mission.

You have two different side quests

In Cyberpunk 2077, you have two different side quest types if you’re not up to doing the game’s main questline: gigs and side jobs. Gigs are substantial story-driven side missions similar to Witcher 3’s sidequests. However, they can unravel, evolve, and turn into more complex quests that rival even the scope of your main quests.

One story mission in Cyberpunk 2077 requires you to rip off a powerful CEO from a big corporation in Night City. Before pulling off this heist, you need to complete a couple of prep missions.

Side jobs are quicker missions you can complete on the fly, be it to cure someone who has overloaded themselves with augmentations or hacking into the NCPD police database to hunt for wanted criminals. Whether you want to go on a sidequest tangent or just complete a few quick jobs for cash or XP, Cyberpunk 2077 has you covered.

The friends you make will turn you into another person’s enemy

There are a multitude of factions in the game; doing missions with one of them will make you an opponent in another faction’s eyes. Going into bed with a corporation like Militech via hacking and subterfuge will not earn you many friends, but Militech will have your back later in the game. It’s really up to you who you want to partner up with; CD Projekt’s giant world and lore will make sure your choices are plentiful and will have future benefits and appropriate consequences.

The day/night cycle is distinct

There’s a world of difference whether you’re exploring the game in the daytime or the nighttime. Most of the seedier aspects and locales are only open at night, so using the time skip feature here is useful if you need to access to these places. While it never really gets dark in Night City (with the neon lights and billboards), the in-game crowd and traffic get distinctively busier in the nighttime.

The game will run just fine even without a next-gen GPU

Cyberpunk 2077 will be supporting DLSS 2.0, which is the second-gen NVidia-branded Deep Learning Super Sampling tech that uses AI to upscale images. Just make sure you have your own GeForce RTX graphics cards, since that’s the only requirement. You still need a beefy computer, but at least this part of the requirement is excluded.

A Cyberpunk 2077 anime is in the works

And Studio Trigger will be behind it. The show will be making its way onto Netflix in 2022 and will flesh out the world of Cyberpunk 2077, as well as get people on-board the genre set up by Ghost in The Shell eons ago.

It’s coming out this November

After numerous delays and COVID-19 slowdowns, the game’s latest release date is set: 19th November 2020. The game was initially supposed to be out on September, but CD Projekt wanted to work on it longer. In any case, we’ll be looking forward to destroying the rest of our free time in 2020 with this upcoming CRPG that’s a long-time coming.