Cyberpunk 2077
CDPR is making Cyberpunk 2077 free on consoles for a bit, and that starts today, Friday, March 28, with a free five hour trial of the game going live at 8 AM PDT on current gen consoles, with the aim of getting you hooked for more.
My own thoughts on the game over the past three years have gone from “this launch is a disaster” to “this is one of my favorite games of all time” after years of fixes and improvements. No exaggeration, of all time. I have already written two of these “things I wish I knew” lists at various points in the game’s lifespan, but now? Now I got to have CDPR’s opinions on it.
I asked, and they answered. From different members of the CDPR Cyberpunk team, here are fourteen things you should know before starting Cyberpunk 2077 at long last.
1. Go Off the Beaten Path
With a ticking time bomb in your head, many people feel the need to race through the story and find a cure — but there’s so much fun to be had if you slow down and take the time to explore. Go into dark alleys, bump into NPCs, listen in on random conversations for gripping stuff like, “Some ‘runner took over our drone. He reprogrammed its route and drew dicks on the sky.” In Phantom Liberty, you’ll discover early on that secret agent Reed’s cover is working as a bouncer. Since Update 2.0, if you go to Dino’s bar in City Center without having started Phantom Liberty, our favorite FIA agent himself will bar your way — and be careful, he takes his job seriously.
— Marian Rodríguez Marrero, Localization Project Manager
2. Visit Every Vendor
Did you know Cyberpunk 2077 has over 100 Iconic weapons? A lot of the most powerful ones can be acquired early on. To keep them viable through your playthrough, be sure to dismantle everything you're not using — you need the components to upgrade your top weapon choices. My personal early game pick is Buzzsaw; it's one of the few Power weapons that can shoot through walls, and since Update 2.0, it can even do increased damage to enemy limbs. If you're hunting for a specific weapon, be sure to visit weapon vendors whenever you drive (or dash) by them. Since 2.0, vendors keep their stock more organized and they sell the crafting specs for their favorite weapons. By checking their stocks every few levels, you can collect almost every weapon spec in the game. And if you're an LMG lover like me, stop by the vendor near the Sunset Motel and be sure to snatch the MA70 if you don't have one already.
— Kamil Jakubowski, Gameplay Designer
Cyberpunk
3. Give In to the Chaos
Cyberpunk 2077 is known for its intense and gripping storytelling. Odds are, in most narratively significant sequences, you’ll feel compelled to carefully weigh out your choices, taking into account the consequences both for V and other characters involved.
But let me play the devil’s advocate for a moment here and suggest actually giving in to your chaotic impulses from time to time. I couldn’t tell you how many times I was approached by one of our excellent QAs with a classic “I did a weird thing here and it broke the game” — and instead of cutting off that option, I ended up building a custom path for that one special person who will opt for butt-naked parkour during a life-or-death undercover spy mission.
Whether you’re clinging onto Songbird’s capsule for dear life or stashing corpses in people’s fridges, know that years ago I was sitting there giggling like a maniac as I wove those secret scenarios in — just for you.
— Maria Mazur, Quest Designer
4. Invest in Yourself and Your Gear
Frequent ripperdoc visits to buy new toys can be the secret to success in combat. This is especially key in the case of your Skeleton or Integumentary System cyberware, as this will boost your armor stat — so be sure to upgrade from the one you receive in the tutorial. Leveling up means your cyberware capacity increases, and those unallocated points are just waiting for some chrome. At the same time, quantity rarely means quality, so don’t forget to upgrade your cyberware using Item Components.
Weapon mods, once slotted, can’t be removed or even replaced, but every gun shop and melee weapons vendor carries plenty, so getting more isn’t an issue. Weapon mods can also be looted or crafted out of two of the same mods of a lower tier. So, do you want your rifle to have a bigger mag, your knife to defy gravity when thrown, or for your Power weapons to shoot explosive bullets? Don’t hesitate to try a little of everything, those slots hate to stay empty.
— Wojciech Mincewicz, Gameplay Designer
5. Iconic Weapons Provide Powerful Effects
This might sound obvious, but if you see an Iconic weapon (and there’s at least one in every main quest and a bunch more scattered across side quests and the open world), I would consider trying it out even if it doesn’t match your build. After Patch 1.5 and Update 2.0, practically all of them have unique or crazy effects that work really well even if your skill tree doesn’t complement their effects. From a thousand-rounds-per-minute SMG and a wall-piercing, burst-firing shotgun in pistol form to a make-enemies-explode-with-a-poison-cloud smart rifle, these weapons not only prove life saving on occasion but also turn out to nicely complement an otherwise blade or netrunning-focused build.
— Jakub Szamborski, QA Analyst
Cyberpunk 2077
6. Discover Night City’s History
Here’s a recommendation for in-game tourists and sight-seeing enjoyers: while exploring Night City, pay attention to the style of the buildings. When we created the city environments, we envisioned four architectural styles that reflect the different eras of our universe. Entropy represents the end of the 20th century. A time of poverty and decline, it’s a reflection of our own 90s with a futuristic twist. This is necessity before style; Heywood’s a good example. The Kitsch era, from 2020 to 2050 sees the birth of the first cyber implants and a growth in technology and economy. The golden era of plastic, where monuments are gaudy, and the colors flashy. It’s style over substance. V’s apartment and Watson are Kitsch. The Neo-military era, from 2050 to 2070 spans a corporate war, Arasaka and Militech’s conflict is at its peak. The tones are muted: concrete skyscrapers, brutalist mega buildings. It’s substance over style, such as the corporate district’s City Center. Finally, the Neo Kitsch era. War is over, the upper echelons are thriving. Style comes back with enormous villas, vanity, and infinite wealth. The villa of Kerry Eurodyne and the Westbrook district are prime examples. These four styles are paramount to Cyberpunk 2077’s visual identity and are reflected in every aspect of its society.
— Simon Besombes, Senior Environment Artist
7. Don’t Google Easter Eggs…
The game is riddled with hidden details and secret paths — some, in fact, remain undiscovered to this day. Sometimes, it’s an unexpected consequence, seen only if you happen to return to the quest location, sometimes, a subtle nod to something close to our hearts: a movie, a book, even a memory.
Think of these hidden threads and references as a sort of common platform created between the player and the dev, a secret message understood only in the space of our shared context. There’s a sort of magic in the moment when this connection between two people is realized — when you spot that wink I left for you years ago. Don’t let spoilers rob you of that special spark you can share with the game’s creators.
…But do post about them! On the other hand, straight from this dev’s heart, a huge shout-out to all the players who take the time to post about the Easter Eggs they’ve spotted. I can assure you, there’s always at least one person eagerly waiting for updates on their hidden treasure.
— Maria Mazur, Quest Designer
8. Don’t Second-Guess Your Choices
As writers, we’ve done everything to make Cyberpunk 2077 a deeply immersive, universal, emotionally moving experience. Our game is based on choices, but it's not about one of them being good and the other one bad. So don't be afraid of making a mistake. There’s no such thing as a “golden path” in Cyberpunk 2077. Each path is good as long as it’s yours. Trust your intuition and choose as it tells you. Have fun, take risks, don’t hold back. Let yourself be carried away by emotions. Be yourself. Just don’t forget to read the shards — we really put our hearts into them!
— Jagoda Janowska, Writer
Cyberpunk 2077
9. Read the Hints
As part of Night City’s UI team, here’s a piece of advice for Cyberpunk 2077 newcomers and those who are giving the game another try. Update 2.0 transformed the way you interact with your cyberware, making it not just intuitive but a crucial part of your survival toolkit. Each piece of cyberware you install affects your gameplay and combat in various ways. Managing cyberware through the UI is like planning your strategy for the next battle. Whether you'd like to be a silent and precise netrunner or violent destruction machine, it’s your choice. But remember, with great power comes great... need for reading the manual. Or, in this case, paying attention to your UI hints.
— Daria Grzybowska, UI Artist
10. Cheese Cyberpsychos From a Distance
If you want to properly complete the cyberpsychosis contracts you receive from Regina Jones, you can’t kill your opponents, only incapacitate them. During my first playthrough, I struggled with this because the opponents can be difficult — but my second time around, I found a simple and easy way to do it. First, complete the “Riders on the Storm” quest to obtain the Overwatch sniper rifle. Then, from a safe distance, you can shoot at your enemy until their health bar is fairly low. At that point, use hacks like Overheat or Short Circuit to make them unconscious. This solution works on most opponents, but not all, so sometimes it’s better to use the quickhacks Cripple Movement and Reboot Optics to calmly approach the cyberpsycho and close out the contract with a fistfight.
— Dominika Kuczyńska, Quest Design Coordinator
11. Shock Your Enemies
If melee fighting is more your speed, stop by Anthony Harris’ house while completing the side quest “The Hunt” with River Ward. Go upstairs and look under the desk to find a switch. Flipping it will unlock a hidden room where you’ll find an Iconic weapon: a one-handed cattle prod called Tinker Bell. From now on, your attacks will be electric!
— Dominika Kuczyńska, Quest Design Coordinator
12. Pacifism Is Always an Option
I’m a gamer who prizes a good story over “killing” NPCs. I had a much easier time in Cyberpunk 2077 once I found ways to avoid killing through non-lethal hacking (as long as you avoid overdoing it) and fistfighting, which may even be the safest option to avoid zeroing enemies. If you go for the latter, invest in your Body tree and stop by a ripperdoc as soon as possible to grab a pair of Gorilla Arms.
— Natalia Nowacka, Acting Engineering Manager, Story
Cyberpunk 2077
13. Ignore the Voice in Your Head
It’s not always worth listening to Johnny’s advice, since he is — to put it delicately — fueled by his dislike of Arasaka. At a certain point in the main quest, ignoring his grumbling can mean saving an additional life, which will then let you snag an achievement.
— Natalia Nowacka, Acting Engineering Manager, Story
14. Give Yourself Time To Explore
Night City has plenty of stories that aren’t listed on the map. For example, if you head out to the Badlands, you may come across two cultists dancing in a trance around a bonfire. After a moment, a sandstorm called down by them (but is it really a sandstorm?) ends the party — but why? And what just happened? You can find the answers to those questions in a shard lying not too far away.
— Natalia Nowacka, Acting Engineering Manager, Story
CDPR also made an Ultimate Edition Game Booklet with a hell of a lot more advice and guides you can check out here. I still need to finish up a run with my fourth(!) V, so maybe now is about that time.
Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
