From what has been shown off so far, one of the biggest draws for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion is its foundational changes to the original title. One aspect that could improve is the Lifepath system of Cyberpunk 2077, which was meant to personalize each player's V for depth of role-playing as well as replayability, but in execution provided little more than occasional alternate dialogue choices outside the game's first act. Phantom Liberty could flesh out the system, making it less vapid, with the Lifepath a player chooses creating meaningful narrative variance.
Phantom Liberty is dropping in late September 2023, amid a holiday release schedule already stacked with high-profile games. Despite the competition, many point to Cyberpunk 2077's first and only planned expansion as a potential high point for the year, boasting a spy thriller story performed by A-list talent, the intriguing Dogtown district of Night City, and overhauls to nearly every element of the game. Cyberpunk 2077's initial launch marked as one of the industry's most disappointing in recent memory, and while CD Projekt Red has worked hard in the years following to earn back player trust with a series of updates, it needs Phantom Liberty to live up to expectations.
How Lifepaths Could Add to Phantom Liberty's Experience
From previews, the through line of Phantom Liberty's story centers around the art of espionage. V will be tangling with the government of the New United States, and whether that eventually entails becoming its operative or opponent, the tale involves saving th NUS president. A mercenary taking government contracts poses interesting inner-conflict depending on a player's version of V, and depending on CD Projekt Red's approach to Lifepaths in the expansion, could branch in some wildly varying ways, culminating in its multiple endings. A Street Kid's take on spycraft could be completely at-odds with a Corpo's, with Nomad being a wild card.
The story is not the only system in Phantom Liberty that could be augmented by Lifepaths. With the sweeping changes to abilities and loot, it could be the perfect opportunity for CD Projekt Red to throw another interesting level of distinction between them. A gun could have unique upgrades for Corpos, be discounted for purchase from a blackmarket vendor for a Street Kid, or available at an earlier level for a Nomad. The studio has been careful not to gate players off from content based on their Lifepath decision, so perks that make the same item appealing in different ways would be a solid compromise.
Cyberpunk 2077 Could Fix One of its Most Underserved Features
One of the best ways that CD Projekt Red could flesh out the three Lifepaths is by making custom-tailored reactions and interactions in Night City based on which they choose. The Lifepath-specific dialogue options could be expanded into entire approaches for completing objectives, and more random NPCs could become assets or liabilities depending on a player's notorious past. There were scattered examples of this in Cyberpunk 2077, but there is plenty of room in Phantom Liberty to expand on the concept.
CD Projekt Red has yet to go into detail regarding any possible changes to the Lifepaths for Phantom Liberty, but has some bold claims regarding the seismic updates to every part of the game. Since choosing a Lifepath ultimately became so inconsequential, and was a leading example for the point of criticism that Cyberpunk 2077 was more linear than the open world RPG teased during previews, it should be high on the list of priorities for a face lift. Speculation is that it was one of the game's features most impacted by content cutting to meet an already delayed deadline, which, if it were the case, may possibly lead to some of that scrapped content being salvaged for Phantom Liberty. Whatever the case, fans will hopefully know more as CD Projekt Red shares more information about the expansion ahead of its September launch.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches on September 26, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
