Highlights
- Players have immense freedom in Cyberpunk 2077 to shape their character and make choices that impact the game's narrative, but the dialogue options often don't align with what players expect their character to say, leading to jarring and unexpected outcomes.
- The discrepancy between the selected dialogue prompt and what the voiced protagonist actually says can be frustrating and can disrupt the player's experience, especially when even the nicest dialogue option can result in an aggressive response from the character.
- This dialogue choice problem is not unique to Cyberpunk 2077, as previous RPGs like Fallout 4 also faced similar issues.
Since Cyberpunk 2077 is an RPG, players are given immense freedom to be who they want to be within its world. Not only do they have free rein to build their perfect character, but they are also presented with choices throughout the narrative that can change the course of any situation. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty has increased these scenarios tenfold, yet the choices seem to have one glaring flaw. While letting players choose the outcome of a scenario is great, what is said does not often reflect what was chosen.
Players have to choose between a lot of dialogue options throughout their Cyberpunk 2077 adventure. Rather, much like Fallout 4, these dialogue choices are often not what players expect. Since there is a voiced protagonist, what is said often does not match up with the actual prompt that players selected. This can often be jarring as V says things players did not expect they would say, which can impact any given situation they have found themselves in. Since it is too late to fix it, players may just have to prepare themselves for those awkward moments.
Cyberpunk 2077 Has a Dialogue Choice Problem
Practically every single conversation in Cyberpunk 2077 gives players various options that impact how that conversation goes. They can ask questions, respond with various tones, or even resort to violence if they so choose. These simple choices can alter the entire trajectory of a mission, which gives players immense freedom in how they approach any given scenario. Still, players may not be ready for what V actually says after every single prompt.
Sometimes, the nicest dialogue prompt can lead to Cyberpunk 2077's V responding in an extremely aggressive manner. Other times, the dialogue that V says is nothing like what the prompt said it would be, and so many times the conversation will end up not going the way players thought it would go. The simplest dialogue choice can impact everything after it, and the fact these choices do not match up with what is said can lead to very unexpected outcomes. While this does not often hinder the experience, it can be a bit surprising.
Cyberpunk 2077 would not be the first RPG with this issue, and it likely will not be the last. Back in 2015, Bethesda made the controversial decision to include a voiced protagonist in Fallout 4. This was a massive departure from the studio's past work, so players did not know what to expect. When it launched, they quickly discovered that it too suffered from the problem of having the dialogue not match up with what was chosen. In that game, it was even worse as most choices were often only a couple of words. This proved very aggravating after a while, which is likely why the studio returned to a silent protagonist for Starfield.
This disconnect may be annoying, but it kind of makes sense. Since V is a voiced protagonist, CD Projekt Red has to build every conversation around what the actor said. However, it likely does not want to have to give players every single line of dialogue when they are choosing their prompt. This would just clutter the screen and not be enjoyable to look at. Additionally, actors may sometimes add things in the recording booth or the studio may have even changed its mind about some dialogue prompts before release. There are so many factors that could cause this, but the reasoning behind it does not make it any less jarring.
Cyberpunk 2077 is a great game that was made even better by the Phantom Liberty expansion. However, the dialogue options need a bit of work before the sequel comes out. Players should know what they are getting themselves into with each choice, so hopefully CD Projekt Red will make it a bit clearer next time.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
