Cyberpunk 2078

[akh]

4 minutes ago, Ran said:

Bunny-hopping. Yeah, it's so fun I often use it rather than getting into a vehicle for trips around NC, unless it's more than a kilometer out. Only downside is that I miss out on listening to the radio, but I've heard that there are "pocket radio" mods. May try that.

Are there any other movement tricks or glitches out there? I generally enjoy learning new mechanics in games.

 

And some other thoughts: I was wondering for a while what I'll use in addition to netrunning for combat. I was between tech weapons and knives mostly. In the end, I decided to not level Cool. Since I figured learning the timing for bolt shots would be fun, I went with Tech weapons for a while but I was running a few cyberware pieces that would slow down time here and there and it became an annoyance to time the shots, so I unspecced from those perks.

Not saying I won't go back to Tech weapons but now I've been using Smart weapons. I was always skeptical about those since I enjoy aiming myself, but I got the smart submachine gun from the Arasaka warehouse and I am in love with it. I put Contagion on the bad guys, wait for it to spread once or twice and shoot at them with the smg, which ignites the enemies causing some satisfying chain explosions. It also combines well with the Pyromania perks. There's a respawning encounter on the beach in Pacifica where a lot of enemies are close together, I strongly recommend trying it out over there.

Nonetheless, shooting is more of a hobby for a netrunner, done for the sake of variety.

[karaddin]

I beelined straight to 20 int but with the lower level decks (purple for the boss fights I've mentioned) I decided to diversify out a little for more options instead of relying just on hacks. I did make the mistake of not immediately maxing another attribute though, took tech and cool to 10 and then 15, then some into reflexes (probably a waste other than some of the mobility perks), a couple into body and only just maxing tech now.

Once pistols hit the point of being able to one shot with the silencer I switched from knives to that and the iconic smart smg from the Arasaka industrial Park as the fall back for getting stuck in combat and that's what I've been working with since - mix of silencer and hacks depending on the situation. Might play around with one of the sniper rifles from PL as well.

Didn't play too much today but the little I did is still excellent

Spoiler

I want to trust all 3 agents in dog town but I'm pretty sure that's not happening lol, going to be very torn when I have to pick a direction to jump.

 

[karaddin]

Oh I mentioned earlier in the thread that Mr Hands sounded different in the trailer and wondered if he was recast - he is indeed with all previous lines redone, found that out as soon as I finished Disasterpiece. Rewritten as well, definitely liking the new version more.

[akh]

54 minutes ago, karaddin said:

I did make the mistake of not immediately maxing another attribute though, took tech and cool to 10 and then 15, then some into reflexes (probably a waste other than some of the mobility perks), a couple into body and only just maxing tech now.

This doesn't look bad at all. For netrunning, having body 15 is nice, though. Overclock quickhack spam removes a lot health, which can be recouped automatically with Biomonitor and Health pump cyberware, which in turn trigger Adrenaline. One of the side-perks of Adrenaline adds some damage, too. 

 

58 minutes ago, karaddin said:

Once pistols hit the point of being able to one shot with the silencer

I didn't have the patience to wait for that and re-specced out of Cool. At which point would you say the one-shots became reliable? Purple weapons and Cool 15? 

Luckily, I did a pistol-netrunner playthrough once, so at least this impatience gave me some variety.

[karaddin]

It probably would have been with the perks in the pistol side of cool, I thought it wasn't there yet (in part because I missed that handguns (and sniper + precision rifles) scale off cool now instead of reflexes and thought it wouldn't get better until I put more into that lol.

I noticed it was working even without perks once I had a tier 5 Nue and switched perks at that point.

[Kalbear]

Right now I enjoy the nekomaka tech sniper along with a power smg for up close. The smg is nice because it gives me Shinobi points. Will probably be going for a tech shotgun to level my horrible solo values.

[Werthead]

Hmm. Encountered a possible bug.

Spoiler

After rescuing Songbird and waiting for her to call, my phone has gone inactive. I've received a bunch of texts but can't read them. I assumed this was deliberate, to stop Reed and Alex tracing you. But according to the Internet, you receive a bunch of new Mr. Hands gigs and have to do them to get Songbird to contact you, so...I'm fucked, I guess? At least not without a deep reload.

 

[Werthead]

Apparently an ultra-early proof-of-concept, internal CDPR demo from around 2012-13.

They improved on it.

 

[karaddin]

It's amazing how different the 3rd person feels even in a tiny clip like that. I get wanting to see your character, but it's one game where I think the "immersion" argument actually holds water. So much of the incredible work on facial and eye animations would lose a lot of impact - you'd barely be able to see them. And those animations are a huge part of why the characters feel so alive to me.

[IlyaP]

Have gotten myself up to level 15 or 16 or so, and am about to go call Judy for the first time. Guessing I have a long way to go before the PL quests start kicking in.

[IlyaP]

Beware the Johnny Glitch: https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-johnny-blue-glitch-how-to-fix/

[karaddin]

I think I finished the main part of PL tonight, but I've successfully avoided spoilers so there might be more beyond the associated ending. I still haven't seen much fall out though so I'm probably right about being wrong lol.

Spoiler

I sided with Songbird in the end. Decided when Alex and Reed executed the twins without giving me the heads up. Wish I'd not taken the oath this time after all lol, feels like that fits better with siding with Reed.

 

[Ran]

I've been pushing hard the last day or so, and gotten part way through the main story. This is a great expansion, and Dogtown is an incredibly vertically dense place.

Spoiler

First gig I did for Mr. Hands was for Paco, the Barghest rookie who'd screwed up. I roleplayed a little and decided my 3 Int V picked the most blunt force approach to dealing with the issue -- framing his superior -- and it was satisfying to kill the gonk... but I discovered after that it was the worst possible outcome. OTOH, because I did not do a certain character relationship questline, my options were limited for alternatives.

Spoilers for that mission:

Spoiler

Had I done Johnny's quest line and made friends with Rogue, I could have called her to supply extra generators, and Babs and Paco would make it safely away to Kenya, alive and well. I could have used Panam to smuggle them out safely, which would have been okay, but as I said, V picked a blunt approach.

Mr. Hand's gigs are always about choices being decisive, and I did the one Wert did, with a similar outcome, and the Zenatech one as well where I slaughtered everyone but then worked out something that felt decent. Also did a gig involving a sports training center which was pretty cool:

Spoiler

Linda pointed out that Mr. Hands wanted any info, not all info, when I waffled over what to do, so I cut the deal and got little Tommie a minor European league contract, and Mr. Hands and the EEC was happy with what they got even if it wasn't complete. All's well that ends better.

AND a gig involving Brazilian secret agents, which has a bit of an Oda-ish boss fight that wasn't really a problem for me because I'm now level 60 and can wade into the increased crime zones with impunity, pretty much. And speaking of increased criminal zones, I found the computer on the second one actually specifically referenced the baddie from The Man Who Killed Jason Foreman gig from Mr. Hands that I've not finished yet.

Also did the boxer one, and that, too, ended up going badly. But as Johnny says... Happy endings? For folks like us? Wrong people, wrong city. (There is a kind of happy ending for the kid, if you make the right choices, but anyways, I took the blunt approach again -- did get a nice iconic out of it, so...)

The main storyline... man, I can't quite figure all the angles out, and I think that's to the credit of the game. It really feels like a spy story, where you need to always be careful about how much to believe.

Spoiler

The party was cool, and alas, I hadn't tackled Lizzy Wizzy's job so she didn't recognize me. The deal with the twins was fun, and Hansen's intimidating.  I now understand Myers is pretty dirty despite how she seemed like a straight shooter, and I can't quite figure how this will come around later in the story.

That sniper rifle is pretty sick. Been using it to take out turrets from a distance.

 

The air drops can be fun if you want a fight, but at this stage of the game I basically don't need any drops from mooks, so I just cloak, use Apogee to slow time by 85%, bunny hop onto the airdrop, hack it, turn on Apogee again (hacking turns it off), empty the crate, and bunny hop out before they have time to react. IT's funny  (though it did lead me to accidentally leap right into my second increased criminal activity zone, which meant I had to fight rather than just sneak through as  I did with the first one.)

Muamar's car klepping is a bit of make work, and I've only had a single one where I was given a time limit where I was even close to managing it -- I feel like it's not tuned properly, or I'm missing something. Still, gives an excuses to go back into the rest of NC and maybe do a couple of loose gigs.

 

 

[karaddin]

I got myself slightly spoiled for one of the PL endings to the game

Spoiler

Apparently it's even more emotionally devastating than the devil ending. I don't think it's an ending from the route I took through PL so that's one for another play through. 

If I had to pick a single thing that this game is best at, it's making me*feel* - so it well and truly qualifies as art as far as I'm concerned.

[Ran]

12 hours ago, karaddin said:

It's amazing how different the 3rd person feels even in a tiny clip like that. I get wanting to see your character, but it's one game where I think the "immersion" argument actually holds water. So much of the incredible work on facial and eye animations would lose a lot of impact - you'd barely be able to see them. And those animations are a huge part of why the characters feel so alive to me.

I prefer the 1st person, and always have, but interestingly Linda and I were talking about it and noted that those cinematic moments could simply have switched to first person as appropriate. She herself feels like first person makes action way too confusing and she loses track very easily, and I've read others say the same.

Melee can get confusing, to be honest, but with the cinematic slowing of time whenever you do a finisher, it gives you time to check the minimap and prepare a turn to the next person. Maybe in 3rd person you'd have a wider field of view that would mitigate that, but I don't know, I don't think combat would feel as visceral.

 

 

[Werthead]

To trigger the new ending (just the basic fact):

Spoiler

You need to hand over Songbird to Reed, either during/after the stadium heist or later on at the spaceport (the latter is better).

The reason being:

Spoiler

Songbird has no idea at all on how to cure you or herself and the solution she proposes is actually a whole hail Mary. By herself, she and her contacts either can't figure out how to make it work, or they just cure her and leave you to rot. So saving Songbird gets you nowhere, even if it is arguably the more morally correct decision once Reed and Alex show their true colours. Songbird literally fucks off and you never hear from her again, not even in the new ending calls.

On the other hand:

Spoiler

Despite being a murderous SOB, Reed does seem to come to respect you, so by handing over Songbird, even if it's after you betray Reed and Alex at the stadium, he actually fulfils his terms of the deal and the NUS's techs are able to make the rogue AI work and that opens up the new ending.

One actually quite important point:

Spoiler

If you side with Reed during the stadium mission, Alex dies. If you side with Songbird, but then later on side with Reed at the spaceport, Alex lives. So does Reed, so does Songbird (even if her later fate is unclear) and so do you. So actually, although it feels morally murky, this is the "best" outcome.

If you really want to be spoiled on the new ending:.

Spoiler

Reed and the NUS techs are able to cure you, fully. No Soulkiller, no copying of personalities. V stays V, period. Johnny is gone (obviously).

Unfortunately, there are a series of costs to this (surprise!). The process leaves V in a coma until 2079, so when you wake up it's been over two years since anybody last heard from you. Judy has moved on and is married to somebody else, Panam straight-up refuses to talk to you and River has spiralled downhill and is now in deep shit with criminals.

The other problem is that they confirm the Relic was severely uplifting V's ability to handle insane amounts of cyberware. Without the Relic, V is now severely vulnerable to cyberpsychosis and fatal neural overload. You literally can never use any cyberware, or implants ever again (just trying kills you instantly). The NUSA offer you a desk job but you turn them down.

You return to Night City and are able to reconnect with Rogue, Viktor and Misty, who are all very happy to see you. Rogue warns you that people still remember who you are and will be itching for revenge once they learn you're defenceless. Viktor and Misty provide emotional support but, after a few prods and pulls, Viktor declares there's nothing he can do. You even get beaten up by two hoodlums you could have taken out with ease earlier on but there's nothing you can do. This ending ends with V just becoming a face in the crowd, basically demoted to an NPC in everyone else's lives.

I mean, yeah, it's great V lives to presumably old age (or maybe she's run over and dies in a freak incident 3 days later anyway), but in every other respect it's a pretty shit ending.

I think based on this the ending where you take off with Panam, Judy and the nomads is probably the best, with the vague hope that another solution will present itself later on.

 

[IlyaP]

When did Mr. Hands get a beard?!

[Werthead]

49 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

When did Mr. Hands get a beard?!

At the start of Season 2, when they promoted Geordi to Chief Engineer.

Wait, what are we talking about again?

[Ran]

51 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

When did Mr. Hands get a beard?!

They changed his appearance when they changed his voice actor. I saw someone claim the actor had passed away, but I googled and they still seem to be around. I can only assume a scheduling conflict or some such, and because Hands is an important figure in the DLC they hired someone new. All his old dialog has been re-recorded as well.

I can't figure how someone could claim it takes 3 hours to play the DC. I'm 20 hours in and I just got to the major decision point, I think, where the story splits into two quite different denouments (if I understand remarks properly). Yeah, I did gigs and didn't speedrun, but that's the point, it's not who finishes fastest, and I can't see how you'd properly appreciate the game that way.

Spoiler

I assume the split point is the help songbird vs hand her to Reed choice, right?

If so, man, handing her to Reed was painful -- poor Alex (especially after that chat in the Moth, and the dancing... ugh) ... Hansen was an okay fight, hit hard, but with 3 Blood Pumps + Adrenaline booster + Second Heart, I have a lot to fall back on. Shredded him up hand-to-hand. 

And now So Mi is a cyberpsycho leaking AI hell from beyond the Blackwall. Murphy save us!

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Ran

[Werthead]

Oh yeah, that's a good point.

Spoiler

If you help Songbird, Alex just caps Hansen instantly in frustration and you never have to fight him.

Hansen ends up being a nobody, he just gets caught in the crossfire between the President/Reed and Songbird, which is quite amusing.