More than five years after its troubled original release, Cyberpunk 2077 continues to be one of the most relevant open-world RPGs of the modern era. Much of its success comes from the believable relationships it quickly establishes between its key characters and V, but the pre-disaster prologue with preem choom Jackie was never meant to go on for too long.
“It’s like saying we should spend more time on Tatooine with farmer Luke before he got involved with all this Jedi stuff,” said Cyberpunk 2 creative director Igor Sarzynski on his BlueSky account on 5th January after a few too many comments from the community on how a longer Act 1 alongside doomed partner-in-crime Jackie Welles would’ve made the game better.
Considering how long the prologue already felt — though it’s topped by other recent sandbox games’ early hours for sure — we’re inclined to agree with Sarzynski here, though we also understand where some players are coming from. Cyberpunk 2077 gets quite a bit of their time together out of the way with a quick montage that shows us some highlights of their chaotic gigs and good times at bars before things take a darker turn. And, in case you were wondering, the “half-year montage is not cut content.”
“The game cannot be infinite,” the creative director also stated. “I think we struck a good balance.” After all, Cyberpunk 2077’s early beats were never meant to represent the far more open experience that kicks off when the Relic comes into play and we get an unhealthy dose of Keanu Reeves injected into our head. You can roam around for a bit with Jackie, sure, but most players would agree it’s more of an on-rails introduction to Night City’s underworld and Arasaka’s family drama.
In any case, the fact people are still yapping about whether we should’ve had more time with Jackie or not after half a decade and many discussions about CDPR essentially finishing the game for real in late 2023 is yet another reminder Cyberpunk 2077 has the staying power we rarely see in the single-player space. In fact, it’s performed even better than The Witcher 3.