Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty reached a new level of immersive gaming for me. As it was my first foray into the title since its disastrous launch in December of 2020, I was one of the rare people who got to experience the game for the first time in a much upgraded and enhanced state. From the first ride with Dex Deshawn to the Cyberpsycho-infested streets of Dogtown, CDPR has done a stand-up job at creating what feels like a living, breathing world.
In my mind, there's one distinct sign that an open-world RPG is a good game, and that's how much I want to do the side missions. For this title, I spent so much time investigating random side missions, and after spending so much time building and customizing my V, I felt too invested in the world to leave random missions behind. With this all said, there's one aspect of the game that has always bothered me, and it's one that I hope CDPR is considering in the sequel, codenamed Orion.
Adding Visual Cyberware Mods Would Greatly Enhance Immersion
I Want To Be Totally Chromed Out
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
One of the most disappointing things about Cyberpunk is the inability to really modify V's look via Cyberware when visiting the resident Ripperdoc. Although there are certain ways in the vanilla game to look more cybernetic, it's impossible to reach the levels of Adam Smasher or David Martinez from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. By the end of the campaign, I was completely outfitted with S-tier mods, but the only real thing that changed visually was my arms, depending on whether I went Monowire or Gorilla Arms.
That's not the case with a whole host of cool-looking NPCs in the game like Lizzy Wizzy, the completely chromed-out pop star from Dogtown. There's a huge diversity of different cybernetic cosmetic options available, but for some reason, they were left out of the game as ways to modify your character. Posting different Vs on Reddit and social media is already a thing, and opening it up to the variations would allow fans to really customize the character the way we want.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty's unpredictable spy-thriller story is full of jaw-dropping moments, and it's got the gameplay to match.
Going even a step further, it's not beyond CDPR's abilities to include unique and specific dialogue options or random lines that could hint toward my slow evolution into becoming a human 2.0. Perhaps interactions like that are too much to ask for, but it's not outside of the realm of possibilities for the company to add such interactions, considering what a bang-up job they did on the base game and expansion. This small little detail could go even further to make Night City feel even more living and real.
A Third-Person Perspective Could Be Cool
So You Can Really Show Off Your Chrome
There are passionate arguments against a third-person POV in Cyberpunk, but having the option to swap would be an awesome addition to the sequel in addition to the new cosmetic modifications. It's well-known in the community that there is a way to view the game in third-person, but it looks miserable as the game wasn't designed to run in this perspective. Although being locked in first-person didn't really bother me much (and may have even helped with immersion) throughout the game, I don't think it would be a bad thing to add the option.
At the end of the day, this is just one minor feature inclusion I hope they put into the sequel, but it certainly wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me if they decide not to add it.
For one, for those who like utilizing the up-close-and-personal method of slashing and dicing, a third-person perspective could make the game feel better. I think CDPR masterfully pulled off the first-person melee, but adding a third-person mode would help people see more of their surroundings and probably go a decent way to improving gameplay for those who like to use blades exclusively.
One of the cooler QoL things in Cyberpunk 2077 is the ability to swap your cosmetic clothing but still retain the stats of higher-level gear via the Transmog feature, and I think the same could go for Cyberware. Perhaps certain things, like the aforementioned Gorilla Arms, should be unchangeable depending on functionality, but the rest makes sense to be included like this as well. Being able to look at V while I dispatch enemy hordes could be a cool addition to the game since I've already spent so much time picking out my outfit.
Cyberpunk 2077 Has A Ton Of Cool Cosmetic Mods
Fans Will Do What CDPR Won't
As it turns out, I'm certainly not alone in my belief that CDPR should add more cosmetic options, as there is a vast catalog of over 1,000 Cyberpunk 2077 mods under the tab "Appearance" tab on Nexus Mods. While some mods add more cosmetic options, new outfits, and slots, others, like CyberArms, add a host of new, cool skins people can use to totally transform V into an android. Other options like Ceres Face Cyberware enable V to change their face to look more similar to some NPCs found throughout the game.
Though Cyberpunk 2077 launched with a number of issues, modders have already made solutions. Here are some of the best mods to improve Night City.
Other notable mods include Xposed Cybernetics, which can completely remove V's organic jaw and replace it with Cyberware instead to create a terrifying monstrosity, and Head Cyberware, which does exactly as it says on the tin. There are a whole host of cool mods made with a lot of effort and passion from the community, but I can't help but think that just putting these options in the base game couldn't be overly hard and would be a great addition even if I don't look at my character too often.
At the end of the day, this is just one minor feature inclusion I hope they put into the sequel, but it certainly wouldn't be a deal-breaker for me if they decide not to add it. One big thing that sets Cyberpunk 2077 apart from CDPR's other flagship title, The Witcher, is that the sci-fi title encourages people to immerse and become V. While Geralt has his own fleshed-out personality, it's up to players to make up the personality of their characters in the game, which is one of the reasons it's become one of my favorite games of all time.
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic 
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