I recently got to play the first five hours of Cyberpunk 2077. The first decision that you’ll make when starting a new game is choosing a life path. These are broken into three separate paths:
Street Kid: You know the urban jungle better than most. You’ve got connections, street cred and street smarts. You’re resourceful, and most important, ambitious Life’s not easy, but it’s one hell of a ride.
Nomad: Most nomads roam in clans, but you’re a lone wolf. Right now, you’ve made yourself familiar with the outskirts of the city (known as the Badlands). But even for wandering off-the-grid nomads like you, the allure of Night City can prove overwhelming.
Corporate: You’ve made it. You’re an Arasaka agent with a body oozing with top-of-the-line military-grade cyberware. There’s stress and pressure, sure, but you’ve got perks and the general populace can only experience via braindance. You’ve got it all. What could possible go wrong?
What surprised me is the fact that choosing these life paths impact the first 4-5 hours of the game severely. I played my first play through of the prologue as a Street Kid, and started in the middle of the city in a bar, but when I started the second time (as a corporate) I started in Arasaka Tower and got a private helicopter to my first location. The look and feel between these two locations were completely different and set a completely different tone for the game. Playing as a Street Kid, I felt like I had to earn my place in the city, whilst as a Corpo, I felt like I was well established within the city.
If I had of chosen Nomad, I would have started in the Badlands (a vast desert location) which I didn’t even get to experience during my time in the Prologue as a Street Kid at all. This seems to be a step below the Street Kid life path.
The characters that you meet are completely different in these first few hours as well. Whilst a few are similar, there’s 2-3 characters in each life path that are completely specific to that choice. Obviously, the story paths merge at some point and start to follow the same main story beats, but CD Projekt Red has said that this choice will have longer ramifications throughout the entire game.
This is just another one of those things that has me so excited to play Cyberpunk 2077 come November 17th. I have no idea which Street Path I’m going to choose when I start my proper play through, but I know that I’m going to have a wild time no matter which I choose.
