During their second Night City Wire episode, CD Projekt Red unveiled three new videos detailing various aspects of the game. One of the videos discusses the three Lifepaths available to players at the start of the game. Here’s what we know so far about Lifepaths in Cyberpunk 2077 and how they will impact the player’s experience.
What are Lifepaths?
Lifepaths provide your character’s backstory and personal motivations. In Cyberpunk 2077, the Lifepath you pick will determine certain plot developments and dialogue options throughout the game. Check out the new Lifepaths trailer below to get a feel for each of these backstories.
At the start of the game, players will get to choose between three Lifepaths for V: Nomad, Street Kid, and Corporate. Your chosen Lifepath will determine your starting point and initial quests and can open up unique dialogue options later in the game.
- Street Kid – As a Street Kid, V grew up in the streets of Night City and has seen the city’s many walks of life. You’re no stranger to gangs, drug dealers, and the criminal underworld. Perhaps you can use your street knowledge to your advantage.
- Nomad – Under the Nomad Lifepath, V will have grown up outside of Night City in the Mad Max-style, arid plains known as the Badlands. An early quest sees you returning to Night City for a business run. It’s worth noting that you can still visit the Badlands in Cyberpunk 2077, even if you don’t choose the Nomad Lifepath.
- Corporate – In the Corporate Lifepath, V will start out as a mid-level corporate employee (Corpo) who works for the Arasaka corporation’s counterintelligence division. Your background allows you to have an edge when it comes to business negotiations. Corpos live very differently from many others who live both inside and outside Night City.
Each Lifepath has its own benefits that players can use to their advantage. For example, a Street Kid may not be able to negotiate as easily with a corporate businessperson as someone who chose the Corporate Lifepath. However, your knowledge of the streets may help you when meeting with a gang leader. This is just one example of the way Lifepaths will shape the player’s experience in Cyberpunk 2077.
Lifepaths offer huge replayability for a game that’s already shaping up to be pretty large in terms of gameplay length. You would have to play three separate playthroughs to really experience the game through the lens of each Lifepath.
Night City Wire Episode 2
This isn’t the first time CD Projekt Red has delivered a game with more than one main storyline. In The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, a crucial choice made in the first act will lead players down one of two distinct story paths. Although The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt didn’t have as clear of a delineation between its branching story paths, the sheer amount of player choice made aided the game’s replayability.
Cyberpunk 2077 will release on November 19 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game will arrive for Google Stadia, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X at a later date. Stay tuned for more Cyberpunk 2077 coverage.