LogFAQs > #970431179

MICHALECOLE posted...

I honestly dont even know what kind of game it is

is it first person? Is it third person? Is it a shooter? Is Keanu reeves even in it?

I legitimately have no idea

It's a 1st person RPG that's based on the tabletop RPG series Cyberpunk by Mike Pondsmith

As such, characters choose things like a background (has no bearing on+ plot but does flavor the dialogue on occasion), attributes, and perks. Attributes are divided into Body, Reflex, Tech, Intelligence, and Cool. Each attribute has 2-3 trees of perks associated with and while some have obvious synergy (i.e. Ninjitsu perks under the Cool attribute synergize with blades under the Reflex attribute), you can absolutely play however the f*** you like and make it through, so long as you're aware of your build's strengths and weaknesses (being a jack of all trades is as viable here as it is in any other game but sometimes it pays to be a specialist).

Combat gives you access to many varieties of firearm and melee weapon but it also has a setting unique option of "quickhacking" enemies by doing things to the cybernetic implants that EVERYBODY in this world has, to varying degrees. Certain missions in the game will absolutely force you to fire a weapon via scripted sequences but by and large, you do not HAVE to use conventional weaponry if you build an adept enough hacker.

There are three leveling systems at play. Your main character level which rises by standard XP from missions/defeating enemies, your "street cred" which you get from those things as well as any mission type in the game, and skill levels which grant XP when you actually use those skills (i.e. if you specialize in using blades, kills with a knife or katana will raise the corresponding XP bar). Since street cred is the game's way of reflecting your in-universe reputation, certain equipment and upgrades are gate by your SC level. On my sole playthrough, my SC level is about 15 levels ahead of my character level, presumably because I've done a fair number of side missions (namely fixer gigs and police scanner "bounties"). Per the genre norm, you get the most standard XP from clearing story missions.

Equipment is always important in RPGs but I feel that it's especially important here because not only do you have to manage your armor, you have to manage your cybernetics which tremendously help with things like combat, stealth, hacking, athleticism, etc. Between weapons, armor, and cybernetics, I think there are damn near 20 slots to manage/upgrade. Mind you, you don't want to obsess about it (or maybe you do, I don't know you) and micromanage but it's definitely something you'll want to pay attention to ever 5-6 levels or so, especially once you start encountering some of the tougher thugs running around.

Keanu Reeves does portray a "pretty" significant character in the game.

tl;dr you can build your character one of many, many ways and still have a blast doing what you do

I know I'm going to another run with a hacker focus (perhaps atypically, I went with a melee focus on my first play through and it's pretty awesome though given the lack of range, I find myself using hacks quite a bit, with the occasional firearm as the action demands).