5 Cyberpunk 2077 Mods We Hope to See Soon | Game Rant
After nearly a decade of hype, Cyberpunk 2077 has arrived, and the results are somewhat mixed. Even players visiting Night City on high-end PCs have run into a handful of issues, and there is no question that squashing bugs, improving stability, and optimizing the game across platforms should be priority one for CD Projekt Red. But the underlying game offers a compelling experience, and looking to the future, Cyberpunk 2077 has massive potential where mods are concerned.
Looking back to Witcher 3, which has seen everything from the standard, ultra HD texture packages to a mod that will make Geralt look like Genji, the game stands as an excellent benchmark of what the creative community can achieve. And while Cyberpunk 2077 is a long way away from nightmare-inducing Thomas the Tank Engine mods, a la Skyrim, it isn't hard to imagine a future where, given time and jetpack mods, even the sky is no limit.
5 Item Transmog System
As is the case with many level-scaling games, V will quickly run into a wardrobe dilemma: keep the cool-looking threads at the expense of combat efficacy, or dress up in clownish attire to dish out the pain. A weapon and clothing transmog system would work wonders, and be well worth the price of admission, even if every re-skin required players to spend a couple of Eddies. World of Warcraft's transmog system provides an instructive example for Cyberpunk to follow. Both weapons and armor can be reskinned to suit player tastes, and ensure that V can be a capable Edgerunner without making sartorial sacrifices.
4 Tricked Out Rides
Night City offers an impressive array of wheels for players to choose from, and many of Cyberpunk 2077's cars can be obtained for free, but it is difficult to feel like any one of those rides truly belongs to V with no opportunity for in-depth personalization. Mod kits, decals, and other aesthetic improvements would go a long way, but those features are ultimately the tip of the iceberg.
Imagine being able to install turrets like the one mounted on Panam's truck, nitro for an extra edge in races, or other James Bond-esque gadgetry to give cars a personal touch. If modders really want to go above and beyond, the NCPD could use police cars that aren't "street legal," spicing up Cyberpunk 2077's law enforcement and crime pursuit system.
General fine-tuning for mouse and keyboard driving would also be a welcome enhancement, as many vehicles fishtail with a feather's touch when playing with WASD. Part of the discrepancy in handling between vehicles is by design, of course, but right now, players who drive by controller have a considerable leg-up on mouse and keyboard users, which simply feels wrong in a first-person title played on PC.
3 Trip to the Cyber Salon
At launch, the Witcher 3 allowed players to cut and style Geralt's hair. The witcher's beard would also gradually grow out the longer players went without a shave. While the real-time hair growth feature may not be desirable for all players, it is somewhat silly that players can't change V's hairstyle or color—especially in a world as flashy as Night City's superficial, hyper-capitalist dystopia.
In fact, given the state of technology, which allows players to swap out forearm weapons like Mega Man with one stop at a ripperdoc, it's surprising that players can't get plastic surgery done as well. In some ways, the tremendous effort that Cyberpunk 2077 put into the character creation system is wasted, as players only get to interface with the system for a few minutes before starting their adventure.
Allowing players to change up appearances on the fly would give them much more mileage out of the character editor. For instance, players could briefly "cosplay" as characters from other games, like Overwatch's Sombra, in Cyberpunk 2077 and then change their appearance again on a whim.
2 Quality of Life Tweaks
Many mods wear many hats, and it would be amazing to see a Swiss Army Knife-like mod that addressed a number of quality of life issues in Cyberpunk 2077 at once.
One feature that would be a major boon would be loadouts. Being able to save different outfits and equipment sets, would not only be a convenient way to curate a wardrobe of styles, but it would also enable players to easily set themselves up for specific approaches to missions. Players could even save ripperdoc loadouts for further specialization and customization. One example to work off of would be Ghost of Tsushima's Legends multiplayer DLC, where Sucker Punch added numerous items, as well as the ability for players to save armor sets.
Another tweak would be a quality of life mod to improve the driving experience is an adaptive mini-map. When cruising through Night City at speeds exceeding 100MPH, it is incredibly difficult to make sharp turns with the current map's limited viewpoint. Allowing the map to zoom out as players accelerate would go a long way toward alleviating this frustration. Other areas the Swiss Army-mod could improve on are improved inventory sorting and locking to prevent players from accidentally disassembling prized equipment and weaponry, and a do not disturb mode for Cyberpunk's phone system.
1 The Really Fun Stuff
Once key deficiencies and quality of life improvements have been addressed, players will be hungry for the throbbing heart of modding: extra content. Cyberpunk 2077 is ripe for deeper immersion mechanics—like needing to hydrate and eat periodically—extra weapons, new cyberware upgrades, and outlandish quests that push the boundaries of the world. Cyberpunk 2077 has a number of nods to CDPR's Witcher 3, and a brief quest that would allow players to team up with Ciri as she leaps from world to world would be a blast.
But one specific content mod fans would like to see is an expanded offering of life path-related quests. As it stands, Corpo Rats, Street Kids, and Nomads walk a fairly similar beat, and save for periodic dialogue options, their background has minimal impact on the overall story and types of jobs that are available. A mod that added a slew of path-specific quests would make that initial decision feel much more meaningful and offer a deeper experience as a whole.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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