We already knew Cyberpunk 2077 was going to be a big game with a bevy of customisation options, tons of side quests, and loads to explore, but it turns out you can immerse yourself even further into the world of Night City by choosing your very own origin story.
Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designer Paweł Sasko recently confirmed in an email to VG24/7 that as the game starts, you’ll actually be able to choose between three “lifepaths”, each with their own story background and starting location in the game’s world.
Sasko wrote:
The player in Cyberpunk 2077 can create a custom character that has one of three origin stories, that we call lifepaths. You can be Nomad, Corpo or Street Kid. Each of the lifepaths has a different starting location and story background that are strongly connected with the origin story. Anything more I say can reveal too much from the story, so I will leave it like this.
We’d previously heard that the game will allow you to explore the Badlands that surround Night City, and that this is where the Nomads have settled. It’s likely then, that the Nomad lifepath will start you off outside the city limits, which would be an interesting way to approach the game. I’m well into the idea of playing the badass outsider who just rides into town one day.
Meanwhile, Corpo and Street kid sound as if they’ll both start you off within the city, but likely in very different districts. I’d assume the former will start you off in the lap of luxury, while the latter has you come from a more humble background.
I’m telling you now, anyone who expresses a willingness to choose Corpo on their first playthrough of the game is not someone you should trust. Nomad all the way.
The more I hear about the depth of roleplaying mechanics CD Projekt RED is offering in Cyberpunk 2077, the more impressed (and excited) I get. It really does sound like you can be whoever you want to be, from appearance, gender, and backstory, right through to playstyle and sexuality.
Oh, and the game won’t feature a mortality system, so you won’t be penalised for playing as a murderous jerk, if you feel like doing so. Truly, Cyberpunk 2077 is giving us all the tools we need to play in whatever way we choose. If it all works as it should, we could be looking at one of the most immersive RPGs of all time.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.