One element of next year’s Cyberpunk 2077 that many fans are looking to learn more about is its romance feature. Now, CD Projekt RED has given some more details about Cyberpunk 2077’s romance and how it’s both similar and different from the The Witcher 3.
Gamespot recently talked to Cyberpunk 2077 lead quest designer Paweł Sasko after a private Twitter conversation about the game’s romance options was leaked on Reddit. In the interview, Sasko confirmed a number of details from the leaked conversation, including the one about romance following the lead of the Witcher 3.
Cyberpunk 2077′s romance takes after The Witcher 3‘s in that both allow the main character, in the former’s case V, to fail in their romantic pursuits. However, the game adds some wrinkles of its own. Sasko mentioned that a number of factors would determine whether or not an NPC would become romantically interested in V in the first place. One of these factors is an NPC’s sexual orientation.
“The sexual orientation of a given NPC also plays a role in such interactions,” stated Sasko. “In The Witcher 3, Geralt was a defined character who had a very clearly defined sexuality–in Cyberpunk, the choice of romantic partner is a part of freedom of play, that’s why the game provides more options, going beyond heterosexual.”
Andrej Sapkowski’s original books define the character of Geralt of Rivia as he appears in games liken The Witcher 3. Players don’t really have that much freedom in playing him. However, Cyberpunk 2077 allows players to define who V is, including their choice of gender.
With this in mind, it makes sense that CD Projekt RED is making this change to how romance works in Cyberpunk 2077. After all, the video takes inspiration from a tabletop adventure. At the same time, it seems it’ll be similar enough that players coming in from the studio’s previous releases will know what to expect.