One of the reasons why Mass Effect was such a massive hit was because it leaned on party members like Garrus, Liara, Tali, and others to ground the story and bring a human element to it. Bioware has a history of making companion storylines matter, and one of the ways it accomplishes that is by incorporating them into the gameplay loop as party members. Project Orion, the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel confirmed to be in development at CD Projekt Red, has the perfect opportunity to 'steal' the idea of companion squad members from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, as the groundwork for interesting characters is already there from Cyberpunk 2077.
Characters like Judy Alvarez, Panam Palmer, Johnny Silverhand, Jackie, and even Adam Smasher are iconic enough without being permanent companions, it’s hard to say how much more memorable their storylines would be if they were in a party together with V. Cyberpunk 2077 knows how to do characters right, a sequel would benefit from building on top of that.
The Cyberpunk 2077 Franchise May Always Be Tied to Night City for One Reason
While a recent tease about Cyberpunk 2077's upcoming sequel suggests a second city setting, the series may always need Night City to fall back on.
Companions Made Mass Effect Great, They Could Do The Same For Cyberpunk
Squads in Cyberpunk 2077's Would Make Companion Stories More Impactful
Imagine how much less of a blow Mordin Solus's storyline and ending in Mass Effect 3 would've been if he'd just been a character on the sidelines like the Normandy engineers. Being able to rely on Mordin in fights, deciding what weapons he uses and what abilities he unlocks, made it all the more tragic when he had to face the Genophage and how it had affected the entire Krogan race. Extend that to Cyberpunk, and it is easy to see how much more engaged and invested players would be in Panam's missions if she were a permanent companion who stayed by their side after an initial recruitment mission.
In combat, squad members added a layer of complexity and strategy that would not be there without them. Best of all, it gives players the opportunity to explore different sections of the skill trees—areas where they themselves cannot go because of their build choice. In Cyberpunk 2077, if V decides to go full netrunner, for example, it is accompanied by a mild sense of missing out on other combat styles. This is especially painful when players find an amazing iconic weapon like Skippy, but because their build uses exclusively Mantis Blades, they cannot use it. However, when party members with different playstyles are added to the mix, this becomes a non-issue.
Cyberpunk 2077 Already Has the Blueprint Ready
After the prologue, the very first main job V and Jackie tackle is 'The Rescue,' where the two of them are tasked with finding and rescuing Sandra Dorsett, a VIP whose biomonitor went dark. During the course of this mission, Jackie functions as a kind of party member, helping V take down enemies in stealth and bringing the firepower if things go south. And that's not the only example in which V is helped by a friendly party in a shootout. If Cyberpunk 2077's sequel simply builds on top of this framework, it's very easy to see how it could evolve into a full-fledged squad system like Mass Effect.
Players could stroll the streets of Night City alongside Judy, with her commenting on the sights you see, giving explanations of how the city works in an immersive way to a Nomad character who is still discovering new things about it all. It'd be like the van scene in “Disasterpiece” before they hunt down the illegal braindance operators, but instead of just a single quest, it'd be the whole game. Considering it's an open-world game, the end result might end up feeling closer to Skyrim's followers than Mass Effect's squad members, but the point stands. Open-world games can do companions right, too; Serana is the perfect example.
Project Orion Should Put Its Own Spin on Squad Combat
Simply copying the Mass Effect squad system to Cyberpunk 2077 would not work. These are two very different types of titles, and CD Projekt Red runs the risk of breaking the game's balance if they copy it wholesale. For one, Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world first-person shooter, whereas Mass Effect is a third-person shooter that's a lot more arcadey in the way it plays and isn't open-world. Using squad members' abilities in combat works well in Mass Effect because the games are typically very linear, with a heavy reliance on using cover to slowly advance to the objective.
For combat, Project Orion might be better served by taking its cues from Ghost Recon Wildlands' AI companions, which, coincidentally, are called the Ghost 'Squad.' Both games are open-world first-person shooters, and while Wildlands doesn't have any memorable squad members, that's a choice and something Cyberpunk 2077's sequel shouldn't have any problem with, considering the first game's memorable characters.
Cyberpunk 2077
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 76 /100 Critics Rec: 66%
- Released
- December 10, 2020
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Publisher(s)
- CD Projekt Red
