We don’t know much yet about the main story of Cyberpunk 2077, but this is what we do know so far. Cyberpunk 2077 is an adaptation of the 1988 tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020, set 57 years later in the dystopian city Night City in the free state of California. You play as a mercenary simply named V who is just doing whatever they need to to get by and survive. V is skilled at hacking, operating machinery, and using a variety of weapons, mostly guns. Night City itself is suffering from extreme violence, especially from gang wars and the constant fighting between the corporations that are vying for control over the megacity. Due to the constant danger and possibility of harm, all citizens openly carry weapons throughout a city where homeless abounds, and addiction to cybernetics as cosmetic enhancements is on the rise. It's up to you to make your way through Night City as V, trying to find your place in all of the chaos and survive until tomorrow.

The gameplay demo that we were able to watch at Tokyo Game Show 2019 played through about 45 minutes of the game, including a bit of character customization, a shop, the equipment menu, dialogue, and of course, combat. The character customization menu seemed to have a lot of options available from what we were able to see, with choices for everything from hairstyles to cybernetics and tattoos. True to the game’s name, a lot of the available styles suited an alternative punk look. Gameplay was in first-person but could be switched to third-person to see your character if you wanted to. Conversations with NPCs had a few dialogue choices to let you build the responses and attitudes that you want your character to have. To add to everything else, the equipment menu had a lot of options for clothing, and each item of clothing could also be further customized in appearance and ability. It seems like we can look forward to a lot of customization options for our characters in Cyberpunk 2077, from the moment we create them and throughout the rest of the game!

Catering even more to a personal gaming experience, the gameplay demo showed some of the same sequences in an abandoned shopping mall in Cyberpunk 2077’s distinct playstyles. The first was the Netrunner character class, which focuses more on hacking and stealth to take down enemies and make it safely through levels. As a Netrunner, the player was able to hack into security cameras, doors, and even mounted guns remotely to turn them on their enemies - or make them turn a blind eye towards the player’s own movements. Because many characters in the game have cybernetic enhancements, the Netrunner was also able to hack into those enhancements and cause them to malfunction for their owners. Netrunners also have the ability to wield their own cybernetics to use against their enemies in melee combat instead of relying only on guns. The Netrunner playthrough focused heavily on stealth and avoiding combat entirely, or taking down enemies as silently as possible to avoid combat. It also showed a bit of hacking minigame that will be a key part of mastering the hacking ability in the game.

For players looking for a more traditional first-person shooter experience, the other character class in Cyberpunk 2077 is the Strong Solo playstyle. This time, we saw a lot more direct combat with enemies. Strong Solos face their enemies head-on rather than sneaking around them, running into the room literally with guns blazing to take down all of their enemies at once. The Strong Solo was able to use heavy weapons, including ripping down a mounted gun to wield, and could grab enemies to use as a human shield to keep themselves safe. Strong Solos also don’t have to worry about hacking through security doors, instead of using brute strength and cybernetic enhancements to rip open doors with their bare hands. The Strong Solo gameplay showed the player taking down waves of enemies with a variety of different ranged weapons and a bit of melee combat as well, not concerned with stealth and happy to jump right into the fray. The two playstyles were incredibly unique, and showed two entirely different approaches to completing the same mission.