Cyberpunk 2077is naturally a greater game in its current state than it was at launch. Still, with the promise ofProject Orioncontinuing the franchise with a sequel sometime in the future, there are countless ways the immersive world of Night City could be fleshed out further or improved wholesale. In particular, apartments are much more valuable sinceCyberpunk 2077’s latest patchesthan they had been, and they’re a feature that CD Projekt Red has only scratched the surface of.
One significant upgrade to renting various apartments introduced later inCyberpunk 2077’s life was being able to invite love interests to visit V’s apartments, which is a phenomenal addition layering a tiny slice of character development and leisurely role-play into an already dialogue- and story-rich experience. Unfortunately, the execution arguably fell short of the concept and CD Projekt Red will now need to reevaluate how such a feature might be reworked—if reprised at all—in the sequel toCyberpunk 2077.
Why Apartments aren’t Ideal for Hangout Dates in Cyberpunk 2077
In an open world overflowing withSide Jobs, Gigs, and NCPD dispatch events, there is no feasible reason why players should ever be running low on eurodollars inCyberpunk 2077. Thankfully, players also have endless ways to spend their hard-earned eddies.
Vehicles and apartments are largely superfluous extravagances meant to indulge players’ role-play and customization preferences, for instance, and are easily where the most money is spent beyond weapons and cyberware that already rest at a Tier 5 or Iconic rating. It isn’t until players have aromantic partner inCyberpunk 2077, though, that having multiple apartments becomes more worthwhile for the sake of variation. Indeed, the honeymoon period of relationships in-game wanes almost immediately.
Love interests do join V for some apartment-exclusive activities—V’s time in the shower is no longer by their lonesome, for example—but every interaction being the same annihilates any immersion the relationship is meant to sustain until players choose to call them on the holo by the point of no return inCyberpunk 2077.
While it’s wonderful getting to see these characters often, the veil of immersion quickly slips, and characters who were once scripted to be beautifully written companions are reduced to mere NPCs when the same repeated dialogue is spoken and the same interactions or animations are repeated each time. Therefore, ironically, the more time players spend with their chosen romantic partners the more those relationships lose their luster beyond cute text message conversations and gift-giving.
One way to combat this banality andadd spice to a relationship inProject Orioncould be to have dates with romantic partners beyond the confines of miscellaneous apartments, even if it meant that apartments were made redundant. Night City is brimming with date-night haunts such as the Afterlife or midday coffee shops such as Tom’s Diner, and taking a love interest out instead of staying in could be wonderful if each respective hangout had its own unique dialogue lines shared between characters as they spend precious time together.
Apartment Memorabilia is a Beautiful Touch Project Orion Should Lean into
From an iguana egg and a dreamcatcher to a Scorpion statue and a Chimera core,V’s megabuilding H10 apartment can be decoratedwith multiple quest-related items. Even more so than frequent dates, these decorations debatably serve as the most rewarding use of an apartment as they tell an environmental story while players progress and intermittently return to have a night’s rest.
This is a feature that would be great to see perpetuated inCyberpunk 2077’s sequel, and yetProject Orionwouldn’t need a handful of apartments ranging from dingy to luxurious in order to have decorations be meaningful. As such, it’ll be interesting to see what CD Projekt Red has surmised in its efforts to elaborate on apartments inCyberpunk 2077, much less if players can rent apartments inProject Orionat all.
