With over half a years time removed from the game's release date, Cyberpunk 2077 has had a very tumultuous post-launch development. CD Projekt Red has had to contend with a rushed development pipeline prior to launch, tons of glitches and performance issues post-launch, the studio itself being assaulted by a ransomware hack, among several other controversial events after December 10, 2020. However, despite all of the controversy and all of the things that Cyberpunk 2077 ended up doing wrong, the game itself did a lot of things right as an open-world RPG. One aspect in particular that received praise from critics and fans was the game's opening hours.
Beyond the prologue, V's adventures in Night City never quite match the lead-up to The Heist, and their character's short but compelling origin story/stories. Experiencing the journey to Night City through the eyes of a Nomad/Corpo/Street Kid was a compelling opening for Cyberpunk 2077. The beginning hours simultaneously catered to players' role-playing decisions, while also properly introducing them to this cyberpunk world they were entering for the first time. Even if the remainder of the game doesn't match up, The Elder Scrolls or Fallout should employ a similarly interesting design when jumping into a new Bethesda world for the first time.
RELATED: The Witcher 3 DLC Set an Impossible Bar for Cyberpunk 2077
Putting aside the rest of Cyberpunk 2077, which certainly has its ups and downs for various reasons, not a whole lot of criticisms for the game were aimed towards the prologue. The narrative and mission structure was largely linear, but did branch off of the players' choice for their lifepath; the choice of background/origin players make at the beginning of the game. Nomads escape their former clan to find work in the city, Street Kids return to Night City after a short stint in another city, and Corpo players work through an internal feud at Arasaka. Each sets up a very different backstory for V, the main character, mostly based on the player's choices leading up to the heist.
CD Projekt Red's attempt at capturing the tabletop-like character building choice at the beginning of Cyberpunk 2077 is commendable, even if it's comparatively simple next to the Cyberpunk TTRPG. Being able to incorporate a degree of RPG-esque choice that factors into the main story helps immerse players into the world, which is what every RPG strives for, at least at a base level. Even though there's not a whole lot of moments after the prologue that incorporate a player's lifepath (outside of certain dialogue choices), the introduction does a fantastic job of making players feel like their choice of origin matters in Cyberpunk 2077.
Ironically, Bethesda RPGs almost seem like the opposite dynamic: Games like Skyrim or Fallout 4 have very linear introductions to their respective game worlds, which rarely ever involve player choice outside of the character creator itself. There's very little degree of narrative options for players to take things a different way during the prologue, at least not in the way that Cyberpunk 2077's beginning changes depending on choice of lifepath. However, the defining difference between games like The Elder Scrolls/Fallout and Cyberpunk 2077 is the prologue is far shorter. Skyrim's opening in particular is less than an hour before players can explore the world freely.
Players are free to roleplay as a member of the Thieves Guild, a student at the College of Winterhold, an assassin in The Dark Brotherhood, among other things, potentially before they even learn they're the Dragonborn. The opening segment for Skyrim does particularly well to set up the world and main story, but doesn't factor in any degree of player choice or build, other than passing commentary of their character's race. Cyberpunk 2077 still heavily relies on the main quest after the prologue before players can truly explore and do side quests. When players actually do get to Cyberpunk 2077's side quests, very few of them match up to some of Skyrim's best side quests.
RELATED: Cyberpunk 2077 Has to Go All-In With Fall 2021
However, Cyberpunk 2077's innovative implementation of character builds and origins that are inserted directly into the main story are something that Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games should utilize as well. Fallout 4's character origins and opening are largely static, as players will always be looking for their child after leaving Vault 111. Bethesda could certainly incorporate a similarly choice-driven selection of openings for the next Fallout/The Elder Scrolls game, factoring in a player's backstory, class, or race to determine how the opening of the game plays out. A Khajiit in The Elder Scrolls is going to have distinctly different origins compared to a Nord or Argonian.
Considering some of the most popular mods for games like Skyrim or Oblivion involve starting the player in a completely new setting, it would make sense for Bethesda to experiment with more narrative choice. Roleplay would be at the center of a player's experience early on, as opposed to railroading all players into one specific prologue, that then branches out into player freedom. Like Cyberpunk 2077, these games could still converge early moments into a singular narrative point like The Heist, but Bethesda games are known for emphasizing player liberty. That same degree of customization could be implemented to the beginning of Fallout/The Elder Scrolls games.
MORE: Starfield and The Outer Worlds 2 Can Occupy The Same Space
