Cyberpunk 2077 offers one of the most impressively detailed and immersive open worlds ever created. The sprawling metropolis of Night City took over 8 years for the talented developers at CD Projekt Red to meticulously hand-craft. Over the course of such ambitious worldbuilding, many hidden secrets get tucked away off the beaten path. While some fans have uncovered methods to access unfinished areas or shortcut grindy progression systems, I believe the best way to experience Cyberpunk 2077 is through gameplay as the developers intended.
Night City Offers Endless Intended Exploration
There are so many intricate quest lines, hidden gang outposts, abandoned buildings filled with lore, and quirky Night Citizens going about their dystopian lives across the districts of Night City. I have sunk over 200 hours into the game and still uncover new hidden missions and areas on each playthrough by focusing my curiosity on intended exploration within Night City‘s borders.
Just driving around you may come across unique environmental storytelling scenes like a lone monk meditating on a landfill pile or a domestic dispute unfolding stories above through apartment windows. Or you may find unique weapons only available from single quest lines like the dying war veteran who gifts you his prized Malorian Arms 3516 pistol.
There is no need to rush or exploit shortcuts when there are entire histories and communities hiding behind every corner of Night City‘s impressive verticality. Appreciate the city as a real place where people live – don‘t just treat it as a playground for exploits.
Hidden Areas Offer Intriguing Rewards
While I won‘t detail how to access them, there are a handful of hidden rooms and unfinished areas players have managed to glitch into. Many offer intruiging lore to uncover about removed factions and characters. One such area is an abandoned version of Pacifica filled with scenes of what developers originally envisioned for the region. It offers environmental insights, but no tangible rewards for progression.
Other hidden zones allow players to pick up weapons otherwise unavailble – though nothing über powerful that would undermine intended progression balance. Likely these are leftovers from early testing or cut quest content. While discovering them feels exciting due to novelty, their rewards don‘t provide anything not earnable through intended gameplay – and they lack the context that gives those other items more meaning.
Glitch Exploits Undermine the Vision
While curiosity about hidden content is understandable, chase satisfaction in what the developers intentionally created for us to experience. The team designed intricate gameplay systems meant to provide challenge, customization, and a sense of progression. When players exploit shortcuts to infinite money or XP, it fundamentally undermines what the creators want you to take away – that mixing smart preparation, creativity, and overcoming challenges is most fulfilling.
In interviews, developers have emphasized they hope players will uncover hidden quests organically and that progression feels earned through mastering abilities and equipment over time. Infinite money removes decision-making around purchasing upgrades. Infinite XP flattens the entire reward curve progression is built around. Both undermine the impressive balancing work done to ensure specific activities and playstyles feel viable and rewarded at different stages.
Intended Progression Paths Offer Varied Gameplay
To provide evidence against the need for exploits, let‘s examine how much XP and money is organically available to sustain varied gameplay styles:
- Main story quests provide around 190,000 XP total
- Side quest chains provide between 15,000 – 60,000 XP each (100+ available)
- Gigs provide between 3,000 – 15,000 XP each (100+ available)
- Defeating enemies earns XP based on difficulty (30 – 1,000+ each)
- With some investment, Quickhacking can clear full buildings rapidly each awarding 15,000+ XP
- Completing activities like assaulting gang hideouts provide large XP payouts (10,000 – 20,000 each)
- Selling items provides plenty of money for ammo, cyberware, weapons and vehicles
- Higher level enemies become trivial to defeat with appropriate strategies and builds
As these samples illustrate, there are exponential opportunities available to push V towards max level and money through intended systems – no need to circumvent them!
Preparation and Challenge Drives Mastery
At higher difficulties, players really need to engage with preparation tools provided – crafting consumables, utilizing buffs from food and drink, investing perk points into complementary abilities, and customizing weapons and cyberware to support playstyles. Trying to just brute force encounters results in quick failure. Mastering these systems provides a great sense of achievement much more rewarding than exploiting shortcuts.
Night City is an intricate maze of threats and opportunities. Learning where heavy enemy concentrations lurk, securing efficient traversal routes between cover, scanning architecture for vertical navigation options, discovering environmental hackable devices that can turn the tide, recognizing sound cues for incoming drones or mech assaults, understanding unique defensive weaknesses of each enemy faction, identifying nearby resources to replenish med supplies and ammo mid-fight – these learnings directly translate into progression power far more than any XP number.
While glitching can seem exciting for discovery‘s sake, it is fleeting novelty. Challenge overcome through intended mechanics stays rewarding for the entire journey. Don‘t rob yourself of the impressive accomplishments awaiting any who dare take on Night City head on.
For those up to task, breathtaking displays of skill await. The epic tier loot you earn from toppling formidable foes through preparation and quick-thinking earns stories worth retelling. I for one can‘t wait to see whatPhantom Liberty has in store!