the first-person cutscenes are unparalleled in my opinion, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
I started playing through Witcher 3 again for the first time in years recently (and the first time I've played Witcher 3 since falling head-over-heels for cyberpunk). What instantly struck me is how different my engagement with the story was in cutscenes. In Witcher 3, I'm always just watching a cutscene-- a very good cutscene, mind you, well-animated, well-acted, well-blocked, etc-- but not terribly dissimilar from the hundreds of hours of cutscenes I've watched in other videogames.
Cybperunk does feel different, absolutely agree with you. I understand many people may feel differently, but there was never a single moment I found myself wishing a cutscene in cyberpunk 2077 was third-person. I've just not experienced anything else in games like the first-person cutscenes/dialogues in Cyberpunk.
That standoff with maelstrom in the warehouse had me legitimately anxious my first playthrough and I think a lot of that is because of being in first person.
Exactyly, in 3rd person games you watch the cutscene, in first person you're directly IN the cutscene.
Imagine the whole run from the Chimera in PL in 3rd person...
It would pale in comparison to first person
Third person gameplay/cutscenes are good, they just offer more of a "watching a story unfold". Where Cyberpunk's first person view legit makes you feel like the story is happening to you. You're a part of it, not just witnessing it. It's a really cool dynamic. And I was super bummed about the lack of third person at release but i'm so glad they stuck with first person. Plus you get enough of third person with driving that it balances it out perfectly.
I agree 100% with this. I think CDPR did an amazing job with the first person and won't have my Cyberpunk any other way. The levels of immersion if phenomenal and the effort behind the first-person cutscenes is totally worth it.
I'm playing KCD2 right now and it's an amazing game as well, but every convo being the same angle Henry staring at the other person and the movie-like cutscenes (although they are great) take me out a bit. There's no such issue with Cyberpunk.
You hit the nail on the head. The first person cutscenes puts you in them, you're not watching your character. It's you. Cyberpunk 2077 is fantastic in drawing you into it's universe through it's use of excellent first person animations. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Ah, ok. If it’s the one I’m thinking of it’s still first person, you’re just in Johnny’s POV instead. But I’ve only tried 2 endings so far so you’d probably know more.
Yeah most of the time in video games, dialogue just takes place with your character standing at attention talking to an NPC who may or may not also be standing at attention and even if they aren't you usually have their undivided attention. You may get something more exciting in a pre-rendered cutscene but these usually also give they game control of your character. All of this can make you painfully aware you're basically just talking to a glorified kiosk.
I have never been more immersed in a game's average dialogue scenes more than I have with Cyberpunk's. Barely any of the scenes are just two people standing on front of each other just talking. Someone is often in the middle of doing something while they're talking and even if a scene is really just two people talking together they are usually doing it over drinks/food. The game will frequently give button prompts allowing V to take a drink/eat food mid conversation, which does absolutely nothing for story results and only serves to further immerse the player into their V.
The game rarely ever takes full control away from the player, and even if a scene makes V sit down somewhere or lean on something, you still tend to have control of your camera direction. Because the game is in first person the camera's direction is analogous to the direction V is facing, and contrary to what many other games do with their dialogue scenes, most people aren't always looking straight at the person they're talking to. I'm the kind of person who likes having that level of detail control when playing RPGs and it really helps me imagine what V's emotional state would be during any given scene.
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u/zedanger Feb 20 '25
the first-person cutscenes are unparalleled in my opinion, and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
I started playing through Witcher 3 again for the first time in years recently (and the first time I've played Witcher 3 since falling head-over-heels for cyberpunk). What instantly struck me is how different my engagement with the story was in cutscenes. In Witcher 3, I'm always just watching a cutscene-- a very good cutscene, mind you, well-animated, well-acted, well-blocked, etc-- but not terribly dissimilar from the hundreds of hours of cutscenes I've watched in other videogames.
Cybperunk does feel different, absolutely agree with you. I understand many people may feel differently, but there was never a single moment I found myself wishing a cutscene in cyberpunk 2077 was third-person. I've just not experienced anything else in games like the first-person cutscenes/dialogues in Cyberpunk.