It is clear thatCyberpunk 2077has come a very long way since the days of its controversial launch in 2020, with consistent and expansive post-launch updates making the game a much smoother and enjoyable overall experience. This allowed the fantastic story, characters, and locations of the title to truly flourish, with the game’sPhantom Libertystory expansion being the perfect example of the strong state that the game now finds itself in.
As the only major story expansion forCyberpunk 2077,Phantom Libertyhad very high expectations to meet, and it did this well through its new locations and factions that are spliced into the main narrative ofCyberpunk 2077. As expected,Phantom Libertyraised the bar in terms of the events and overall stakes of what fans saw in the main story of2077, and this should help the game’s upcoming sequel,Project Orion, continue this trend in a logical and meaningful way.
Project Orion Can Shoot For the Stars Thanks To Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty
The base-game narrative ofCyberpunk 2077does well to stay focused on its core setting for the most part, with the unpredictable and hedonistic world of Night City being more than enough to host the game’s story. By focusing on Night City and its immediate surroundings,Cyberpunk 2077’s story can focus on V’s rise in the criminal underworld, having to face off against increasingly powerful figureheads of the city’s many dominant factions.
While some of these factions,like the Arasaka Corporation, have influence that stretches far beyond the confines of Night City,2077is still able to tell a fairly personal and isolated story where the player does not have time or reason to think of the world beyond the city’s walls. AlthoughPhantom Libertyis set roughly halfway through the base-game narrative of2077, it does well to up the ante in terms of the scale and global impact of V’s actions.
Away from the fixers and power-hungry kingpins of Night City,Phantom Libertysees V work alongside agents of the New United States government, with V ultimately being tasked with saving the President’s life.The story ofPhantom Libertyoffers a fascinating insight into the wider lore of the franchise in this way, with the national gravity of its plot setting the groundwork for the huge narrative possibilities that the franchise can explore next.
The Scale of Project Orion Should Naturally Escalate From Phantom Liberty
Project Orion, the code-named sequel toCyberpunk 2077, was announced in late 2022, andPhantom Libertygives fans a solid glimpse as to how CD Projekt Red might handle the story for the upcoming project. With2077focusing on regional conflict andPhantom Libertyaccelerating this to national conflict,Project Orionis free to explore the wider world of theCyberpunkfranchise and beyond.
It was recently reported that2077had a canceled story DLC that took place on the moon, and it seems likely that CD Projekt Red may have been saving this for a full sequel likeOrion. Many of the endings ofCyberpunk 2077involve space travel in some way, and CD Projekt Red seems very keen to show fans the scale and reach of human civilization within the IP. There is so much thatProject Orioncan narratively do with the decades of worldbuilding that have been put into theCyberpunkfranchise, and the logical progression of2077andPhantom Liberty’s stories are already pushingOrionto explore global or even interplanetary conflicts that put the scale of these past narratives to shame.
Cyberpunk 2077
WHERE TO PLAY
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world action-adventure from the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red.Set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification, you play as V, a mercenary outlaw going after a one-of-a-kind implant that is the key to immortality.Upgraded with next-gen in mind and featuring free additional content, customize your character and playstyle as you take on jobs, build a reputation, and unlock upgrades.The relationships you forge and the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you. Legends are made here. What will yours be?
