Cyberpunk 2077 — Explore Night City and 'Braindance' in Two Brand New Gameplay Trailers

Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2020 and we got a closer look at Night City and the game’s ‘Braindance’ feature during the first episode of Night City Wire — a new Cyberpunk 2077 streaming show that debuted on Thursday.

“What the trailer shows you is really our stage,” says Pawel Sasko, Lead Quest Designer for Cyberpunk 2077. In footage entirely taken from the game’s prologue, the new trailer (below) gives us a close-up to Night City, as well as the run down and dust-filled Badlands that surround the neon-lit metropolis.

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Following the trailer, Sasko began to explain some of the lore of Cyberpunk 2077 and it runs deep. One gang, The Mocks, have a history that long predates the story of the game to a ridiculous degree. One character, Adam Smasher, a “fully converted cyborg”, can be briefly seen in the trailer and it sounds like he’ll play a big role in the final game. What’s more, he also has an incredibly detailed backstory for the player to discover. He’s not the only one either. This attention to detail and fleshing out of all the characters and the city they inhabit has been top priority for developer CD Projekt RED.

Later on in the presentation, in a second gameplay trailer (below, per IGN), we were introduced to the ‘Braindance’ mechanic. ‘Braindance’ is the ability to view a recording from a person that captures all of their feelings, senses and emotions. It’s a pre-existing concept in Cyberpunk lore that was originally featured in the Cyberpunk 2020 pen-and-paper game; as does a lot of the lore mentioned here. Using a ‘Braindance Editor’, players can uncover more about the world and investigate different scenarios. In the clip we see a thug robbing a store before being taken out himself. The Braindance Editor — which works like a combination of the scanner from Watch Dogs and Detective Mode from the recent Batman games — allows the player to discover the perpetrator after uncovering a variety of clues. How this plays into the wider game was not explained but, like everything here, it’s incredibly detailed.

Despite a recent delay to November, the hype around Cyberpunk 2077 is palpable. The game will be released on PS4, Xbox One and PC on November 17th. PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of the game will come at a later date, with both Xbox and PlayStation players eligible for a free upgrade if they make the jump to next-gen.

How hyped are you for Cyberpunk following the first episode of Night City Wire? Let us know in the comments.