Summary
Cyberpunk 2077has made some vast improvements since the growing pains it experienced during its launch in 2020. After both last year’s comprehensive 2.0 update and the accompanying Phantom Liberty DLC,Cyberpunk 2077has since regained its footing and currently sees itself sitting at largely positive reception and review scores. With the experience now as feature-complete as originally intended, players can enjoy the compelling storylines and engaging open-world of the setting of Night City in all their unmitigated glory.
ACyberpunk 2077sequel, known as Project Orion, has also been confirmed and is currently in early development. While there are few other details known about its direction and possible plot, there are a variety of factors that developer CD Projekt Red will likely need to consider to both improve on the first in the followup while keeping it grounded in the existing extensive world building. One way it can achieve this is to fully feature a location only briefly glimpsed in one of its endings, but ripe with potential. Project Orion should seize the chance to dive into the exotic grandeur of The Crystal Palace.
Project Orion Needs to Pull the Trigger on Cyberpunk 2077’s Crystal Palace
Cyberpunk 2077’s Crystal Palace
Situated in orbit between the Moon and Earth, The Crystal Palace is a sort of Las Vegas in space and a gated community rolled into one. Boasting a suite of casinos and other indulgent luxury activities along with penthouse-style apartments for the wealthy and elite ofCyberpunk 2077’s world, including those from some of its most powerful organizations, like theArasaka Corporation, the Palace occupies an important part within the overall lore. It is implied to be a place where dangerous secrets are kept, shady backroom deals are made, and other intrigues take place on the regular. The Crystal Palace encapsulates much of the core game’s thematics with its excesses and opulence, contrasted against the grime and violence of Night City’s street-level culture.
Protagonist V infiltrates The Crystal Palace inCyberpunk 2077’s Path of Glory endingto pull off an intricately planned heist and become a bonafide Night City legend in the process. However, this is all conveyed mostly by dialogue and cutscenes during the ending epilogue, and aside from a few moments of minimal interactivity leading up to it, players do not actually get to actively participate in the job or see the interior of the Palace, but the reveal of its very existence already sets up compelling reasons to return to it.
AcanceledCyberpunk 2077DLCthat supposedly was set on the Moon could be an indication and springboard for Project Orion to include more off-world locales.
How Project Orion Could Make Great Use of Cyberpunk 2077’s Crystal Palace
While not confirmed,rumors suggest Project Orion may be expanding outward to encompass space, possibly sending players to a range of locations outside Earth, and The Crystal Palace would be an obvious choice to include if so. Perhaps fixers will provide gigs that will see fans visit various space installations, leading up to a complex quest at The Crystal Palace, akin to V’s heist. This could provide a truly breathtaking setting, even if only for a few missions, and players might also meet other influential clients and important NPCs during their time at the casino in the sky.
How impressively Night City was realized provides a tantalizing indication of how The Crystal Palace might similarly appear in the sequel, on what can be assumed to be next gen hardware. Additionally, depending onif CD Projekt Red decides to canonize any ofCyberpunk 2077’s endings, this may influence to what extent The Crystal Palace potentially ties into the broad narrative. Even if Project Orion goes with a fresh protagonist or other angles, though, The Crystal Palace provides such a fascinating place backed by rich lore that it is almost begging to be made into a completely explorable and central locale, and hopefully, the studio acknowledges this and follows through in the sequel.
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?
