Carradice: Hum, have missed that tip, but it might make sense if one is undecided. At least it might be worth thinking about what to play.
The big difference may be for people who are going to play the game just once and move on to something else, versus those who would like to play with different characters. Compare with The Age of Decadence: the game really wants you to play with the Fighter first, and them with other characters to see different corners of the game. One of the last characters might be one versed in old lore, puny at fighting, so that you actually figure out the stuff that you are handling, and view things in other ways.
Then there is the approach of Dragon Age: Origins: each class has a completely different origin story (great) but afterwards the game remains pretty much the same (please correct me if I am wrong, I did not complete this game).
I wonder what is the approach in Cyberpunk. Is it more like Age of Decadence, each class seeing very different aspects of the city, or like Bloodlines? It might seem that it is the first case.
I'm not entirely sure myself. Everything that i know off is accumulated from hear-say. I belief the starting positions are indeed entirely different for the gangmember, corporate affiliate and rebel nomad but outside some faction core storyline i belief the mainstay of the game is similar though can be approached differently because of the faction specifics. In the end, how i understood, more DAO then Age of Decadence
I hope I'm not misunderstanding here, and that both of you haven't tried the game and wonder which "class" to pick. :)
Not wanting to spoil too much, but:
Corpo starts inside a building in Corpo Plaza, and already after a few minutes gets thrown into a whirlwind of deceit and a "me first"-attitude, before entering Lizzie's bar to meet Jackie as a skilled and reliable friend for a job. And it doesn't take long to learn you've already been screwed over by the corporate higher-ups.
Street Kid starts in El Coyoto Cojo bar, where you quickly gets tasked with stealing a specific car. Jackie soon shows up, puts a gun to your head and asks "nicely" to step out of the car that is rightfully his to steal. The cops and the car's actual owner shows up, points multiple guns to both of your heads and you and Jackie eventually gets dumped in an alley (instead of dumped in the ocean, like the car's owner wants you to be) where you discover you actually have something in common.
Nomad is the one I haven't tried yet, but you start at what will be outside the map, beyond the border. You meet up with Jackie and sets out to get inside Night City for a job. You are being assured the fraudulent papers is made with sufficient quality and a certain bribe high enough to safely get you through the checkpoint. Which turns out not to be the case.
Apart from the different intros, you'll eventually end up in the same place anyway, and at this point the game really begins. The different paths only allows for different replies at some places in the game, with some equipment, and even a couple vehicles (without cheating), only being available for a set path.
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As for playstyle, I personally I went into it with the mindset of:
Corpo being the sleazy hacker / sniper, standing safely from the back, never getting his or her hands dirty-kind of character (Intelligence / Reflexes).
Street Kid being the "fight first, ask questions later"-sort, with a bulky body and preference for head-on confrontations, but also with the ability to talk his or her way out of overwhelming odds (Body / Cool).
Nomad having the technical know-how, being the "make a bomb from a piece of string" MacGyver-sort. With a preference for not being there at all when shit goes down, always walking away as the innocent victim (Technical Ability / Reflexes).
There's only 5 skill trees, so there must be some overlapping. To keep it simple, you can max out 2 of the skill trees and get half-way on a third (50 levels / 50 points total). And there is no way to re-spec skill points during a playthrough (only perks within the skill trees can be reset at a cost from Cyberdocs - word of warning on re-spec'ing: it happens instantly upon purchase), so choose wisely.
- Reflexes include Assault rifles (by far the best in my opinion), Handguns and Blades (also rather broken).
- Body include Street Brawler (blunt weapons), Annihilation (shotguns) and Athletics (HP and carrying ability). Body can also brute force open doors.
- Technical ability include Crafting and upgrading of equipment, and Engineering (basically granting the best sniper rifles and to open physically locked doors).
- Intelligence include Hacking, ranged interaction with electrical equipment and bots, and Breach Protocol, which is the insertion of daemons (your typical "magic spells"). Intelligence can also open electronically locked doors.
- Cool includes Stealth and Cold Blood (which is mostly passives - to me, useful, but boring).
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Technical ability 18 is needed to craft legendary equipment, and to get the best gear (like upgrading iconic weapons) apart from hidden clothing set items. Sadly, no clothing set is "complete" (all 6 pieces), and I was somewhat disappointed to learn there are no set stat bonuses.
Even legendary clothing items sadly drops with random number of mod slots, so when you find a chest with an Orange cube on it, do a save before grabbing it. Check it, and reload if it doesn't have the max number of slots.
Legendary items for Head, Face, Feet and Legs can have a max of 3 mod slots. And Inner and Outer torso can have a max of 4 mod slots. If you follow Youtube guides on where to find various legendary items, know that some of it are tied into the main quests and can't be found until certain points in the game.
Game's difficulty setting can be changed from the options menu at any time, so feel free to pick what you want at first.
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On the first run, I went with a female V and the Corpo path, making myself a real bitch in every sense of the word; a proper assassin. Intelligence and Reflexes, hacking everything and killing everyone in my path, never leaving any witnesses or traces.
Second and current playthrough is with a male Street Kid V, with a preference for blades and blunt weapons (Body and Reflexes), essentially creating the textbook Cyberpsycho. With a tendency to randomly freak out on the street, clubbing down innocents and blowing up everything for the fun of it.
