In the latest episode of Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City Wire, we’re given a closer look at Night City and the Gangs that run the streets.

With two months away from the release of Cyberpunk 2077, most of the gameplay elements have been laid out in the last two episodes of Night City Wire. At this point in the game, it’s mostly looking at the background lore and elements that set the game apart from other open world games.

Postcards From Night City

The episode started strong with the new trailer, Postcards From Night City, that establishes Night City as a vibrant, living, breathing city. As compared to The Witcher and its disparate city states, Cyberpunk 2077 focuses on one general area akin to Grand Theft Auto’s Liberty City and its outskirts. This focus concentrates on a dynamic ecosystem that showcases six distinct districts. Each one would have their own personality, but would form a part of the whole of Night City. As Miles Tost points out, “Night City is a sum of its parts.”

Judging from the trailer, CD Projekt Red has put so much work on giving Night City a real sense of place. The world is realistic and believable. It feels like a grand metropolis akin to Tokyo, Manila, or New York where each borough has enough variety to call its own. This opens up endless possibilities of exploration in what Miles Tost calls “mini-stories”. Different from the side quests, these mini-stories are a culmination of small encounters and random events that the player will encounter during their journeys. As if the main quest isn’t enough, some districts could be full of minigames and some districts can lead you to some unsavory encounters with some gangs.

If this is executed from what the trailer is promising, it could be a game changer for sci-fi/post apocalyptic open world adventures. While we do have a variety seen in Midgar in Final Fantasy VII Remake, other post apocalyptic worlds look copy-pasted from each other as seen in Fallout, Rage, and Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. Besides some small encampments, the overall look has remained generic. It doesn’t feel like a living breathing landscape as seen in larger games like Grand Theft Auto V and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. 

Gangs of Night City

The next trailer featurette is a quick dossier on the gangs that rule the streets of Night City. Each other represents a different element to the game as well as their own unique look. The Maelstrom gang is a group of transhumanists who are breaching the line between human and machine through excessive and creative mod usage. Valentinos are the dominant hispanic gang that follow their own traditions the same way as the Wraiths are following the nomadic code. Voodoo Boys are an urban myth of legendary netrunners that’s an open secret in Night City contrasted to the Animals who are the hired muscle by the Corpos. Rounding them off are the Tiger Boys consisting of the local Triad and The Moxes, a sorority of badass dames. 

While V is primarily a merc, and mercs work alone, V would encounter these gangs either as antagonists, allies, or a place they can receive quests from. There’s a solitary beauty being a freelancer in Night City and while some players may feel the urge to join these gangs, gangs don’t really trust mercs completely. If V wants to become a legend, they can join an elite Merc group to get the best possible weapons, mods, and jobs.

This late in the game, what can they possibly feature in the next Night City Wire in October or early November? We get the hype, we love the world, now give us a demo at the very least!

You can choose to watch the full episode below:

Cyberpunk 2077 is scheduled for a November 19 release date on the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series, as well as for the PC.