Through the many performance issues it faced at launch, Cyberpunk 2077 does have many positive qualities to it, especially surrounding its story. Following V, players take on the corruption and struggles of Night City as a mercenary, but when a botched job permanently installs the engram of terrorist Johnny Silverhand into their brain, they only have a short while to live. In this time, V investigates the possibility of separating themself from the dead rockstar, coming in close contact with many new faces along the way.
These characters are arguably what makes Cyberpunk 2077 shine, for those who are able to play the game, at least. Controversies aside, two characters in particular resonated with fans and saw adoration from most players: Panam Palmer and Judy Alvarez, two of Cyberpunk 2077's four romances. There are two other caveats to the game's romances—Meredith Stout and Rogue—but the two men, River and Kerry, didn't quite hit the same vein. In short, their stories weren't as impactful or emotional, leaving most players to turn to either Panam or Judy, depending on whether V is a man or a woman, but more options should have been available, at least in some capacity.
Sexuality in Cyberpunk 2077
The method that Cyberpunk 2077 took for its romances disappointed many fans. Essentially, there are two romance options, one male and one female, per gender assigned to V (there were meant to be trans and nonbinary options there, but the game basically still declares their gender unfortunately by voice tone and genitalia chosen during character customization). There's an ongoing debate about whether or not characters should be 'playersexual,' meaning they'll be attracted to the player by default, or have assigned sexualities like they do in the Mass Effect trilogy, effectively locking their romances out of some playthroughs. This means fans must play through Cyberpunk as a male to romance Panam and vice versa to romance Judy, which can keep them from experiencing some significant sides of the game. But whereas this is still the case in Mass Effect, at least the space opera has a plethora of options available otherwise.
Whether or not Cyberpunk should have allowed male versions of V to romance Judy is still up for debate in the gaming community. But it would have been great if at least a few characters who swing both (or all) ways. After all, bisexuality already sees a lot of erasure, and that's not to say CD Projekt Red was swinging that implication in any way, but it's sad that they don't really exist in the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
Once again, Meredith Stout and Rogue are exceptions here. Meredith's story is actually quite intriguing, but it also comes to an end quite abruptly. Her romance scene occurs regardless of V's gender and it serves as an interesting window into her life. But unlike Panam and Judy, her story doesn't expand any further than that and she simply disappears. Even River and Kerry aren't exactly part of Cyberpunk 2077's overarching storyline the way the two women are, highlighting the unequal treatment they were given in their writing.
The ways in which Judy and Panam impact V's story is actually beautiful, especially if players run with the Nomad ending, which is largely considered to be the "best" ending of Cyberpunk 2077. But it's also unfortunate that the experience is tailored depending on V's gender. Of course, PC players have access to mods, but console players aren't in the same boat. Kerry's case might be the worst, having the least screentime out of the four and his sexuality was changed from bisexual in the tabletop games to gay for Cyberpunk 2077.
Having at least a couple of other options could have helped Cyberpunk's immersion, and where it's at now isn't all that realistic. With virtually one bisexual option whose story is unfortunately short and boils down to a one-night stand likely doesn't reflect what life would be like, if the purpose of locking Panam's and Judy's romances behind sexuality in the first place is realism. There are many other NPCs with excellent writing and backstories such as Misty, Claire, Takemura, and Jackie that could have been perfect for bisexuality or playersexuality, but the fact that none of them can be romanced left players wanting more.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions in development.