Cyberpunk 2077's story expansion Shadows of the Past will be available on September 26, 2023. Shadows of the Past continues to transform into a prosthetic-enhanced mercenary V on a high-risk mission to rescue the New American President after her shuttle crashes into Dog Town, the most dangerous area of Night City.
A9VG recently went to CDPR headquarters in Poland to try out Shadows of the Past, and interviewed mission designer Despoina Anetaki, who has worked on Cyberpunk 2077, Shadows of the Past and The Witcher 3: The Complete Edition, where she was responsible for the design and production of mission content, as well as collaborating with other departments in mission design. Below are the details of the interview.
A9VG: The adjective used to introduce Shadow of the Past on the official website is "spy thriller", why did you choose it as the theme of this expansion?
Despoina: Spy Thriller is a very good fit for the cyberpunk theme, it has a dark, bleak atmosphere and action-oriented interpretation, and at the same time there is relatively little exploration of the spy thriller genre in the video game medium, so we decided to bring a new experiment to our game while fitting the original game.
A9VG: As a spy warfare-based expansion, will hacker streaming have an advantage in it?
Despoina: We've added a new Relic skill tree to Shadows of the Past, which will help you as you explore Shadows of the Past, and of course there are plenty of other things to complement the theme of this expansion. I think any build would be a good fit for this expansion, because it's an RPG and we want you to play your character the way you want, like you can choose the classic Strong Solo stream, you can rush into the crowd and grab enemies and throw them out.
A9VG: At what point in the original game does Shadow of the Past take place? Is it a point in time interspersed with the original?
Despoina: It takes place at the same time as the story of the base game, and you can play the base game while playing the expansion.
A9VG: Will playing Shadows of the Past have any impact on the game? Will there be new endings to the game?
Despoina: There will be an impact, but I think it's better not to go into too much detail right now, because the expansion is very well made, and I don't want spoilers to spoil your experience, and I can say that it's really great.
A9VG: How long is the main story of this expansion, and how long will the total gameplay time be after adding all the side content?
Despoina: It's quite extensive, with a main quest line, some of which you've seen in the media demo and we also have a lot of side quests, like side quests, street stories, sandbox open-world events, like when you leave the hideout with Miles and you can see red smoke in the distance, which is one of the open world events. Of course, there are many more improvements, drastic tweaks to discover, and the new area of Dogtown, which has its own history, people, and codes to explore.
A9VG: I found that the Specialty Skill Tree has been modified, so will people who only play the base game experience the new Specialty and Skill after the expansion is released?
Despoina: New content, skills, etc. will also appear in the base game, but new content that will be unlocked with the expansion story will not be available in the base game.
A9VG: I think the original Specialty Tree has been done very well, what is the reason for revising it?
Despoina: You may have noticed that our Specialty Tree is leaner because we want players to focus on the game rather than having too many Expertise skills to choose from. We'd like to pick some really good perks that you'll focus on when building your own build.
A9VG: Did you add some new builds that weren't there before?
Despoina: We've completely changed some of our skills and specialties, and we're not going to talk too much about it yet, but I want you to discover them as you play.
A9VG: Will there be a new experience with the types of missions in the expansion or the way missions are completed?
Despoina: We're always working to improve the design of our mission and push it forward, and I think Shadows of the Past does that. The types of tasks are largely the same, of course, each task is handcrafted by a group of designers and developers to guarantee that the quality of each task is high. Of course, the spy thriller genre will change the direction of our story, which is not quite the same as the experience of Cyberpunk 2077, which is fresher but still retains a familiar feel.
A9VG: I found Easter eggs for Cyberpunk Edge Walker in the Specialty Plus interface. Will there be Easter eggs in this story?
Despoina: You'll know when you play this expansion (laughs). The best way is for everyone to experience it for themselves and see what you can find, we have a lot of interesting content, Easter eggs, but I can't tell you exactly the details right now.
A9VG: Johnny Silverhand's face modeling looks more polished, can you talk about any other improvements in this area?
Despoina: We've been pushing for quality in every aspect, just like the story and missions, including the visuals, and I'm excited to make Johnny Silver Hand look more realistic. I don't know much about whether the other characters have been changed and redone, because I'm mainly responsible for the mission design part.
A9VG: When Cyberpunk 2077 was first released, there were many bugs that had a great impact on the game's reputation, of course, it has improved a lot since the current version 1.6. So will Cyberpunk 2077: Shadows of the Past focus on this aspect?
Despoina: It's been a few years since then, and as you can see, we've released a lot of patches and DLC, and we're continuing to build a solid foundation for the game to keep Shadow of the Gone in the best shape when it launches. We're very confident and proud of what we've built, and you'll see it for yourself in a demo that it's not a separate buildup, but part of the game.
A9VG: When did this expansion film start?
Despoina: It's hard to answer exactly when it started, but we've been working on this for at least two and a half years, and of course the process is never linear, it's always iterative.
A9VG: What do you think is your favorite or recommended quest in the expansion?
Despoina: I want to talk about some of the moments that I liked in the demo version, first of all, when you try to save Miles, the feeling of "I'm going to save her" is very exciting; And while waiting for Solomon Reid on the basketball court, Johnny kept talking to you trying to distract you, and his words touched you so much that I completely forgot that we were waiting for Reid; And the scene of talking to Reid in the car is like a very classic spy movie, from the way he moves, to the way he turns, to the way he gets into the car, it's very, very cool. I love these moments very much.
A9VG: In reality, there is such an error-correcting code as "Reed-Solomon Code", and the name of the character "Solomon Reed" played by Idris Elba has many similarities, did you choose the name on purpose?
Despoina: We've revealed what we've revealed so far through the media beta, and on top of that, you can use your imagination and hope that you will discover and have fun in the official version of the game.
A9VG: What was the reason for choosing Idris Elba as Solomon Reid?
Despoina: We reached out to him because we thought he was the perfect person to play Solomon Reid, and he played the role like we thought it would, breathing new life into the character. He's also the perfect partner for Keanu Reeves, and it's really great when you see both of them on screen. He exudes coolness, so if you need a cool character, you'll choose his.
A9VG: Are there any other star actors who have joined Shadows of the Past?
Despoina: I can't tell you if you have it or not, we're trying to make this expansion pack a good one, and I can guarantee that there are some really cool things in it, but I can't say what it is, and I'm looking forward to you finding out.