If you like your game's fiendishly difficult, don't turn away from CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 just yet. It might be a more mainstream RPG than some of the Souls-like games out there, but it won't be easy, especially if you turn on hardcore mode. The game will feature a difficulty slider that starts at Just the Story, and ends with Death March. But there will also be a version out there for the masochists and those who want the most immersive experience: a Hardcore mode that will disable the entire user interface.
Difficulty adjustment and multiple ways people can play the game is a core component of CDPR's Cyberpunk strategy. Along with the difficulty slider which will adjust elements such as enemy health, intelligence, and attack damage, there will also be weapons catering to those more interested in story progression rather than min-maxing their character.
"If you recall from last year’s demo, we had a weapon called the smart gun, which helps you aim," Cyberpunk 2077 UI coordinator Alvin Liu told WCCFtech. "The bullets were much slower and usually a bit weaker. But if your aiming isn’t your forte, you can always pick up the smart gun."
While this all sounds great, we hope that CDPR provides an option to turn off elements of the UI independently of difficulty mode. Interfaces can be so intrusive with tonnes of information to keep track of, that it would be lovely to play an experience that's truly open and free of all the numbers that make modern games possible.
Here's hoping we finally get that in Monster Hunter: World with the Iceborne expansion too.