As soon as CD Projekt Red announced that it was making Cyberpunk 2077, the comparisons to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt were an inevitability. Nobody gets to make a game that is a cultural phenomenon and regarded as one of the best games of all time while avoiding comparisons between it and its next big project. It might not be fair, but that's how the universe works.
For better or for worse, Cyberpunk 2077 is its own game with its own identity and its own goals. It does not pretend to be a Witcher game with a futuristic skin. With that said, no creation can remove all traces of fingerprints by the ones who crafted it. It's appropriate to see the two games as different members of the same family.
10 Like The Witcher: Rocky Launch
The glitch list is starting to pile up and get more and more absurd for Cyberpunk 2077. This is nothing new for CD Projekt Red, the glitches, bugs, and crashes were a serious problem when The Witcher 3 debuted. Five years later, crash solutions are still hot topics on YouTube.
The Witcher 3 received a significant update to fix core mechanics that involved combat and progression as well. So anyone disappointed by Cyberpunk 2077 should use some patience, maybe even wait for a couple of years, because that's what it took to iron out the last game from this company.
9 Totally Unique: Customized Protagonist
Beginners make a lot of mistakes, like thinking that the game will do the heavy-lifting with the protagonist in the area of role-playing. Not so. V is not Geralt and needs to be designed from the ground up.
This is not only evident in character building, but also in background. Geralt knew who he was at the start of The Witcher 3 and everyone else knew him as well. In Cyberpunk 2077, nobody knows about you or your past; you have to create it.
8 Like The Witcher: Plans For More Content
Players are expecting a lot of important quality of life fixes and that's something they are right to expect, not just because of the current state of the game, but because it's in the history of CD Projekt Red.
Free DLCs were announced well before the release date of both games. The Witcher 3 did not disappoint, unleashing an onslaught of everything from cosmetics to expansions. Likewise, free DLC is in the works already for Cyberpunk 2077.
7 Totally Unique: Combat
Geralt always feels somewhat strong regardless of how he's built, but V can either feel like a totally overpowered monster or like a sniveling schoolboy. A huge part of this is because the player's ability to shoot guns changes the entire experience.
Furthermore, shooting a submachine gun is nothing like casting a fireball. And swinging a katana feels much different than wielding a silvered sword. Combat has appropriately evolved in Night City since the medieval-inspired world of The Witcher 3.
6 Like The Witcher: Travelling The World
You can be reliably sure that if you have to travel in The Witcher 3, you'll find nature, architecture, lore, stories, and other quests in between the two points. Thankfully, while Night City might look more updated, this is something they both share.
You can't go anywhere in Cyberpunk 2077 without seeing a crime in progress, or a vendor asking for help, or a cyberpsycho on the loose. Every drive is going to be interrupted with many stops if you plan on really experiencing all the world has to offer.
5 Totally Unique: Lighting
The sunset and god rays are beautiful in The Witcher 3, but you haven't seen anything until you've come to Night City. Ray tracing technology has been not just utilized but mastered in Cyberpunk 2077 and the gamers get to reap the reward.
Forgive the pun, but Geralt can't hold a "torch" to V's muzzle flashes, neon billboards, and lit-up soda machines. The way the lights interact with water and rain is also a sight to behold.
4 Like The Witcher: Memorable Characters
Both games leave the concept of calling someone a "quest giver" in the dust. The Witcher 3 made even the lowliest peasant memorable with beautiful voice acting and detailed character design.
That has not changed here. Fixers set you up with gigs and each one, from T Bug to Dexter DeShawn to Evelyn to Rogue all have their own stories and personalities. There are a lot of hands that feed you and each one has a special place in the universe.
3 Totally Unique: Side Gigs
Cyberpunk 2077 is no stranger to some amazing side quests, but they are designed much differently than The Witcher 3. The latter game could turn a frying pan into a questline that took you to the ends of the earth.
Side gigs are all over the map and flavored differently in Cyberpunk 2077, but they can mostly be done without any context. Kill the bad guys, loot the body, deposit the quest item at a dispensary, that's 90% of the game.
2 Like The Witcher: Equipment
Some of the cybernetic augmentations from Cyberpunk 2077 have some basis in real life, but real or no, they're all too advanced for Geralt. Still, perhaps the most shocking similarity between the two games is the inventory.
Replace "swords" with "guns" and "potions" with "consumables" and you've basically got the gist of how to manage your spots. There are tiered weapons, upgrade capabilities, and gear slots. What you are equipping might be futuristic, but they're all grounded in The Witcher 3's system design.
1 Totally Unique: Endings
Spoiler warning for anyone who hasn't completed the game! Many players are confused about the game and find it contains a lot of nonsense. This questioning has bled over into the ending.
Unlike The Witcher 3, there isn't a "good" or "bad" ending, they are all pretty bad. What does change is V's ability to cope with impending doom. Plus, the game actually ends. Geralt can continue his adventure, but V's time is about up.