Project Orion Needs its Own ‘Beat on the Brat’ Quest

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 1, 2024 25 Views 7 Min Read
Project Orion Needs its Own 'Beat on the Brat' Quest



Cyberpunk 2077 has set a new benchmark for open-world RPGs with its gritty narrative, expansive world-building, dystopian punk themes, and a broad range of gameplay mechanics. Among its many elements that stood out, one was the combat system, which gave players the option to engage in both ranged and melee combat. The Beat on the Brat questline, in particular, was fun, came with a learning curve, and zeroed in on melee combat in a way most games don’t.




Cyberpunk 2077‘s in-development sequel Project Orion could benefit from incorporating a similar quest—one that introduces players to the brutal hand-to-hand combat scene once again, whilst providing a series of difficult challenges to test and improve their fighting skills. All this as the whole quest connects and deepens the lore in some way.

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Project Orion Should Go All-in on One Overlooked Side of Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel, Project Orion, needs to do a lot to raise the bar for the IP, and one major style of side content could be the key to this.

Why Project Orion Needs a Melee Combat Quest

Project Orion needs to introduce a similar quest or series of challenges to amp up melee combat for two reasons. One is to teach players how to fight up close and the second is because it’s such a unique quest for an open-world game. One of the core appeals of Beat on the Brat was that it took players out of their comfort zone. It was a departure from the typical gunfights, forcing players to rely on different skills — timing, blocking, countering, and understanding the flow of combat. This diversity in combat mechanics is something that Project Orion could expand on, especially given the growing focus on cybernetics and augmented abilities in the series.


In Cyberpunk 2077, the quest structure itself starts relatively easy, with players fighting against fairly simple opponents, but soon escalates to some of the most difficult brawls in the game. For instance, starting from the first fight with the twins in Kabuki, which isn’t particularly difficult, onto the Arroyo fight that requires more counters and dodging, all the way down to the fight with the legendary brawler, Razor. It helps amp up the player’s skill level gradually and shows how fun yet challenging melee combat can be. It wouldn’t be wrong to call this melee-combat-quest a Cyberpunk exclusive at this point and that’s why it needs to be in Project Orion as well.

A Quest Like ‘Beat on the Brat’ Gives Way to Lore


Beat on the Brat is also the type of quest that almost always provides an excellent subtle vehicle for world-building, unlike more story-driven quests like The Heist or Space Oddity. The underground brawls in the original Beat on the Brat represent the brutal realities faced by the lower classes, where people fight for money, status, and survival. The fights show how gangs, street factions, and even corporations exploit the impoverished for their own gains.

Although it’s still unclear what central themes Project Orion will focus on, as long as there are dystopian elements, a quest like this will subtly give power to the lore. The quest doesn’t need to be a carbon copy of Cyberpunk 2077’s Beat on the Brat either. For instance, while Cyberpunk 2077’s version remained largely detached from the influence of broader power structures, Project Orion could shift the focus of the quest to explore those dynamics. If the franchise wants to double down on it, even a Hunger Games-inspired scenario could be a compelling direction to take — but only if it helps the Cyberpunk 2077 lore and blends with it.


Environment and Worldbuilding Through Combat Arenas

In Cyberpunk 2077, the settings of the Beat on the Brat fights are integral to the lore. Each location has its own atmosphere and hints at the culture, power dynamics, or history of the area. For instance, the Pacifica fight is set in a decrepit part of Cyberpunk‘s Night City and adds a gritty, dystopian feel that emphasizes the hopelessness of the characters involved. In Project Orion, similar fight arenas could be used to reflect different parts of whatever Night City equivalent world the game brings with it.

These locations could act as windows into the game’s broader social and political landscape. For example, secret corporate-sponsored arenas could be hidden deep within corporate complexes, symbolizing the powerful influence megacorps have over the lives of individuals. Street fights could similarly take place in slums controlled by resistance groups or criminal syndicates. This way, the gritty, neon-lit environments would continue to echo the anti-corporate, rebellious tone of the Cyberpunk universe.


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