The Best Cyberpunk 2077 Mods Right Now — Toys, Overhauls, and Real Upgrades for Night City

Why These Cyberpunk 2077 Mods Matter Now

Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 overhaul and Phantom Liberty expansion gave Night City a second life, and CD Projekt Red’s free REDmod tools finally put a proper mod manager on Steam and GOG. That combination turned a great comeback into an absolute playground. The catch? REDmod helps with load order and installs, but many must-have mods still rely on script frameworks like Cyber Engine Tweaks (CET), RED4ext, TweakXL, and Material and Texture Override. Translation: it’s easy to jump in now, but the real magic happens when you mix REDmod with the community’s battle-tested tools.

Key Takeaways

• REDmod makes installing and organizing mods far simpler, but CET-based mods are still essential.
• You can tailor Night City to your taste: movement toys, smarter systems, cleaner UI, and massive visual upgrades.
• Balance matters-some mods are pure power fantasy; others make the streets meaner. Build your loadout with intent.
• Watch dependencies and patch notes; 2.0+ compatibility is usually listed, and most creators keep pace with updates.

Quality-of-Life First: Make The Game Feel Right

This is where I start every new playthrough. DJ_Kovrik’s Limited HUD trims the visual clutter, adding a hotkey to nuke the UI when you just want vibes and neon. Pair it with the Native Settings UI Add-On to wrangle mod settings in-game instead of babysitting .ini files. If inventory friction killed your last run, Revised Backpack fixes sorting and item lists in a way the 2.0 update should’ve done out of the box. And because the vanilla map is stylish but useless, Realistic Map swaps it for a clean, high-res render so you can actually find that door without doing three loops of Japantown.

Playstyle Overhauls: Consequences, Skills, and New Toys

If you want Night City to push back, They Will Remember makes gangs hold grudges. Waste a Tyger Claws crew, and Japantown won’t forget-suddenly, your fast travel routes and gig choices matter. Miss the pre-2.0 logic? Pre-2.0 Skill Checks stops doors from magically hard-scaling with your level and puts the emphasis back on your build, not a number that floats with XP. For netrunners, Breach Takedown adds a third takedown option that instantly uploads hacks-perfect for chaos artisans who hate minigame interruptions. If you want everything, New Level Cap pushes cap to 80 so you can eventually fill out the tree, though I’d argue restraint keeps the power curve interesting.

Then there are the headline-grabbers. Grappling Hook finally lets you play the vertical game properly—swing to rooftops, punch into combat, and level up the tool as you go. It changes how you approach gigs. Flying Car is pure sci-fi indulgence and a brilliant photo mode assistant, though it absolutely trivializes street-level danger. Want to truly remix combat scenarios? Drone Companions adds a TechDeck OS and lets you craft everything from scout drones to human-like androids and mechs, complete with rarity tiers and upgrades like stealth and lasers. It’s basically a new subsystem layered onto V’s kit.

Immersion and Roleplay: Live Your Version of V

Zenitex Military Store is a lore-friendly vendor that feels like it shipped with the game—clean Apple-core aesthetics, handsome kit, and a reason to browse a new storefront mid-run. Cutscene Weapon Swapper fixes that immersion-breaking moment when a scene puts a random gun in V’s hands; it’s WIP, but already solves a pet peeve. For shutterbugs, Photo Mode NPCs Extended unlocks 200+ characters (including Phantom Liberty faces) for choreographing your own Night City stories. If you’ve always wanted that Witcher crossover fantasy, the Ciri 2077 presets guide lets you recreate her look, and the Cyberpunk Edgerunner Guns replacements put Lucy’s and Rebecca’s pistols in rotation—just mind the TweakXL and material override dependencies.

Visual Upgrades: From Tasteful to Total Overhaul

For a big lift with minimal tinkering, Cyberpunk HD Reworked Project by Halk Hogan is the safe bet—multiple quality tiers from balanced to ultra target everything from sidewalks to lanterns and play nice with 2K/4K. If you want to go harder, XilaMonstrr’s 4K texture packs aim to rework the world piece by piece with an eye toward performance. Night City Recolor randomizes neon and hologram sign colors on load, keeping your city walks fresh, while Phil’s HDR Reshade dials in contrast without going full sunglasses-at-night. If you’re feeling cheeky, The Matrix reshade adds that green-tinted nostalgia, but don’t expect bullet time—pair it with movement mods to sell the fantasy.

Frameworks and Foundations: The Stuff That Makes It All Work

Cyber Engine Tweaks is still the backbone for a lot of heavy-lifting mods and in-game tools like Simple Menu for testing, teleporting, or cleaning up a bugged quest. Native Interactions Framework opens the door to new animations—sitting, dancing, playing guitar—small touches that make apartments and bars feel like places, not sets. And if you’re mod-curious but wary, remember: REDmod’s client on Steam and GOG smooths installation and load order, while most creators list exactly which frameworks you need.

What to Watch Out For

Two practical tips from many modded runs: first, build profiles. Keep a “photo-tour” setup with visual packs and flight, and a “street-level” save with tougher gangs and grounded traversal. Second, read the posts. When Night City updates, creators usually patch fast, but mixing outdated scripts with new REDmod packages is how you brick a save. Backups are your real Sandevistan.

TL;DR

REDmod made modding Cyberpunk 2077 far easier, but the best experiences still blend CET frameworks with curated picks. Start with QoL (Limited HUD, Revised Backpack, Realistic Map), add one or two big swings (Grappling Hook, Drone Companions), then flavor with visuals and roleplay. Night City’s yours—just mod with intent.