Cyberpunk 2077 is by far and away the biggest game this holiday season. CD Projekt Red revealed that eight million pre-orders were sold, let alone new copies purchased on day one, putting it amongst the likes of GTA V and The Last of Us Part II as one of the biggest games in recent times.

There are multiple reports of the game having a litenany of bugs and glitches, especially on base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, but there's no denying just how massive the game is in scope and scale. Indeed, it can be a bit overawing when you first set foot in Night City.

That's why we have put together a few handy hints and tips for beginners, to help you get started with Cyberpunk 2077.

How to change Cyberpunk 2077 graphics modes

Before you even play the game, you can change the graphics settings - on PC and Xbox Series X, at least.

The PC version has a huge range of different sliders to help you get the best visual performance for your specs. However, most consoles don't offer anything above minor tweaks on things like "film grain" and the HDR brightness for your specific TV.

Xbox Series X owners do get an additional option, though. You can choose to either prioritorise Performance or Quality in the settings. Performance offers 60fps with lower resolutions, while Quality favours resolution over frame rates.

Strangely, this is not an option on any other console - including PS5 and Xbox Series S.

To change between the modes on Series X, either open the settings on the homescreen when you first load the game, click on Graphics in the top bar and you will see an option to change between modes. Alternatively, open the main menu by hitting the View button on your Xbox Wireless Controller, then you can access the settings in the same way.

Install the game on Xbox Series X/S or PS5 SSD

One of the major problems experienced by players on PS4 or Xbox One is that textures sometimes take a long while to pop into a scene.

Sadly, until this is patched by CD Projekt Red, there's no way to fix this on current-gen consoles as it is thought to be at least partly caused by slow reading rates of physical hard drives (even external).

If you own a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S though, you can get around this by installing the game on your internal SSD (or Expansion Card), even though it is technically still running in backward compatibility for each.

On PS5, you might need to switch off the option in the console's storage settings that automatically installs PS4 games to an external drive - or move your current installation to the internal drive instead.

Engage subtitles if you want to understand everything

Like us, you might have an urge to disable subtitles to get a more immersive experience - this is a role-playing game after all. However, if you want to ensure you understand everything that is said in the game, you might want to turn on the "cinematic" subtitles mode in the Sound settings. This will translate any dialogue in important story segments so you always know what people are saying when speaking another language.

This can also be done during the story segments where it is important, by heading to the main menu screen and settings just as someone starts to utter something you don't understand. You will miss the translation of that specific line, but the rest will then pop up on screen as text.

Choosing your Cyberpunk 2077 lifepath

Before the game starts you will need to create your character and one of the choices on offer is your lifepath. You get to choose between Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo, with each offering a different scenario/mission to get you into the game.

Nomad, for example, starts you outside Night City, in the Badlands. Corpo starts you off as an employee of the Araska Corporation. While, Streetkid starts you as a small time criminal making a life from the hustle.

They opening prologue lasts 20-25 minutes, when all three converge and the story takes off in similar fashion. Main missions will then be indentical, although side quests can differ depending on your chosen lifepath. You will also have slightly different dialogue options depending on your path, which could help finish some main missions in alternative ways.

Apart from that, the majority of your game experience will be the same.

Levelling up your character stats and adding perks

When you gain a new level, you also receive attribute and perk points. However, it's not immediately clear how to use them, so hopefully this will help.

Attribute points improve your key stats and can be spent on each of your main attributes - Body, Reflexes, Technical Ability, Intelligence and Cool. Just hovver over the one you want to increase and hold the "X" button (or "square" on PlayStation).

More vague is how to add your perk points. You need to again hovver over one of your attributes but this time hit "A" (or "X" on PlayStation). It will bring up all the available perks for that attribute type. Choose one and hold "X"/"square" on it to assign the point. Some perks can be stacked to increase their effect.

How to change clothes in Cyberpunk 2077

You can change your clothing by hitting the Menu button on an Xbox controller or Options button on PlayStation and then heading to your inventory.

You will see your character in the middle and the clothing options on the right-hand side. Select any of the different apparel slots and it will give you a choice between any of the clothes you happen to be carrying (ie. bought or picked up on your journey).

There will be some alternative clothing items in your apartment. You just need to pick them all up from your wardrobe near the door and put them on through the steps outlined above.

How to buy a car in Cyberpunk 2077

You cannot buy a car until you have hit a certain point in the main missions - around four hours in if you are playing it like us.

Sadly, you can't just waltz into a showroom and pick a vehicle, you have to wait until one is offered to you via a text message. You can then track that "mission" to go to the location to buy it.

Alternatively, you can earn cars and motorbikes in other set missions, or steal one Grand Theft Auto style. You will need specific attributes to do so, however.

Where is Johnny Silverhand?

You are more than likely aware that Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Silverhand, an ex-rock star who ends up tied to you in virtual form. However, you need some patience before you get to see him for the first time as ge only appears after The Heist - a massive campaign mission that effectively ends the entire prologue of the game.

How to holster a weapon in Cyberpunk 2077

Some of you might wonder how to holster a weapon in the game - after all, you don't want to go around waving a gun in people's faces all the while.

It's actually quite simple, just double tap the "Y" button on an Xbox controller, or "triangle" on PlayStation. On PC, you can press and hold ALT to bring up the weapon wheel and move to the crossed out gun icon or simply double tap ALT. 

Save your game often

Our final big tip for now is to ensure you save your game regularly. This is essential in all major RPGs and even more so for Cyberpunk 2077 as there are multiple endings in the game and, unless you want to start afresh each time, you can see several of them by heading back to earlier saves.

In addition, we found that some missions that involve combat sent you back to a very early checkpoint if you die - even before some of the combat sections you've already completed. So we advise you save at each point in a mission where you've passed a tough combat area and shortly before the next.

To do so, just head to the menu screen and press "Y'/"triangle" to quick save. Or click on the Save Game option and do it manually.

We will add further tips and tricks as we find out more. Hopefully these above will help you navigate Night City for now.