To be fair to the setting, “scary 80s Pajan” is a core part of the 1980s conception of what Cyberpunk was, and this is an adaptation of a specific setting first created in the 1980s. I also don’t think the main plot does a good job of really getting the setting across at all, as it’s pretty laser-focused on V and Johnny. It’s laden with side content and lore that paints a much more fleshed-out picture of the world.
I will admit the plot is kinda meh. They made a serious error having V be an apolitical dickbag for the entire plot. He’s supposed to be just some average Night City low-life player stand-in, and it’s entirely appropriate that you eat shit and die going up against a giant corporation, but it means that V can’t properly engage with anything that Johnny is saying. Not like there are any factions to engage with anyway.
If nothing else, remember this: Yorinobu Arasaka did nothing wrong
I’d be fine with some homage/nostalgia bits if it went more past that instead of just digging in, then and there, while moving the calendar date up some decades.
I’m going to be a real asshole now and argue that the total cultural stagnation adds a bit to the bleakness of the setting and Johnny even points it out in several instances
Shadowrun, as a counter-example that you definitely can’t dismiss as easily as the other one I gave, is a franchise that decade after decade, for better or for worse, does change. It can be a bleak, even dark setting, but it doesn’t wallow in creativity-stifling excuses like “if nothing changes, that’s actually the message. Yeah, that’s the ticket.” It also helps that there’s a lot of urban-legend style street magic and lots of color and variety so it isn’t just 1980s aesthetics forever and ever.
I know what it’s doing. It’s awfully convenient too, to just extend what was in the 2020s to the 2070s and say “it’s the same because it’s bleaker that way, maaaan.”
Could have been bleaker in newer, updated ways, the way Watch Dogs 2 was, for example.
tbh I’ve not seen anything of Watch Dogs or its sequel that made me do anything but disregard it as shallow trash, but then again I never looked very closely. So maybe I’m just too dismissive. What’s so great about it?
I think I might just be enamored by the experience of deflecting bullets with a katana and using a mag rifle to shoot people through walls or something but I really do love the setting of CP2077. I’m willing to overlook that bit of laziness and let it rest on its laurels, because I really felt they nailed the atmosphere even if it was a janky piece of shit.
tbh I’ve not seen anything of Watch Dogs or its sequel that made me do anything but disregard it as shallow trash,
I feel the same way about the CDPR take on the Cyberpunk franchise. I gave up playing it and watched some fairly long critical reviews instead.
What’s so great about it?
I could ask the same question. I didn’t say Watch Dogs 2 was high art but it was trying something other than “what if Cyberpunk setting but 50 years later with more copaganda and a lot less punk?”
I think I might just be enamored by the experience of deflecting bullets with a katana and using a mag rifle to shoot people through walls or something
That’s fine and you can enjoy that all you like. I’m talking themes and messaging for the most part, not moment to moment gameplay. The game certainly is less of a chore to actually play than the Witcher series was.
Something can be stale to the point of being Flanderized in its own genre, which is fine and even good to some, but not to others.
part of the reason cyberpunk has remained relevant is precisely because the things it critiqued in its early days are still present today
Sure, sure, but updating almost nothing to meet the present reality (even the USSR is somewhat still existence in the game’s setting) is making that “still present today” more and more vague.
Cyberpunkerinos is about sexy sex with prosthetics and neon and helping cops and saving the president.
Cyberlumpen 2077
Considering just how stale the political views and even the aesthetics are (dae le scary 80s Japan corps), may as well call it Cyberboomer.
Fucking Watch Dogs 2 had a more convincing and thought out cyberpunk setting with some actual punk vibes.
To be fair to the setting, “scary 80s Pajan” is a core part of the 1980s conception of what Cyberpunk was, and this is an adaptation of a specific setting first created in the 1980s. I also don’t think the main plot does a good job of really getting the setting across at all, as it’s pretty laser-focused on V and Johnny. It’s laden with side content and lore that paints a much more fleshed-out picture of the world.
I will admit the plot is kinda meh. They made a serious error having V be an apolitical dickbag for the entire plot. He’s supposed to be just some average Night City low-life player stand-in, and it’s entirely appropriate that you eat shit and die going up against a giant corporation, but it means that V can’t properly engage with anything that Johnny is saying. Not like there are any factions to engage with anyway.
If nothing else, remember this: Yorinobu Arasaka did nothing wrong
I’d be fine with some homage/nostalgia bits if it went more past that instead of just digging in, then and there, while moving the calendar date up some decades.
I’m going to be a real asshole now and argue that the total cultural stagnation adds a bit to the bleakness of the setting and Johnny even points it out in several instances
Shadowrun, as a counter-example that you definitely can’t dismiss as easily as the other one I gave, is a franchise that decade after decade, for better or for worse, does change. It can be a bleak, even dark setting, but it doesn’t wallow in creativity-stifling excuses like “if nothing changes, that’s actually the message. Yeah, that’s the ticket.” It also helps that there’s a lot of urban-legend style street magic and lots of color and variety so it isn’t just 1980s aesthetics forever and ever.
I know what it’s doing. It’s awfully convenient too, to just extend what was in the 2020s to the 2070s and say “it’s the same because it’s bleaker that way, maaaan.”
Could have been bleaker in newer, updated ways, the way Watch Dogs 2 was, for example.
tbh I’ve not seen anything of Watch Dogs or its sequel that made me do anything but disregard it as shallow trash, but then again I never looked very closely. So maybe I’m just too dismissive. What’s so great about it?
I think I might just be enamored by the experience of deflecting bullets with a katana and using a mag rifle to shoot people through walls or something but I really do love the setting of CP2077. I’m willing to overlook that bit of laziness and let it rest on its laurels, because I really felt they nailed the atmosphere even if it was a janky piece of shit.
I feel the same way about the CDPR take on the Cyberpunk franchise. I gave up playing it and watched some fairly long critical reviews instead.
I could ask the same question. I didn’t say Watch Dogs 2 was high art but it was trying something other than “what if Cyberpunk setting but 50 years later with more copaganda and a lot less punk?”
That’s fine and you can enjoy that all you like. I’m talking themes and messaging for the most part, not moment to moment gameplay. The game certainly is less of a chore to actually play than the Witcher series was.
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I wasn’t asking for that.
Something can be stale to the point of being Flanderized in its own genre, which is fine and even good to some, but not to others.
Sure, sure, but updating almost nothing to meet the present reality (even the USSR is somewhat still existence in the game’s setting) is making that “still present today” more and more vague.