Well, I managed to finish Cyberpunk 2077. Not a perfect experience, but a joyful ride regardless.
There’s something to be said about good cyberpunk. As a genre, I think I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think it really exists any more… even this game isn’t technically cyberpunk in a modern sense. I think it acknowledges that with an alternate history that dates back to the 80s (when the original Cyberpunk RPG was written, I believe). So in a way it’s more alt-timeline sci-fi than cyberpunk… but whatever, I’m splitting hairs. It was fun!
There’s an interesting element to the story, though… and more varied endings than you can shake a really big stick at. A lot of them are “bad” endings (for a loose definition of the word), and I was okay with skipping most of those… but a few offer moral gray areas that are very interesting at the least. And I don’t think any of them are unmitigated “good” endings… something I usually want from my fiction, both what I consume and what I produce. Life is depressing enough without adding to that in fiction, in my humble opinion. But this one was… well, true in spirit, I suppose? Few real cyberpunk stories have “good” or “happy” endings, because the stories are almost never about “good” or “happiness.” They’re about survival, or anger, or fear… but happiness? Not so much.
So they nailed that part at least. And, hey, when I get a rig that can really run CP2077 I absolutely will reinstall and run it. My current machine, being as old as time itself, could barely handle it on Low specs, and while I still had a great time, Night City definitely loses something without the… taste, the scent, the grime you can almost feel. The “punk” part of the world, I suppose.
Anyway. Gave me heaps of inspiration for my own work, and at the end of the day, that’s really want I want from anything I read or watch. Just a few lessons, a couple ideas, maybe a snippet of dialog that stays and can be tweaked a bit.
Heck of a ride, though. Not perfect, and some really questionable editorial decisions, but honestly? I enjoyed it.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!