Cyberpunk 2077 - The only truly Punk Move is not to play @ NPR

Ripper said:

Also, if were the editor, I might say, "Shall we not go straight for the Hitler, out of the gate? Maybe ease them in a little?"

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Can't ease them in if you need the clicks. :/

Now let's all get the popcorn ready for the inevitable "we were attacked by toxic internet trolls for publishing a game review" follow up article. Gotta milk this thing good. They can't pull that stunt every day.

Cacheperl said:

Can't ease them in if you need the clicks. :/

Now let's all get the popcorn ready for the inevitable "we were attacked by toxic internet trolls for publishing a game review" follow up article. Gotta milk this thing good. They can't pull that stunt every day.

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Regrettably your correct and that actually happened already. One of my channels I watch went after an IGN reviewer who barely played the game, and surprise she was female.

Twitter blew up and his channel was flagged for misogyny and hate speech.

"The game tries so hard to be cool -- to come off as crass and edgy, to talk tough and play like some kind of anti-capitalist anarchy generator. But you lean too hard into that act and it will always come off more like a desperate pose than anything honest."

I feel as though this is on purpose, and this irony is in my view part of the fun. Most everyone tries to be all tuff 'n stuff but some of them are as fake as the glossy ads. Seems realistic to me.

With every over-hyped release, with sensational PR comes games that can not live up to the lofty expectations. Some believe it should be a ground-breaking, revolutionary experience which has levels of immersion never experienced before. Others will believe that such a prominent media-piece should adhere strictly to their political values and contain a 'message' or some form of socio-political activism/progression, even have an obligation to do so. The Paste review, as linked in a previous comment, even brings this in and somehow eludes to the fact that a metascore of 86 as a negative. Yes, we know the console versions needed a further 4 - 6 months in development, but the PC version is absolutely fine with only standard bugs and glitches for an open-world rpg (who remembers Fallout 3 at launch?). Then we have the obvious 'clickbait' articles which are also now obligatory with every AAA release. Put the name 'Hitler' in your headline.. sorted.. bring the clicks home!! The fact is Cyberpunk is not revolutionary, not delivering an overt political message other than the standard dystopian tale but plays extremely well on PC and is a robust and solid rpg with nice visuals and half decent tale to tell.. for some of us that's enough!

I agree with SkullScience - after Witcher 3 for many Cyberpunk 2077 was a must buy with very high expectations.
And if your expectations are not fulfilled - you're getting disappointed bitterly.

Well, TW3 and especially the with Blood & Wine expansion is my favorite game of all time.
So of course I have been more than interested in CP77.
But I never really got hyped. First reason was the setting. Classic fantasy is clearly my favourite, followed by SciFi with "magic" (like Star Wars or Mass Effect).
Then I learned about first person which is also not my favorite.

Also I didn't follow the PR machine and ignored all of the previews.

So it still is a must buy (in fact I preordered) and I'm very much looking forward to play it. And I'm quite sure I won't be disappointed.

I wasn't disappointed either as Cyberpunk 2077 was basically Witcher III 2.0. Like SkullScience said above it's an average rpg with nice visuals, and a good story.

See that works for me as I'm a story first player and everything else is secondary to me in RPGs. Also I didn't expect something revolutionary either due to hardware limitations.

Having said that the entire game is a lesson about mismanagement at the top.

My guess is that in a couple years we'll see a game called "Cyberpunk 2077: Rebooted" (or some name like that) with a massive overhaul and a bunch of fixes and improvements.

I'm not a big fan of this genre, and I dislike driving in games—especially the type of driving that involves flying streetlight poles and such. Plus, 125 different flavors of guns doesn't do much for me.

This game sounds like 2020's version of "Project Dylan"… A.K.A., "Anthem"

Also: check out ACG's recent review. He's about the only game reviewer I (mostly) trust. He's a PC-first type, too.

I can wait.

Driving is something you should not worry about.
It's only a mean to reach some spot faster than on foot when it's a bit far from a fasttravel point.

There are no races. In fact there is a questchain with carracing, but you do not need to reach #1 place in any of qualifying races - just make sure you finish them. The race questchain finale has a choice - you'll either go finish it or follow the wish from the questgiver.

btw, I hate any kind of racing in videogames and do not want to buy games about it. To me, Mafia games are plain bullshit because of formula racing.
When I say driving in CP is not irritating content, will you trust me who can't stand it when something is not supposed to be a racing game or those who spent decades playing only Need4Speed?

FizzyShellfish said:

I'm not a big fan of this genre

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You don't like RPGs?

FizzyShellfish said:

This game sounds like 2020's version of "Project Dylan"… A.K.A., "Anthem"

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It's not even remotely similar to Anthem.

I played on the easiest setting.

The driving is fine, it's as slow (or crazy) as you like and there is a fast travel system. I chose motorbike mostly though did have a phase of stealing cars in my (level) 20s. I enjoyed trundling along slowly just to explore. I am not a driver or an action-shooter person. I gave up on watchdogs 1 because the driving wasn't fun for me. My attempts to play racing/driving games are legendary (and not in a good way).

With regard to guns, there is an interesting crafting system but it is possible to do the game purely with one or two good gun types you like. Those systems are there for those who are enthused by them. I know my godson will be collecting all the cars, building his guns, doing a melee build but there is still an immense story & game for us to find lots of common ground and chat about.

NPR, that most punk of all news outlets.

I'm sure I'll enjoy the game once I play it. But edgy urban sci-fi with lots of titties and swears just isn't my preferred setting. But at least it's not yet another post apocalyptic game.

My point about Project Dylan is that the game made a lot of promises that were ultimately broken and had a ton of hype and marketing—and delays—only to launch with a massive amount of performance issues, bugs and—fairly—shallow game play.

Waiting on this one for a long while.

FizzyShellfish said:

I'm sure I'll enjoy the game once I play it. But edgy urban sci-fi with lots of titties and swears just isn't my preferred setting. But at least it's not yet another post apocalyptic game.

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Correction not to many titties but correct on the swears. Not kidding the game only has two joy toys for you to play with everything else just being eye candy.

Shame on you CDPR Geralt had many more options.

Also makes no sense to include sexual BD's that aren't compatible with your tech. Seems they removed a lot of sexual stuff due to time, lack of resources, or censorship reasons.

Couchpotato said:

correct on the swears.

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Basically, when you see a dialogue option "bullshit", you take it regardless of other ones. I did. And it rocked.

Sometimes when it's not bull, but just shit, the other option might sound more fun. Here's an example:

JDR13 said:

You don't like RPGs?



It's not even remotely similar to Anthem.

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Well, if we compare these games to a couple of games that introduced me to RPGs and had me feeling like RPGs were by far my favourite genre for years…

Bards Tale.
Races = 7
Classes = 10+
Party size = 6
Dialogue options = minimal
Combat system = Turn based text only

Curse of the Azure Bonds.
Races = 6
Classes = 6
Party size = 6
Dialogue options = very minimal
Combat system = Turn based tactical

Cyberpunk 2077
Races = 1
Classes = 1
Party Size = 1
Dialogue options = Lots
Combat system = Real time FPS based action

Anthem
Races = 1
Classes = 4
Party Size = 4
Dialogue options = Lots
Combat system = Real time 3PS based action

It would appear that 2077 has at least a remote similarity to Anthem and also closer resembles Anthem than it does classic RPGs while Anthem would appear to be closer to classic RPGs than Cyberpunk!

Perhaps it is YOU who doesn't like RPGS?!

Oof at this weird, arbitrary scale. Races? C'mon. Minimal dialogue choices mean more of an RPG? C'mon again. Classes = 1? Only if you're still completely wed to the idea that you only have options for your "class" if the game has a specific name for it.

JFarrell71 said:

Oof at this weird, arbitrary scale. Races? C'mon. Minimal dialogue choices mean more of an RPG? C'mon again. Classes = 1? Only if you're still completely wed to the idea that you only have options for your "class" if the game has a specific name for it.

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Well, what class options would you say 2077 has? Pistol? Shotgun? Blade? Assault rifle? Quickhacks?

How does the class progression compare to Doom Eternal with its perks and weapon mods? Pretty similar? Besides the quickhacks Doom probably has more build customisation.

Doom has a little less dialogue and story and no options to pick from, but a far better layout of ammo, health kits and items. Far better combat balance, better action, better performance. Does allowing the player to pick from "you're full of shit" and "cool story bro" really make it into an RPG or is it just a shit FPS with dialogue options where you drive your car to subpar levels?

Solasta was buggy and unfinished, too, but at least I felt like I was playing an RPG.

Playing 2077 to me feels like a bad FPS version of GTA with a Deus Ex theme.

Even Hitman feels far more like an RPG to me with its excellent mission design where you can literally eavesdrop on people; naturally learning about the world and discovering ways to approach the mission goal. The world feels alive with people going about their business with NPC behavior routines that Todd Howard could only dream of. But 2077 maybe you sneak a bit or quickhack someone or just go in guns blazing but there's far less depth and roleplaying in a mission than a Hitman level.