Cyberpunk 2077: The game that scoured my soul
This game… What can I say about this game? I guess I should start with my bias towards this game. Back when it was announced in 2018 I was hooked. Not with the graphic fidelity of the game or how the sun rays were traced. The story, the idea of turning Cyberpunk Red into a video game had me hooked. Back then I was only entering the DnD, pathfinder, or ttrpg sphere. I was still learning about different systems. I was just getting into Trans-humanism when Cyberpunk 2077 blew my mind. I was honestly obsessed with the game. I had to play the game. I had to play it so bad that I even forestalled my plans to log out of the world early. I had told myself that if this game came out and the story was awful that I would want Lenny to tell me about the rabbits. Considering this post is being written the game met my expectations. For some, I saw the game ran poorly and for others the game didn’t even start working. However, for myself, the game ran fine enough. It was stable enough to work as a medium for the story of cyberpunk to be shoveled down my throat. And man was I gluttonous. I absorbed that story as if my life depended on it. Which is some respect, it did.
Right here is where I would put specific moments in the story that impacted me. As of right now all I have are some snippets of moments. First, the whole rescue of Evelyn. The fact that we, V and Judy, essentially ignore the other kidnapped people to save only the person we were sent there to save felt awful as a player. In their defense, the vast majority of kidnappees were already dead. This also ties into the whole Trauma Team dilemma. How your life matters only as much as you can afford. It’s dystopian, it’s cruel, it’s beautiful. It’s a bleak vision into a possible future where the citizenry loses all autonomy. A future where corporations quite literally run the world. A world where you are either a part of the system or run over by it. Seeing how difficult life would be in Night City makes you somewhat appreciate the little control we have in our lives. That being said, Cyberpunk 2077 is a window into what life could be if we as a society continue down that path.
In lighter news, another moment in the story that kept me fed actually happens in the background. Nearly, in my own experience, every mission, side mission, or gig has an effect on the world around you. Great example, if you side with Militech in the prologue by using the chip given to the player by Meredith, then after the prologue the “rat” in the back of her truck can be found dead off the side of a bridge weighed down by cinder blocks. On the other hand, if you did not use the chip then Meredith would be the person you find dead underwater and the rest of her quest line is gone. Multiple missions link together like this and it is so refreshing to see that your passage through the game has actual effect on the story in both the main storyline and in subtle details that would be overlooked by the majority of the player base. Another example is after killing Jotaro Shobo. Ripples of your assassination rattle the criminal world throughout the city. Depending on how you kill him changes other criminals see V. Stealthily killing him turns V into a boogeyman type. Going loud actually increased the alert levels and paranoia within gangs. I couldn’t tell y’all the exact locations you can find these messages at, but there are a couple that I know of that highlight the fear V put onto the criminals. Like when you’re tasked with assassinating another figure in Shobo’s crime ring. Or when speaking with Woodsman in his mega building. That’s all I got at the moment but I swear there are more examples of this spread throughout the game.
I cannot forget to talk about the score of this game. Especially after Phantom Liberty was added the music in this game was already top tier but with the addition of growl FM and the thematic music within the DLC’s story beats left me in honest ecstasy. Phantom Liberty was one of the few stories that I’ve beaten that left me a rattled mess. Which seems to be the theme with CyberpunkRed branded stories.
Something else I can’t go without mentioning is the sheer depth of the character-based side stories. As in Johnny, River, Panam, Kerry, Judy, and such. They all have rich stories that could use an expansion in my mind. Though, I understand that with the budget and timeframe CDPR had that they couldn’t expand further on those stories.
Nonetheless, the story of Cyberpunk 2077 has so much to offer that I was able to overlook the technical issues the game had at launch. I am fully a part of the team that believes Cyberpunk 2077 would have won GOTY (game of the year) if its release was smooth and not the mess that it was. I will continue to blame shareholders for the mess that the game launched as. See even CDPR knows how detrimental to society and productivity higher ups in corporations can be.
