When it was released in December 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was glitchy as hell. Five years later, we’re still playing it … but why?
Chapters
00:00 The Allure of Cyberpunk 2077
01:53 Cyberpunk’s Reflection of Reality
04:24 Exploration and Discovery in Night City
06:55 Game Mechanics and Play Styles
09:43 Updates, Mods, and Community Engagement
12:36 Emotional Storytelling and Character Impact
17:54 The Evolution of Cyberpunk 2077
22:37 Realistic Dialogue and Player Choices
24:32 Interweaving Storylines and Lore
26:39 Bittersweet Endings and Moral Compromises
32:00 Gameplay Mechanics and Character Development
36:31 Future of Cyberpunk
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Show Notes
Huge, Immersive World
- We want to discuss how Cyberpunk feels oddly familiar…like, even with all the over-the-top-ness of the ads, the violence, etc, the concepts are familiar because we are sort of living in it right now. I have THOUGHTS on this. ( we were raised on Star Wars, or Trek, Or Harry Potter, and Cyberpunk. Which of those actually gives you a blueprint for today?)
- Exploration of the sights, sounds, and in world storytelling is deep. I have played several times and still discover something new when I have another playthrough.
Ignore the main quest, focus on the small stuff
- THe main quest is pretty great, but there is SO MUCH small stuff that it is a lot of fun on replayed to focus on different small sidequests and details.
- One criticism: you can max out your level and such fairly early by doing this. I’d love a mod that lets you keep levelling up.
Multiple starts
- Latest editions of the game added some RPG lines specific for each start, which was good. I’m not sure they made a difference in the overall story plot, but it was good from an immersive RPG standpoint.
- Great being able to play the game for the 4th? 5th? time and still get a new experience when going the Corpo route.
Multiple endings
- Yep, and even the ones for Phantom Liberty are noteworthy.
- And can be very noir – endings that are not tidy. Or even truly happy.
So Many Toys…
So Much Lore
- The texts you find, the documents you read in the side quests, they often reference other sidequests or jobs.
- There is a ton of lore you can learn if that’s your thing.
- The old just won’t leave us.
It tells a good story. It brings into question what we are here for and how we leave this life.
- When I think about this game, I think a lot of the joyful/rageful defiance that informs Punk. The question “How does one live when all signs point to being trod upon and powerless?” comes up, and Cyberpunk (fiction in general) often answers this with that defiance, usually in the scenery or side characters. Usually it means breaking the law, but in this situation where the law is corrupt and unjust, it is easy to see why that decision is made.
- I believe this dovetails into my earlier thoughts about CP being familiar on a level.
Mods:
- Dark Future mod for Cyberpunk 2077
- DayDream Gaming Night City Videos
- 36 Streets
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Edgerunner artwork from Cyberpunk 2077.