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In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

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Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#11

Post by Pfhreak »

alkonaut wrote: post #10

Bugs aside, I’m not sure it’s right to consider any plot in video games too thin. If you played a Doom game you know that even the silliest pretense for shooting and blowing things up is good enough. It’s not a movie script. Yes, you might hold an RPG to a slightly higher standard than an action game in this regard, but I still think the premise of CP2077 (Or GTA) is more than enough to fill an interesting game. I do…

> I don’t need to “buy” the story if the mechanics are good enough and gameplay is enjoyable. If they could spend another 1000 hours on improving the writing or expanding the game with the poor writing, I’d take the latter every day.

That said, you should understand that what you've shared here is your opinion and isn't a ground truth for videogames. Humans play games for many, many reasons and for some they'd much rather have a smaller experience with excellent writing.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#12

Post by villasv »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Is anyone else weary of dystopian sci-fi? I'd love to see a setting where technology has made the world a practical utopia, and people generally don't have to be wary of each other. It would be tricky to introduce interesting conflict and challenges into such a setting, yes. There are some anime/manga like that, for example Aria [0], which is basically Venice on Mars and the main characters are aspiring gondoliers, w…

Ergo Proxy is somewhat that. The success of the utopia is questionable (kinda the starting point of the story), but the plot is more akin to existential-crisis drama.

I'd bet you know about Psycho Pass, it also shakily satisfies your description.

[0] https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergo_Proxy

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#13

Post by marzell »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Is anyone else weary of dystopian sci-fi? I'd love to see a setting where technology has made the world a practical utopia, and people generally don't have to be wary of each other. It would be tricky to introduce interesting conflict and challenges into such a setting, yes. There are some anime/manga like that, for example Aria [0], which is basically Venice on Mars and the main characters are aspiring gondoliers, w…

I think what has made dystopian sci-fi compelling in the past, is that it points out the flaws of our ideals, and resonates with many of us in an acknowledgement that perfection is impossible, even if we shift society to give more of an appearance of perfection, there's always a significant cost.

Yes, these ideas are played out, and there's tons of bad examples of media that just replays these ideas without bringing anything novel to the table. But I still find the idea of a 'realistic' dystopian sci-fi more potentially compelling than a sugarcoated 'impossible' utopia because I fundamentally believe it can't exist. I cannot conceive of a real utopia in practice, and what someone else may call a utopia I would surely call some sort of nightmare.

Refer to Brave New World as a good example of exactly this dynamic.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#14

Post by rubycon22 »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Is anyone else weary of dystopian sci-fi? I'd love to see a setting where technology has made the world a practical utopia, and people generally don't have to be wary of each other. It would be tricky to introduce interesting conflict and challenges into such a setting, yes. There are some anime/manga like that, for example Aria [0], which is basically Venice on Mars and the main characters are aspiring gondoliers, w…

It's plausible to believe that we'll make all kinds of technological advancements, solve world hunger and such kinds of scarcity, go to Mars, or whatever. However, it's unlikely that humans will ever overcome their greatest enemy, themselves. Such a utopian fantasy is still hard to take in for most people, while it's much easier to imagine things going to shit and degenerating to a cyberpunk dystopia. Humans make the technology and so technology will never be the answer to solving human nature.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#15

Post by BitwiseFool »

eric_b wrote: post #7

Is this what passes for "gaming press" these days? Cyberpunk is not supposed to be some watershed philosophical masterwork. It's a game, bro. And from everyone I've talked to it sounds like it's really fun if you have the hardware to run it, bugs and all.

Maybe the gaming press wants games to be philosophical/political works because it gives them something to write about.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#16

Post by Red29 »

Honestly, I found Cyberpunk really underwhelming and basically stopped playing. Apart from 1 or 2 moments (spider bot is cool,hotel theft job alright.)

It's just very run and gun. And uniteresting. I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I'd love it to be a mix of syndicate (if you know that game), Detroit, and something like a point and click game. Something with a ton of interaction and only a bit of fighting.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#18

Post by bigbubba »

eric_b wrote: post #7

Is this what passes for "gaming press" these days? Cyberpunk is not supposed to be some watershed philosophical masterwork. It's a game, bro. And from everyone I've talked to it sounds like it's really fun if you have the hardware to run it, bugs and all.

The way I see it, the game purports to be cyberpunk so it seems fair to judge the game as cyberpunk.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#19

Post by keiferski »

The sheer amount of hatred being thrown at this game is really something odd. It feels artificial, especially when practically every media outlet has the same vitriolic tone.

I don’t play games much anymore, but I did pick Cyberpunk 2077 up (via Stadia) and I’ve found it to be a blast. Certainly not perfect, but absolutely a world worth exploring. My favorite part are the details; there are tons of little stories and narratives in the items you pick up during each mission. The constant barrage of negativity surrounding it make no sense to me.

Re: In 'Cyberpunk 2077,' the Only Truly Punk Move Is Not to Play

#20

Post by villasv »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #15
eric_b wrote: post #7

Is this what passes for "gaming press" these days? Cyberpunk is not supposed to be some watershed philosophical masterwork. It's a game, bro. And from everyone I've talked to it sounds like it's really fun if you have the hardware to run it, bugs and all.

Maybe the gaming press wants games to be philosophical/political works because it gives them something to write about.

There's the word punk in the title. Why not analyze the game relating to the punk culture (including its philosophy and politics)?

There's enough space on the Internet for "is this game fun?" reviews and "is this game epistemologically sound?" reviews.

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