To be fair to the setting, "scary 80s Pajan" is a core part of the 1980s conception of what Cyberpunk was, and this is an adaptation of a specific setting first created in the 1980s. I also don't think the main plot does a good job of really getting the setting across at all, as it's pretty laser-focused on V and Johnny. It's laden with side content and lore that paints a much more fleshed-out picture of the world.
I will admit the plot is kinda meh. They made a serious error having V be an apolitical dickbag for the entire plot. He's supposed to be just some average Night City low-life player stand-in, and it's entirely appropriate that you eat shit and die going up against a giant corporation, but it means that V can't properly engage with anything that Johnny is saying. Not like there are any factions to engage with anyway.
If nothing else, remember this: Yorinobu Arasaka did nothing wrong
I'm going to be a real asshole now and argue that the total cultural stagnation adds a bit to the bleakness of the setting and Johnny even points it out in several instances
tbh I've not seen anything of Watch Dogs or its sequel that made me do anything but disregard it as shallow trash, but then again I never looked very closely. So maybe I'm just too dismissive. What's so great about it?
I think I might just be enamored by the experience of deflecting bullets with a katana and using a mag rifle to shoot people through walls or something but I really do love the setting of CP2077. I'm willing to overlook that bit of laziness and let it rest on its laurels, because I really felt they nailed the atmosphere even if it was a janky piece of shit.
What I like about CP2077 is that when you take the setting as a whole, not just as presented in the game (though visually and aurally they really do a fantastic fucking job, I really must stress that) it's basically the most purely distilled essence of the genre you can get anywhere. I'm not sure how bleak Watch Dogs 2 is, but is it "Africa and a good chunk of South Asia pretty much entirely depopulated due to starvation since no corporations wanted to invest in hydroponics skyscrapers there" bleak? Is it "rats and homeless people are mentioned in the same breath and both disposed of with nerve gas" bleak? It's so fucking ridiculously bleak that it becomes humorous, and then keeps going to become sad again, because it's so fucking believable. It's entirely believable that US intelligence agencies would just fucking coup the country and do drug wars in South America to line their pockets and strengthen their grip until it just collapses into an economically broken heap. It's disturbingly plausible that corporations would gain so much power that they engage in open warfare with each other over security contracts. It's a setting that's ridiculous and over the top and cheesy but in a way that somehow resonates deeper than one which takes itself more seriously.
There's a powerful manic energy to the setting that is barely masking a despair that runs to its deepest hollows. Articles you find discuss the horrors of companies being allowed to enforce cyberware installations like dress codes, and how it's not a big leap for them to enclose and monetize and entirely control human reproduction, creativity, and thought. It's a society that has entirely given up hope and is running out the clock in as flashy and fun a way as possible. The highest aspirations most mercs have is dying violently and gloriously, in a way that makes people remember you.
It is, in a word, Jokerfied
(Or maybe I'm just a pretentious drunken fuckwad lol)
Cyberlumpen 2077
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To be fair to the setting, "scary 80s Pajan" is a core part of the 1980s conception of what Cyberpunk was, and this is an adaptation of a specific setting first created in the 1980s. I also don't think the main plot does a good job of really getting the setting across at all, as it's pretty laser-focused on V and Johnny. It's laden with side content and lore that paints a much more fleshed-out picture of the world.
I will admit the plot is kinda meh. They made a serious error having V be an apolitical dickbag for the entire plot. He's supposed to be just some average Night City low-life player stand-in, and it's entirely appropriate that you eat shit and die going up against a giant corporation, but it means that V can't properly engage with anything that Johnny is saying. Not like there are any factions to engage with anyway.
If nothing else, remember this: Yorinobu Arasaka did nothing wrong
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I'm going to be a real asshole now and argue that the total cultural stagnation adds a bit to the bleakness of the setting and Johnny even points it out in several instances
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tbh I've not seen anything of Watch Dogs or its sequel that made me do anything but disregard it as shallow trash, but then again I never looked very closely. So maybe I'm just too dismissive. What's so great about it?
I think I might just be enamored by the experience of deflecting bullets with a katana and using a mag rifle to shoot people through walls or something but I really do love the setting of CP2077. I'm willing to overlook that bit of laziness and let it rest on its laurels, because I really felt they nailed the atmosphere even if it was a janky piece of shit.
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What I like about CP2077 is that when you take the setting as a whole, not just as presented in the game (though visually and aurally they really do a fantastic fucking job, I really must stress that) it's basically the most purely distilled essence of the genre you can get anywhere. I'm not sure how bleak Watch Dogs 2 is, but is it "Africa and a good chunk of South Asia pretty much entirely depopulated due to starvation since no corporations wanted to invest in hydroponics skyscrapers there" bleak? Is it "rats and homeless people are mentioned in the same breath and both disposed of with nerve gas" bleak? It's so fucking ridiculously bleak that it becomes humorous, and then keeps going to become sad again, because it's so fucking believable. It's entirely believable that US intelligence agencies would just fucking coup the country and do drug wars in South America to line their pockets and strengthen their grip until it just collapses into an economically broken heap. It's disturbingly plausible that corporations would gain so much power that they engage in open warfare with each other over security contracts. It's a setting that's ridiculous and over the top and cheesy but in a way that somehow resonates deeper than one which takes itself more seriously.
There's a powerful manic energy to the setting that is barely masking a despair that runs to its deepest hollows. Articles you find discuss the horrors of companies being allowed to enforce cyberware installations like dress codes, and how it's not a big leap for them to enclose and monetize and entirely control human reproduction, creativity, and thought. It's a society that has entirely given up hope and is running out the clock in as flashy and fun a way as possible. The highest aspirations most mercs have is dying violently and gloriously, in a way that makes people remember you.
It is, in a word, Jokerfied
(Or maybe I'm just a pretentious drunken fuckwad lol)
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To be clear: if it was a book I'd entirely agree. But as a giant digital diorama to fuck around in, I adore it
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