My impression from what I've seen of the game is that the writers are a bunch of :bootlicker: who like the aesthetics of cyberpunk but don't really get it.
Having played a lot of it it’s a mixed bag. You can tell the anti-capitalist messaging shines brightest in small scenes and easter eggs (probably where a higher up would miss it) but larger story elements and game mechanics are devoid of the core cyberpunk critique. The easter egg about sectarian infighting on the commie forum was my favorite part for sure. Felt very seen
I honestly have a hard time judging it too harshly because despite how deeply liberal and incoherent it is it still has some clarity and accurate cynicism to it that's just completely absent in other AAA games. Like with stuff from Bethesda all the tiny fragmentary bits of halfway good writing that get buried in terminals, tapes, or books and which are kept far away from the actual story are about on par with Cyberpunk 2077's more overt story beats, and nothing from EA or Ubisoft steps beyond just bland reactionary frothing and liberal whitewashing.
There are great moments in the storytelling here and there, personally I think I had a unique experience having a trans femme V give up her body to Johnny and in his ending as he's boarding the bus and talking to the kid, he mentions that it isn't really his body and that he'll need to get some work done to feel 'right' in it and it just came off as a really interesting look at gender presentation. My V was AMAB but then got work done to feel right in her own body only to then give that body to Johnny who then was in a body that he'd have to 'fix' to feel comfortable in what is now his own body.
I also liked when I first went to the rich part of the city that there were just death robots patrolling the street. Would've been neat had the cops been particularly sensitive in the area that speeding or bad driving would get them after you, even if just as a story mission aspect. You can tell that the world was made with someone that understood the critiques inherent in the genre.
My impression from what I've seen of the game is that the writers are a bunch of :bootlicker: who like the aesthetics of cyberpunk but don't really get it.
Having played a lot of it it’s a mixed bag. You can tell the anti-capitalist messaging shines brightest in small scenes and easter eggs (probably where a higher up would miss it) but larger story elements and game mechanics are devoid of the core cyberpunk critique. The easter egg about sectarian infighting on the commie forum was my favorite part for sure. Felt very seen
I honestly have a hard time judging it too harshly because despite how deeply liberal and incoherent it is it still has some clarity and accurate cynicism to it that's just completely absent in other AAA games. Like with stuff from Bethesda all the tiny fragmentary bits of halfway good writing that get buried in terminals, tapes, or books and which are kept far away from the actual story are about on par with Cyberpunk 2077's more overt story beats, and nothing from EA or Ubisoft steps beyond just bland reactionary frothing and liberal whitewashing.
Ending spoilers
There are great moments in the storytelling here and there, personally I think I had a unique experience having a trans femme V give up her body to Johnny and in his ending as he's boarding the bus and talking to the kid, he mentions that it isn't really his body and that he'll need to get some work done to feel 'right' in it and it just came off as a really interesting look at gender presentation. My V was AMAB but then got work done to feel right in her own body only to then give that body to Johnny who then was in a body that he'd have to 'fix' to feel comfortable in what is now his own body.
I also liked when I first went to the rich part of the city that there were just death robots patrolling the street. Would've been neat had the cops been particularly sensitive in the area that speeding or bad driving would get them after you, even if just as a story mission aspect. You can tell that the world was made with someone that understood the critiques inherent in the genre.
As with most mass media cyberpunk, it's impossible to criticize something when you benefit so strongly from it.
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