Cyberpunk 2077–First Impressions

Okay – so! Let’s cut to the chase here. 1. I haven’t forgotten this blog, I’ve just been hella busy with the holidays and oh, yeah, the US trying to tear itself apart because of some dumb fucked-up complete waste of fucking space morons decided they no longer liked democracy and would much rather proceed to commit a laughable attempt at a coup that resulted in the death of five people for no fucking reason other than that whole group of people was collectively being dumber than a bag of fucking rocks.

Okay… woooosaaaah. Let’s just… take a moment to relax. Chill. Deep breath. Check out my V before we start. Vega Bakker Wells. Because, to him, a name isn't where you come from, it's who you belong to. 

Alright, now, let’s get to the point of this actual post. Previously, I had been playing Cyberpunk 2077 on ‘current gen’ console (xBox one) and while it was commendable, it honestly wasn’t built for it. It just wasn’t. In my opinion, it really shouldn’t have been released in 2020 at all. I get why they wanted a 20202 release date (Cyberpunk 2020 and Johnny being from 2020 etc). But it really needed to wait. Not because the game itself needed a lot more time, it really didn’t (I’ll explain later) – but because we, the people, needed more time so that more people had next gen consoles in their homes. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an xBox series S. I opted for the S over the X because $$ and because honestly, I don’t use disks anymore. Plus, I have a 4 TB external hard drive that works just fine so problem solved there.

That being said – I’m now playing on next gen. And it’s better. Way better. Like… it’s fine. I haven’t had a single glitch at all and I’m well past where I was on current gen. I’m past Jackie’s memorial and have done some questing after that. I’m sure I’ll run into some glitches down the line because, it’s a game, and games have glitches. It’s impossible to have none. I’ve even had Destiny 2 crash to home-screen on me before. It’s extremely rare, but it still happens. Anyway. My first impressions are thus…

1. The game is huge. It’s packed with so much stuff. There are revolving little quest things (assaults in progress) that just pop up all over the place. They’re apparently never-ending and are a great way to earn street cred (I had V up to 20 street cred before even starting the Heist job). The world is full of NPCs in the city, more densely populated at the city center and thinning out the further away from there you get. Which is a nice touch. All of the NPCs react and are hilarious if you even get near them with a vehicle. The children are even funnier because they’re just little people. No video game has really cracked the code on kids yet, not really. The city itself is just huge, enormous. Maybe not in foot print but in the amount of things happening around you all the time.

2. It’s overwhelming. And no, you don’t get used to it – or at least, I haven’t. There’s stuff happening all the time, all around you. It can be a little… much. Like – okay, when I was in Las Vegas, I heard slot machines so much that I started hearing them in my fucking sleep. It’s like that. Night City is so crowded, so incredibly Night City that it can be a little much. Getting out into the badlands is priority numero uno for my V.

3. I started out with the Corpo life path on my current gen play, but on this one – which I’ll be following through with – I went Nomad. Which is just so much fun. It’s the most interesting. The game incites so many ways for you to build up your own V in your head. Vega Bakker Wells, which is my guy, is complicated but kind of not. He’s kinda mean but kinda not. And after Jackie, he’s hurting. Bad. Right away, you get so many opportunities to build your own story in Night City, or outside of it. That’s the sign of a good world, a good story.

4. Johnny Silverhand is an asshole. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. He’s a fucking dick. But – eventually – he comes around. And you get where he’s coming from on a lot of things but others, he’s just an ass.

5. The combat isn’t as bad as people are saying. Maybe if you use the technical combat modes in games that are optional – then you might not like it. But it’s not that bad. It’s pretty standard. –shrug- People are just bitching.

6. There are some hilarious quests in the game, I’ve been on a few so far that were just too funny. [Flaming Crotch Guy]

7. The romance options? What the fucking fuck, CDPR? Seriously. I’m not even going to go into in depth here because I have quite a bit to say about it. But, we’ll just say, as I’m sure you know by now. That female V gets 2 options, Male V gets 2 options. One gay, one straight. Done. Fin. That’s it. In this world of “choices”, those are your choices.

8. The story is a good one but you can see some plot holes. It’s based on a table top game, so there are intentional holes in the story. So, CDPR couldn’t lean on the table top game for those plot holes, that should be filled by players – and you can tell where those holes are. I’m not dissing the writers at CDPR, but you can tell which is Cyberpunk and which is CDPR, if that makes sense. [Yes, I know V is CDPR].

9. Jackie tore me up, just like I knew he would. But, I wish we could have gone on more quests with him. Really get to know him a lot better. Maybe actually help him pick something out for Misty or something. That would have been nice.

10. As a Nomad V, I’d like to know what happened with their family, why’d they leave? What exactly happened. I don’t know if they explain it in the game and I’m not going to go look for it online.

11. The detail is amazing. The graphics are awesome. And current gen doesn’t hold a candle to what next gen can do with this game. It really doesn’t. Keep that in mind if you’re playing on current gen console. If you’re playing on PC, the higher level the equipment, obviously – the better the game performance will be.

Well, that’s about it for this one. I covered a few things and I’ll be posting about the whole romance option debacle next here, hopefully, in a few days.

A Lull, Glitches, and Twitch

I know it's been awhile since I've posted (aside from the one I just made) and it's not that I've forgotten this blog. Far from it. I've been in a major funk - no it's not "the rona". 

But! I'm getting super excited for Cyberpunk. It's pre-loaded on my tank (six year old xbox one) and it's ready to go! I cannot wait. It's going to be so awesome and honestly, one of the things I'm looking forward to the most... are the glitches. 

Glitches are... hilarious. They are. I haven't seen a glitch yet that wasn't drop-down funny. They make a game... I don't know how to explain it. Take Bioware games. The glitches are part of the games! Just like Bethesda. Not Fallout76, which is just... a nightmare. Ignore that game, pretend it doesn't exist because it shouldn't. No, I mean like Skyrim glitches that send giants careening into the sky never to be seen again. Those kinds of glitches! Bioware glitches that have characters just... sinking. It's too funny. I love it. 

Now, Twitch... I still haven't figured out how to get the mic settings right on console. When I download the few streams I have done, I can barely hear what I'm saying. I'll figure it out eventually but until then - I've taken a hiatus from there but I will stream again soon - I've ordered those little wind-shield foam things for the mic on my Rig because it can pick up the fan in the room and that just sucks. So - that'll be in towards the end of the week. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with my YT channel. Honestly - I have no idea. I mean, I have some ideas but nothing concrete by any means. 

Well - that's about it for now. See y'all in Night City!

CDPR Hate and Discord... Again

Alright - I get it, some people just... hate. Haters gonna hate, right? But damn... the level of bitching that goes on around new game releases is obscene. And it’s insane - it’s like... Trump-follower-level bitching. You can’t talk to these people. They’re hell-bent on dragging a game through the mud to anyone who will listen, like they have some personal axe to grind against any developer that isn’t their favorite one. Or they think that... games just magically materialize fully formed with zero issues and fairies just dropped them off that way without any hard work put into them at all - that they just... come out of the stars, descending from heaven with no glitches, no issues, and no delays ever. 

Obviously, it’s the Cyberpunk 2077 discord that’s prompted this post. But holy shit. If there was ever an example of the complete and utter horse-shit that goes on for a developer around a game release, this would be it. We’re experiencing a planet wide pandemic. And this game delays it’s launch by one month, not even a whole month. And people lose their god-damned minds. Suddenly, CDPR is evil-incarnate. It doesn’t matter why it was delayed, it really doesn’t. People were going to react the same way. Like a bunch of whining little fucking toddlers. And then there was the crunch thing. Ewww ewww they lieeeed waaaaa. Holy shit. It never entered these people’s tiny little minds that “crunch” does not mean the same thing there as it does here in the US. CDPR is based in Poland, that’s where they do their work. That’s where their employees are. And Poland... even though they have social issues, major social issues, they still have - in comparison to the US - extremely favorable employment laws. They literally can’t overwork their employees, they’re legally not allowed. So “crunch” there? Means quite literally 8 hours extra a week... for five weeks. Five days. Five more days. That was all. Holy shit and people LOST it! Seriously? Another big strike against “crunch” is underpaying people - well, if these people would take a minute to learn anything, then they’d learn that these devs are getting 10% of the sales to split amongst them as a bonus. Not their pay, a bonus. They’re seriously getting paid. I mean... they’re banking hard. Which is good. They put a lot of work into this game. But all people wanted to see or hear was “mandatory crunch”! So, yeah, they didn’t want to know about the fact that it was only five days. They didn’t want to know about the fact that it would end with a serious pay bonus. Nope, none of that because that wouldn’t fit in with their CDPR is evil script. Then, when that bitch-fit didn’t seem to... I don’t know what they hoped to achieve? Shut them down? They moved on to trying to pick apart the game itself. Well, uh, I’m not going to pre-order it because, uh, well, it’s perpetuating steriotyp... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Ugh, get fucked.

There’s a very simple solution to all of this hating.

Don’t like it? Don’t fucking buy it. Done. Simple. Problem solved.

Cyberpunk 2077 Romance Options?

So – of the many things that have been going around the wire lately have been the information dropped during a post-show interview with one of CDPR’s quest designers after the last episode of Night City Wire. Patrick Mills didn’t want to let too much out about the romance options, apparently because some of them are intrinsically tied to the main quest line. I get that, however, he didn’t even give a number – he was asked how many there’d be. But – that’s kind of beside the point. The point is – when he was answering this anticipated question – he said that something he could tell us was that we have already seen all of the romance options for V. As in, literally. We’ve seen all of them – I’m assuming either in trailers, game place footage, or screenshots. Now, this little – seemingly innocent answer – has created an entire whirlwind of guesses going on. And I’ve been seeing a lot of people making a lot of guesses and some of them range from the pretty ordinary to the strange and unusual to the down-right creepy. So, I figured I’d weight in too.

Now, I haven’t read all of the lore available yet but I’m pretty up to date on the basic knowledge, for the most part – I say that because obviously I don’t know if I know all there is to know about these characters. So, keep that in mind.

First, I’ll talk about some of the more common suggestions that I’ve been seeing as possible romance options. Now, these are romance options – not “casual encounters” which are also very much a thing in the game. Fair warning : Certain spoilerish stuff ahead. If you don’t want to know anything about these characters, stop now. Anything I’m posting here, though, can be easily found on the Wiki or YT.

So – firstly, the obvious one has been Jackie. Jackie Wells. The 30 year old former Valentino is V’s first real point of contact and how well you know him from the start of the game, apparently, depends on which life path you choose. Oddly enough, if you choose the Corpo life path – you and he go way back? I would have thought it was if you chose the Street Kid life path but whatever. Now, while a lot of people have been throwing this one around due to Jackie’s little mating bird dance – I think he’s going to become sort of like a Varric character. Unobtainable. See, Jackie’s got himself a girlfriend already and we know he dies fairly early on. Which… sucks. Big time. Because I already know I’m going to adore him. –shimmy shimmy shake-

Next up – we have two some-what “confirmed” romance options. I say “confirmed” like that because they haven’t officially been confirmed but they kind of sort have? It’s weird. Anyway… you’ve got Judy Alvarez. She’s a Moxie at Lizzie’s Bar who helps you do some Brain Dancing and apparently, is who you go to for some extra special BD’s. –A wink, wink-. Anyway – she looks quite young but then again, with immortality kind of being a thing, who knows. Plus – V’s quite young (22). Now she’s rumored to only like women, which is fine by me. Plus, she’s got some kick ass tattoos. And maybe it’s just me… but she looks kind of sad.

 

Then there’s Meredith fucking Stout, the Senior Operations Manager for Militech. Okay, so I still get a slight twitch in my left eye whenever I encounter a female character in a position of authoritative power that is clearly corrupt that is also named Meredith. Pick a different name, my god. But I know a lot of people are apparently looking forward to this one – maybe it’s the whole I will set you ablaze right naowwww look in her eyes or it’s the heels and leather and yes may i have another! Who knows. But – it is what it is. Apparently though, if you don’t pick the Corpo life path – you can kiss that leather-covered ass goodbye because she’s only in it for the game.

I’ve also seen some people suggesting Oleg and Dexter DeShawn. Other than ew – there’s not a lot to go on here. Unless you’re into one word wonders and a Mr. T’esk vibe – that’s about all there is that’s going on there. Just my opinion though – some people may be into that. Of course, Dexter DeShawn is a Fixer, in case you didn’t know, he’s one of the first ones V meets and his bodygaurd / driver is Oleg. This dude. As far as I know, neither are affiliated with anyone other than Dexter DeShawn, as in… they’re both affiliated with… Dexter… De… oh nevermind.

 

Another one I’ve seen is Evelyn Parker. Now, I think this is just wishful thinking and probably more likely to be one of those casual encounters – she’s a character V meets during Dexter’s quest, in fact, it’s her Brain Dance that Judy gives us. Now, right off the bat, apparently, Evelyn is trying to get V to betray Dexter (hindsight 2020 and all that –ahem- anyway). So, she’s got some serious ambition and while we do meet her at Lizzie’s Bar, she actually works at the Doll House. Now, I’m not saying that a sex worker can’t have a relationship – but given her general ambitious / step on anyone to get to the top nature? I’m betting a relationship isn’t in her focus right now. She’s got big plans, after all.

 

And if all of those weren’t even remotely close to your thing – we’ve got the Voodoo Boys. Ah yes, Voodoo Boys. I can’t say that without perking an eyebrow and grinning. I love it. Anyway, both the Head of the gang and the second in command have been suggested as possible romances for V. And while one or neither may be a possibility (see what I did there) – I’m hoping for Placide personally, he’s just… –ahem- look, he’s got presence is what I’m saying here. At 35 and second in command of the Voodoo Boys, Placide is almost an instant enemy of V’s. Yeah, enemy. See the trope I’m hinting at here… see it? Yeah. Okay – apparently, Placide betrays V during a mission or something and knocks V unconscious… probably by hacking us or something and when we wake up, we’re understandably pissed, which leads to a confrontation and voila – tension! –jazz hands- Plus, the dude’s got one hell of an accent on him. –finger kisses- Magnifique.

And then there’s Brigitte. She’s the head of the Voodoo Boys. Otherwise known as Maman Brigitte (Mama Brigitte for those who’ve never set foot anywhere near anything remotely Creole before). She looks pretty damn good for being 41, but who knows her real age, again with immortality being a thing. She’s levvel headed but ruthless, and in the Net? You definitely don’t want to stumble across her there, she’ll fuck you up something fierce. She is the leader of a gang after all, she didn’t get there by baking fucking cookies. She’s a badass to the max and she knows it too. And while some have suggested her… I’m not sure I see this one happening, only because she’s too mature for V. Not too old – age doesn’t matter when it comes to maturity. In fact, I don’t see any of the actual gang leaders being romance options.

And now, one of the big one’s I’ve seen being thrown around is Johnny Silverhand. I lump him up with Jackie. People can dream all day long but I don’t think this is going to happen, for a few small but vitally important reasons. Kind of big spoilers here if you haven’t learned anything about him yet and want to keep him a total mystery – seriously don’t read this next part.

Seriously…

Okay, I’ve done all I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, Johnny’s dead. He’s… so very, very dead. Has been for a long ass time. Who we deal with is his consciousness – not the man himself, well… it’s kind of him but… kind of not? It’s weird. So there’s that. But also, on top of that, he’s seriously taken. There’s a whole tragic backstory to him and his girlfriend, Alt Cunningham, but I’m not going to go into it here. So… if there was any kind of relationship there… it’d literally be taking place inside V’s head. So… it’d be a fantasy? I don’t know. Not gonna happen though.

 

Then there’s one that I’ve seen, actually, very little mention of. Emmerick Bronson. He’s the bouncer at the Afterlife – the merc bar that V and Jackie and all the little wild crazy mercs hang out at. Now, he’s a bit of a conundrum. He’s a bouncer right… but he’s also, apparently, affiliated with the Animals gang. I’m not sure if he’s just starting out because he’s not… ya know… –takes in a lot of air like a puffer fish-. I mean, he’s built but no more than some of the other dudes who aren’t in the Animals. But, he’s affiliated with them so I don’t know what’s going on there. But – he’s one of the few dudes that one, V deals with all the time that isn’t butt fucking ugly or crazy ass old and he seems like one of those side characters that shouldn’t be featured as much as he’s been featured. He’s in the center of the Animals promo picture for cryin’ out loud. See? Right in the middle. 

So, for me personally? Just from what I’ve listed here? It’d be Emmerick and Placide. Because Jackie… –shimmy shimmy shake- is beyond our reach.

*Note: All the images are CDPR's and were lifted taken borrowed obtained from the Cyberpunk 2077 Wiki*

Cyberpunk 2077–Life Paths and Character Plans

Okay, so, as you’ve probably already heard, since it’s been absolutely everywhere. There has been a major info dump concerning Cyberpunk 2077. I, for one, am super excited about it and absolutely cannot wait. Well, actually, I can. Because I have zero problem with CD Projekt Red NOT rushing the game. I’m okay with waiting but I’m excited about it, big time. I want to try and post on this a few times, because there is so much to go over. Seriously. So… so much.

The idea of having different life paths to choose from reminds me heavily of Mass Effect or Dragon Age. You get three to pick from; Corporate, Street Rat, or Nomad. Basically, Upper, Middle, and Lower – sort of. They’re all pretty self-explanatory and each one comes with their own in game advantages and disadvantages. For instance, if you’re a Nomad, then it’s going to be easier for you out in the Badlands (to some extent) as far as getting the people out there to trust you and stuff like that. But, when you have to go deal with Corpos (Corporate people) – it’s going to be harder for you than say, if you had started with a Corporate life path. And, visa versa. If you’re a Street Rat then you’re going to have an easier time dealing with the gangs though I’m not sure if you’re going to be affiliated or if you’re just going to have a basic, broad understanding of that world, probably that one. So on and so forth.

Now, I know a lot of y’all out there who are excited about this game have already started planning out your characters as much as you can with the information that you’ve been able to get your hands on. As have I. With every new game that has character customization that I play, my first playthrough, I always play as a female. Always. Typically a bi female, since that’s closest to me, and go from there. I’ll almost always end up with a distance player, sniper, sneaker, roguish type. I think for her… I’ll pick the Corporate lifepath – just because. Highborn female and all that. I think she’d be more of a in depth planner, one of those big thinker types. The kind of person who, if doing a “job” would try to think through every single angle before making a move, probably get a lot of those types of augmentations, those kinds of modifications.

Of course, I already have plans for at least one other character – a Nomad male who abhors any kind of body modification. Not sure how I’ll be able to play that one out but we’ll see. I know I’ll do the street rat playthrough, I’m just not sure how I’ll do that one yet and if this game is anything like the length of Witcher 3 base game, I won’t have to even remotely think about that one for awhile. Hell, even touching on my second playthrough is a ways out.

Anyway, if you haven’t checked it out yet – do. It’s a lot of really cool information without actually spoiling the game, which is one of the things I like most about CDPR, they are really good about not spoiling their game’s stories while still giving players enough pre-game information to keep us excited about it.