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.

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*

What Will They Call You…

So, I (along with damn near everyone else in the DA fandom) have been thinking a lot about that one line - because of course, we only got like three lines out of the teaser.

They call me the dread wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?

I know there are variances with voice actors and they do multiple takes so we may not even get that particular one in the game or even that line at all.

But, it’s said with a certain amount of... familiarity? If that makes sense. The way he stresses the “me” part, almost incredulously - we know it’s a moniker he doesn’t necessarily like, but one he begrudgingly accepts.

We also know that if it does make it into the game, it could be dialogue in response to choices made during conversation - so some may not get it and others might. Or it might be said differently, who knows.

There is one thing though - that the devs and writers have been pretty clear about, at least in the past when Trespasser dropped. Any relationship with Solas is considered concluded, complete. So, there probably won’t be any of that, even if he romanced the Inquisitor though it’s going to be very interesting to see what dialogue is given from a romanced Solas. And, it would be super sweet, I mean talk about a treat from devs and writers if we could don the mantel of Inquisitor once more and play our Inquisitor for just a moment for a romanced Solas - kind of a meet in shadows kind of thing, even if it’s only for a conversation. That’d be sweet. But - highly unlikely. However, who knows.

And yes, romance is a big part of the discussion because of one simple thing...

We know the game’s going to be good. Game play / fighting / tactics / all of that has never been a problem with Dragon Age (or even Mass Effect, I can’t speak for the other Bioware games outside Baldur’s Gate because I didn’t play the others). But the romance options? That’s something that has always set Dragon Age apart - set Mass Effect apart - the relationships that our characters form with those around them. And I cannot wait.

Dragon Age 4 + A Note About the Art on the Blog

So, I was originally going to post about this on Friday, this past week, but the trailer dropped right before we left for our August camping trip and I honestly didn’t have time. Which is what brings us here now. First, let me say that I am a 100% Loyal, Die-Hard Bioware fan. I tend to ignore EA’s involvement as far as micro-transactions go. Simply put – it doesn’t effect the EA games I play, namely Bioware. Now – I will also freely admit that I haven’t played Anthem yet. Not because I think it isn’t a good game. However, I do think it was a money grab and honestly, I already play a game that is like Anthem or rather, that Anthem’s like and it’s called Destiny. But anyway – let’s see if I can sum up my fan-girl-freak-out about Bioware.

I’ve been in it since Baldur’s Gate. I have many… many, many, many Wardens, Hawkes, Inquisitors. I have just as many Sheppards and just as many Ryders. I’ve easily got hundreds and hundreds of hours put into the Dragon Age series and probably just as many into Mass Effect. I have every Dragon Age book put out by Gaider and I have read, online, all of the manga/comics. And while I, of course, have many fan-theories that I prefer as opposed to canon and I, of course, don’t agree with every character decision that has been made, I still 100% support Bioware. I have zero problems waiting years for games and I want them to take their time. People can baulk all they want but when it comes to RPG games? Bioware’s writing blows all others out of the water. They create real inspiration in their players and give so many opportunities for creative relationships. And, you don’t have to jump on every single fan band wagon – and while I understand that there’s fan discord, there’s the issues of white washing – which has been data mined and proven, there’s the issue of POC characters being received differently by certain fans. I don’t think the writers, the ones who really make the series what it is, did any of those things. They weren’t the ones in control of those things. They couldn’t control how Vivienne would be received and they damn sure weren’t responsible for the coding of the game. But, I won’t get into that.

First, I must commend the artists that have done the concept art because it is awesome. And yes, it’s just concept art, so it’s not what we’re going to get but come on! That is some seriously awesome stuff. And I must, absolutely must, thank Bioware from the bottom of my heart for giving us the glimpses of in-progress game footage. You can see how rough it is in certain areas and they damn sure didn’t have to give us this sneak peak that is easily at least a year or more ahead of when we can even dream of getting the game (I’m being severely generous to us fans here). So, here are a few of my thoughts…. but be forewarned, I’m not a Solasmancer. I think he’s a villain, I don’t like the way he treats Lavellan, especially a romanced Lavellan and honestly? I don’t see the draw. Yes, I love his cadence and the way he speaks, his voice actor is amazing but him as a character? Even as complex as he is? Nope. Not a huge fan, but I can respect how well written he is. He’s an amazing character but I’m not team-Solas. So, with that in mind….

• Davin. WARDENS. –Deep breath.- I am a huge warden fan and I think they, by far, have the most interesting lore. Yes, elves are amazing and yada yada yada but come on! I already know I’m going to like his character, already. Super excited about him.
• Bellaria – Her lines sound like she’s going to be a shaper or at the very least, a dwarf. Because it sounds like she’s talking about a titan with the whole good kind of rumble thing.
• Also, TITANS. Yeaaaaasssss!!! Finally, we get to see these guys because yes. Yes. Though, the one I saw, or at least what I think it was does seem a bit comical so far but maybe that’s the look they’re going for since this one wasn’t corrupted yet? Or maybe I’m totally off here, who knows.
• Solas – that line. YAAAAASSS. Like I said, I’m not a “zomg let’s love Solas back to the good side!” But, I can appreciate his character and I do see him as a worthy adversary if that makes sense and that line? YAAAAAAS Man! Bring. It. On!
• The worlds! It looks like we’re totally going to Tevinter, which we already knew but also it looks like we’re finally going to be going back to more Dwarven places and that is just so cool.
• WARDENS! Again – I cannot stress this enough. I am hoping we get to learn more about them in game – for those who haven’t read the books.
• “What it’s like to play a character who doesn’t have any power.” HOLY HELL! Did anyone else hear current events being echoed there because I sure as shit did. Aside from that and without getting political, this is going to be so cool. I wonder how many starts we’re going to get? Human, dwarf, elf, qunari, and what else is there? Maybe different kinds of humans? Like Origins! OH YES, that would be great. That was something that was sorely missing and I really hope that they can tie up some loose ends that Trespasser still didn’t address like WHAT HAPPENED TO WHOEVER WAS LEFT IN THE FADE! Because it was never explicitly said that they died. And PLEASE come on, let us see our warden again! It’d be awesome to be like “here’s our warden, here’s our hawke (if still alive) and here’s our inquisitor” for the final battle or something, that would be so cool. Also – it’d be awesome if like your character secretly does have power but doesn’t know it or something along those lines.

The possibilities are obviously endless this early in the information-gathering phase of a game’s trailer dropping but this is so excited. I cannot wait, it’s going to be so much fun.

Note About The Art:

So, I've been going back and adding some of my art to each post, honestly - just to break up the text a bit. Sometimes it's relevant to the post, sometimes it's not. I try to make it so but meh. Anyway, there you go. All the art featured here is mine unless otherwise stated, I'll be adding links to my Redbubble and Deviant Art above here shortly.