yes i was hyped for cyberpunk 2077: i have spent a lot of hours in the game since its release, played two times, finished most of the gigs. expecting a game changing rpg, expecting something new, something fresh. what did we get? a breathtaking city - sure. a first person shooter - meh a cyberpunk game where hacking is pretty rudimentary - what?? story: yes, but ... nothing really sticks. there is corporations, there is cyberpsychos, there are gangs, there is politics, there is personal threads, there is wild ais. and whatever you do: you don't really make an impact: things don't evolve. you kill, you collect/infiltrate/transport, you get your eddies. then you upgrade your gear and your cybermods. rinse, repeat for another faction. and if you want to stay yourself at the end - good luck with that. at least you killed a lot of people for nothing. no effect at all how much of you is still human and how much is artificial/chrome. hell you don't even know why you chose to become a merc rather than a joytoy, a gang member, a fixer, a rockstar, a braindance editor or ... you want to become a night city legend by killing your way to the top just: because. some deeply immersive scenes like fighting with panam and swimming with judy (why are they not bi - and btw that's the only difference your own gender makes in the game) once you romanced them they go on with their lives - you get a spot to put your stuff, that's it. you meet tarot cards and buddhist monks - and just like in real life it's like: allright - nice. but the real problem is broken immersion: you basically have a "mega"-city the size of manhattan - with far less skyskrapers - and once you leave its borders you are out in nature. and you have cyberspace - the deepest layer of the net - and you don't go there, except once or twice. even though you think you are the best netrunner in the city. so yep: cyperpunk 2077 ladies & gents, boys and girls. oh and: don't expect sex there - no touching.
just bought stellaris plus a couple of dlcs during sale, now ~60 years into my first vanilla round. what shall I say? it’s no master of orion for sure. here’s what’s fascinating: * modern graphics – kinda * runs on my 2015 macbook air – yeah! * nice stories here a quick extract of what is not * hyperlanes – really: no other way of transport is really lame. I understand this has been changed in a previous version – not a good choice. * construction ships – seriously: I have to click every wicked little research and mining dot separately instead of just saying 'build stations'? * construction of ships: is a sub-menu of the star stations – what? * why do the side quests take up slots in my main research – I mean that’s what science ships are for, no? * somebody dies: who was he/she, and why do I not care at all? just hire a new guy (they all cost the same) and continue. sure they have special aibilities, but am I really going to juggle them every time I do a new research? not very likely ... * confusing ui/access: where do I repair my ships again? and which of the however many options to access population allows me to transfer them again? * I don’t have many planets yet and the messages become quite overwhelming already – and by overwhelming I mean boringly overwhelming. so overall it’s a very weird mixture of intuitive and counter-intuitive gameplay. is it worth 10 euros – sure. just expect to juggle and micromanage too much – especially for a “real-time” environment.
loved it - hated it - loved it - hated it ... you get the point upside * grand story * gand backstories * grand atmosphere * brain-twisting immersion (which takes its due time) * extreme complexity: i mean adepts, technologists, cultists, explorers, various life-forms, a labyrinth in your own mind, a body-jumping god ... just to give a wee glimpse * endless streams of half finished threads: yes i see that as positive - it's very much like real life. and you emerge without memory after all - so unconnected threads are part of the immersion. * scarce economy: same reason as before - its realistic. first you have too little money, then you have too much for the limited available supply. * blocked tasks: pre-mature actions might close paths that would be accessible otherwise. again plus point for realism. * a lot to read: until it's too much. see below. neutral * battle system: well let's say it's good enough. once you get the hang of it (at the end of the game cause there is not that many fights anyways) it's very straightforward. * ability structure: it takes some time to get the hang of it (i.e. which skills matter most) so not entirely intuitive but very clean and well-structured. downside * too much to read. if you try to play it in one run and try to read most of the dialogues at some point your brain starts to freeze. and you go like: whatever. but again that's like real life: you just can't ingest everything at once. * graphics: well they are not really 2017 standard. on the other hand that doesn't matter for the immersion: i'd rather play a low graphics - high intelligence game than the other way around. but that's just me - so just wanted to mention it. * characters & perspective: the details are well & fondly modelled but there's really little point zooming in and out all the time. which means you only see the characters quite tiny - which takes a lot of the connection potential. if you made it till here this game is probably just right for you ... ;-)
