TheQuartering [12/28/2020]
Cyberpunk 2077 is getting better, without a doubt. The problem is a lot of people are still super angry about the launch.
I haven’t finished Cyberpunk 2077 yet. I’m most of the way through it, however, which these days is just about the best review I can give a game: I stuck with it. It is a curious thing, to try to just sit down and play this thing in the crucible of hype boiled over into white hot rage that the conversation surrounding the game in the past weeks. It is, right now, emblematic of all sorts of problems with the industry, an Icarian tale of poor management, over-reaching ambition, and the lies used to keep the hype train running. It is however, after all that, a game. Now 25 hours or so into it, I feel like I’ve got a handle on it. And my impression is that it’s, I don’t know, fine.
That’s basically how it’s been to play this thing, an experience not all that different from playing other competently made open world AAA titles. But the hype, anticipation, controversy and rage that follows in this game’s wake comes to serve as a lesson, in a way, of the extraordinary technical labor, pain and inspiration that goes into making your standard, enjoyable AAA experience. It is at its core, a stunning human achievement. It’s just that we’ve got plenty of those these days.