worked on me somewhat idk. in contrast to every other game with a friendship meter johnny-v's relationship is genuinely platonic, dynamic, explored & entertaining in a way i didn't think the studio behind "lezbooomancyyyy (scratches balls intensely)" was capable of. like sure the writers are prone to that type of cancelled after one season adult swim humor & tone deafness (love that for many players their first mission after the end of act 1 will be chauffeuring a guy whose dick exploded). but. 2012 cdprojKKKetred would've taken the premise here and spinned it for some red wheel kill blue wheel save bullshit ambiguity didacticism & instead through some miracle they let the tension between "one last job suicide run" heist movie and cyberpunk cop vignette build without any comment. which works wonders. the studio can write well when they aren't forcing "moral dilemmas" down ur throat every half-quest (an issue i had with phantom liberty's side content, but makes up for it telling a much tighter main narrative).

johnny is this game's motor because it lets him present his cruelty, his myopia, his rage, his wit, his ability to be boldly wrong not just about himself & others but also literally about how to solve quests in a way i havent seen done much in this space. johnny is the friendly snake that bites you and the game doesn't harass you for exercising any and every last option and boundary to get rid of him, or to take him as is and let him reach for undeserved but no less cathartic moments of repair as his quasi-stygian guide to the cyber afterlife. or to just tell him to quit being a pussy and thug that shit out. its a relationship with an actual history, an actual oscillation of closeness & distance that feels uniquely mapped to however you progress through the game. couldnt help but feel a little precious over it as the game heads to its conclusion.

in terms of gameplay i also think this shit is actually just no qualms good, like certainly up there in the ARPG shooter category simply because it has the boomer understanding (vomitting) that the assault rifle/SMG is the most boring class of weapon and that the explosiveness of a point blank shotgun blast or a 200m sniper headshot or a .44 caliber bullet taking someone's shoulder clean off is far superior.

but the buried lede: i must admit i didn't feel this positively throughout my whole playthrough. simply because the game is long, and in a "hey i spent a month and a half playing this game without realizing" type of way. even though i think the johnny stuff is really good the game has like a minnesota timberwolves issue where instead of going for an easy two with another v-johnny bit it'll try to hit a contested 30-foot jump from the top of the key. and its like why. was anything ever relating to river necessary. how the fuck could you make panam so hot in a "you gotta be born before the year 2000 to know what to do with her" typa way but also make her so snippy & boring. why does saul, a character with maybe a youtube ad worth of screentime, live rent fucking free in her head. its a big game in every sense of the word but i think the ape escape franchise has more named characters if they were to go rack for rack. "alexander-walker going for 3" levels of chaos when you get an unnamed side quest marker, could be something like that soon-to-be-famous Sinnerman questline or a 2011 CollegeHumor "LOL he has grenade on his nose LOL" ass misfire. spent 80 hours in total for like a 85% complete playthrough and maybe half of those were spent zoned out enjoying computer violence & not much else while jersery drill played in the background. step forward for sure for the polish but like gotdamn guys. just go for the layup sometimes.