haven't finished the main story of cyberpunk yet but have finished phantom liberty! wanna harp on about set pieces for a moment.
there's a bit where you're undercover and arranging a plan to help break someone out of a complex military industrial hotel, and after a discussion with this person at a party, you realise it's really fucked. you're standing on a balcony, and the person directs you to a glass on the table with something in. as you take it, and the person walks away, the lights in the hall fade, before coming back on, as the character Lizzy appears on the stage, and the song Delicate Weapon by Grimes begins to play. you naturally go to look towards it, and get given the option to lean against the rail of the balcony to watch the character Lizzy perform the song. it's such a natural way of encouraging the player to take in this song. i felt so immersed in that moment, sitting on the weight of what was to come while listening to this ethereal music and seeing this techy cyber show. it's a fantastic piece of set dressing, entirely optional and having no impact on the story whatsoever.
i think that's what phantom liberty does well, it has these grand moments of genuinely impressive spectable that you remember and stick with you. its overall plot is a bit patchy, dealing in vague ideals. it's an easy choice for me who to work with, and i love that you get a long time to think about the decision you have to make. dogtown is not a great hub by itself, its ugly and its unique personality compared to the rest of NC doesnt make it feel particularly unique, especially as you get in from pacifica. there were two side quests that i got that i did, one that i felt was perfect for an RPG, and one that i felt was the worst thing in an RPG, and it makes for a messy experience.
in The Man Who Killed Jason Rider you have to find some ex-soldier and kill him for murdering a bunch of people. when you find him, he's a shell of his former self. he's a highly disabled dying cyborg with no money. he's still an absolute asshole, but he's also mentally ill. the physical rewards feel uninteresting here, the thing is, do you murder a man in cold blood for the vengeance his victims' families want? or do you give him up to medicene to possibly do good? the guy's a scumbag and he isn't repentant. you have a discussion about whether killing as a soldier makes you any different to as a civillian. there's no wrong answer, it's just a good story. but in Dazed and Confused you have to convince a gangster/pornstar to come to a building for you. instead of having multiple ways to get there with varying options, if you pick the wrong options the quests fails. what's this supposed to do in an RPG other than make you want to reload? if failure is going to be an option in an RPG make it interesting - fail forward. closing off a quest and just ending that story entirely isnt failing forward, its falling into a wall.
i'm going on a bit but i think phantom liberty was good. idris elba's performance wasnt good though. lol
there's a bit where you're undercover and arranging a plan to help break someone out of a complex military industrial hotel, and after a discussion with this person at a party, you realise it's really fucked. you're standing on a balcony, and the person directs you to a glass on the table with something in. as you take it, and the person walks away, the lights in the hall fade, before coming back on, as the character Lizzy appears on the stage, and the song Delicate Weapon by Grimes begins to play. you naturally go to look towards it, and get given the option to lean against the rail of the balcony to watch the character Lizzy perform the song. it's such a natural way of encouraging the player to take in this song. i felt so immersed in that moment, sitting on the weight of what was to come while listening to this ethereal music and seeing this techy cyber show. it's a fantastic piece of set dressing, entirely optional and having no impact on the story whatsoever.
i think that's what phantom liberty does well, it has these grand moments of genuinely impressive spectable that you remember and stick with you. its overall plot is a bit patchy, dealing in vague ideals. it's an easy choice for me who to work with, and i love that you get a long time to think about the decision you have to make. dogtown is not a great hub by itself, its ugly and its unique personality compared to the rest of NC doesnt make it feel particularly unique, especially as you get in from pacifica. there were two side quests that i got that i did, one that i felt was perfect for an RPG, and one that i felt was the worst thing in an RPG, and it makes for a messy experience.
in The Man Who Killed Jason Rider you have to find some ex-soldier and kill him for murdering a bunch of people. when you find him, he's a shell of his former self. he's a highly disabled dying cyborg with no money. he's still an absolute asshole, but he's also mentally ill. the physical rewards feel uninteresting here, the thing is, do you murder a man in cold blood for the vengeance his victims' families want? or do you give him up to medicene to possibly do good? the guy's a scumbag and he isn't repentant. you have a discussion about whether killing as a soldier makes you any different to as a civillian. there's no wrong answer, it's just a good story. but in Dazed and Confused you have to convince a gangster/pornstar to come to a building for you. instead of having multiple ways to get there with varying options, if you pick the wrong options the quests fails. what's this supposed to do in an RPG other than make you want to reload? if failure is going to be an option in an RPG make it interesting - fail forward. closing off a quest and just ending that story entirely isnt failing forward, its falling into a wall.
i'm going on a bit but i think phantom liberty was good. idris elba's performance wasnt good though. lol