noir fatalism under the knife of overwhelming, spectral government power and corruption. patriotic rewards in the form of empty promises, empty recognition, empty love, and empty mags. so anti-dying-for-a-country that only views you as either an obstacle to overcome or a tool to be discarded when grown dull. love, individuality, loyalty, and camaraderie all trying to grow and exist in a system that tries to burn those things at the root in order to sustain the power and opinion of those above. only dead men choose to live by a set of morals in a world governed without them. all ethics, agency, and identity snuffed out with the bang of a bullet or slowly ironed out into a phantom being of wires and cables and electricity to serve the desires of authority like keyboard keys helplessly typing away on a computer. a world built on transactions, manipulation, and power where survival has to come at the cost of integrity. is it better to live with liberty and self as a monster or with shame and remorse (or worse, nothing at all) as a dutiful agent of your nation? dying for the powers of a country that sees you as just another cabinet file or dying to help a friend live a life they never had the chance to? it's always those little moments—seemingly simple actions—that can change everything; a phone call from a stranger; the click of a trigger; the ability to open up; the ability to say "yes" without incentive and say "no" despite fear.

sometimes, you sit back and smile—knowing that while it's not the "best" choice, it's the one you can live with. time is still ticking but the dream lives on.

sometimes, you're "too damn late."

"here's to all fools with principles.”

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nobody. nothing. nowhere; broken souls drifting like ronin in a blood-red neon hell of capitalist dystopia. the only meaning to be found is in the adrenaline rush of pulling a trigger against nameless bodies, or the swing of a blade against human flesh; if you can even call the bucket of bolts wired together with skin, human.

wake up puppy, we have a city to burn.

not exactly groundbreaking or all that thematical engrossing; one can't help but feel the cyberpunk genre is used here as a sort of pastiche for cool design and setting, however, that design and setting is undeniably cool and well crafted. the hub world of rengkok south is filled with interesting detail down to every little neon LED that lights up the back alleys; plenty of neo-punk styled characters to interact with as well that make for a bit of fun. the strongest aspect of this game is its ability of immersion and atmosphere. side note: the soundtrack goes so hard, like holy shit, sidewalks and skeletons are awesome! plus some great head-bangers by zamilska

in my opinion, the gameplay feels mean and overly brutal, which is totally the point and 100% a compliment. not as satisfying as others in the top-down action shooter genre but definably more hard-hitting; some enemies take more hits than one which exemplifies the visceral intensity of the action and adds difficulty. also, a really neat skill-tree that allows the player to build upon and easily switch between different playstyles on the go. the last hour or two of this is probably the best part as it constantly adds new elements to the fights, switches environments, and combines many different bosses/enemy types to result in a blistering finale of gladiatorial-like combat. i will admit that it can get a little tedious in the middle, especially in the boss department; there's like three different boss fights that you repeat multiple times; the mother machines, a bunch of like high-ranking guards, and a tank-like enemy.

if you can swallow a bit of tedium and some awkward mechanical controls, you'll be rewarded with an immersive and enjoyably bloody affair of cyberpunk ethics. take this review with a grain of salt because im a cyberpunk junky and will overlook A LOT in order to plug my soul into the net, altar my body with pervasive tech, and bask under the spellbinding lights of a futuristic city.