"Cyberpunk 2077," Looks Promising

I generally try to not let myself get too hyped-up for a video-game. Often we will see promotional videos, read exciting preview-articles, and otherwise be told we're getting the equivalent of a fancy buffet when the actual product turns out more like a bucket of eggs from Denny's--possible to digest, but disappointing and unappetizing. That said, the more and I see and hear about, "Cyberpunk 2077," the more excited I get, with only a handful of reservations. Since watching the 48-minute gameplay video at the top of the article I'm only more enthusiastic.

The company behind, "Cyberpunk 2077," is CD Projekt Red, best known for their series of, "The Witcher," games. I played some of the first one on PC and a good deal of, "The Witcher III," on my Playstation 4, and found especially the third game to be masterfully designed, but not really for me. It's set in a big sprawling fantasy world which is good and all, but I've just gotten more and more tired of fantasy over the years and would rather be in a sci-fi location than one full of dragons and magic. Hence, hearing a team with the pedigree that CD Projekt Red has was working on this game had me optimistic. Based on the tabletop game, "Cyberpunk 2020," this was actually announced some years ago, and then we heard nothing. Years went by and CD Projekt Red insisted they were working on the game, but it was mostly radio silence. Then at the most recent E3 a bunch of gameplay footage was showed to the press of, "Cyberpunk 2077." Now, a bit later that footage has been released online with some extra narration from a designer carefully emphasizing this is all a work in progress and a lot could change--basically, trying to manage expectations. Fuck it though, I'm all-in on the hype-train at this point.

The idea of a futuristic open-world where your character can tweak their body a variety of ways and solve quests as peacefully or violently as needed just gets me pumped. I've loved the, "Deus Ex," games but have found them at times a bit dry or lacking in feeling, "Alive." This though, it just bleeds character. Watching your character, "V," wander through Night City is amazing, witnessing this world full of little details that seems full of life and otherwise bustling. It is amazing, gorgeous, and then we see the driving. The one thing that didn't really make me go, "Wow," was when V got behind the wheel of a car. Suddenly everything seemed a lot less busy and more static, this universe dripping with character looked like a a mess of roads and highways designed to get you to the more exciting locales. It was meh. That is okay though, because as soon as V stepped out of the car everything was cool again. We witnessed complex conversations trees, cool little abilities you can install in your character, and otherwise I was impressed.

I know the game is still deep in development and CD Projekt Red is notorious for saying something will come out, "Once it's done," as opposed to rushing out a mediocre game. That said, even if we have to wait until 2020 or so I'm very, very eager to play this game and if it is merely a smidgen as good as it looks and sounds like it will be, we're gonna have something magical on our hands. I know I should temper my expectations, but CD Projekt Red has the skill and dedication that makes me believe this is going to be one awesome open-world RPG...just maybe they can tweak the driving-elements a bit more, you know?

"Deus Ex: Mankind Divided," and My Very Early Impressions

There was the game, "Deus Ex," followed by its sequel ("Invisible War") that absolutely nobody likes to talk about. Then they made a prequel, "Deus Ex: Human Revolution," that was actually really good if not without some flaws. Now they've got a sequel that is also a prequel (as it takes place before the debut game) and putting aside how at first the pre-order scheme was terrible and people shouldn't pre-order games, we now have this sequel-prequel some five years since the last game came out.

Wait. It has been five years since, "Human Revolution?" Well, I got that game for my PlayStation 3 shortly after moving to Saint Louis in the late-Summer/early-Fall of 2011, so yes, I guess it really has been that long. I didn't finish, "Human Revolution," but thankfully this game has a 12-minute prologue video you can watch to get yourself nice and updated--and honestly, even if you did finish the game I would think half a decade is a long enough time to forget plenty. Some control-changes aside plus the utilization of the touch-pad on the PS4 what with the game having moved up to this current generation, it handles a lot like the last game (and you can even select a control scheme to make it exactly like, "Human Revolution," should you want). The graphics are a lot better however, and as opposed to two small-ish city regions you can explore (as well as some big mission-areas) there is just the huge city of Prague (and of course some big mission-areas). Oh, and unlike the last game you actually get to go-out and explore during the day, that's a bit of a change.

The plot is made-up of a variety of your usual sci-fi concepts, with a group actually known as, "The Illuminati," possibly running the world, cyborg-styled humans (called, "Augmented," in the game), and a variety of political metaphors where augmented people are persecuted, with this concept sometimes used to better effect than other times (like that whole, "Aug Lives Matter," debacle). The graphics also are quite pretty but not at the level where I said, "Oh my God, this is an incredible improvement over the previous game!" as much as I went, "Hey, this looks a good degree snazzier!" The game-play is the same style as before where you face various missions or side-missions and can choose to handle them a variety of ways as the augmented human, Adam Jensen. Whether you sneak about and act non-lethally or go about things with a lot of noise and violence, there is generally something interesting to do--and because no game is complete without it now--you can craft stuff and tweak your weapons too.

I got, "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided," from a Redbox Kiosk off-and-on for a number of days (much thanks to my wife for the rental coupons!) and would still say I am very early into the game, but I quite like what I've played. The story shows its glimpses of creativity with some interesting characters, but it is mostly ancillary to the awesome game-play and general cool futuristic-vibe. I look forward to playing this more when I have the time and coupons.

Note: I played on a PlayStation 4, for those who were curious.

That Horrible Pre-Order Scam for "Deus Ex: Mankind Divded" Is Cancelled!

Hooray!

When I read that the pre-order scheme for, "Deus Ex: Mankind Divided," which I relentlessly mocked at the start of September, had been cancelled, I simply thought, "Oh thank God." Apparently fan demand for such an atrocious thing to not occur convinced the publisher, Square-Enix, to just give folk who pre-order the game all the goodies they, "Deserve." I put the word deserve in quotation marks because pre-ordering games is a foolish endeavor and one I quit doing long ago upon seeing it only led to awful, awful things.

So yes, this is good news. Now stop pre-ordering games, as sites besides me will tell you too.

"Deus Ex: Mankind Divided" Has the Worst Pre-Order Scheme Possible

No. Just No.

This is absurd.

Hey, remember back in the day when you could pre-order a game and get a little trinket as a kind of, "Thank-you," from the publisher? A calendar, a snow-globe, something cute; it was fun, right? Well, do you remember when companies realized they could hold a game's release date hostage in order to theoretically get a bunch of pre-orders for it? Yeah, Pepperridge Farm remembers. I mean, wait, that's a slogan, and you shouldn't have a big struggle to remember such a thing because it is happening right now.

Square-Enix AKA Squenix has introduced a way to, "Augment your pre-order," and be given the so-called choice or choosing various rewards if enough people pre-order the game. Anyone who pre-orders currently can pick between three different outfits for your character. You can't have all three, just one. Should enough pre-orders be made that Tier 2 is reached a person can choose between getting a digital artbook or a sampler of digital music. Tier 3 gives everyone a bonus mission, Tier 4 allows you to pick between a digital comic or novella, and if Tier 5 is obtained, the game comes out 4 days early somehow.

You may be asking, "Wait, why is it when we reach those Tiers with different choices I am unable to have both things?" To this Squenix has basically said it is to simulate how you make choices about augmenting your character in the game, but really they're saying, "Why? Fuck you, that's why! Now buy our 'Collector's Edition' for $150.00 if you want everything or shut-up and play along with our stupid pre-order method!" Basically every article about this scam is negative and points out that the best solution is you, the consumer, don't pre-order games. If companies realize they will face more back-lash from taking stuff out of a game and holding it hostage than they do profit, they will stop (one can hope).

Until this madness ends, I'm going to continue to not pre-order games. There are always plenty of copies in-stock considering how many stores carry video-games. Seriously, if Gamestop tells you they can't sell you a copy of something because they only have enough for pre-orders, walk across the street to Best Buy; you shouldn't ever go to Gamestop anyways. This insanity needs to end before we get to a point where you can't even buy a game unless you pre-order it. Oh God, I hope I didn't give anyone any ideas.