Cyberpunk 2077

It's 43 guys and a bull elephant, MPH, you liar.

A game where you're allowed to approach the combat however you like, but he can't believe you approached the combat however you like.

So you played the entire section like Hitman and are annoyed you didn't get to shoot anyone? I didn't even know that was possible. I murdered the first guy and stuffed him in a fridge then went in shooting. It looked like the meat counter in ASDA once I'd finished. You weirdo.

Haha to be fair the whole section is treated like a stealth tutorial. You’re breaking in, both of the characters are whispering, it even scripts a couple of silent takedowns.

Since I started shooting I haven’t stopped, though. Pew pew.

I murdered the first guy and stuffed him in a fridge then went in shooting. It looked like the meat counter in ASDA once I'd finished.

/picks up notepad

Veeeeeeee-ry interesting. Now, tell me about your mother.

Haha to be fair the whole section is treated like a stealth tutorial. You’re breaking in, both of the characters are whispering, it even scripts a couple of silent takedowns.

Since I started shooting I haven’t stopped, though. Pew pew.

When I break in, I BREAK in.

The shooting is very underrated. I'd say Cyberpunk is up with some of the best in terms of how entertaining the combat is. Especially when you get the grenade types and double jump and mantis blades.

I am going to start my trial later and will be determined not to fire any shots, so I can come in here and back MPH up.

I implore you to kill them all.

Didn't realise this was so cheap, actually. I was expecting it to be 70 quid; just checked and it's 20.

On what? Looking at the store on my Xbox, it's half price - that is to say, €35 rather than €70.

Dunno if I can even be arsed to download 50GB to discover I don't like it.

It’s £25 on the UK store, and gift cards are cheaper on eneba.

So I played precisely 2 hours on the dot, and loved it. It's a tad too sweary and feels a bit clunky at times control-wise what I have done so far, but I have played like 300 hours of Fallout 4 so can get past clunky controls for a world I like.

I also spent more time in game deciding on the right size of my characters nipples for her breasts, than I did not killing anyone. Wasted those dreks on the first street kid mission. The gunplay does feel nice.

Defo going to buy this, it's got a fantastic feel and vibe to it. I do like that despite seeming fairly complex and with a lot of info, it does kinda let you get on and get going quickly compared to some other games.

Actually a tad annoyed we are going away tomorrow till Saturday as want to just play the heck out of it.

Careful, that sort of positive talk about Cyberpunk is frowned upon on the Soc

There's nothing positive about nipples.

I quite like Cyberpunk 2077. I am somewhere between Cav and MPH in my playstyle in that I kill everyone but try to justify it to myself.

I'm curious to know if anyone is playing as a male character, and if so, what size willy did you select?

I went no genitals for my character which seems to just mean she will be in her pants from the looks of it. I get representation is a big thing and is positive, but the whole genitals thing is surely just needless superfluous Dev "lol, we made a cock" winking?

I dunno, the opportunity to role-play someone with a really tiny penis who's taking out their grudge against humanity seems quite appealing. Laurence Fox Simulator 2022.

I quite like Cyberpunk 2077. I am somewhere between Cav and MPH in my playstyle in that I kill everyone but try to justify it to myself.

I'm curious to know if anyone is playing as a male character, and if so, what size willy did you select?

I think when I started you couldn't adjust willy size? Was it in a patch.

Also I normally justify the start of fights, rather than post-bloodbath. I quite like shouting YOUTHS! in a disgusted voice and then throwing a grenade into a group of kids chilling out listening to music next to their motorbikes.

I think we’ve found a new Crysis Turtle. Realistically lit coffee cups, phwoar.

SHOOT HIM

Ended up cashing in a bunch of MS reward points, so I essentially got this for nothing (that's not even Martonomics, you get reward points just for playing Xbox games and searching for Nic Cage films on Bing). Will play it eventually, I'm sure, once my partner's back to work - she's off with COVID right now, not that you'd know it from her total lack of symptoms but the tests don't lie. Might enjoy it, who knows?

The added denial it is martanomics makes this, of course, textbook martanomics.

I quite like Cyberpunk 2077. I am somewhere between Cav and MPH in my playstyle in that I kill everyone but try to justify it to myself.

I'm curious to know if anyone is playing as a male character, and if so, what size willy did you select?

I think when I started you couldn't adjust willy size? Was it in a patch.

Also I normally justify the start of fights, rather than post-bloodbath. I quite like shouting YOUTHS! in a disgusted voice and then throwing a grenade into a group of kids chilling out listening to music next to their motorbikes.

That must have been a weird patch note, even in the frequently hilarious world of patch notes. (Leopards will no longer hover in mid-air singing Cher songs.)

I like to stare at groups of ne'er do wells until they get annoyed with me, at which point I murder them all in "self defence." It's just fun to do violence in Cyberpunk. It's the game's fault, not mine.

The added denial it is martanomics makes this, of course, textbook martanomics.

To be fair, I think Martonomics was here before crypto. I'm a goddamn trendsetter.

I spent my lifesavings on Martcoins. To the moon!
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Is the game I bought with what was left of them. I had to wait until it was on sale though.

I literally bought that trilogy yesterday

I've done a complete 180 on this game. I'm all aboard the choom choom train now.

I don't know whether it was grasping the plot (some of that 2020 tabletop lore is fascinating), or finally being let loose with the guns, but it's all clicked. There are still some huge bugs, even after all this time; yesterday I had a ten-minute chat with someone t-posing, face-down, in the dirt. But the incredible attention to detail and world-building is shining through.

Oh and the HDR. 🤤

My tip (not for Alastor who will have finished it by now) is to get out of of the opening act as quickly as possible and then slow down and enjoy the world after it's all unlocked.

I think I'm about 50 hours in and 30 of those were spent wandering around dildo shops.

My goal is to have Mr Party Hat binge watch Ghost in the Shell by the end of the week off the back of this Cyberpunk buzz.

I think I'm about 50 hours in and 30 of those were spent wandering around dildo shops.

Also in the game etc.

My tip (not for Alastor who will have finished it by now) is to get out of of the opening act as quickly as possible and then slow down and enjoy the world after it's all unlocked.

I think I'm about 50 hours in and 30 of those were spent wandering around dildo shops.

Yeah I'm into the game proper now. It's actually a little overwhelming; every time you cross a road someone new calls you, tells you this is their turf, and gives you twelve missions.

The sense of place is astonishing though, totally agree there. It'd be a marvel in VR. It can also be incredibly cosy, which I wasn't expecting. Sheltering from the rain in a roadside diner, looking out the window at the neon signs reflected in the puddles… it's fun just being in the world.

Hopefully the game gets one of those No Man's Sky redemption stories the hive mind loves so much, it definitely deserves attention now.

My goal is to have Mr Party Hat binge watch Ghost in the Shell by the end of the week off the back of this Cyberpunk buzz.

The first result on Youtube is a semi-naked Scarlett Johansson, so I'm already in. Although I assume that's not the version you're talking about.

That's both the best and worst version for exactly that reason (but different reasons of that reason, if that even makes sense).

I thought the live action was about as generic as it gets, sadly. If you see the one with the little AI tanks that sound like children who like to debate the nature of individuality and a soul you're in the right place. I dunno' if Cyberpunk asks the usual questions as GitS and Blade Runner, but I'd settle for the world you're implying, it's better than nothing.

Hot take: there is no actually great version of Ghost in the Shell. They're all hamstrung by their creators' various fixations, and therefore never properly gel into a cohesive whole. (This includes the original manga, which is startlingly inconsistent in its tone, themes and plot.)

That does, however, mean that they all have their own strengths and unique moments that make them worth checking out – even the largely tepid Hollywood retread, which has those terrifyingly awesome robot geisha spiders at the start.

Honestly the best thing about ghost in the shell is listening to people talking about it and then saying you thought it was pretty good and Scarlett Johannsson was pretty suited to the roll.

It's right up there with "Man, I don't see why you're so obsessed with the last airbender, that film was shit."

The original movie is my favourite all time anime film, I like the sequel too, yeah.

Ghost in the Shell is a movie I respect much more than I like. Like Akira, it's worth seeing once for the technical achievement but I find it's a tough one to rewatch without getting a little bit bored. (Also the recent blu transfer is spotty as hell, which I found quite distracting.)

I think it was a perfect mix of asking The Big Questions and having action scenes that are iconic to this day, too bad the sequel fucked that ratio up pretty hard. Also I know it's still in the shadow of Blade Runner so a lot of what it's saying isn't that new, but I'm fine with that.

Let's all just agree the pecking order is:

Weekend at Bernie's
Akira
All other movies
Ghost in the Shell with the girl from Ghost Town in it

My trial ran out whilst playing the other night and I am too broke to buy it till payday, but luckily that's within the sale window still, but I have spent every waking moment thinking about it, and have spoken to 3 or 4 at work about it who've all gone on to grab the trail or I think it's a demo on PS5, and are similarly liking it.

My goal is to have Mr Party Hat binge watch Ghost in the Shell by the end of the week off the back of this Cyberpunk buzz.

K I watched Ghost in the Shell and Akira. Do I have to pick up one of those waifu pillow things now?

I really enjoyed both. Ghost in the Shell sort of fizzled out a little, it could have done with being ten minutes longer. Akira definitely held my attention more, but I'm glad I watched both.

Do I have to pick up one of those waifu pillow things now?

No, they're sent out automatically.

Oh sweet, glad you liked them! Time to reset the Cyberpunk playthrough and play the Kusanagi run.

Started creating myself in the game, it's going well. Disappointing that the small penis size isn't very small at all.

I made it to the combat tutorial. Everything feels too slippery, I can't seem to smoothly move the camera with doing it reaaaaaaally slowly, it's all jerky and uncomfortable otherwise. Makes aiming correctly a massive chore. Going to need to tinker with the sliders, not in the mood for it now. Haven't killed anyone yet though.

Finished the first mission after around an hour, and now I have questions. Questions that I hope will stop this becoming Elder Scrolls Oblivion* all over again:

• Should I be picking everything up? Because right now, I'm picking everything up and it's fucking tedious.
• Does the lore even matter? I'm spending too long grabbing data shards in the hope I'll find some awesome hidden upgrade, reading emails on people's computers on the off chance I'll stumble across a secret mission, listening to conversations in case it triggers something extra, etc etc. Nothing so far, it all seems like world-padsing bullshit.

Answering no to both of these is going to greatly improve the experience for me. Because right now, I'm combing every area for every little detail and it's fucking tiring.

(* I played Oblivion for 33 hours, collecting every weapon, exploring every corner, reading every book, and never met Sean Bean's character, meaning I never triggered the main story at all. Lots of side quests, nothing else. Total waste of my time)

Picking everything up is a valid tactic if you're going to get involved with crafting, and spend skill points in the crafting tree, because you can disassemble everything you pick up and gain crafting mats. Or you could sell everything. Otherwise, just pick up the stuff you like the look of (uncommon items will glow green, rare blue, super rare purple etc). You won't be punished for leaving stuff on the ground.

The text pickups only matter for missions (in which case they'll be highlighted yellow). Otherwise it's just background lore. If you don't care, you can safely ignore them.

(* I played Oblivion for 33 hours, collecting every weapon, exploring every corner, reading every book, and never met Sean Bean's character, meaning I never triggered the main story at all. Lots of side quests, nothing else. Total waste of my time)

This is the correct way to play Oblivion.

Otherwise, just pick up the stuff you like the look of (uncommon items will glow green, rare blue, super rare purple etc).

Despite that being a common trope in other games I've played (Borderlands, looking at you), I didn't know that. Useful info.

The text pickups only matter for missions (in which case they'll be highlighted yellow). Otherwise it's just background lore. If you don't care, you can safely ignore them.

GOOD. Phew. Fuck those then.

(* I played Oblivion for 33 hours, collecting every weapon, exploring every corner, reading every book, and never met Sean Bean's character, meaning I never triggered the main story at all. Lots of side quests, nothing else. Total waste of my time)

This is the correct way to play Oblivion.

I rarely ever do what I'm told in these things. Emerging from the prison into the world, the man goes 'Head over there'. So I went in the opposite direction and never looked back. I worry this will be the case here too. At least in Elden Ring, if you go the wrong way, the game punishes you for it…

White > green > blue > purple > orange

Just another one of those daft bits of game logic that developers assume you know. I first noticed it in World of Warcraft but I assume it’s older than that.

You've got those arrows the wrong way round I think, MPH. I don't know for sure though, I'm not some kind of maths nerd.

Gotta love the proper use of 'greater than'.