No, You're Breathtaking!

Hey everyone (both of you), 

This week, I've solidified two jobs that I am enjoying and am also working towards my future career.  Recently, I've also been flirting with the notion of starting a regularly scheduled weekly Twitch stream (likely 2 hours a week) to cover the backlog including games like Arkane's PREY, some PlayStation Classics, and full franchises I've never delved into before and have been sitting on.

I guess that's what led me to this week's topic.  When it comes to video games, I don't particularly enjoy Multiplayer games.  I've never been that good of a player and tend to get stressed playing objective-based competitive games.  Halo is the exception to this, but I find I don't have a regular group to play with, which can make it less fun.  Cooperative multiplayer games are the best thing...especially couch-co-op: the idea that two people in the same room and playing a game sitting on the same couch has always been delightful.  There are so many games that are tailor-made and optimized to this experience, but not as much recently since Co-op has transitioned to the networked play of live-service and multiplayer-only focused experiences.

Because of this lack of interest in multiplayer, I delve deep into rich single-player, narrative experiences regularly.  Although it would be futile to write about each game that I have enjoyed, I will focus on one that left a serious impact on me.

During Christmas 2011, I was visiting my parents and I was given a couple games (they've been my go-to gift idea for well over a decade now; at least since Halo 3 in '07).  One of the games I was given, despite not having much in the way of experience with the genre, was Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  It had been on my wish-list and I was excited to play it.  I played the first couple missions, got overwhelmed in its hacking mechanics, and also became very disengaged with how tough the first-person combat was.  I put the game down for half a year.  The Expectation vs. Reality was not on my side.

I returned to Deus Ex that summer and decided that I needed to give the game a try again before getting rid of it.  I decided to re-start the entire game (I was only a couple hours in at the time) and I quite liked the characters, the dialogue, the mystery.  And then, something just clicked.  The stealth made sense to me, the mechanics made more sense and it all fell into place.  Now, Human Revolution is a game I regularly return to.  A couple years later, it was made even better by adding several enhancements in its Director's Cut, which included the full integration of the Missing Link DLC as well as several quality of life improvements.  It took me a while to get into the game, but I was totally hooked when I had the "Aha!" moment where everything clicked.

Why bring up one of my top 5 games?  Well, my expectation vs. reality for the game ended up being a wonderful experience that was...absolutely breathtaking.

"You're breathtaking!" shouted a fan at E3 2019 to Keanu Reeves as he was revealed to play Johnny Silverhand in the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077.  The star wasted no time in shouting back, "No, you're breathtaking!  You're ALL breathtaking!"

This moment single-handedly blew up the internet and also boosted the hype for CD Projekt Red's game to new heights.  Their previous effort, 2015's The Witcher III: Wild Hunt solidified the studio's AAA status for making articulate and ambitious open-world games.  Keanu Reeves has never been in a video game before, which only added to the overwhelming attention already on this game.

Cyberpunk 2077 is based on Mike Pondsmith's Cyberpunk tabletop RPG (as a sequel to all of his work on the series) and was revealed with a trailer on January 10, 2013.

Two years later, The Witcher III released.  Then, in 2018, Cyberpunk 2077 was once again revealed with an explosive in-engine trailer, showcasing a vast glimpse of what the game has to offer.  Now, nearly 8 years after the teaser was released, we are two days away from the release of Cyberpunk 2077.

So, let's discuss how hype can be both a good and bad thing.  On one hand, hype can be a good thing: it drums up the business for the product.  We see this particularly in event-based media.  Saying that The Rise of Skywalker was an event-film is an understatement because it was the culmination of 42 years of Star Wars, but it was ultimately a let down for many people.  Expectation vs. Reality.

Hype can also be weaponized by toxic fans to shoot down the views of others.  For example: if I said that the overall feel of the Cyberpunk 2077 trailers felt disingenuous to the final product, I would likely be harassed by many claiming that my opinions are "wrong," which is, of course, a loaded statement.  I would likely also be accused of not being a real fan because I am going against the grain of popular opinion.  Of course, discourse on media is always a fascinating topic, but I am fully aware that when it comes to high-profile releases, you really need to tread lightly, especially in online forums.

So, after nearly 8 years, will Cyberpunk 2077 live up to the hype?  How will it review?  We will know soon enough, but by all accounts, this title will be massive.  Due to the inexplicable timing that the Game Awards has given for its nominations, Cyberpunk 2077 won't even be up for consideration for any awards until one year from now.

We are currently two days from the game's release and the hype has reached a boiling point.  You cannot find it in online retailers (save for EB Games in Canada) if you are looking for a physical copy.  Whether this is the culmination of 8 years of hype, the still-escalating pandemic, the incoming Christmas season, or a combination of all of them.

Either way, will you be there on Day 1?  Here's the final trailer.  Decide the hype for yourself:

That's all for now.  Next week, we'll dive deep into this year's Game Awards: the winners and the announcements.

SF