If we were in the game Cyberpunk 2077, then on the chip describing my story with this game, it would be the following:

When the game came out, I heard about it, I saw memes that reflect the technical condition of the game, but still did not see any rollers or video with the gameplay, the more I did not play myself, because I had only an ancient laptop to study;

Two years have passed, during which I periodically stumbled upon the fact that the game in a rather poor technical condition, raw, finally came out the addition of Phantom Liberty with Patch 2.0, after which news began to appear more and more often that Cyberpunk 2077 has finally became a game that you can play, and indeed makes a very, very good impression with the addition;

About another year passed and I finally got a PS5 and Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition disc, including Phantom Liberty.

So, throughout the development of the game and several years after its release, I was almost in a vacuum regarding the situation with this game. I did not watch neither developers’ videos, nor videos from the game, no summer, nor passage, nor-God forgive me-reviews and videos on Stopgame. Not because I was not interested, but because I was hoping to get to her with zero initial conditions and completely make an opinion about her independently. I recently finished getting through the game, including the addition (but I chose the ending from the main game). And she struck me. So much so that I wanted to share my impressions and thoughts that appeared under her influence, and they have no rest for a long time, and, it seems, they will not give for some time.

However, there is one catch. After I finished playing the game and wanted to share my thoughts, I finally watched the video dedicated to the game that Stopgame has. If you suddenly did not look, then I strongly recommend. It turned out that almost everything that I wanted to say was already said in these videos (and in fact in many blogs, which I also recommend reading). Therefore, if suddenly in the future text they skip similar thoughts, let it be a “link to literature” or “reference to classical work”, and not a repetition.

The videos in question:

The non-linearity of the Cyberpunk 2077 after 124 hours: a review of the game, general information about the game, plot, gameplay, impressions of three people from three different adventures (by the way, very cool format);

Common sense and Cyberpunk 2077: about how close the world of the game is to our world (both in technical terms and in moral, emotional and philosophical);

What is wrong with the soundtrack Cyberpunk 2077: a video dedicated to the music of the game (namely the music of the game, that is, the music that reflects and creates the world of the game, and, for example, intra -game radio);

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty: 17 out of 20: Actually review – as the first video, but only about the addition;

The heart of darkness in the city of the city

I would like to start with http://dailyspinscasino.co.uk/ a conversation about the addition of Phantom Liberty. About what impression the plot makes, what change introduced and how the game improved the update 2.0, including an addition, is said in the corresponding video. I wanted to pay attention to the following. Namely, on the parallels and references to the work of the “heart of darkness” Joseph Conrad immediately. If you are not familiar with him, then I strongly recommend. Joseph Conrad – English writer of Polish descent. In 1899, he wrote the story “Heart of Darkness”), which tells about the Marlou sailor, who, on behalf of some influential company on an expedition to the wilderness of Central Africa at the time when there were many unknown regions on the map of this region. On the motives of this story, I had a hot film by Francis Ford Coppola’s beloved film “Apocalypse Today” (on the basis of which, as it turned out, Spec Ops: The Line was made, but I did not play it, so I can’t confirm). One of the key figures in Phantom Liberty is Colonel Kurt Hensen, most often called Colonel Kurt Colonel. One of the key figures in the heart of darkness is Mr. Kurtz, and in Apocalypse Today Colonel Kurtz. The latter in the film was played by the Great Marlon Brando, and it is difficult not to notice the similarity between his hero and Colonel Kurt from Phantom Liberty.

Colonel Kurt from Phantom Liberty

Colonel Kurtz from the Apocalypse Today

It is also worth bringing one of Johnny Silly Sylved, which he says in the quest, the look into the abyss (Somewhat Damage) – which is true, I did not reach, because I chose an excluding option for the development of events: “And here we go lower and lower in the rabbit hole, in the heart of darkness” (“And her wee are, jump down, Down the Rabbit-Hole Into the Heart of Darkness ").

It is very important, in my opinion, to mention the following. Joseph Conrad survived many adventures, was in a huge number of travels, one of which was along the Congo River at the time when this region was the private property of the King of the Belgians Leopold II. It was on the basis of his experience that Konrad wrote "The Heart of Darkness". As stated in the preface to one of the publications of this story, at that time the first genocide in modern history took place in that place. Recall that in the Apocalypse today, the action of which takes place not in the Congo, but in Vietnam during the war, Colonel Kurtz, according to the plot, deserted, took control of a group of local residents and arranged his power there. Exactly the same story takes place in Phantom Liberty: Colonel Kurt, who was in the service of the NSSHA (new USA), deserted from Militakh during one of the operations and arranged a kind of own state in one of the Night-City areas, the city of the city.

Of course, in addition to similar names and people, as well as plot points, in all works related to the story of Konrad, similar topics are raised. In my opinion, one of the key topics of Cyberpunk as a whole (both the main game and the universe in general), and additions, this is humanity and its preservation in the tough and, perhaps, the wild world, the nature of the essence of man, and his cruelty as an integral part. The world of Cyberpunk is full of violence and crimes, and the characters that live in it correspond to this. Many of them strive for power, for the highest status, and as you and I remember "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely". As for the pushege city, of course there is no question of the genocide of the local population. Some people find shelter there, begin a new life. But the concept itself, in which the former colonel seizes power in the city area, establishes his dictatorship there and, for example, sells weapons, does not sound very good. And the fact that such a concept has been implemented once again emphasizes the deplorable state of affairs in the world of Cyberpunk.

Darkness and halftones almost everywhere in Phantom Liberty

Johnny says the base (at least by his concepts)

Everyone has already seen this frame, but I can’t help but attach it. How incredibly cool in the addition of the appearance of key characters have been worked out

Again, the halftones hint that in this espionage history not everything is so simple

NSSHA President makes an offer that cannot be abandoned

The main character of the game and Johnny

Turning to the main part of the game, I wanted to discuss in more detail the wrong thing in the world of the game and in general in the Cyberpunk universe, but to focus on what the game can tell us important, specifically my story in it and what seems especially relevant in our modern world. To do this, I want to share some paintings that I managed to capture in Night City (including in the city).

Of course, the above screenshots may not be the best. And of course, in this city a truly huge number of very beautiful places, the beauty of many of which simply cannot be conveyed with the help of photography (screenshot, photographic mode), and many do not need to be transmitted, because it is better to observe yourself. And there is no doubt that in the variegated Night-City there are a lot of unpleasant, dark, gloomy and repulsive places, but these contrasts are part of the universe. The stories that Cyberpunk 2077 tells us especially relevant, makes them – sometimes frightening – plausible – believable. More and more often I observe and hear and, in a sense, I feel the contrast of the world around us, the growth of the number of disagreements and contradictions. It may seem banal to someone, but material values ​​come to the fore more and more, which is obviously taking place in the world of Cyberpunk. Is there something bad about this-everyone decides for himself, as well as everyone decides for himself, which is important in his life. But, it seems to me, Cyberpunk with its world of corporations, for which there is just all meaning in money, an advertisement that goes into the sky and an endless race for status and power shows that terrible things can happen in this world. So, what people can do in this world, so as not to drown in his non -stop, frantic stream is to stop. Stop and look around to see how beautiful the world is around. In my opinion, one of the main characters of the game, and maybe the main one is precisely Night City. And if you do not rush, study it, just walk on it, drive it on a motorcycle with a first -person view, then the player recognizes it, get acquainted with its completely different sides. After all, it seems that the only thing for which everyone praised the game from the very beginning, and in which everyone who viewed it converged in the opinion, this is what the city was made with how cool. And if you constantly rush to the next task, then you will not notice all the surrounding beauty. Do not always need to run and strive upward. It is important to sometimes stop and look around. Then, with due attention, I am sure, it will be very beautiful. At the end of the game, a window appears with an inscription offering to continue his story in Night City. It says, something like that at least the main story is finished, the city continues to live its life, and it seems to me that this is true.

A similar feeling arose from the characters. This is probably the first game in which I caught myself on the next, a little strange, feeling. I thought about what the characters were doing when I was not nearby and sometimes even a little regretted that I did not continue to interact with them, to recognize their stories. And from this it seems a little paradoxical that at the end of the game, both in its main part and in addition, I started a little from it (games) to be annoyed. Then I realized that irritation goes from the fact that the game is overseeing the situation, forcing me to make some choice, make decisions that will clearly affect the fate of the characters. Why will the game not let me have fun with/for Johnny with his friends (although he said more than once that he had no friends)? Why can’t I go again with acadulang with Judy? Why can’t I travel around the desert with Pan, sit in a bar with Alex, drink a beer with a river? Why no hokhma from the city comes to me anymore? I understand that most likely there will be no good end, because Cyberpunk is a very cruel world, so I do not want to decide the fate of the characters. And at the same time amazing and completely expected, that Johnny became the most memorable and affected by the character. It is completely expected because he was the face of the game from the very beginning. And since he was done by such, it is expected that he will be the most worked out. But it became quite amazing for me, the way my attitude towards him changed throughout the game.

Further, unfortunately, I cannot avoid some spoilers. I will give several facts:

As well as I was almost in the information vacuum regarding the situation with the game before and after the release, in the same way I was in a vacuum regarding the plot, options for passing, possible endings;

Let me remind you that Johnny, although the most famous rocker and the coolest punk in the world of Cyberpunk, he participated in the attack on Arasaka-Tower, inside which he blew up an atomic bomb;

As a result of the attack on Arasak-Tower, Johnny was killed, and his personality was copied to the USB flash drive, which in the terms of the game can be incredibly cool to formulate as “as a result of the murderer program, an enram (construct) of his personality was created”;

After almost half a century, the biochip with the personality of Johnny gets the main hero of the game, who is forced to implant him for himself; Because of this, the personality of Johnny begins to take possession of the main character, displacing his own personality.

So, almost from the very first minutes of the game, we will find out that Johnny is a terrorist. But at the same time, even after half a century there are his fans, both in terms of creativity and in terms of his "activity". Although Personally, Johnny seems to me an attractive character as a punk and musician, this is completely blocked by the fact that he blew up an atomic bomb in the center of Night City. Because of this, for me from the very beginning of the game, he was a completely negative character. This is aggravated by the fact that he directly says that he will take possession of the body of our hero and do absolutely everything to survive. At the same time, a very important point is that it is the biochip in the tie of the game that saves the life of our hero. And here the story with Johnny begins to throw very interesting questions and turns. Johnny’s personality construct saves our hero life. Johnny does it intentionally or not, and if so, for what reasons – a question for thought. But the fact is that now he can’t get away from him, he will always be with our hero.

Somehow close to the beginning of the game, Johnny noticed on the street a musician playing the guitar. He suddenly stopped and said that there is a soul in this guy, there is a nerve. In general, he often stopped and looked at something, froze, probably thinking about something important. And all these personnel, like many moments with other characters, were very beautiful. But there were especially many such moments with Johnny. Maybe, having lived for half a century in a prison of shower, he understood something? Often his appearance were accompanied only by caustic remarks and jokes over our character, especially at first. But from the very beginning, the shots in which Johnny was very beautiful, and I wanted to stop for them. And they were also very often complex and multi -valued. And probably this served as I went through all the quests associated with it, tried to understand it. And it somehow happened that by the end of the game I became the only friend for him, and he became a friend to me.

Johnny was a real rocker, punk. Initially, rock, as I understand it, is an individuality, discharge from the crowd. Do something different from all. And in the world of Cyberpunk, at least everyone can take any look, make anything with his body, in this world, individuality is lost. Like the colors in the rainbow, which are only seven (at least as we are taught from childhood), but they consist of a continuous spectrum of colors, in which there is something unique for everyone, but it will be endlessly close to the same unique. And in such a world it is especially important not to forget about people. Try not to drown in a non -stop, frantic stream of tasks, quests, work, pursuit of status and wealth. Of course, in all these things, there is nothing wrong with themselves, but at a thoughtless and conveyor pace you can skip not only the surrounding beauty, but also people, their loved ones, not notice possible friends and miss the moment when they need to devote time, stay with them, talk and understand. It so happened that in my passage, Johnny has radically changed from a terrorist who cannot be excuses, to a friend who is ready to sacrifice himself and if he promises something, then keeps the word. And in my opinion, Johnny-Terrorist died in 2023, and after that, reborn in 2077, became completely different.