When the game Cyberpunk 2077 was announced as an anime by Netflix, few expected anything outstanding. The game isn’t really finished yet, but they’re already trying to expand the universe. The series came out in September 2022. What a surprise when Netflix released a hit that is comparable in coolness to the great and terrible Arcane (Arcane: League of Legends). It is impossible to avoid comparisons of two projects in the same universe, so I will analyze how Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is cooler than the original game and why it is good.
the atmosphere
If you’ve already completed Cyberpunk 2077 or are still enjoying the idea of CD Projekt RED, try describing your feelings about life in Night City. Happened? I can’t get it here.
Cyberpunk as a genre has a number of well-known characteristics: neon signs, rainy weather, all kinds of implants or almost intelligent robots, futurism alongside everyday life, messy buildings, multiculturalism and a feeling of total hopelessness. Remember both parts of Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell and you will immediately understand what it is about. Someone will call them stereotypes, but I consider them historically formed characteristics.
Is that all in Night City? Partially. I really want to believe in the world of the game, but when it turns out to be practical, there is always a taste of the lie somewhere nearby.
Are there implants? This, of course, is the main feature of the project. But you don’t feel like someone who cut off their legs for a double jump a minute ago. Is there hopelessness? Oh yeah, but most of the time V solves problems effortlessly. Already in the middle of the passage you buy expensive cars out of boredom. Does Night City look like a dark dream where the rich get richer and the poor stay in poverty for generations? Probably, but the game almost doesn’t show us the lives of ordinary people. Only numerous notes give any idea how exactly the locals survive. V himself and those he communicates with seem cut off from this world.
Knight CityNight City
This happens in everything that works for the atmosphere of a real cyberpunk. It seems to be there, but something is always missing.
Anime is head and shoulders above gaming in this regard. From the first minutes, viewers are introduced to the miserable situation of those who do not work with corporations, do not have chips with the souls of known terrorists in their heads, but simply go to work, go to school and try to survive. Perhaps for the first time, the famous city, where some have spent more than 50 hours of their lives, feels real.
80 percent of the population is worse off than ever. Everything so that the remaining 20 percent don’t need anything. You have to pay exorbitant insurance for drugs or you just die on the streets. Studying at a prestigious school does not guarantee that you will live to graduate. Saving money for an implant and a reaper is not as difficult as finding the money to regularly buy pills for nervous system overload.
“Edge Runners” offers a view of Night City without frills and Photoshop, giving the city its own face, atmosphere and being remembered.
Lived approximately in the same place and V. Lived approximately in the same place and V
Many characteristic elements were carefully transferred from the game to the cartoon. Fans will recognize entire streets, cars and weapons. Only now it’s not just disparate gameplay elements, but a single system that exists according to its own laws.
characters
Cyberpunk MontageCyberpunk Montage
It won’t be easy here. Raise your hands who aren’t friends with Johnny Silverhand just because they didn’t understand which phrases make him angry and which elicit respect. Characters in Cyberpunk 2077 are a controversial topic. However, here the situation is reminiscent of the previous paragraph. They have everything to sink into the soul, but there is always something missing to really make it happen. Think of Zoltan or Dandelion from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The supporting character Baron has also become one of the favorite NPCs for many.
Now name someone from Cyberpunk 2077. V communicates with a hundred different people, each of whom usually has their own story and their own problems, but you don’t dwell on them, you don’t have time to empathize or even remember. Another task, nothing more.
The main characters are also controversial. It’s no joke, given the choice of answers, V still managed to act like a complete idiot at some plot points, unlike anything he’d done before.
Well, Johnny… Someone may disagree with me here, but this is one of the worst characters in games. He is a narcissistic goat who is very ill-suited to the role of savior of humanity. All his actions, without exception, cause a desire to hit him in the face with the palm of his hand, and fate does not allow him to sympathize. In addition, Johnny practically does not develop as a personality, although he spends many days with the main character.
The main flaw in the game’s plot is that V and Johnny simply have no chemistry. If you chose the correct answers, the rocker will consider you a friend. However, this happens suddenly, without normal eyeliner and development.
And again the anime does the screenwriters of the game. The story of the protagonist David is simple and clear. It’s even too banal, which is why you immediately believe in what’s happening. They also manage to talk about supporting characters in ten episodes. For some reason, the creators decided to tie the common name of the universe to specific people, so the cyberpunks in the cartoon are an elite force of mercenaries.
Each of them has their own little story. Of course I want the details, we only learn a few details about some of the heroes. However, the personalities turned out to be so spectacular that in the end you will still remember who is who and even be able to navigate…
CD Projekt RED showed Rebecca from Cyberpunk: Edge Runners as a plush toy. Looks very cute
A Microsoft programmer showed what Lucy looks like from the anime “Cyberpunk: Edge Runners”.
The Electronic Arts artist showed off his version of Lucy from the anime “Cyberpunk: Edge Runners”
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