Cyberpunk Games

[Wretch]

Are there any cyberpunk games that aren’t ****** slop? Any worth actually playing?

The only one I can think of is e.y.e. Divine cybermancy.

[Cedric]

Syndicate, Syndicate Wars, Deus Ex (kinda), maybe the old SNES/Genesis Shadowrun game.

[rusty_shackleford]

SNES shadowrun was good, I remember enjoying it a lot. But I played it when I actually owned the console so maybe it didn't age as well as my memory thinks.


I liked Shadowrun Hong Kong more than Dragonfall, btw.

[UltraFan123]

I think the core idea of the Cyberpunk genre is that it originally started as a form of warning against the rapid acceleration of technology that was seen back in the late 80s, so the stuff depicted in these settings were supposed to be perceived as dystopian.

Now here we are 40 years later and no small amount of people unironically believes that the world seen in 2077 is "cool".

[Cedric]

How about Cruelty Squad? It's not exactly the vibe but it's a bit like e.y.e. I think it's vaguely ****** adjacent though. I didn't look into it too hard.

[gerey]

SNES shadowrun was good

The Sega Genesis one was also good, though it played completely differently. Also, would Showgunners be considered cyberpunk?

The two NuDeus Ex games are fine, though they filled Prague with ******* in the second game (probably predictive programming).

System Shock 1 and 2 are good, the remake of System Shock 1 is decent, if rather unnecessary.

Ghostrunner is fun - though it's neither an imsim nor a cRPG, you play a katana-wielding cyborg ninja in the last existing acropolis and go around killing bad guys. The gimmick is that you die from one shot.

Gunpoint is great. The cyberpunk vibe is more understated, but you do play a freelance agent in the near future doing missions for various corporations, and have access to futuristic gadgets. The main draw of the game is how you can rewire various elements on the level to complete your objective - i.e. rewire a switch to it opens a door when pressed, which in turn smacks a guard in the face.

Perfect Dark on the N64 was fun - I'd recommend playing it with a mouse hack, even though it makes the game significantly easier.

Blade Runner is a pretty great adventure game that has choices and consequences and is only tangentially related to the movie.

Uplink - quite possibly the best most fun "Hollywood hacker sim" around. Vaguely cyberpunk.

[Oyster Sauce]

Final Ninja

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Cyberpunk as a genre isn't relevant anymore. That isn't to say that you can't write an entertaining cyberpunk story, but the message of the genre is irrelevant now. That's because cyberpunk as a genre emerged in the 80s and the 90s and was about predicting the future. All of those predictions came true, but not quite in the aesthetically interesting way they were predicting. People have become figurative cyborgs, looking down at their phones that shoot information into their brains 24/7. You are required by law to buy very expensive corporate products such as very expensive health insurance, and corporations can turn off your access to your bank account and your access to the economy anytime they want to based on what they consider to be thought crime. So in Current Year, cyberpunk isn't about warning the audience against a dystopia. We're living in it. The appeal of cyberpunk is the aesthetics. We live in the dystopia cyberpunk fiction warned us about, but without the cool toys like mecha or robots or flying cars.

The first disc of FF7 and the first FF7 remake game have strong retrofuturist aesthetics with the dark city with a giant corporate tower and lots of mecha everywhere. Also the Front Mission, Metal Gear Solid, and Ace Combat series with the more bleak world setting and prevalence of fantastical machines. Some other JRPGs tap into those sci-fi aesthetics with lots of mecha (FF13, FF14, Xeno series, Trails series, etc) but don't have the dark cities or corporations ruling everything.

[Classix]

SNES shadowrun was good, I remember enjoying it a lot. But I played it when I actually owned the console so maybe it didn't age as well as my memory thinks.


I liked Shadowrun Hong Kong more than Dragonfall, btw.

I got Shadowrun SNES on my R36S my brother bought for me a few weeks ago, that's the next game I might play after I max lvl 99/Master all Jobs on FFtactics. Not sure If I'll run Alundra ( never played it), one of the earlier FF's or Shadowrun SNES. I have Shadowrun Returns on Steam...maybe...half way through? Troll Samurai/melee. but haven't played in a year or so. I think last thing I recall was some revelation about spirits/ghost bug things being a thing after a mission. Will probably finish up the SR: Returns then fire up the SNES after I finish off Tactics. Thanks for reminding me.

[gerey]

All of those predictions came true, but not quite in the aesthetically interesting way they were predicting.

I think CDPR made the right decision by going with an 80s sci-fi vibe for Cyberpunk 2077, instead of trying to make the setting a near-future one. Cyberpunk nowadays is basically another kind of retrofuturism, similar to what Fallout or Alien are going for, just a bit more modern.

[Wretch]

Cyberpunk as a genre isn't relevant anymore. That isn't to say that you can't write an entertaining cyberpunk story, but the message of the genre is irrelevant now. That's because cyberpunk as a genre emerged in the 80s and the 90s and was about predicting the future. All of those predictions came true, but not quite in the aesthetically interesting way they were predicting. People have become figurative cyborgs, looking down at their phones that shoot information into their brains 24/7. You are required by law to buy very expensive corporate products such as very expensive health insurance, and corporations can turn off your access to your bank account and your access to the economy anytime they want to based on what they consider to be thought crime. So in Current Year, cyberpunk isn't about warning the audience against a dystopia. We're living in it. The appeal of cyberpunk is the aesthetics. We live in the dystopia cyberpunk fiction warned us about, but without the cool toys like mecha or robots or flying cars.

The first disc of FF7 and the first FF7 remake game have strong retrofuturist aesthetics with the dark city with a giant corporate tower and lots of mecha everywhere. Also the Front Mission, Metal Gear Solid, and Ace Combat series with the more bleak world setting and prevalence of fantastical machines. Some other JRPGs tap into those sci-fi aesthetics with lots of mecha (FF13, FF14, Xeno series, Trails series, etc) but don't have the dark cities or corporations ruling everything.

Yeah, it’s mainly the aesthetics I’m interested in. I like the noire vibe too that is often in the games though.

[Wretch]

Syndicate, Syndicate Wars, Deus Ex (kinda), maybe the old SNES/Genesis Shadowrun game.

It would be nice if you changed your pfp

[Demonic Fate]

The original creator of Syndicate made a spiritual successor called Satellite Reign, about a decade ago. It was pretty solid.

The 2023 Robocop shooter is reported to be very good and unpozzed.

Citizen Sleeper 1&2 are on my to-check-out list. I expect they may be pozzed but I don't know yet to what degree.

Frozen Synapse isn't much of a story/setting game at all, but what setting it does have is pretty cyberpunk.

System Shock 1/2 are technically set in a cyberpunk world, but since you're stuck on a space station trying not to get murdered by robots and zombies, you probably don't think too much about corporations trampling over individual rights or virtual reality becoming more real than the physical. Come to think of it, that applies to the Alien franchise as well.

[gerey]

noire vibe

If that's what you're after then definitely look into the Blade Runner game, as well as Gemini Rue. Both push for the same kind of grimy, gritty, dark aesthetic.

[Roderick]

Cyberpunk game that let's you be a corpo unironically.

[MrTwinkls]

Are there any cyberpunk games that aren’t ****** slop? Any worth actually playing?

The only one I can think of is e.y.e. Divine cybermancy.

Observer.
Edit: forgot Ruiner. Was short but fun.

[Roderick]

Was checking my library never played this Maybe this have the vibes you want.

[gerey]

Cyberpunk game that let's you be a corpo unironically.

Only one I can think of are the two Syndicate games. I doubt modern devs would even attempt to make a game with such a premise for fear of angering the Marxist lunatics.

[loregamer]

I wish we got Star Wars 1313

[gerey]

I wish we got Star Wars 1313

That, Imperial Commando and the Rogue Squadron sequel with the Imperial campaign.

[Sword-of-Yakub]

Anybody here played Peripeteia? Polish cyberpunk game with an alternate Soviet Union or sum shi. I didn't like the demo much, and I don't know what I should think about the main character being a literal anime girl.
Maps are just too empty and the game feels janky as **** it's actually hard to aim and shoot. It actually reminds me of Cruelty Squad in a way.

[Kain]

I liked Shadowrun Hong Kong more than Dragonfall, btw.

Same, Dragonfall is full of girl bosses, ******* and *****. In HongKong there are only a couple of ******* being mentioned and are killed off-screen. Plenty of girl bosses tho. Story and game play are better in HK too.

[EternalBlindIdiot]

I would just want a cyberpunk game where I can fully embrace the cyborg without the annoying "muh humanity" thing. Just let me become Adam Smasher for ****'s sake.

[Vergil]

Are there any cyberpunk games that aren’t ****** slop?

Unfortunately it's been a ****** genre for like 30 years now so no. If you want a good cyberpunk game you're gonna have to play Snatcher or the Bladerunner game.

[Cloharp7]

What about The Ascent? I don't remember any ****** nonsense at all in that.

Edit: great atmosphere, good gameplay, meh story, practically zero replayability (~20h gameplay).

[Vergil]

What about The Ascent? I don't remember any ****** nonsense at all in that.

Something about the visual style on this one puts me at unease.

[Cloharp7]

What about The Ascent? I don't remember any ****** nonsense at all in that.

Something about the visual style on this one puts me at unease.

You mean in the cover image, or in the game?

[Stack of Turtles]

It's certainly profoundly ugly.

[Vergil]

What about The Ascent? I don't remember any ****** nonsense at all in that.

Something about the visual style on this one puts me at unease.

You mean in the cover image, or in the game?

The game screenshots. The post processing effects are all cranked up to an eye watering level.

[Pizza]

The closest I can think of are: