The cyberpunk genre is a complicated world to adapt to. Underneath its neon-soaked cities and cool, flashy tech lies an underbelly of hypersexualization, exploitation, and a brutal dystopia emboldened by capitalistic greed. When making a cyberpunk game, creators should always consider these two facets, merging the strikingly colorful neon with the horrors that lie within.
What I am saying is that no cyberpunk game has topped Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City. A city that cleverly mixes the horror and beauty of a true cyberpunk society. 5 years later, it remains unmatched to this day.
The first time I stepped into Night City, I was surrounded by blaring advertisements suspended on a holographic tower. My V was a Corpo, naturally, he’s no stranger to politics. It was standard paper-pushing work from Arasaka, until the fated heist happened and Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand seeped into my brain.
As I ride my Akira-like bike across Heywood, playing Rosa Walton's “I Wanna Stay At Your House” on repeat, I always make a stop to admire the sights. At nighttime, you could see the true city unfold with rampant crime, and Milfguard ads appear on screen. It felt like a natural sight. Daytime in Night City, however, is weird. Sunshine shouldn’t exist in a concrete jungle, yet it did. I notice illuminated alleyways with graffiti and decade-old posters smeared on top of one another. The neon signs lose sparkle, competing with the natural light of our only sun.
I got to Night City’s staple Japantown of Kabuki, meeting Wakako Okada in Jig Jig Street for a gig. It’s a place teeming with sex work trying to goad my V into their services. Curious as I am, I tried one... or two encounters with them for a measly $100. I knew every corner and alleyway, not just Jig Jig Street or Kabuki alone, but all the major locations in Cyberpunk 2077’s world. I am obsessed with Night City’s architecture and the way it all coalesces into its City Center, with the belly of the beast, Arasaka Tower, looming on the horizon.
Now that I’m way past the story and only have “Meet Hanako at Embers” as my objective, I always make it a habit to just take my vehicle with me and explore Night City in its entirety. Sometimes I’d go on a murder spree with the nearest Voodoo Boys or 6th Street goons, but I always go back to the driver’s seat and play a tune from the radio, absorbing the vibes of this dead city.
I could go on and on about Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City. It is still one of the best cyberpunk open-worlds I've explored in a videogame. There are others, of course, like Crystal Dynamics’ Deus Ex. Both Human Revolution and Mankind Divided almost made the cut. Hengsha, one of Human Revolution’s explorable worlds, is a city in Shanghai sandwiched between two plates. It felt straight out of William Gibson’s Chiba City, where staring at the sky is like tuning to a dead television. Mankind Divided’s Utulek Complex is also worth mentioning. This megacity in Prague harkens back to Hong Kong’s Kowloon, where buildings upon buildings are enclosed by a massive wall.
Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City is just too grand. There’s clearly some black magic at work with the CD Projekt Red devs when they developed this game. Which explains why the RED Engine just couldn’t keep up with the sheer scale of its splendor (and lines of code)
While I can thank Mike Pondsmith for creating Cyberpunk, CD Projekt Red has the liberty to adapt his work, so they deserve the credit as well. I couldn’t imagine any other developer capable of taking on such a tall order in building the best cyberpunk city in a video game.
This makes me all the more excited for Cyberpunk 2077’s sequel.
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