When I first heard the concept of this game, I had thoughts that it could be my favorite game of all time. Resource managment? Story-rich RPG? Cyberpunk? Sounds freaking sick. Now it isn't my favorite game of all time, and it's not even really close, but I do like it a great deal.
Cyberpunk is a genre that most people unfortunately just treat as an aesthetic: a bunch of neon lights, Japanese signs, and smoke pouring out of sewer grates, when it isn't required to have any of that. It's about people, and their lives engulfed by an oppressive world collapsing around them. And the people in Citizen Sleeper and the world they inhabit are both excellent. They provide so many varied perspectives and are incredibly diverse, both in personality and just in general (I mean this game has clearly the most diversity in any cast of a game I've played).
There's a weird coldness to this game. It has this constant blowing air in the background that just really works for some reason, and with the excellent soundtrack, it makes for an awesome experience. Although I sometimes felt a little confused when it was describing the weird techy stuff, it felt very abstract and difficult to picture.
Now, where it does fall short is in its gameplay systems. Which I do think has a good base for something really engaging. But it's not in this game; maybe it'll be in the sequel. There's just no sense of desperation in the resource management. I never felt like I was on the verge of death and forced to make a morally dubious decision to stay alive. And I don't think the game actually provided very many morally dubious decisions. The progression systems are also a bit of a weak point. Aside from 1 or 2 really valuable abilities, the best stuff is a +1 or +2 on dice rolls. And the skills themselves don't differentiate any action. No matter which one you use, the result is the same. But at least there's definitely no LUDONARRATIVE DISSONANCE present.
Anyway it's a fantastic game and I like it. It's also on gamepass so play it!
Cyberpunk is a genre that most people unfortunately just treat as an aesthetic: a bunch of neon lights, Japanese signs, and smoke pouring out of sewer grates, when it isn't required to have any of that. It's about people, and their lives engulfed by an oppressive world collapsing around them. And the people in Citizen Sleeper and the world they inhabit are both excellent. They provide so many varied perspectives and are incredibly diverse, both in personality and just in general (I mean this game has clearly the most diversity in any cast of a game I've played).
There's a weird coldness to this game. It has this constant blowing air in the background that just really works for some reason, and with the excellent soundtrack, it makes for an awesome experience. Although I sometimes felt a little confused when it was describing the weird techy stuff, it felt very abstract and difficult to picture.
Now, where it does fall short is in its gameplay systems. Which I do think has a good base for something really engaging. But it's not in this game; maybe it'll be in the sequel. There's just no sense of desperation in the resource management. I never felt like I was on the verge of death and forced to make a morally dubious decision to stay alive. And I don't think the game actually provided very many morally dubious decisions. The progression systems are also a bit of a weak point. Aside from 1 or 2 really valuable abilities, the best stuff is a +1 or +2 on dice rolls. And the skills themselves don't differentiate any action. No matter which one you use, the result is the same. But at least there's definitely no LUDONARRATIVE DISSONANCE present.
Anyway it's a fantastic game and I like it. It's also on gamepass so play it!