I think the headspace in question was “not loving The Witcher 3”, not “Oh the social justice!”.
One of my favorite things of TW3 is how established felt Geralt as a character. Not because Geralt itself, but because he has an extensive list of characters that relate to him. Allies, mentors, coworkers, lovers, ex-lovers, friends, past enemies, figures of power, employeed, etc.
Lot of other games fail at that, they may try to give some meaningful personality to the main character but they ultimately fail because they are almost blank slates in how they relate to the external world.
It isn’t very clear how this game is going to be, in comparison.
For me, it’s worth remembering that there were tremendous doubts about The Witcher 3, right up until about 2 months before it released. We heard tales of developers leaving the team, the delays (the release was pushed back twice, iirc), and also lots of troubling whispers about content. That there was a quest line “devoted to befriending an abusive husband and father” was one that I vividly remember reading. Of course, that ended up being the memorable Bloody Baron quest. And yeah, RPS definitely had plenty of “I dunno about this” articles in late 2014 and early 2015, as Howitzer notes.
So I’ll say this: their sensitive handling of some super difficult subject matter in The Witcher has at least earned them my good faith for now. CDPR has always seemed like this crazy, overeager puppy that does amazing things…and amazingly fucked up stuff. The sex cards in the first game, the weird backfiring promo on GOG. Etc. And then they redeem themselves with some of the most mature handling of adult sexuality in videogaming (which, understandably, is a short bar to clear) or with gamer-centric, drm free offerings on the storefront.
In the past they’ve done a great job of listening and learning and eventually exceeding expectations. As I grow wearier and wearier of the Twitter Outrage Echo Chamber, in which malevolence – rather than ignorance, or uneducation – is presumed on all parties, I’m probably going to just wait and see here.
Totally. I just appreciate RPS addressing the issue. They weren’t condemning the game. They brought up their concerns with representation (along with concerns about gameplay) as a way to somewhat temper expectations.
Take whatever you want from how they described what they saw. I know how it made me feel.
This conversation about the problematic parts of CDPR is out there and it’s happening and I’m glad RPS cut through some of the Keanu hype to remind people of it.
Agree with this. I’m cautiously excited for CP2077, but will have to wait and see how it actually falls out. Honestly, even if it’s just a stylish shoot-em-up in a fantastically detailed settings, I’ll still probably be all in.
I mean it never has good days, but this is not one of it’s better bad days. Far from it.
It’s going to be a long wait for the game if I have to wade through this every round of previews.
Heaven forbid people have opinions about things that are different!
It will certainly be a long wait :) By why even bother with the previews? Speaking for myself, I am certain to buy this game anyway, so previews serve no purpose. I have no need or desire to read endless back-and-forth about whether the game is sufficiently diverse to please the perpetually unhappy ‘reviewers’ at RPS.
What you’re really saying is that you don’t care about cultural criticism of the game, particularly in advance of its release. And that’s fine! I don’t particularly care about it either, since it has no context, isn’t in its final form, and has been actually played by very few select people. But, you know the folks at RPS probably like all the same games you do. They post glowing reviews all of the time. They are very enthusiastic about gaming on personal computers. They also post cultural criticism, which somehow makes them targets for disapprobation. They’re certainly not “perpetually unhappy”. It is a nuance of actual lived experience (vice the perpetual online shitstorm of social media) that it is entirely possible to be critical of something and still enjoy it.
CDP Red answer to the ‘controversy’.
Oh look, it’s almost exactly what I wrote some hours ago. Who could have thought.
That is a pretty thoughtful answer on the subject.
With that said, I also understand the skepticism of those who’ll need more evidence that CDPR are learning from past mistakes, too.
What past mistakes? If you refer to the twitter account thing, CDP and CDPR are separate companies.
Yep, but one publishes the other, and they’re going to be associated with one another by the general public regardless.
If I can’t get nude in-game digital trading cards (a la The Witcher 1) of sexy trans girls then CDPR isn’t even trying anymore.
Three more
Any print or YT video game “journos” that use the terms “SJW” or “virtue signaling” get an unsubscribe and ignore from me. Unfortunately some IRL friends have recently fallen down the racist shitbole that consists of Ezra Levant, Faith Goldy and Ben Shapiro and have become ex-friends. Also super weird since they’re Asian.
Forgetting the game for a moment, you have to appreciate the pure marketing genius move.
You search for random E3 videos, and it seems most people have put the Keanu reveal as cover. He is the face of E3 2019, and by extension Cyberpunk also is.
For me a comparison with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is instructive. In that game I sometimes go out looking for scraps because the combat is intrinsically fun. In Witcher 3 I would fight stuff if I had to.
Witcher 3 is the better game, because like many CRPGs, it’s more than the sum of its parts and can survive weaknesses in its “crunchy core” (see also: Ultima series).
The latest Netrunner game had wonderfully inclusive and thoughtful art and world-building. There are about two cards I’d consider to let the side down on that front, and that’s a pretty amazing track record.
They had a cast that covered all sorts of demographics without making their demographic their defining feature. It was great. I hope CDProjekt do half as well. Maybe the demo was unrepresentative.
It’s a very real issue, but it’s also a very complex one that isn’t made any less messy with a product sold in so many markets of so many different cultures. It’s also in a genre that was forgotten for a while and may have issues getting adapted to modern views.
At the end of the day, what matters is that creators try to do right and for critics to have an honest discussion about it. Twitter and a small preview aren’t enough to say anything one way or the other.