Cyberpunk before bed, Cyberpunk in the morning.
I'm pretty sold on the actual 'cyberpunk' aspect of this. It's interesting that this is where we are now, in fiction. I mean, cyberpunk as a whole has been around since the 80's - the game this one is based off of is a classic in its own right. But back then, it was a cult thing. It would sort of hang on the outskirts, until computer technology hit the wider markets and became a part of our lives. We tried VR for the first time ever. PC's became commonplace in homes and workplaces. Our world very rapidly became more digitized, more automated. And as we transitioned into this era of transistors and printed circuit boards, suddenly people got a lot more interested in cyberpunk works. It seems like it only continues to grow as our own technology, cities, and societies harken to them increasingly more. Are we imitating it, or is it imitating us?
It's really something. Originally, cyberpunk was a bastardized form of sci-fi. Stuff that could never really be possible, stuff that subverted a lot of the common beats. Heavily embellished and fantastical pictures of a future reality, blown up in such a way as to ask greater philosophical questions about what it means to be a person, and what this whole world we're constantly building is really for. Now, we look at the nicer parts of the aesthetic and say "This is what the future looks like." When we want to make products look modern, we borrow from that aesthetic. But what about the darker side? The 'punk' side.
What I'm getting at is... it's become more accessible now. This isn't a fringe genre. It's a staple in many areas of fiction. The look is something that droves of people absolutely adore and turn out for. Perhaps because it is now so prevalent, even in our daily lives, as to be instantly appealing and relatable. We see huge bits of our world in it, in Cyberpunk 2077's world. But I wonder if it isn't also speaking to our fears about the future on a more visceral level than it may have for people encountering it for the first time, in the 80s. As life catches up with art, suddenly people become more interested in that art.
What's most striking to me about the visuals of CP2077 is how it STILL looks exactly like what people in the 80s imagined an alternate future looks like, but now has that unmistakable familiarity to it. As time goes on, it takes on new layers of meaning. I can see so many pieces of our present in it that at times, it doesn't even seem like it couldn't appear within my lifetime. As fantastical as ever, but maybe closer to truth than previously envisioned... and maybe that's a part of what makes this side of fiction more compelling than it has ever been these days...