The Hidden Genius Of Cyberpunk 2077's World — How To Do Exposition

A massive thank you to my $10+ patrons:
LittleBits
Kyong Kim
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Matthew Brady
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Mike Schmidt
[OG]
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Mister Anderson
Thomas Feuer
Thomas Paczolt
Trace Sosebee

[LordTuskk]

I really liked when V and Takemura started talking about the cat. It made me realize "oh yeah I've never seen an animal while playing" and it made the moments where you see animals in the story impactful for me

[TheKnizzine]

Cyberpunk does a lot of things well that it didnt get credit for. The fact you can call jackie and leave messages to him about life after his funeral is such a small but important touch that does a ton of work humanizing V.

[mkadoza]

My argument for the Warning about sharks is that Pacifica was designed to be a new hot spot in the 40's, but was abandoned in 2070. Essentially, anything that was there at that time is still there, including old ads for defunct brands and commercials almost a decade out of date. This to me is actually MORE world building because it reinforces the "lost to time" energy that Pacifica represents.

[Notsram]

I loved my time with Cyberpunk 2077.
I didn't follow the development, so I didn't have any disappointment with something it wasn't.
I just enjoyed what it was.

[TDKR]

Despite Cyberpunk's many shortcomings in the gameplay, I loved the game. The world was incredible, the music was phenomenal, the acting, script, and characters were all so good. I'm so excited to play it again in a year or two when the game is truly finished.

[annualleopard]

No one:

Henry: "Lemme tell you about THIS TWAT RIGHT HERE"

[vareecevoorhees]

0:23 honestly, their worldbuilding is top of the foodchain.

Just looking at it from trailers, gameplay, Reviews, you name it. I always feel the need to replicate some of its aesthetic.

[icarusgaming]

There's another stipulation to this rule: The character *receiving* the exposition must also have a *need to know* that information. With the exception of the eccentric personality type that talks about anything and everything that interests them regardless of context, it will also feel forced if the information helps that character in no way at all. A nuclear physicist explaining how nuclear reactors work to a general in charge of containing a nuclear meltdown makes sense because the general needs to understand this in order to form an appropriate plan

[XeritheCrow]

This is actually one of the most enlightening videos you've made when it comes to showing me what I lack. I've been struggling with worldbuilding for a while now and just didn't get it, but then this showed me the behind the scenes reason why. Thanks, man. You're a lifesaver.

[sandevastated]

I love this game to death. It’s such an immersive story with great written characters, 7 different endings, great voice acting and endless possibilities for gameplay.

Additionally I’ve never seen such a beautiful city in most video games. It was generally a game that gives you an empty feeling once finishing.

I also like the dystopian world surrounding it. When you realise that every heist crew member dies, it hits you pretty hard. This ain’t a game where the main character wins. It’s like Alt Cunningham says. ‘You think you have cheated death, when in fact death has cheated you.’

[CharlemagneGuy]

I loved cyberpunk despite its shortcomings. It was one of the best stories I’ve experienced in a video game in a long time.

[craigkingdon]

When I first played cyberpunk, I didn't stop until 27 hours later. I have never experienced a world so intoxicating, bold, beautiful, gross and overwhelming.

[Kendrone]

I actually never encountered any super duper game-breaking bugs when playing the game. Never tried to get a refund because it played like intended. Feel like I'm one of those lucky people who never experienced a bug and/or never noticed it when it did happen :)

[tqlpino]

the apology fucking killed me it was so funny.

[clovermite]

Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the few stories that legitimately made me feel existential terror. I think I seriously contemplated what it would mean to die for the very first time after getting to the heart of the game's mystery, and I had to force myself to stop thinking about it because it legitimately scared me.

[efxnews]

Another thing i notice how genius the game is, was in dialogues.
At some point V was explaining to Judy how the relic chip works and you can look at Judy's face that she was actually figuring out how fkd up V situation was without saying a single world.
I saw folks saying that the dialogues are boring, and indeed, sometimes it looks like that because the dialogues were very realistic, you just don't get the information you get the emotions and motivations of the characters you were speaking.
We as players already know all that information, but Judy didn't know, even V doesn't fully comprehend how exactly the relic chip works.
That whole conversation wasn't about the player, is about Judy.
If you don't pay attention to this moment, it would look like boring exposition, but is the opposite, is the game being immersive as it could get, by showing that Judy is really smart and is trying to understand the whole picture of what was going on.
It is brilliant.

[juliuskresnik]

Closer Look really giving us better writing advice than most teachers.

[dunngyllite]

I did spend almost 300 hours in Night City, and look forward to do it again in a year or so. And the reason for that is obviously the flawless worldbuilding, storytelling (so many chef kiss side quests and the main storyline is top notch, too) and the characters you meet throughout the playthrough.

[MateValtr]

Glad to see a positive take on Cyberpunk on YouTube for once. As a very casual player, I had absolutely no clue that this game was in making for so many years prior and thus wasn't exposed to any hype until December 2020. Hell, I haven't even played The Witcher 3. When I found there's a Google Stadia launching in my country that supports this game, I thought I'd give it a shot over the Christmas holidays.

I was completely immersed. Yes, I could see some shortcomings and imperfections in gaming mechanics, like the annoying cadence of serving the side quests or a bunch of useless skills in a skill tree.

But gosh, the atmosphere of the place, the music, the actual acting and dialogues, the lore of the world... There were many occasions I had goosebumps just following often profoundly deeply sad stories of some of the characters.

Say what you want, but if a game can consume you to the point you actually don't want to leave its world and you care about characters, that's what is art in its finest for me.

[FrutSamura]

I honestly struggled to explain to people how good the story is despite the game breaking bugs, just how everything you pass tells a deeper story even down to levels of garbage stacked around