::: spoiler Cyberpunk I just can't take it as a serious possibility so it doesn't really bother me but I can definitely understand that. I wonder whether it was an attempt to make this ending feel more like an equal alternative to other options instead of giving up to die in peace, or if they tried to make it into a good/positive ending like you said. I'll have to look around if anyone on the team talked about it since launch, it would be interesting to get some insight on that. :::

I can see how going through the games back to back could throw one off with gameplay changes, they did not take it easy with each new game that's for sure. I can only imagine how much weirder playing them in chronological order would be.

It's cool to know they did a good job with these collections, I might have to give them a shot as well some day. Thanks!

Yeah, that's just backwards compatibility doing its thing so I doubt anyone touched the game in any way beyond testing it works. It would be more surprising if they did put in the work to add the second stick support.
I'm not saying it wouldn't be nice (I had similar problem with The 3rd Birthday) but it's not really a proper port so it's hard to blame them. Good thing the later re-release fixed that so at least you have an alternative.

How're you finding the Master Collection overall?

I just finished watching so things are still a bit fresh and I might change my mind later on. Still, first impressions are good in their own way.

I liked it, even though it didn't feel as impactful as season 1. I don't mean it in terms of "less drama" or anything like that, it just never really meshed into as coherent and effective whole as the original. Still good though.

Some general thoughts:

• Use of multiple art styles was pretty nice.
• I (mostly) like the soundtrack but I don't think the music was used as well as in S1.
• Not totally on board with the retread of previous media (start with cyberpsychosis, the whole construct business, a big stand-off against corp forces in badlands etc).
• Story presentation felt a little disconnected and all over the place at times. Not terrible but it did negate some of the impact for me.
• I'm glad it wasn't a repeat of near complete tragedy from S1 and gave us a somewhat positive ending. Dystopic media with zero hope just doesn't hit as good in my opinion.

Some content creators supposedly got an early look at the patch notes and posted about it online. Here are some highlights from this video (dunno how reliable he is):

• Two new quests, one Edgerunners 2 related.
• Dual wielding for power pistols and revolvers with new Cool tree perks just for that.
• Ability to customise the look of hand cyberwear.
• New clothing.
• More hairstyles previously locked to NPCs (some body-type locked).
• New trading card game _ frames for photo mode.
• Cross-platform mod support (PC, Mac, Playstation 5 + Pro, Xbox Series X|S)
  • Seems to be similar to Bethesda's Creation Club, with mods available to browse and download from in-game menu.
  • Modded saves will be marked with a dedicated icon, will lock the ability to earn achievements on this save.
• FOV slider for consoles.
• Saves grouped by playthrough.
• More stash filters.
• DLSS 4.5 support for PC.

Is Vita version a proper port or just running the PSP version, like Persona 3 Portable for example?

Yup yup, thanks again for the suggestion! I can't wait until I have some time to read the rest of the episodes.

::: spoiler Cyberpunk spoilers I agree with the first part but I don't really see bailing out as "happily ever after", personally. A "happily for a short time V has left", sure, but not as a fully happy ending. Is there a minuscule chance for V? Maybe. I just can't take it as anything more than wishful thinking considering even the best tech and doctors from Arasaka and NUSA have huge trouble doing anything about the construct.

I don't have a source on hand but I believe Mike Pondsmith said something akin to "Cyberpunk isn’t about saving humanity, it’s about saving yourself" and that's something I really like about the Star. A small ray of good in a terrible world, after everything we've been and seen throughout the game.
I feel like taking the genre as pure doom and gloom makes it less interesting to be honest. Humans have a wonderful ability to find happiness in and make the best of the worst situations one can think of, I don't see why that shouldn't be the case in Cyberpunk. It's one of the very few ways a normal person can "triumph" over corporations and whoever else runs the world in Cyberpunk - by finding a little bit of happiness in a world constructed to suck out your soul.
Sorry if my writing is a bit incoherent on this, I need to think about it a bit more before I can put things into words right.

I do enjoy all of the endings in their own way and, as you said, work well for different kinds of V. I also think they work well as different takes on the genre:

• Devil - you can't win.
• Star - you can find something good even when things are bad.
• Sun - take your chances and go out swinging.
• Temperance - even a loss can lead to something new.

Or something like that. Again, I'm going to need a lot more time to sort out my thoughts about this whole thing. :::

Man, I used to have a few ideas about that but I can't remember any of them at the moment. The only one that comes to mind right now is Doki Doki Literature Club which focuses on the "normal" side of the story (club, interacting with the cast etc). I found it to be the more interesting part of the game and would love more of that.
I think there's a mod expanding on this aspect but I never tried it so I can't say anything about on that.

I'll try to remember some other spin-offs I used to dream about. That said, are we talking purely about VN spin-offs or do (imaginary) VN side projects for other media also count?

After more than 500 hours spread over 6 years, many multi-month breaks and 7+ characters I finally managed to finish the base story of Cyberpunk 2077. I went through 3 endings The Path of Least Resistance, The Sun and The Devil - even at the very end things would not go perfectly.

• The intro section before the choice and The Path of Least Resistance ended up with my V spouting random lines every 30 seconds during the normal dialogue due to one of the mods I used (dependency for others).
• The Sun crashed during its epilogue. Also, Rogue and her gun disappeared during the boss fight (not in the intended way).
• My ability to scan bugged out during The Devil. I couldn't finish the final part and had to watch it instead.

Despite these issues all of the endings were pretty engaging though I can't say they hit as strong as they could under better circumstances. Between multiple partial playthroughs, already finishing the game through Phantom Liberty and being spoiled on the main points of all of the finales, there was just too much going against having a full experience.

As for The Star, I'm leaving it specifically for my next playthrough as my canon ending for the game. Before that happens however I intend to spend A LOT more time in Night City. As mentioned last week, I'm planning to start from scratch just to enjoy myself as a random NPC living their life whenever I feel like it. It might take a few months or a few years, the important thing is that I already beat the game so the pressure to progress is no longer there.
I'm doing a proper setup this time too - mod manager, serious testing and no mod list changes after I start. It should help with instability and other issues I had to deal with this time.

Anyway, that's that. Not as emotional as I'd like but the feeling of closure is just as important. It's certainly better than disappointment. Now to sort through all of my pictures in search for something worth keeping...

Oh, right! I did both The Sun and Temperance actually, I forgot they represented separate epilogues and just wrote based on the final gameplay section.

I agree about The Sun. though I suppose it depends on how you played the character. If someone didn't engage with all the elements about finding a purpose outside of "being a legend" and instead stuck to anger and the need to lash out at "the bad guy" (Arasaka) then I can see it fitting quite well.
I wouldn't want it as a proper ending for my V but being an NC legend never really interested me so losing that goal and switching gears towards something more personal was pretty easy.

As for Temperance... I like Johnny (by the end of the story) and I like that going this way gives him an opportunity to try again as a better person. I still prefer my V to have an option to make the best of their limited time while surrounded by their new family but I appreciate it as an option nonetheless. It definitely felt the most bittersweet and (positively) emotional out of all of these to me. It would probably be my choice if not for the "bail out with your bros" option.

I decided to try migrating some of my library again since there are a few series I still can't find new sources for after the old ones died. The only title I managed to find alternative for was The Big Bees though there weren't any new chapters to catch up on. I miss these fluffy dorks.

While I can't say anything from personal experience, the opinions I've seen seem to imply the VN titles (there are 3, 2 of them available in English) are pretty good and worth a read. Especially if you like the source material.

I watched some of the transmission and all I can say is my respect to Zelensky grew tenfold with that exchange alone.

Having to interact with these two clowns and still keeping his cool (as much as he was able to) requires A LOT of patience and will. It was horrifyingly stupid in a train wreck kind of way.

Here are the board members of this organisation in case someone is curious about their relevancy/neutrality on the matter:

• Hester Woodliffe – Chair (Warner Bros. Games)
• Canon Pence (Epic Games)
• Kerry Hopkins (Electronic Arts)
• Ian Mattingly (Activision)
• Klemens Kundratitz (Embracer)
• Qumar Jamil (Microsoft)
• Clemens Mayer-Wegelin (Nintendo of Europe)
• Cinnamon Rogers (Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Matt Spencer (Take 2)
• Alain Corre (Ubisoft)
• Alberto Gonzalez-Lorca (Bandai Namco Entertainment)
• Karine Parker (Square Enix)
• Mark Maslowicz (Level Infinite)
• Felix Falk (game)
• Nicolas Vignolles (SELL)
• David Verbruggen (VGFB)
• Nick Poole (UKIE)

You know, the people who "ensured that the voice of a responsible games ecosystem is heard and understood" (direct quote from their website).

Fresh update video from Ross about the campaign.

TL;DW:

• There's a chance many of the signatures for the EU petition aren't real. Keep signing to build up a safety margin. Official suggestions are: 10% more minimum, 20% pretty OK, up to 40% more for an actual safety net.
• Some countries had problems with signing using the digital ID system - suggests to use the manual method (instructions on the campaign page) or try again later.
• Someone not related with the campaign released a SKG crypto. Don't touch it, obviously.
• Ross heard about people harassing Pirate Software, asks to stop.
• He's got a lot of messages to reply to, prioritises ones important to the campaign for now.
• UK petition cleared 100k signatures. Number is most likely more reliable than the EU one.
• Link about contacting UK MP's for those who want to do more than just sign a petition.

While I can't provide you with a proper scientific answer I can offer a basic explanation - it's effort.

Browsing through the never ending amount of content online requires no effort but provides you with a dopamine rush as if you actually managed to accomplish or do something with your time. Other stuff, like watching movies, playing games, reading books, etc. requires attention and active participation, the payoff on the other hand is largely delayed (especially compared to the lazy option).

As for hacks... I don't know any. The only ways I know how to deal with it is limiting your time scrolling through this stuff and forcing yourself to do other things - it can be rough early on but you'll eventually get used to the "normal" way of functioning.

He actively misrepresented the campaign and spread misinformation about its goals. I don't know if he genuinely didn't understand or if he was too embarrassed to admit to a mistake but he did a lot of damage to the momentum and perception of the whole thing.

It sucks these big creators only now pick up the mantle but it's better than nothing. There's still some time left.

It's a jab at the Pirate Software guy, I believe.

Man, I really appreciate GOG. They're not perfect and, as with all corporations, one shouldn't take them completely at face value but their approach to game preservation, DRM and stuff like this are the reasons why I keep them as my primary choice for purchases whenever possible.

Is it a relatively cheap PR stunt? Maybe. Probably. It's still more than any other store did or said in regards to the recent events. Might as well grab some free publicity.