#CP77 Replay

[pinkyjulien]

Choom told me to visit Dino's bar during the late hours and man

Reed wasn't lying he deadass a Bouncer there 👁👄👁

[my-alternatevy]

condolences xx

[fereldanwench]

i've been kind of having the urge to do another full replay for valerie :3

[emahriel]

they can't keep getting away with this (and by "can't", i mean they can and i will fall back into this hell hole)

[mindsmade]

forgot abt the embarrassingly monumental crush on evelyn v developed within 3 seconds of meeting her till we came across her in-game again just now fhdjsfh

[daisyeyes-plays]

the og best choom

[bharv]

Oooh maybe after this I will finally replay cp77 and play the DLC…

[anthurak]

So as something of a follow-up to this post I did on Psychonauts, I thought I’d try and think of other examples of games with a notably casual and relaxed early-game instead of tossing both protagonist and player directly into some intense main plot. Particularly if there are ways of essentially ‘putting off’ the main story to the point that a significant percentage of your playthrough of the game takes place in this more casual, relaxed state.

Now as someone brought up in the tags of the Psychonauts post, yes Kingdom Hearts 2 has a great example of this concept with Roxas’s prologue. Sure, it may not be very long compared to the rest of the game and there is no reasonable way to extend it (indeed, that inevitability is very much part of the POINT of Roxas’s story in KH2), but at the same time the last few days of ‘summer vacation’ for Roxas so perfectly capture and present this chill and relaxed atmosphere that really does set KH2 apart from so many other games. Not to mention being probably THE main reason Roxas ended up being as beloved as he is by the fandom.

For another, perhaps unexpected example, I’d actually put Cyberpunk 2077 on this list. Specifically the pre-heist section of the First Act. Like it might be easy to miss if you just go straight to the meeting with Evelyn and the deal with Maelstrom, but after the meeting with Dexter, you’re given free reign of the Watson district along with a few side quests you can do. Sure it’s not like how Psychonauts opens up basically three-quarters of the map after the first level as you’re still stuck to one district with a number of higher level unlockables unavailable. But I think it’s still a bit significant, particularly as you can complete either of the main quests at your leisure and even put off the heist itself until you’re ready.

Which I think in turn gives the first act a more relaxed, casual feel since most notably, V DOESN’T have the ominous specter of Johnny Silverhand looming over them at this point. Like even though functionally from a gameplay perspective there isn’t much difference between the first act and the rest of the game, there is still that FEELING of creeping mortality that pervades the rest of the game. Which as an aside, speaking personally has actually been the biggest barrier to replaying CP77 for me. Like yeah, I do think the game is fun, and I want to have fun with it, but the looming doom and gloom of V’s fading life really does create this oppressive atmosphere that sucks a lot of the fun out of the game for me. To the point where I really wish there was some kind of secret route (perhaps a New Game+ mode?) where maybe V can avoid getting shot by Dexter and triggering the relic?

Finally, for the fourth example that I’m sure will surprise a few people; let’s talk about Skyrim.

Specifically, Skyrim with an alternate start mod.

Because while the base Skyrim game might rather infamously lock you into the main quest right from the get-go, there are in fact a number of fan-mods that essentially allow you to sidestep the main quest entirely.

For example; the mod I used back when I played Skyrim, Live Another Life, essentially allowed you one of several dozen alternate starts to your playthrough. From starting as a new recruit for any of the major factions, to starting as a new arrival to one of Skyrim’s ports to starting in a random inn or tavern, to starting as a bandit, necromancer, vampire or other random enemy in a dungeon/camp, to starting on a shipwreck, and many more.

And once you started, the main quest was essentially locked. No dragons flying around, no one freaking out about dragons returning or anything else like that. At least until you wandered nearby to Helgen and saw the big fuckoff dragon fly away from the big smoking hole in the ground which kicked off the main quest as normal.

But that meant you could essentially put off the main quest as long as you want and just play around in Skyrim doing all the other quests and adventures you wanted without the big ol’ ‘end of the world’ and ‘chosen one�� malarkey looming over you.

Heck, depending on the mod you were using, you could just disable the main quest entirely and roleplay as someone OTHER than a dragonborn.

So those are the examples I could think of for games with a notably relaxed early game, which certainly feel rather notable and interesting when it seems most games are rather terrified of losing player attention and thus toss them right into the plot/action as soon as possible.

Would definitely love to hear any other examples anyone can think of XD

[sarasa-cat]

Options for this evening after dinner arrives and is eaten:

Work on some stuff that is sorta homework/lots of journaling prompts/very useful. Am supposed to get it done this weekend. Or soon.

Mess around with dragon age things: get everything updated in keep so I can replay DAI for my canon and my secondary canon; install mods mods mods mods mods; more mods mods mods; all the mods mods mods (DAO, DA2, DAI).

OR THREE: spend a million years in the character creator for CP77 to finally make my new nomad who is ... ahahaha, a SDV crossover lololol.

[vox-monstera]

my partner and I are both replaying CP77

me: let me fuck the old man!

him: sorry they won’t let fem!V romance Kerry…

me: Kerry?! Bitch, I’m talking about Takemura!

[marictheirins]

fields of mistria ea, unholy alliance release in cult of the lamb, & my silly replay of cp77 i cant do all these things at once !!!

[pinkyjulien]

THE GAYS FINALLY WON

LESBIANS IN THE WILD I REPEAT....

LESBIANS IN THE WILD

[meonlyred]

Replaying CP77 has reminded of one thing I really missed while playing BG3: a photomode. I was super skeptical about photomodes before. Which was dumb because of how many hours I spent doing using console commands in Fallout and Elder Scrolls to pose and take screen shots. And now I am ruined by games like FFXIV and CP77 just having them built into the game. I'd maim someone to add a photomode in BG3.

[mynerdylordship]

I wanted to replay cp77 before the release of the DLC in September. For now, I’ve made a new OC; although I’ll probably end up going back to my old beloved corpo.

She’s a streetkid (and I might try for the River romance 👉👈) and ready to kick some ass.

[rogue-driv3r]

Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 + Phantom Liberty have been so intense, they were my escape from reality in the last month. With 200+ hours, it's been my longest playthrough so far, and probably the last one too. There are still two PL endings i have yet to play, and the other base game endings i have to replay except for The Star ending, but i think i need a pause right now. I'm not joking when i say it was intense. Some parts of the story (especially the final parts) genuinely broke me, maybe they were actually well written and maybe they reminded me of some real life situations/thoughts. It really left me with a sense of emptiness in my chest and it won't go away. Also, as i said it was my escape from some life problems, now it's over and this surely doesn't help. What's for sure, is CDPR made an amazing job and CP77 is definitely gonna be a huge chapter in my life.

[juststayquiete]

Lately I was kinda exhausted by cp77 SO FINDING NEW INTERESTS FEELS VERY COOL!!!!!

Anyways - WAS CHOKED BY JADE EMPIRE TRAGIC LESBIANS so wrote a whole fic about them!!!! And I CALL THEM LESBIANS BUT I WRITE THEM MORE LIKE PLATONIC SOULMATES IDK 😭😭😭 i wanna see their romantic dynamic but I'm kinda tired of the game to replay it ONCE MORE jshsjsjajs