#which makes free fallen london feel kinda like a gacha. not saying it is but rather

[selwynsel]

cyberpunkdreams review

TLDR

cyberpunk dystopic text-based game

lgbt+ friendly, i’m currently playing the game as a genderfluid bi masc-presenting character

meant to be played long-term, not a game to bang out in 20 hrs

made by one dev (correct me if i’m wrong), which is insanely impressive for a game that feels very high-quality

entirely free to play! not pay to win either! 

I’ve been playing this game for some days now. I initially encountered it while looking for Fallen London stuff - pretty happy coincidence. 

The game itself, without any spoilers, is a cyberpunk dystopic future set in post-apocalyptic America. It uses the same action system that Fallen London uses and a lot of its UI is also very reminiscent of FL. However, it distinguishes itself from its inspiration with its action economy.

In FL, without any subscriptions, playing completely free, you have 20 actions that are used as you go through the world - exploring, stealing, observing, running, etc. In CPD, the limit is 50. Yeah.

I found my first couple days in CPD more fulfiling and engaging than FL, largely due to the feeling that what I was doing with my character mattered. In FL, it feels hard to actually care about what’s happening because I know in a handful of turns I’ll be unable to continue. If I finish a questline in that time, it’d be a surprise. If I can even find a questline in that time, that’s a bigger surprise. I often feel like I’m just spinning my wheels, getting no traction, grinding stats that mean nothing and do nothing because I’m already done with my allowed playtime before I can get a grasp on them.

In CPD, I was able to get through a significant portion of the introduction quests in my first go. When I waste actions doing silly things, it doesn’t feel as bad. I could start a quest, finish another quest, and other side errands before I run out of actions, and when I finish with my economy for the day, it feels like I actually did get to play and interact and engage with the game. The starting portion of the game giving you a guided quest feels a lot better than when I signed up for FL and wasted all my actions trying to understand wtf the game was even offering.

If you’re interested in text-based games, if you liked FL and want something similar, if you enjoy cyberpunk, then I really recommend trying this out. It’s entirely free to play with an optional credits system that gives you access to certain things, but I genuinely don’t feel like the loss of this “premium” worsens the gaming experience. There is ALSO a subscription that gives you a slightly higher action count and imo, as someone who DID subscibe to FL to see if being an Exceptional Friend improved the feeling of the game, I think my money is better spent subscribing to CPD. Better action economy, no payment scheme to enjoy the in-game content, the game itself feels overall more accessible as a new player.