Sunday 17 January 2021

Cyberpunk 2077

After all the negative rehtoric concerning the launch, what are the best bits of Cyberpunk 2077? All of it.

A Night City that feels alive. Walking around Cyberpunk 2077's world is evocative of being in a real city and actually exploring its streets. In Night City, pedestrians stroll around in unique clothes and have personal conversations that V [this is the character that we play] can catch snippets of. Everything has a sense of place and scale as getting from point A to B takes time, particularly on foot. The city's layout does not feel condensed or compromised for the player's benefit.

There are copious advertisements that V will walk past add immersion, convincingly showing a Night City that people actually live in, instead of being a simple facade.

Vehicles play a large part of the game as the world map is enormous, and one of the features of vehicles is the radio. There are over a dozen radio stations and each one is unique. There is a real temptation to spend longer than necessary in the car, doing laps around Night City to listen to more music, or staying parked at a destination to let a song finish.

Dialog, the amount of voice over text is phenominal, and the thing about Cyberpunk 2077 is we are playing our own character, not a pre-made one like Geralt [reference to the main protaginist in Witcher 3]. One of the most difficult features for me to do is side quests, because the main story just carries you mercilessly along. As you finish one part, the game will give you a break to deal with side quests, however, the story you have just finished continues, and you know you cannot leave it.

The districts are very distinct, as you would expect, but the contrast between each area in look and feel as well as the NPC's that inhabit the place are incredible. From rubbish in the street to local police lockdowns, it is easy to realise that you have just strolled into another district. In Charter Hill, around the middle of this section of Night City, you will see a skyway hanging over the road. It was a surprising find to see that you could, in fact, get up to this rather high enclosed bridge. Another surprising part was just how peaceful and especially atmospheric this little area is, with tons of people hanging out, interacting, and living their lives. A couple in each others arms, busy workers on their way to their job.

This has not really scratched the surface, there are the vehicles, the weapons, the clothes, the perks [skills that can be earned] the relationships with major & minor NPCs, I consider there is a lot more good than bad in this game, and shall happily keep playing it.

Thursday 7 January 2021

Trump is unhinged

Donald Trump has been suspended from Twitter & Facebook for incendiary comments.

After last nights attack [physical] on the senate, it is hardly surprising, but think about how America stands at present and what is really happening.

President Donald Trump incited his supporters on Wednesday [6-Jan-2021] to storm the U.S. Capitol, where they ransacked the temple of American democracy in a violent crescendo to Trump’s coup failed attempt that disrupted a vote to confirm Joe Biden’s election as the next president. The mob at one point occupied the floor of the Senate and threatened to break into the House chamber but was held back by a barricaded door and guards with pistols drawn. Rather than writing this off as some small protest, perhaps it should be seen as a coup?

The stunning attack, which drew condemnation from world leaders, began around 1 p.m. [local time] while Congress convened to certify Biden’s election, an effort met with opposition from many Republicans. Around that time, during a speech outside the White House, Trump called on his supporters to head to the Capitol and protest the certification. They followed his command, posting on Gab and Parler “directions on which streets to take to avoid the police and which tools to bring to help pry open doors,” according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, a group of thousands on the western expose of the Capitol crashed through metal barriers and stormed up the steps, where they quickly overwhelmed Capitol Police, leading to immediate questions about why law enforcement was not apparently better prepared. It has now come to light that several senators have been worried for days that an incident like this could occur.

The mob surged inside, then fanned out throughout the building. Unknown numbers of people were injured during the act of insurrection, including a woman shot outside the House chamber as the mob tried to breach the doors. The woman is said to have died.

The 2020 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The official result was Joe Biden [Democrat] 306 Donald Trump [Republican] 232 and ever since this day Donald Trump has been in denial, however, last night he took his first step towards enciting anarchy. On Wednesday 20 January the Inauguration of Joe Biden will take place, and he should seriously consider putting charges before Donald Trump for insurrection.

Wednesday 6 January 2021

Lockdown Three

I cannot believe after the horrible year we have just endured, we have started another national lockdown on 6th January, 2021.

Highlights of the day:-

The PM Boris Johnson said 1.3 million people across the UK had already been vaccinated for Covid, and that the government would provide daily progress updates from Monday 11th January.

About 1.1 million people in England had Covid-19 between 27 December and 2 January, the ONS [office of national statistics] estimated.

A record 60,916 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, with 830 further deaths involving Covid.

Chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said there would still be some restrictions in place next winter. [we are already talking about next Christmas]

Lockdown3 is about staying in again, no contact, the only travellers are key workers, we can only go out to shop for food and/or medicine for yourself or a vulnerable person. Exercise has special rules too [Outdoor exercise such as walking or running can be done with your household or bubble, or with just one person from another household. Exercise should be limited to once a day and you should stay in your local area.]

Finally all schools to shut after all the work involved in trying to keep them going. Sad Day.