Zero Punctuation: Cyberpunk Double (Dex & Invisible, Inc.)

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

Cyberpunk Double (Dex & Invisible, Inc.)

This week, Zero Punctuation reviews Dex & Invisible, Inc..

Watch Video

 

[Evonisia]

I'm reminded of the voice options in XCOM off that ending description. Why bother with differentiating people when it's not like it makes any difference in their characterisation?

And as for The Witcher 3: I don't get the hype at all, especially among my console friends. I internally debate on whether the Zero Punctuation coming out during the honeymoon phase will be a good or a bad thing. I wonder whether it will be The Last of Us levels of unsatisfying if the game gets called anything less than a masterpiece.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I don't eat at McDonald's, so I won't be replacing the McRib with anything. Blech!

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

The witcher 3 does not have stealth. This displeases my instinct to strafe into nearby bushes for stabby analysis quite a bit. Today's episiode of zero punctuation has just highlighted this that is dearly missed. Quick! To the local park, miss stabs Mcgee!

 

[Endominus]

So, fun fact; at a cyberpunk panel at a science fiction convention, a journalist asked the authors assembled (which included, I was told, William Gibson, the father of the cyberpunk aesthetic) why most cyberpunk stories were so disillusioned, and what they would rather write. In debating the matter, the assembled authors pointed to the depersonalization and alienation involved in the advancement in technology, and hashed out what would eventually be called steampunk. You may notice that the technology in steampunk works is often unique, handcrafted, portrayed as engraved or otherwise a personalized piece of craftsmanship.

Can't say whether that's true or not. For what it's worth, Gibson did go on to create The Difference Engine, which was one of the earliest popular steampunk works.

 

[FPLOON]

I would replace the McRib with the rib I "Mc"'d off the corporation's own spine... Then again, I love surfing the information super highway on my long-board keyboard "custom-made" by said corporations...

Other than that, I wonder if Dex would work for Invisible Inc. if given the option...

 

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, it's really annoying that so much of sci-fi is about exploring strange new worlds which are obliged to be exactly the same as previously explored strange new worlds, and a large portion of fans will be confused and deeply offended if anything actually original were to pop up.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Huh. I thought we would be getting a Witcher 3 ZP. Oh well.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Dr. Bashir!!!! *Swoon*

Also, this just in at The Escapist newz: "Fox Prepares Yet Another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Reboot".
Sooo, maybe this time they will please Yahtzee (and it's other fans). Not taking bets on that, though

 

[Guffe]

I seriously heard him say "So let's start of with Dicks"...
Which was very confusing, then I looked into the screen and saw the games name was Dex and that was sorted out.
I know, boring story, sory for wasting your time

 

[dangoball]

And as for The Witcher 3: I don't get the hype at all, especially among my console friends. I internally debate on whether the Zero Punctuation coming out during the honeymoon phase will be a good or a bad thing. I wonder whether it will be The Last of Us levels of unsatisfying if the game gets called anything less than a masterpiece.

As a long time RPG fan and ZP viewer I have no illusions Yahtzee will not be gentle with The Witcher 3, if he decides to have a go at it at all. Check his previous pieces on entries in The Witcher series to find out he was never much enamoured by the games.

 

[Imre Csete]

As a long time RPG fan and ZP viewer I have no illusions Yahtzee will not be gentle with The Witcher 3, if he decides to have a go at it at all. Check his previous pieces on entries in The Witcher series to find out he was never much enamoured by the games.

I bet a virtual cookie he won't play it past just getting over the tutorial map.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Hoho, I don't even like Evangelion, but that reference to EoE made me smile.

 

[Evonisia]

Snip.

I've seen the first two reviews, the impression I get is that this Witcher 3 review will be 50% slagging off console gaming as penance for his joking manner against PC gaming in those reviews. That will aggravate me, but we'll see what the other 50% of the review will consist of.

 

[Erttheking]

At least he makes fun of everyone when it comes to the debate (Christ I don't even know what to call the sides anymore, so many arbitrary labels thrown at each end. Is it SJWs vs anti-SJWs? GG vs Anti-GG? Pro-censorship vs pro-freedom? Guys I agree with vs guys I don't agree with and therefore sacrifice children to satan?) with how women can't be criticized while also calling trilby wearers hackers.

It's something I guess, I need somewhat of a break of everyone online being smugly condescending about their opinion and treating sharing their opinion like they've been fucking enlightened.

 

[carewolf]

One of the two starting characters in Inv. Inc. is also named Decker.. Yay..

Good game by the way, just too bad it is a good 10?/$ game, but is sold at 20?/$.

 

[BeerTent]

That's a shame. I had high hopes for Dex.

Isn't Invisible Inc being done by the same Dev as Don't Starve? I may re-order my wishlist. Bump one off, and move the other up.

 

[esserin]

That's a shame. I had high hopes for Dex.

Isn't Invisible Inc being done by the same Dev as Don't Starve? I may re-order my wishlist. Bump one off, and move the other up.

They also did mark of the ninja. A 2d stealth game, so they've got some experience with this genre.

Did not know they did don't starve, though. That's certainly surprising.

 

[UFriday]

Yep. Still having problems with the new video player. Funnily enough, it always works if I come back one day after an episode is put up.

And I've done everything the help page has told me to, seems I just have to wait 24 hours for some arbitrary reason.

Oh well. Guess I'll see you guys tomorrow.

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

Yeah, it's really annoying that so much of sci-fi is about exploring strange new worlds which are obliged to be exactly the same as previously explored strange new worlds, and a large portion of fans will be confused and deeply offended if anything actually original were to pop up.

I'd argue that original stuff come up all the time in sci-fi (and cyberpunk specifically), but that the aesthetic is there for a reason. Garish neon signs are a classic example of marketing you cannot ignore, dystopian megacities are combination of ant hill and computer that strips away individuality that shoves non-conformists to the outer edges, rich people like to live in fancy neighbourhoods and poor people often join gangs. Evoking those tropes is straightforward, practical, and more a reflection of genre than a confining straightjacket. One of my favourite recent cyberpunk works, Rx: A Tale of Electronegativity, hits all of these notes while still telling a new and engaging story about time-travelling drugs, nanobots, and agoraphobia.

I had the same problem when Yahtzee slagged off the fantasy genre for looking too Tolkein; if all you can see are the surface elements, you're missing why people like the works. It's fine if you don't like it, but you can't pluck one of the lowest-hanging fruit and claim it represents the entire grove.