The Hype Train

After such an insane year, it’s even more insane to look back and recognize that we’ve already received some massive titles, some of them are fantastic, some mediocre, yet we’ve still had a ton dropped on us. Here’s just a short list of a few “big” games released this year:

• Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

• Watch Dogs: Legion

• Final Fantasy VIII Remake

• Demon’s Souls Remake

• DOOM Eternal

• Half-Life: Alyx

Surprisingly, I could go on and on while even as I created this list was stunned at how many big games game out this year. Yet, that seems so long ago and now with the Cyberpunk 2077 launch trailer released, one of the biggest games in modern history is upon us. The hype surrounding the game has reached near fever pitch. Some gamers are hungry. Some are starving. Some are foaming at the mouth, hangry for a solid AAA gaming title, even more, many are craving a hardcore RPG that is becoming more and more rare for big, marketable games.

I think, for lack of a better term, this is the perfect storm where gamers want something to get excited about, some big world to get lost in and more so, something to get their minds off the insanity that has become normal every day we wake up. While I share some of these same opinions, I also am fascinated by the tech behind the game including graphics, DLSS, RTX, etc, the talented team behind it and the possibilities of what lies in store as the game progresses and matures. The people at CD Projekt Red are wizards and I’ve been in love with their work since those first awkward but stunning moments of The Witcher oh so long ago.

Certainly, the game will come and people will play it regardless of what they feel, read, or hear. It will sell millions of copies. I personally can’t wait to give it a spin for all the reasons listed and many more. Some will love it, some will be less impressed but in the end, I am going to enjoy it for what it is, not for what it isn’t. While it’s fun to get hyped up and join the excitement, I can ride the hype train but I don’t need to lie on the train tracks for the sake of hype itself only to be run over by unreal expectations and the fantasy of a life change experience. Bugs will be found and squashed. Features will be enhanced and added, same with DLC and additional content in perfect CDPR order. Excitement is warranted, unrealistic expectations will only end in disappointment.

We generate our own expectations and our own requirements on whether we enjoy a game or not. No review score, nor forum comment, nor other opinion should decide that for us. We have total power over whether to get caught up in the drama or just enjoy it for what it is: a big game by a developer that is highly admired, that many people around the world are dying to play. So, in the end, can Cyberpunk 2077 live up to the massive hype surrounding it? A better question would be: Does it have to?