Have you tried playing Beyond a Steel Sky? I haven’t played it but I can’t imagine a sequel released so many years after the original would be any good. I could be wrong though, maybe it’s fun.

Good luck!

I never really considered Duke Nukem to be cyberpunk… but yeah, that screenshot totally looks like it came from a cyberpunk game. Weird.

It really depends on what genre of games you like, can you give me any hints?

In general, if you like the first-person perspective action RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 definitely check out Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its sequel Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. If you like 2d action RPGs, check out Dex.

If you like twin-stick shooters, check out Ruiner or The Ascent. I absolutely loved The Ascent.

If you like turn-based RPGs, check out Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

If you like point-and-click adventure games, check out VirtuaVerse or Technobabylon.

If you like walking simulators (first-person, no combat), check out Observer or maybe Nobody Wants To Die (which I haven’t played yet).

If you like roguelikes, check out Akane or Black Future '88.

If you want to try it out, you can play the Neuromancer game in your browser at the internet archive.

Have you tried the remake? I always liked SS2 and thought SS1 was too clunky but I’m not sure if that means I’d want to play a remake of SS1.

There was a Shadowrun game on Xbox 360?? I might have to go look into that…

That game was so weird! I was always so confused why it was called Street Fighter when it was a 2d platformer in space.

Speaking of immersive sims, how would you compare the original Deus Ex to System Shock 2? I feel like System Shock 2 probably pushed the genre further but I enjoyed the world of Deus Ex more for some reason.

Have you tried playing the Shadowrun game for Genesis? For someone with fond memories of the SNES game, I wonder how the Genesis game would compare.

I haven’t actually played either, but the Shadowrun game for Genesis does look more fun than the Shadowrun game for SNES. It’s also crazy to me that they’re two completely unrelated games when it was so common to just port the same game between those two systems at the time.

Crazy, I’m the exact opposite. My middle-aged ass doesn’t have time for repetitive roguelite games with no sense of accomplishment. I actually prefer the linear gameplay where no matter how much (or little) I play in one sitting, I’m still further in the game than when I started. Although, I still prefer games with ~10-15 hours of gameplay. I don’t have the time/patience for a 40+ hour epic RPG.

As for William Gibson, if you’re willing to get back into it, I recommend The Peripheral. It’s a more recent book (so Gibson has grown as an author) and it’s a more modern take on the cyberpunk genre. Also, Amazon turned it into a tv series that lasted one season. They renewed it for a second but then decided it was too expensive and cancelled it.

About 18 years ago I played a Cyberpunk video game which was essentially a Diablo 2 clone. But for the life of me, I can’t remember the name of it.

Sounds like a fun challenge! Could it have been Cybermercs: The Soldiers of the 22nd Century? Or maybe Restricted Area? I actually don’t know, I just tried searching for cyberpunk-like diablo clones from ~2002. That’s a tough one.

I’ve had Nobody Wants To Die on my wishlist for awhile but can’t decide if it’s worth it. What’d you think of the game?

I’m ashamed to say the only Syndicate game I’ve played is the 2012 FPS reboot which was basically Syndicate in name only.

Although, the original Syndicate creator was so mad about the 2012 reboot that he made Satellite Reign as a spiritual successor, and I really enjoyed that one.

Oh boy… now we’re getting into the deep discussions. Here comes a long rambling response.

This is something I’ve been thinking about before; there seems to be two different “brands” of cyberpunk. There’s the “hard-boiled detective in neon-lit rainy streets” and there’s “literally anything involving cyberspace”. Either one of those things can be considered cyberpunk and yet they rarely overlap. Also, there’s the American version of cyberpunk which is more “punk” and anti-authority/anti-conformity while simultaneously the Japanese version of cyberpunk which relies more on law enforcement and preserving the status quo (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Psycho Pass, etc.). And yet both of those are considered cyberpunk too. And that doesn’t even touch on the “what does it mean to be human?” brands of cyberpunk. Cyberpunk is such a broad term that it almost encompasses any story with high-technology that excludes space travel.

I’ve tried having this discussion before, asking things like is Demolition Man cyberpunk?, is The Fifth Element cyberpunk?, is Super Mario Bros (1993) cyberpunk?, is They Live cyberpunk?, is Alien cyberpunk? because it’s fun to see where people draw the line. I’m not trying to gate-keep, it’s just that cyberpunk is such a nebulous genre that it almost comes down to personal preference.

One argument I’ll make (that is more pedantic than most people care to discuss with me) is that I personally believe rebellions do not belong in cyberpunk works. The one exception is if the rebellion is destined to fail. One fact in cyberpunk fiction is that the megacorps are too big to bring down. If Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 wants to blow up Arasaka he’s welcome to try, but he’s doomed to fail. Same with David in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. I believe the “optimism” in cyberpunk comes from finding your place in the world, accepting it as it is, and not trying to change it. That’s the difference between a “punk” and a “rebel” to me. A punk might be pissed off at authority, but it’s aimless, directionless. There’s no attempt at systemic change. Yet I would define a rebel as someone who does want to institute systemic change. That’s why I would say movies like Equilibrium and Hunger Games aren’t cyberpunk. They’re actually trying to bring about systemic change. I’d say this stems from cyberpunk’s roots in hard-boiled detective novels where the detective knows the police force is ineffective and corrupt. But he’s not trying to fix that problem, he’s trying to find his place in the world despite that problem.

Anyway, good luck with your attempt to watch everything on this thread! There’s a lot of obscure weirdness described here.

Aeon Flux was a weird one.

Are we talking about the cartoon or the live-action movie? Either way, yes.

Had some cool stuff going on, but the execution was shoddy

Ah, the live-action movie then. Yeah, very shoddy execution.

I can’t find the scene with Tom Cruise entering with the precog, but here’s a clip of the club being introduced before they show up.

Definitely obscure. It’s hard to find online anywhere. I’ve only been able to find it on the internet archive. It’s got a weird plot but amazing cyberpunk visuals.

Well great, now I can’t un-see that…