Cyberpunk 2077 Easter Eggs Look Like More Marketing

There is a familiar motorcycle available for purchase in Cyberpunk 2077 called Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X. You can get it from Repairer Wakako Okada after gaining Credibility Level 12 in the Westbrook District, and it will cost you 22,000 Whirlpools.

Even with a glance at its striking red chassis, 1988 anime classic Akira can’t help but jump in the minds of anyone who knows him, but the Kusanagi isn’t treated the same. stealth that video games generally offer such references to the real world. It has been pasted onto several of the pre-release screenshots, and the option to purchase it is pushed onto your phone, just like with many original vehicles in the Cyberpunk universe. Rather than giving a subtle nod to a piece of dystopian anime, CD Projekt Red brought it to the fore. This is what most of Cyberpunk 2077’s so-called “ Easter Eggs ” look like, and it’s weird.

The use of the term “ Easter Egg ” to describe secrets in games was popularized in 1980 by Atari’s Steve Wright, after programmer Warren Robinett hid his own credit in Adventure. Traditionally, they’ve been very hard to find, sneaking in by developers as references to things they like or joking around without the knowledge of their superiors, meaning they often share a personal or intimate touch. Many deliberately break the fourth wall and speak directly to players.

From the search for John Romero’s head in Doom 2 to the sign on a bridge in GTA San Andreas that says, “There’s no Easter egg here, go,” they offer us special discovery moments at share with our friends. Some gamers enjoy hunting them so much that entire communities have come together to hunt down a game’s last secrets, even the ones they made up, like the endless San Andreas Bigfoot hunt, which the developer insisted on. that it does not exist.

Cyberpunk 2077 Easter Eggs do not have any of these qualities. Even the inclusions that make you double the dizzying excitement feel of. Whether it’s Hideo Kojima making a cameo right in the middle of Konpeki Plaza, or a Batmobile-like vehicle hidden in a cave next to a lore fragment about a superhero, these references don’t provide not the knowledgeable, genuine and spontaneous developer. – nod to the player who is the very essence of an Easter egg. They feel planned, each element being a part of the world like the neon monolithic buildings that take over the horizon, rather than tertiary features that we only discover if we are lucky or diligent.

From motorcycles to detailed characters with multiple lines of dialogue, the work involved in adding these references means they’re meant to be seen, which creates that eerie sense of stolen bravery – calling them Easter Eggs seems as dishonest as calling Iron Man Fortnite skin is a “ subtle ” nod to Marvel’s Avengers. That’s not to say that they aren’t worth adding, but rather that they aren’t Easter eggs in the traditional sense. These are effortlessly designed encounters that serve a single purpose: to keep the conversation going.

There was certainly no lack of talk about Cyberpunk 2077, and while some of it was surely unintentional – the final talking point is CD Projekt Red’s response to a second class action lawsuit – it all serves us well. talk about the game. Cyberpunk is not a service game, and although it is getting DLC, it is not as conducive to such expansions as, for example, a strategy game, where new factions can integrate easily. It’s an epic single-player RPG, made at huge expense, and CDPR needs to keep that in mind. To that end, Cyberpunk is at the forefront of reusing the Easter egg in the age of social media.

There are famous influencers on in-game ads and even quest givers; Portal’s GLaDOS voices an AI character on a side quest, with a “the cake is gone” line; and you can cast a “Praise in the Sun” emote in photo mode. Half-Life 3, Demolition Man, The Witcher 3, we could go on. These references may bring a smile, but they are as unsubtle as a billboard advertisement, and they come at the expense of authenticity.

Recognizing that the street preacher outside V’s apartment building is played by a famous streamer immediately makes you dismiss the character completely. This isn’t one person who raved about their true thoughts and feelings about cyberware, it’s CohhCarnage. Cyberpunk 2077 is a metaphysical Swiss cheese: structurally compromised by its many dazzling portals to the real world.

Related: Here are the best cyberpunk games on PC

While the conversation is meant to be on-going, we inevitably saw this strategy’s highest expression at launch. Cyberpunk 2077’s release was built around the fear of missing something, and within hours of going live, social media exploded with snippets of in-game references to everything from The Office to Blade Runner. From the outside, Cyberpunk seemed to be filled with pop culture secrets to uncover, but in the game they were barely hidden. Perhaps this is a glimpse into the future of the Easter Egg: marketing, memes, and Fortnite erosion of the very integrity of single-player game universes.

You can read Rich’s Cyberpunk 2077 review here, or check out our lists of the best open-world games and the best RPGs if you’re looking for something a little different.