PC Gamer has a
really solid article about how with all the cyberpunk games on the market, many miss the "punk" aspect. Some to the point they miss the entire point of the genre. A really good article that praises one of my favorite cyberpunk settings Shadowrun as well as give some props to 2077. However they are correct in the article when they say 2077 tried to have it both ways, and it didn't work for the most part. Here is a snip;
One game where the malcontents and outsiders get to star is Shadowrun: Dragonfall (opens in new tab). The Shadowrun series is an unlikely mash-up of fantasy and cyberpunk that exaggerates the clichés of each, where the dragon who demands tribute and the TV personality admired by millions are one and the same—Smaug recast as Max Headroom. Perhaps it's that exaggeration of the basic tropes that makes Shadowrun feel true to cyberpunk fiction, in spite of the elves.
Shadowrunners are hackers and spies who can be hired online, like Uber but for corporate espionage, and in Dragonfall your band of runners have a secret base under a market in the anarchist free state of Berlin. Dragonfall is as much about protecting the societal dregs who are your neighbours—drug addicts and shifty coffee dealers—as it is about making money. Also, one of the party members is an actual punk, the former lead singer of a band with the wonderful name MESSERKAMPF!
