#blah blah blah night city is capitalism and capitalism is a parasite on the world

[bunwithantlers]

"That's how towns die. Not with a bang, but with whispers and whimpers."

One thing that I've always appreciated about Cyberpunk 2077's world is the stark contrast between Night City and the surrounding wasteland. From minute one of this game, you're being thrust into this world of bright colours, neon and chaos, everything is violent in a loud and bright way, with gunshots and techno music and screams. It's beautiful, in its own way, and it draws you in, because it's fun.

And then you leave the city for the first time, and it's like the whole environment suddenly comes to a screeching halt. All the neon is replaced with greys and beiges, there are no bright screaming advertisements anymore, only the wide open sky, the windmills - and the corpses of towns. And you learn that there's a whole different kind of violence in this world. It made me realize why so many people stay in Night City, why it's like a glue trap for its inhabitants. There's just nothing out there for them, no perspective, nowhere to run. At least in Night City, there's the idea of hope, sold shrink wrapped in vending machines. Out here, there's nothing. Night City is violent bloodshed, but the Badlands are violent resignation. I don't know which is worse.