Category Archives: Cyberpunk

Image: Aya Neo

Chinese firm Aya Neo has already made something of a splash in the handheld gaming arena thanks to its Windows-based portables, but they've always been held back by the fact that they're so expensive, often costing over $1000.

However, the firm is expanding its lineup to include the Aya Neo Air, which will cost just CNY 4,399 (~US$649) when it launches later this year. That's still a big chunk of change, but that price point makes this a more realistic rival for the Switch although it's worth noting that it's still more expensive than Valve's recently-released Steam Deck.

Announced alongside the more powerful Aya Neo 2 and Aya Neo Slide, the Air will serve as the company's entry-level handheld and is powered by an AMD Barcelo APU which includes RX Vega graphics architecture. This means it will have less processing muscle than its siblings, both of which boast the Ryzen 7 6800U chipset with RDNA 2 graphics but those products will also cost more.

However, the company still claims that the Air will be capable of running the likes of GTA V, Forza Horizon 5 and Cyberpunk 2077 (with low graphical settings, as seen in the video below) and the fact that it has an OLED panel means it is superior to its stablemates in that regard Aya Neo's other products all use IPS screens.

It has also been confirmed that the Air lives up to its name by weighing just 420g, which makes it lighter than the Switch OLED Model.

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The Aya Neo Air Is An OLED-Packing Handheld That Can Run Cyberpunk 2077 And GTA V - Nintendo Life

We have brought you the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons list so that you can decide which one is the best for you and win the fight against strong enemies.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that has lots of actions, and you will find lots of weapons to use against enemies. There are a variety of weapons from long range to short range. In order to defeat enemies and even a few strong bosses in the game, the weapon is the key. Having the best weapon with you can increase the chances of your victory against the enemy. But which are the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons?

To answer this question, we have a list below that will guide you to some of the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons you can use. The list is based on our own preferences, therefore it can be different for you. You could even do well with the weapon at the bottom of our list. As a result, if you believe there is another weapon that would be better for you, you can use it. If youre still confused and want to know which weapon is the greatest, this list will undoubtedly be of assistance.

The Mantis Blades is a melee weapon that gives you power in addition to its speed. With these quick blades, you can slash enemies very easily. Although, the weapon is not recommended for long-range fights. However, if you are in short-range then this weapon will surely help you to get those cool kills. The Mantis Blades also help you to unlock an ability. This ability allows you to leap to your target and deal some serious damage.

Malorian Arm 3516 is the best power pistol you can have in Cyberpunk 2077. You will unlock this weapon during the Chippin In side mission in Act 2. It has a great headshot damage multiplier that can take down enemies very quickly if you have that accuracy. The Malorian Arm 3516 was a custom weapon made for Johnny Silverhand. If you are in the pistol category, then this is one of the best options available for you.

Assault rifles are one of the most well-known weapons in almost any shooting game. These weapons have a number of attachments as well as the ability to customize your gameplay. The assault rifle will be a powerful weapon for you. Assault rifles, on the other hand, are the best alternative if you desire incredible accuracy, little recoil, excellent mobility, and a large range.

Moron Labe is one of Cyberpunk 2077 is a great Assault Rifle under Power categories. As standard, this AR features a clip size of 30 and a damage output of 5.62 damage per second. In addition to that, as a Power weapon, Moron Labe lets its bullets bounce off surfaces, giving it a high chance of hitting multiple enemies at once.

This ARs greatest advantage is that the rate of fire can be greatly increased. You have a greater chance of dismembering enemy targets by doing so, which makes your combat more lethal.

With the 30 rounds magazine clip, Fenrir has the power to deal 6.90 damage per second Fenrirs bullets can also hit multiple enemies and gives you an upper hand in combat. If you shoot at a single enemy with the Fenrir, it will deal thermal damage, and it will later deal burn damage to that opponent.

However, if you want this ability, you will have to sacrifice your recoil. So, if you are the one who can control the recoil easily, then this is one of the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons you can have in your arsenal. If you attach the suitable and some great attachments to this weapon, it can become deadly. If you like to go a bit slow with an SMG and stay in your position for a long time, then Fenrir will do the job for you.

Sniper weapons are extremely strong in any game that involves shooting. You wont have to worry about a lot of things here, like range or ammo. The opponent is defeated for good with just one headshot.

Overwatch is a sniper that comes equipped with a custom scope called the HPO Mk.77 Kanone MAX. The reload speed of this weapon is high, making up for the shorter magazine. Aside from those, it has two slots for attachments, which can be used to install a scope or a mod. This sniper rifle has slots for four Legendary mods if its the Legendary variant.

Cyberpunk 2077 players can acquire Overwatch by completing the Riders of the Storm side quest, which rewards the weapon from Panam Palmer. Its bullets ricochet off surfaces when fired, making it a Power weapon in the game. A target is dealt 0.28 damage per second by Overwatch, and it carries four rounds in its magazine clip. This weapon is one of the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons that you can have. Overwatch is an easy choice for individuals who want to take down their opponents from a distance where they wont be seen.

So these were the best Cyberpunk 2077 weapons, according to us. As we said above that it can be different for you. We have covered almost all weapon types in our list. The list has the best SMG, AR, sniper, melee, and pistol. If you want a quick weapon for close range, then you can go with the Fenrir, Mantis Blades, and Malorian Arm 3516. The Moron Labe and Overwatch will help you with the long-range. Therefore, you can try them without any hesitation. Try out the above weapons and see if they suit your gameplay or not.

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Best Weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 - Media Referee

Just in time for the games seventh anniversary, the developers of The Witcher 3 announced that its long-anticipated next-gen update will release later this year. CD Projekt Red confirmed via Twitter yesterday that the update will be releasing in Q4 2022 for PS5, XBOX Series S/X, and PC. The free update will feature improved performance and graphical quality, as well as additional DLC not included in the original release.

The next-gen update for the seven-year-old game was first announced in 2021, in the immediate aftermath of Cyberpunk 2077s release in late 2020. After several shorter delays that stretched into 2022, the developer announced in mid-April that their in-house team would take the lead on the remaining work for the update, and that it would be delayed past Q2. Yesterdays announcement is the first time the updates release window has been nailed down so concretely, and also the first look into some of its added content.

In addition to beautifying the base game and increasing its performance, the free update will add DLC inspired by Netflixs Witcher series, which is now in its second season. Heavily based on the original books by Andrzej Sapkowski, the show has found critical success both within and outside the series existing community of fans. Not much is known yet about the new DLC, but given the shows wide audience, it seems to be an opportunity for CD Projekt to capitalize on potential new players familiar with the show, as well as offer longtime fans of the game another reason to return.

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CD Projekt Red Announces The Witcher 3's Next-Gen Update Will Release This Year - Paste Magazine

Unfinished Business is NMEs weekly column about the weird and wonderful world of Early Access games. This week, Rick Lane takes a chainsaw to Paradise in cyberpunk shooter Turbo Overkill.

Any game that puts a chainsaw in its protagonists leg already has my attention, but it wasnt until I picked up the arm-embedded micro-missiles that I knew Turbo Overkill was legit. Once youve grabbed these delicious bomb-babies, holding down middle-mouse button during a fight will see you can lock-on to nearby enemies before unleashing a barrage of tiny explosives thatll turn your foes into dog food.

If youve played Doom Eternal, youll already be familiar with the delights of cluster rockets, and this isnt the only thing Turbo Overkill borrows from ids beautifully revitalised shooter. Indeed, Turbo Overkill is well-versed in recent FPS developments, casting its cyborg eye across the genre and identifying all the best bits for glorious assimilation.

Youre Johnny Overkill, a cybernetically-enhanced mercenary tasked with travelling to the city of Paradise and cleansing it of Syn, a megalomaniacal computer virus whose personality can be summed up as What if SHODAN was a giant eye? This is all the setup Turbo Overkill needs to thrust you into vast, neon-drenched levels crawling with creepy cyborg foes driven to frenzy by Syns corrupted code.

Turbo Overkill. Credit: Trigger Happy Interactive.

Paradise is a pastiche of cyberpunk cityscapes, a maze of glittering skyscrapers and glowing billboards erected upon deeply rotten foundations. While it lacks the rich worldbuilding and outright weirdness of the criminally underrated G-String, it makes up for this in how it balances coherent geometry with the arena-like design of classic nineties shooters. Its locations are always identifiable as streets, subways, etc, but this never limits the potential for speedy movement and ridiculous acrobatics.

And Turbo Overkills acrobatics are, indeed, ridiculous. From the off, Johnny is equipped with a double-jump, a double-dash, and a Bulletstorm-like slide that automatically deploys his chainsaw-leg to shred enemies that get in the way. Later on, youll unlock more advanced techniques like wall-running and a grappling hook, making it one of the most comprehensive FPS movesets around. With the exception of the wall-running, which still needs refinement to make transitions feel smooth, everything flows together well.

The game encourages you to take advantage of this extensive manoeuvrability. Not only is your chainsaw-slide an effective way of killing enemies without consuming ammo, some opponents can only be killed in specific ways. Drones, for example, can only be destroyed by blasting the brain poking out of their chassis (a slight design flaw) which often requires you to shoot them while in mid-air.

(Credit: Apogee Entertainment)

Turbo Overkill clearly wants players to be as a creative as possible in their killing-sprees. This extends to the games arsenal. Your starting weapons are a pair of dual-pistols that have a lock-on alt-fire that can mince multiple enemies at once, while the next-weapon, an energy-shotgun, can pump multiple shells into the chamber to unleash an explosive electrical charge. Even the more conventional weapons are designed with pleasing little touches, such as how the chainguns bullet-belt runs through Johnnys free hand as it fires.

Its details like this that help lend Turbo Overkill a personality of its own. It could so easily feel like a hodgepodge of different influences. A little Doom here, a touch of Titanfall there. But the cyberpunk setting, alongside the smartly judged tone of the game cool without being crass help distinguish it from its various inspirations. Turbo Overkill also strikes the right balance between its retro and modern halves, taking the appropriate lessons from the past without feeling obligated to mimic it for the sake of purity. Like Doom Eternal, it uses classic elements to create something that feels fresh and exciting, a springboard for its own ideas about what a good FPS should do.

That said, there are a couple of issues that need addressing. While I love the imaginative weapon design, many weapons currently feel underpowered. The audio effects are quite tinny, which isnt too much of an issue for the energy-based weapons. But the chaingun should have a drone like a B-52 bomber, and without that it feels underwhelming to fire. In general the audio design is very good particularly the soundtrack, whose blend of synth and metal perfectly embodies the games technological dystopia.

Turbo Overkill. Credit: Trigger Happy Interactive.

My other issue is Turbo Overkills poor implementation of checkpoint saves. The game will only save once every two or three encounters, which simply isnt sufficient given how quickly or unexpectedly the game can kill you. Its not that the game is especially hard, its interpretation of normal difficult is about right. But when you do die, it tends to happen suddenly, and having to plod through fights youve already passed just to get to the one youre struggling with is an unnecessary frustration.

These issues aside, Turbo Overkill makes an impressive Early Access splash. Jumping in now will give you access to the first of a planned three episodes, which will take you around five hours to complete. If youre an FPS fan, theres probably enough here to make Turbo Overkill worth your while, and if the second and third episodes can match the quality of the first, then developer Trigger Happy Interactive could have a minor masterpiece on its hands.

Turbo Overkill launches in Early Access on April 22 and will be available on PC, with console editions planned to arrive at a later date.

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'Turbo Overkill' is a wickedly stylish cyberpunk shooter - NME

Developer Ramen VR has attracted a great deal of attention from virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts since the release of Zenith: The Last City, with the game even briefly hitting the top of the Steam player charts.

Though still in Early Access, fans are hopeful that Zenith represents a step towards the fully immersive VR MMORPG popular in fiction.To explore the ideas, influences and future plans for Zenith: The Last City, Upload VR spoke to Andy Tsen, CEO and co-founder of Ramen VR.

Ramen VR itself is a small business for an ambitious project like Zenith: The Last City, employing only 15 people. Tsen was frank about the challenges the developer faces and meeting peoples expectations: When we launched Zenith, there were a lot of people who expected Sword Art Online or World of Warcraft. Were more like Ultima Online, a few guys trying to create something were passionate about.

Comparisons to media about VR MMOs such as Sword Art Online or .Hack is inevitable, and Tsen said that anime and Japanese culture did indeed have a significant influence. The inspiration for the game comes from every game that Ive played, he says. Anime was a large part of my formative years, so we took ideas from Final Fantasy XIV, World of Warcraft and even Nier. We wanted to create a world inspired by anime and JRPGS. You can see it in the open world, such as the Plains area, we reference a lot of Miyazaki and a lot of Nier.

Speaking about the tone and genre of the game, Tsen had this to say: If you look at the city we have a solarpunk going on, while the starting area was inspired by Midgar of Final Fantasy VII and a lot of other cyberpunk media. There are sci-fi elements to it, but its very fantasy inspired, but its going to be more solarpunk themed and styled than cyberpunk. He also indicated that in storyline terms, it wont be so black and white as the bright happy place is good, the dark spooky place is evil. There will be nuance and subtleties for players to discover as the game world is expanded and refined. There is also a tendency for Solarpunk media to be more optimistic in tone than the more grungy and bleak Cyberpunk media.

A common criticism of many modern MMOs is that intuitive, fun gameplay can be lost amidst a sea of complex systems, rewards and currencies such that it becomes more akin to a job than a game played for fun. I think a lot of the immersion has been lost in modern MMOs, Tsen commented on that topic. Our goal was to create an immersive world where people could reach their full potential, without worrying about whats going on in the real world. Its a gaming-focused new reality. We want to focus on making fun experiences for people.

Asked about how that feeds into accessibility for players, Tsen said that the team ensured it was possible to play Zenith from a seated position, then added: A lot of times accessibility is just good game design. You dont lose anything by making a game more accessible. He indicated that this is just a starting point for Ramen VR, and that they are keen to integrate accessibility into the game during the Early Access phase, saying for just one example: We had to work with some of our team who get very simulation-sick, so we came up with things like our out-of-body locomotion to mitigate that.

Tsen also said this focus on accessibility extends into online safety and comfort within the game, emphasizing the tools given to players. You can block people, or you can deafen. For us safety is incredibly important. We have GMs who can invisibly wander the world and make sure everythings okay, he said, adding that bots have limited effectiveness when protecting a community. Theres only so much you can do with automation, so you always need human judgment involved.

Tsen also stated Final Fantasy XIV as a worthy example to follow, because Square Enix implemented positive reinforcement systems that allow players to issue a commendation to fellow players who impressed them during a Duty, Dungeon or Raid. This works as a counterpoint to blocking and reporting systems to help foster community, something that Ramen VR also hopes to develop for Zenith.

Ramen VR has already promised to add hundreds of hours of new content in its next major update patch, and Tsen spoke enthusiastically about what Zenith players can expect in the future, Theres a lack of end-game content at the moment. We need to do a lot more. In our next major content update our goal is to address that, and expand it so theres things for casual players to do, things for hardcore players or those who want to just grind for cosmetics.

Indeed, Andy also indicated during GDC that there were plans to add more exploration and environmental puzzles, but thats not the only thing the development team has planned: Were excited about player housing, crafting, even PvP thats a little down the line though. Whats currently available for Zenith is only about 10% of what we want to provide for our players.Considering that Zenith has already met with a solid response from the Upload VR review in its current Early Access state, what the 90% of additional content could provide is worth considering. Creating an MMO is not an easy task, and plenty of developers have failed to clear the hurdles involved with growing a small company in a sustainable way.

Tsen hopes they can continue to grow and meet the challenges implicit in creating and maintaining an expansive MMORPG. We have great investors, were cash-flow positive, but the next big question is how to scale it while keeping the culture thats got us this far.

Zenith: The Last City is available on Quest, Steam and PlayStation Store.

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Zenith Dev Talks Solarpunk And Anime Influences - UploadVR

As an accomplished composer and music entrepreneur, MARO has a knack for storytelling.

He has long been championed for the dark, heady sound design found in his potent electronic music productions. Look no further than his riveting songs on the official Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack, which remain some of the record's most populara statement that speaks volumes considering it also features tracks by Grimes, Run The Jewels and Nina Kraviz, among others.

Now, MARO is on the verge of releasing a new album, Rejects, which he affectionally calls an "audio musical" with its own visual universe. He tells us the album has not only a metaphysical backstory, but a formidable list of collaborators, like Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah and Raekwon. Ergo, he's positioning to release his most impactful project to date.

We caught up with MARO to discuss what he has cooking in 2022 and the road toRejects.

EDM.com: Please give us a general overview of your new album, Rejects. Whats special about it?

MARO: Rejects is an audio musical. Its an hourlong journey through an unfriendly universe Ive created especially for this project. Every guest artist appears in its own role, taking a part in the musical. I play the role of your guide, taking you through the story, meeting people who tell their tales. On the way, you will meet arms dealers, revolutionists, monks, drug users, drug dealers, and all kinds of people living in the low city and doing what they do best to survive.

As the listener, you dive in to an experience of music, dialogue, song effects and world-class graphics. I wanted to give the listener a chance to escape from the everyday routine and reset his or her mind.

EDM.com: You have some insane contributors on this album. Its not many dance music producers who can claim to have Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Cappadonna, Deadly Hunta, Awich, Lex Lu and P-Money on their original studio albums. How did you get these legendary artists onto your album? Whats your history and relationship with each of them?

MARO: Throughout the years, Ive worked with a very wide range of artists from all around the globe. When you meet someone and have something in common, you keep the contact. You never know when it can boomerang back to you. At first, my Rejects story was based on mostly electronic music, but I needed to find a way to tell a story, to get more narration. Naturally, rap is 100% this kind of craft, so I decided to invite people I knew would deliver a great story, fit the role, or both.

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EDM.com: Sounds like you were long cultivating relationships along the way.

MARO: Many of them, Id already met on my way. For example, Id met Raekwon about 15 years ago when we were playing at a festival in Warsaw that I was also producing. With Deadly Hunta, I made a track for the Cyberpunk 2077 soundtrack. With Lex Lu, I worked on the production of a few Polish artists and I then invited her to work with me on the Cyberpunk 2077 game.

EDM.com: For those not immediately familiar with your background, can you explain your specialty as a Platinum Award-winning mix/mastering engineer and the founder/creator of Bettermaker?

MARO: Basically, I can say that Im addicted to music. All my life oscillates around it! Since I was 14, I knew my way and that I wanted to spend my life in one of the most difficult businesses there are: the music business. Since then, I learned, and I collected music and the gear to become a DJ and a music producer. I have two degrees: one in sound engineering and another in acoustics. Right now, I own the Addicted To Music Studios where I work with my team. Im a DJ, a music producer, and a sound engineer.

On top of that, I have the Bettermaker company which produces studio gear and software used by the best professional mix and mastering engineers from all around the world. Bettermaker also makes software for music producers, a plugin called the EQ232D. Throughout the years, Ive performed as a DJ allover the world and worked with people from Jamaica to China. I have quite a few Platinum and Gold records on my walls for production and sound engineering, and I still have fun as hell doing all of this.

MixOne

EDM.com: You describe your album, Rejects, as a multimedia release, complete with visuals as well as audio. Is it interactive?

MARO: The album will be heavily illustrated. Were planning on making an interactive gallery with the works of so many talented artists who worked on Rejects. I think they did such an amazing job, the music would not be complete if the listener would not know the musicals graphic design. Every artist has his or her alter-ego, every skit has its own comic scene, every song has its own cover. This album will be a feast for your ears, as well as for your eyes. Were leaking some of it already on rejects.tech, so go check it out! Im sure you will not be disappointed.

EDM.com: How do you want listeners to interact with Rejects, when they experience the album?

MARO: My ideal interaction would be to play my LP, sit comfortably and watch the full-sized album while you listen to the chapters. Let the music and the visuals take you away on a journey with me, to my world. But I also understand that many people will stream it somewhere on their way and within time, cherry-pick the tracks that they like the most. Thats okay with me, too.

Facebook: facebook.com/maromusic1/Instagram: instagram.com/maromusic1/Twitter: twitter.com/MaroMusicSpotify: spoti.fi/3MxEdvp

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MARO On His Upcoming Album, an "Audio Musical" With Its Own Universe - EDM.com

Can love bloom even on a cyberpunk battlefield? Anno Mutationem says yes.Image: ThinkingStars

I was immediately smitten with Anno: Mutationems sleek, side-scrolling pixel art and bombastic, beat em up-inspired action sequences. However, even these notable highlights pale in comparison to its wonderful portrayal of Ayane, one of the games side characters, who ascends from mere NPC into being the emotional throughline of the entire game.

You play as Ann Flores, a cyber-combat specialist searching for her kidnapped brother. Although shes more than capable of holding her own in a fight, she doesnt work alone. By her side (via digital projection) is the chatty super-genius hacker Ayane Misuno. While Anns relationship with Ayane is hinted at even in the demo, in the full game the hackers adoration for Ann bubbles over in side missions and boss battles alike. To my surprise, Ann and Ayanes bond is an essential part of Mutationems story, and arguably its most captivating facet.

Their story begins when Ayane mails Ann a communication droid to mark their second friendiversary, as you do. While the droids gameplay purpose allows Ann to call up Ayane for her hacker know-how, Ayane drops all pretenses, telling Ann that her fancy mail-order droid serves as her way of being closer. Be still my beating heart. Whether in the heat of combat or in the middle of a shower, Ayane has Anns back! And occasionally boundary issues.

Read More: Friendship Ended With Cyberpunk, Now Anno: Mutationem Is New Best Friend

Because Ann is a kuudere protagonist, meaning shes the strong-and-silent type, it falls on Ayane to not only inject life into the game with off-hand remarks about the bizarre world they inhabit, but to also crack open Anns stoic shell, making her a more appealing protagonist in the process. This is epitomized through the pairs cute animations and the stellar vocal performances from their English voice actors. Whenever Ann and Ayane scenes graced my screen, my eyes sent my brain a piping-hot shot of dopamine. Their funny/cute dynamic, at times reminiscent of classic comedy duos, could generate enough energy to fuel a small town.

I would like to take a moment to pat myself on the back for calling out the ship between these two from the moment I first saw them interact in the demo. While I was only half-kidding when I muttered Oh they gay, I didnt think ThinkingStars would actually hint at them being canon in the actual game. Im gonna have to check my house for hidden microphones

The pairs dialogue lays it on thick. Ayane rarely calls Ann by her name, instead opting for darling, usually accompanied by hearts floating above her head. Ann caves to the pet name when Ayane asks if shed rather be called Baby, Honey, or Lover, proving that she does have a preference.

Ayane, paragon that she is, goes beyond being your woman in the chair. She also doubles as Anns emotional support sidekick. Whenever a quest-giving NPC asks a favor of Ann, Ayane takes on the frustrated voice of the gamer. While Ann begrudgingly accepts missions, Ayane goes to bat for her, calling out NPCs distractingly selfish requests. If Ann didnt want pickles on her burger, you best believe Ayane would raise hell. Whenever the going got tough in Mutationem, Ayane swooped in like a cool summer breeze and provided the game with moments of welcome levity.

Harold, theyre lesbians. Screenshot: ThinkingStars / Kotaku

No matter how many times Mutationem kicked my ass, I kept coming back. This dedication wasnt solely based on my journalistic duty to finish the game, or even on account of my wounded pride. No, I soldiered on just to hear Ayanes celebratory banter. When conquests in Mutationem stopped feeling rewarding, Ayanes words of encouragement jump-started my tired gamer bones and made the pain of replaying exceedingly frustrating boss fights more bearable

Ayane doesnt just shine during Mutationems main story: Her charisma is so powerful that it spilled over into side-quests, prompting me to take interest in characters I wouldnt otherwise care about. Case in point, I pumped the brakes on mainlining Anns quest to save her kidnapped brother the moment we walked by a street concert and Ayane mentioned that shed love to know the secret identity of a virtual singing idol.

I know this makes me sound heartless, but hear me out. All I know of Anns brother comes from a smattering of random, archived codexes and voice recordings. Ayane, on the other hand, has gone to war by my side. Shes made my journey through Anno: Mutationems cyberpunk dystopia a continual delight, simply through force of charisma. No hard feelings to Anns brother, but Ayanes built different, and when Im on the mean streets of Anno: Mutationem, her needs come first. Try the game yourself, and youll understand where Im coming from.

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This Cyberpunk Game's Simmering Lesbian Romance Has Me Hook, Line, And Sinker - Kotaku

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read someones mind? In the world of visual novel Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, its a little more boring than youd think in a good way.

Indeed, the preview that was shared for Neurodiver follows protagonist ES88 as she heads into her workplace campus for the morning, where her day job using her skills as a Neurodiver awaits. On slow days, ES88 admits to a friend, shes prone to poking around her co-workers collective noggins, sifting through memories of raccoons and forest walks.

On busier days like the one she finds herself in for this preview its a tad more exciting, though perhaps not by much. An important password has gone missing, and Minerva the organisation that employs ES88 cant access any of its top-secret information without it.

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver. Credit: MidBoss.

And so, ES88 finds herself working as a life-sized Forgot your password? pop-up, diving into the memories of hapless office worker Harold to see where his passwords gone.

Once youre in, its up to you to poke around Harolds brain and try to work out what the password could be. Visually, youre still at Harolds desk, but there are a few differences a houseplant thats alive in the real-world slumps pitifully bare in its jar. A gloopy, half-formed monster is screaming out of his PC, and is seemingly the culprit to his sudden brain fog.

From there, a point-and-click adventure style sequence has ES88 searching for clues that will help unlock the right memory and retrieve Harolds password. The main objective of the memory is to find the right combination of clues important memories that fuelled Harolds password creation to return his password intact. Its part intuition you have to get a sense of what genuinely matters to Harold with each item you investigate and part puzzle, as certain obstacles in the memory require using other clues to get rid of them. In one entertaining case, ES88 refuses to touch Harolds secret pet a twitchy mechanical spider and uses a skeletal hand from Harolds Halloween decoration to retrieve a vital clue.

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver. Credit: MidBoss.

As the preview ends, ES88 is told to prepare for a meeting with Minervas CEO presumably for a mission involving more important uses for telepathy, such as the frantic murder-mystery advertised by one of Neurodivers trailers. Its an exciting moment for the preview to close on, but what makes Neurodiver so incredibly promising is that it makes the mundane workplace chats, password recovery so delightful.

Every brief chat and minute interaction feels distinctly lovely, and developer MidBoss has packed every pixel with charm cutesy portraits and animated facial expressions bring each character to life, and the studios writers have done a fantastic job at making dialogue feel natural, funny, and engaging. If Neurodiver can make ES88 and her world feel so alive in an office, theres no telling how much it can deliver outside of Minervas walls.

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver launches later this year for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4. We previewed the game on PC.

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'Read Only Memories: Neurodiver' preview: a cyberpunk visual novel bursting with charm - NME

Cyberpunk 2077's latest patch is, after February's absolute whopper that made a truckload of improvements in every area, more of a maintenance job on bugs and glitches. The fun thing with these is finding out what players have been running into without it ever quite coming to wider attention: for example, some players found when they were driving fast that "wrecked cars or multiple Nomad cars" would start spawning around them, which must rather cramp your style.

In addition to tweaks like this, the patch has fixed some in-game triggers for stuff that could be accessed too early, open world events that weren't spawning at the right time for some, andmy favourite of all, relating to a mission called Automatic Love"Walking into a wall in the elevator in Megabuilding H8 will no longer cause instant death."

But wait: there are more. One fix refers to this in-game occurrence, which is that you'll occasionally see NPCs jump to their deaths from corporate offices:

Not shown: apparently some of them would just... get up after that. Now "Suicidal Corpos in Corpo Plaza will no longer stand up after the fall."

Then there's the bug that could apparently see the character River "drive out of the market area erratically" during the I Fought the Law mission "and push V out of world bounds." What a way to go.

Various other quest progression bugs have been nixed, spawning glitches stamped on, and there's some small UI fixes and one change: rewards will now have a quest tag showing where you got them from when you first see them in your stash and when opening menus. There's finally a very Stadia-specific note, because apparently that version of the game was a hippie wonderland until now: but CDPR has "enabled aggressive crowds."

The full patch notes can be found here.

This is a minor update but it arrives in the context of much bigger news for the studio. Yesterday CDPR teased the next game in the Witcher series and part of this announcement was that it is being developed using Unreal Engine 5. That is a major move for CD Projekt as a whole which has used its own in-house REDEngine to build almost all of its games: Cyberpunk 2077 was built on REDEngine 4, which was a ground-up rebuild of the tech.

Part of the Witcher news was that, while the flagship series is going UE5, Cyberpunk 2077 and "its upcoming expansion" will remain on REDEngine: I mean, of course it will. Why did CDPR clarify this? Probably because internally it feels a bit bad about the fact, whatever the economic realities, it is definitively leaving its own tech behind: and make no mistake, the modern CD Projekt was built on the REDEngine.

Cyberpunk 2077's story is far from finished, but in all likelihood it will be the last major game developer by the studio using its own in-house tech. Arguably, it is also the game that made CD Projekt Red switch to a thirdparty engine: the game clearly came in hot, the launch was a commercial success but an unmitigated reputational disaster, and some element of that surely comes down to the choice of tools. Otherwise why switch. Either way, it's a sad coda for Night CIty.

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Cyberpunk 2077's latest patch is a bug-squisher, including one wall that instakilled V - PC Gamer

Designer: metod kular

In terms of aesthetic, cyberpunk truly mixes contrasting elements. On the one hand, its a distant future filled with technologies we can only dream of. On the other hand, human civilization seems to have also taken a step back and left its indelible marks everywhere, from dilapidated and abandoned metal surfaces to sometimes incomplete mechanical parts.

This inhaler concept shows clear signs of such a design style. The form itself is unconventional and the transparent parts of the shell reveal the inner workings of medical device. At the same time, the worn-down metal surfaces of the canister suggests it has seen better days, like it has traveled through rough roads to get to the person who needs its life-saving medicine.

The small light at the end of the tunnel is that the design equally works for a utopian version of an inhaler. Idealized visions of the future often utilize white or bright motifs, a tremendous use of plastic-like materials, and clean, unmarred surfaces. There is nothing that says bright future better than pure white materials.

This futuristic medical tool could also be at home in that kind of future, just swapping out dark colors and metal for white plastic. Hopefully, that future would have solved our current plastic problem and will be able to easily manufacture environment-friendly materials that just look plastic to our 21st century eyes. Then again, such an ideal future should have probably removed to need for an inhaler in the first place.

Cyberpunk worlds have always carried a sense of irony with them. It is a future filled with technological marvel but fraught with human flaws. Instead of having finally solved the most basic health problems, such a future would still have medical problems that would require using an inhaler like this.

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This inhaler concept shows how you might be able to survive a cyberpunk future - Yanko Design