Cyberpunk 2077 has been put through the ringer recently. A buggy launch basically equivalent to an Early Access Game, difficulties with home console ports, and some criticisms of its representation of the cyberpunk genre have all been a part of the discussion. Rather than harp on Cyberpunk 2077, here is an alternative game that addresses the cyberpunk genre in a bit of a different, but interesting way: EYE: Divine Cybermancy.
EYE: Divine Cybermancy is an action shooter RPG developed by Streum On Studio and released back in 2011. Set in a far-future dystopia full of militarized corporations, an oppressive human federation, and literal demons, it may seem like a stretch to compare it to Cyberpunk 2077's more grounded world, but the core connection with the genre is there. While rough around the edges, EYE: Divine Cybermancy allows players to fulfill the cyberpunk power fantasy as a cybernetic warrior-monk while battling against the corporations and institutions that litter cyberpunk settings. It's different from Cyberpunk 2077's setting, which was designed to shake up the genre, but EYE: Divine Cybermancy has it's own fresh take on what makes cyberpunk tick, and does it well.
EYE: Divine Cybermancy sends players to several different worlds that may look a little like Cyberpunk 2077's tragically unfinished Night City, and many others that do not. On most neon lights advertise to humanity's baser instincts, gangs and corrupt police wander the streets, and the ever-present overlap of biology and technology prove that surface looks can't be trusted. While EYE: Divine Cybermancy doesn't boast the same gigantic open world as Cyberpunk 2077, its vast environments offer an oppressively dour vision of a world ruled by mega corporations and heavy-handed governments.
Players, as members of EYE, traverse these worlds in a complicated but rewardingly weird story centered around the future of the EYE Order and a mystical alien... "thing" called the "Meta-Streumic Force." While completing side missions, most of which can be completed in a variety of ways, players can upgrade their character with cybernetic implants that affect their physical, psychic, and hacking abilities. With narratives that revolve around not only the particularities of the universe, but also the nature of being and humanity, EYE: Divine Cybermancy doesn't shy away from the narrative hallmarks of the cyberpunk genre, especially those found in some cyberpunk tabletop RPGs.
As for cybernetics, EYE: Divine Cybermancy allows for a customization that far exceeds the available options in Cyberpunk 2077. Players can build characters that can hack (after playing a turn-based strategy hacking minigame) and take control, destroy, or repurpose almost everything in the game. Advancing down the path of psychic powers, players can create shadowy duplicates, teleport inside of enemies, and even transform enemies into monsters. EYE: Divine Cybermancy offers such a surreal experience of the cyberpunk human-technological duality that there's a lot of incentive to build multiple characters, each one of which explores a different play style and therefore a different interaction with the story and genre.
EYE: Divine Cybermancy is definitely a weird game, and as an indie title from 2011, it won't look as pretty as Cyberpunk 2077. But the respect for, and interaction with, the cyberpunk genre, is wonderfully intermixed with a fascinating and strange gameplay experience that will leave dedicated players wanting more. There's no word of anything new in the realm of EYE: Divine Cybermancy but one can hope that the success of Cyberpunk 2077 might spur some thoughts of a sequel.
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January 06, 2021 at 05:06AM
