There are a few things that stop my progress through a video game. Things like game-breaking bugs. Unwarranted difficulty spikes. German adventure game sad clown voice acting.
And photo modes. At least photo mode is something that stops my forward progress in a good way. Now Cyberpunk 2077 reveals that it's got one waiting for me. It's entrapment. I used to be the kind of player that spent an hour or two in character creation, but now I'm more of a default kinda guy. I like my Commander Shepard looking like the one in the key art. I like my Viking Eivor being recognizable in all the Assassin's Creed posters.
But nowadays it's photo mode that slows me down. I'm a sucker. I whip out my in-game Instagram account, and camp on filters, depths of field, and Barbie-posing my character for the perfect no-look explosion snapshot. The Facebooks and Twitters of the world gave us the phrase "Pics or it didn't happen." Well, I might've deleted my personal Facebook and Twitter years ago, but I still live like pics-or-it-didn't-happen is true for me in video games.
After spending an entire console generation in development, and after months of possibly COVID-related delays, Cyberpunk 2077 finally launches next week, December 10, appearing on any current or new-gen PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, including Stadia.