3 out of 5

Label: Milan

Produced by: Rafal Smolen (mixed by, mastered by)

I will, as usual, open myself up to being called a horrible person, and dismiss a lot of folks’ incredible efforts and likely overworked hours to say: I don’t think Cyberpunk is a game with much personality. This doesn’t make it a bad game, but it’s just kinda named what it is: cyberpunk. This can stand aside from the story, and I also acknowledge that we’re dealing with an adaptation of a property from a time when cyberpunk was cutting edge cool, but the aesthetic and tone if the game doesn’t do much for me – it looks like what it is.

While animation studio Trigger absolutely fixed that for the Netflix prequel show – how can they not, being the studio they are; though to be fair to CD Projekt Red, there’s still slack in the world design that’s picked up by Trigger’s style and energy – I can’t get over my initial bias when hearing the show’s score, which, despite a heavyhitter like Akira Yamaoka on board (and genre notables Marcin Przybyłowicz and P.T. Adamczyk) sounds… kind of generic, almost exactly like a 90s grimey dystopia flick’s score modernized for the 2020s. While that kinda sounds cool, and we could be favorable and think of it as purposeful, neither part of that bears out: think of it more as a generic 90s moody score, transported to the digital age. Yamaoka gives his industrial ambience a dance beat and some dubstep; P.T. Adamczyk goes for Matrix club scene vibes (okay, were in the 00s now – note that Franz Ferdinand’s 2004 hit is the opening theme…); only Marcin Przybyłowicz’s work stands out, but moreso by being less flagrantly “cyberpunk:” it’s quality atmospheric stuff, which makes sense, since it’s from the game score.

To be clear, all of the tracks are good, or are not bad: good beats, some steady hands in terms of production. I don’t really get a particular “flavor” from anything (or anyone), but that’s in line with the genericness I’m outlining.