Cloudpunk

One of the most underrated games I’ve ever played I almost never write Steam reviews, but after finishing Cloudpunk, I genuinely felt like I needed to write one. I originally discovered Cloudpunk because I saw Nivalis Nights and thought the idea of living and running a business in a cyberpunk city looked incredible. Then I found out Cloudpunk was set in the same city, saw it on sale, and decided to give it a shot. I’m extremely glad I did. What makes Cloudpunk special is difficult to explain because, mechanically, it sounds like a simple game. You’re a delivery driver. You fly around the city, deliver packages, meet people, and slowly uncover the story of Nivalis. But somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling like I was playing a delivery game and started feeling like I was actually living in the city. I spent almost 16 hours completing the story, and a significant amount of that time was just me exploring, walking around in first person, parking my HOVA somewhere with a beautiful view, and taking in the atmosphere. Nivalis feels absolutely enormous despite Cloudpunk being a relatively small game. The rain, neon lights, music, vertical architecture, traffic, advertisements, and thousands of glowing windows create this incredible illusion that you are one tiny person living inside a massive city that existed before you arrived and will continue existing after you leave. The story and characters are where the game really surprised me, though. Cloudpunk explores AI, consciousness, memory, corporate power, inequality, identity, morality, and what it means to be human without constantly beating you over the head with its themes. Some random conversation with a person you meet during a delivery can suddenly leave you thinking about an idea long after you’ve stopped playing. The Erasera conversation with Suto Dore, in particular, was one of those moments for me. I won’t spoil it, but it perfectly represents what I love about this game. You can be casually driving around doing your job, and suddenly the game drops an idea on you that makes you stop and genuinely think. I also loved the choices. On my first playthrough of games, I tend to make decisions based on what I would actually do if I were living in that world, and Cloudpunk gave me plenty of opportunities to do exactly that. It made me care about Rania, Camus, the people I met, and ultimately Nivalis itself. Is the game perfect? No. The driving and traffic can be janky, district transitions can be annoying, and there are definitely technical quirks. But none of that came close to outweighing what this game accomplished for me. I own more games than I could realistically ever finish, and I very rarely complete a game’s main story. Cloudpunk hooked me enough that I finished it in 15.6 hours, nearly cried during the credits, and then immediately started looking for more games like it because I wasn’t ready to leave the world. That is probably the highest praise I can give a game. Cloudpunk reminded me why I love video games. The best games aren’t just something you play. They’re places you get to visit for a while. Nivalis became one of those places for me. Absolutely worth playing. I can’t recommend it enough.

[h1]Ich bin kein Taxi[/h1] [i]Hinweis: Auf das Review klicken, wenn ihr die beste Ansicht haben wollt[/i] [b]Einleitung:[/b] Hier sind wir also - in Nivalis, dieser pulsierenden Neon-Stadt über den Wolken. Ich hab mich sofort reinfallen lassen, weil Cloudpunk einfach diesen ganz besonderen Vibe hat. Ich liebe das Setting, die Stimmung und wie sehr man sich in dieser vertikalen Cyberpunk-Welt verliert. Cloudpunk ist mir in meine Timeline gespült worden, da ich Cyberpunk ja gespielt habe, und manchmal bekommt man Vorschläge, die man dann auch ausprobiert. [b]Gameplay:[/b] Im Grunde ist Cloudpunk ein storygetriebenes Open-World-Spiel, aber das Erkunden ist eher die "Beilage“, der Hauptgang ist die Story. Man fliegt durch diese neongetränkte Megastadt, liefert Pakete ab, trifft seltsame Gestalten und versucht nebenbei nicht an jedem zweiten Gebäude hängen zu bleiben. Gameplay ist simpel gehalten: HOVA fliegen Pakete zustellen mit NPCs reden manchmal Kleinigkeiten einsammeln und genießen, wie geil die Stadt aussieht (auch wenn ich Pixelart eigentlich nicht so mag) Es ist kein Actionspiel. Kein Ballern. Kein Kämpfen. Einfach ruhig Pakete ausliefern, zumindest meistens. Die Stärken liegen eindeutig in Atmosphäre und Story. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3608087851 [b]Story/Handlung:[/b] Wir spielen Rania, neu in der Stadt und frisch angestellt bei Cloudpunk, einem ziemlich dubiosen Kurierdienst. Keine Fragen, keine Beschwerden, keine Rücksendungen. Die Welt ist am Arsch, Nivalis lebt unter gigantischen Hologrammen, Wolkenkratzerrippen und künstlicher Intelligenz, die manchmal mehr Mensch zu sein scheint als die echten Menschen. Wir starten arm, gestresst und mit einem kaputten HOVA. Unser einziger Begleiter: Camus, unser gutherziger, leicht verpeilter KI-Hund, der im Bordcomputer steckt. Auf unseren nächtlichen Touren lernen wir kaputte Gestalten kennen, korrupte Cops, verrückte Androiden, sterbende AI´s, Menschen mit gebrochenen Träumen. Die Welt wirkt kalt, aber die Geschichten sind warm - und manchmal richtig bitter. Es gibt ein paar Entscheidungen, die das Gefühl vermitteln, dass wir Einfluss haben - nichts Großes, aber genug, um sich verbunden mit Rania zu fühlen. Die Story trägt das ganze Spiel und ist meiner Meinung nach der Grund, warum man es überhaupt zockt. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3608088020 [b]Pro:[/b] [list][*]fantastische Atmosphäre, zieht einen schon etwas rein [*]unglaublich guter Soundtrack - melancholisch, ruhig, futuristisch [*]spannende, teils emotionale Story [*]worldbuilding ist absolut on point [*]Nivalis als Stadt ist wunderschön und verdammt beeindruckend [*]Camus ist einer der besten Videospiel-Hunde-KIs ever [*]simpel, aber entspannend - perfekt zum Abschalten [*]läuft sauber und stabil [*]viele kleine Geschichten, die hängenbleiben [*]guter Preis für das, was man bekommt[/list] [b]Contra:[/b] [list][*]Fahrgefühl manchmal etwas schwammig [*]man fliegt viel herum - kann manchen zu eintönig werden [*]NPCs wiederholen sich optisch sehr oft / fast immer [*]keine Gameplay-Abwechslung, wenn man Action erwartet [*]„Entscheidungen“ sind nicht so relevant, wie das Spiel manchmal vorgibt [*]Sammelobjekte sind wie Füllmaterial [*]Karte nicht immer gut lesbar [*]keine Sprachausgabe für alle Sprachen, viel mitlesen[/list] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3608088151 [b]Fazit:[/b] Cloudpunk hat mich sehr überrascht. Diese Welt fühlt sich einfach anders an - wie ein melancholischer, neonfarbener Traum, in dem man sich verliert, wenn man nicht aufpasst. Das Spiel ist kein Action-Feuerwerk, aber es trifft emotional, atmosphärisch und erzählerisch voll ins Schwarze. Für viele wird der langsame Spielfluss vielleicht zu lahm sein, aber für mich ist das genau das, was ich wollte - ein wenig Entspannung. Cloudpunk ist vielleicht nicht perfekt, aber es hat Herz. Wenn ihr Bock auf Atmosphäre habt, angenehme Dialoge, schöne Musik und eine Welt, die etwas anderes ist - dann ist Cloudpunk absolut einen Blick wert. PS: Dauer je nach Tempo zwischen 7 und 12 Stunden. Ich hab mir Zeit gelassen, die Stadt betrachtet, paar Abzweigungen genommen - wie man’s bei Cloudpunk eben macht, wenn man trotzdem alles aufhebt, obwohl es kaum was bringt (außer - Erfolge). [b]Schlusswort:[/b] Lasst doch gerne eine Bewertung und Feedback da. Ich schreibe für (freue mich über Follower): [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/875292]German Steam Community[/url] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32139821]German Review Group[/url]

Despite the pixelated visuals, the cyberpunk atmosphere is actually quite nice. The level design (credit to Roman Agapov, I assume) is easily the strongest part of the game. Unfortunately, it's also pretty much the only thing that really stands out. The game can feel relaxing at first and some players might enjoy the slow pace, but it quickly becomes repetitive. Quests are extremely monotone and even the occasional humor (like Huxley's quests) doesn't really save them. Completing tasks rarely feels rewarding. There are a few cool moments though - the Type O Negative reference in the Rotriv quest was a nice touch. Dialogue is very dull and the voice acting is rough across the board. The AI dog Camus (Cory Herndon) is especially painful to listen to, but other characters don't fare much better - whether it's Rania (Andrea Petrille) or the bizarre child-like filter used for Pashta (K-D.). Character pixel designs also feel inconsistent, especially compared to the detailed portraits shown during dialogue scenes. One of the few genuinely enjoyable parts of the game is buying new vehicle and upgrading your apartment - those elements give at least some sense of progression. Beyond that, the gameplay loop becomes pretty tedious. Considering you can switch to a first-person view inside the car and look around, it's strange that NPC passengers you pick up never actually appear inside the vehicle. I finished the game. Story and quests get slightly more interesting toward the end, but overall the experience still feels repetitive and drawn out.

This game is pretty close to being good in many ways but comes up short. I've had Cloudpunk in my backlog for quite some time, as I imagine most have as well (considering how few players have gotten achievements), and I finally decided to power through it in a weekend. The game is brief, which is absolutely crucial considering how long it feels. There are stretches where you are completely stuck in the mud, whether it's from waiting for dialogue to finish or waiting to get objectives. You will be waiting through painfully long dialogue that is uncomfortably slow for a very good portion of the game. This wouldn't be much of an issue if the dialogue was interesting, but most of it is just filler, unnecessarily dragging it on for what feels like forever. There isn't much nuance to the writing, it's a simple delivery game at the end of the day, so this element stands out in the worst way possible. The voice acting is frankly awful, which does not help either. The atmosphere is solid. The cyberpunk pixel block theme is fun, and once I realized you could play in 1st person I enjoyed it quite a bit ...for a little bit. The constant back and forth between a few relevant POIs in the world is a drag after the first few deliveries, and you never fully understand the city layout because so much of it looks copied and pasted and cookie cutter. It suffers from the dilemma of creating an expansive world with not a whole lot in it. The narrative structure is okay enough to move the game along, but none of it feels very consequential, as you're going from what's supposed to be some huge deal to something that's an even bigger deal, but you never feel the weight of the events in the game. You just keep driving. I would honestly be curious if the game had no overarching narrative, and was strictly interactions you get from deliveries, because the story felt that insignificant to the gameplay. Overall if you get this game for like $5 and want to try it out, I'd say it's worth that, even if you don't finish it. The first hour of this game is no different than the last hour, and I wish I'd known that before committing a weekend to it. It can be fun just to pilot around and do side missions just to take in the cyberpunk world, but beyond that it's flawed in enough ways to warrant a negative review.

Finally finished right at the 8 hour mark (Steam bug showing only 4.5 hours played for some reason) This game is all about the cyberpunk atmosphere, the story and music/ambience. However, it is not an enjoyable game to actually play. The ENTIRE game is flying around in the non-interactable voxel city and going from marker to marker while largely unskippable voicelines play in your headset. Gameplay mechanic wise, you have literally seen everything there is to do in this game within the first 5 minutes. Prepare yourself for doing it for an additional 8 hours. Sure there are distractions like grind-collectathon "quests" (pick up icons around the world) and decorating your apartment with static items, but that's it. You'll still be doing the exact same thing over and over: Flying to checkpoints, getting out of your hovercar to run around in a city you can't interact with, and listening to a cast of voice actors who range anywhere from terrible (Rania/random NPCs) to decent/great (Control, Camus, Huxley). The game isn't bad, I can see the developer vision, the story they wanted to tell. I just don't think it's good enough to make up for the incredibly dull gameplay and the inconsistent voice talent trying to carry it (arguably the most important part of a story heavy game). I think most of its issues could've been fixed by cutting 4 hours off its runtime. By the 8 hour mark I was begging for it to end so I could go do something else. If it had been 4-5 hours I feel like both the story and gameplay would've resonated with me a lot more. It's another one of those "wish I could give a sideways thumb rating" -games. Some people will love this, others will hate it, as a neutral enjoyer I won't lead you astray with this recommendation: Only buy this game if you love the aesthetic and truly enjoy the idea of zoning out and "vibing" to a game that has zero challenge or mechanics, and even if that describes you, buy it on a sale. Everyone else? Do not impulse buy because of the Very Positive rating, you will be disappointed. It gets a "Visual Novel with a flying minigame/10" rating from me.

Its a really OK "game". the main draw is the story but I honestly found the main character really repellent, she just sucks. She's an extremely preachy person with a very narrow world view and life experience trying to tell others how they should live. alot of choices you make regarding NPC characters just doesn't really matter much, nothing comes back to help you or hurt you in the end. It is a really pretty game, but NPC's just don't look super great in this voxel art style, and also for it being a voxel game, its really insane to me that its 6GB. about as big as older hitman games are, and Cube world (another voxel game with randomly generated terrain in a seemingly unending world) is only 1GB at most. can't help but think maybe some parts of cloudpunk could be optimized better Its a really fun environment to drive around in, I just wish the package delivery part of the game was somewhat more important, there aren't really any serious consequences to motivate you to do your job, you're just kinda coasting along from marker to marker. Ultimately if you are looking into this and thinking it'll be a cool cyberpunk delivery simulator with more replay value, as the game description might lead you to believe, then I'd suggest looking elsewhere. If you like lore and world-building stuff and just walking around admiring scenery then you'll probably enjoy this experience.

I'm hit or miss on this one. But I generally like it. This is a narrative courier game. In this cyberpunk setting, you navigate the sprawling, endless, skyscraped city of the future in a fancy hovercar, dropping off deliveries and occasionally passengers. Sometimes drama ensues, sometimes wacky hijinks ensue, but the core is you going to point a, then delivering something to point b. Some people may not like that formula, but I always love a good delivery quest, as I've learned. So I'm quite partial to this. It certainly helps that the setting is gorgeous. Everything has been rendered in voxels. I really love these voxel games, they just look nice. It both gives a modern and retro aesthetic at the same time, and in this game, it's very fully realized. Gritty details like street lamps and trees look great, but the macrocosmic scale of towering skyscapers and block-apartments look great as well. I wouldn't say this setting is unique; more that it looks good in a voxel style. Which is the key component to much of this game, both positive and negative. We're not treading new ground here. If you've seen more than 3 cyberpunk stories in your life, you've seen this one. Evil corporations, downtrodden commoners struggling to get by, gig economies, rogue AIs. If you expect it to be here, it's here, promise. Is that bad? Not really. I did like it, and the game did find ways to be unique. Huxley in particular was fantastic, and I'd be lying if I didn't get a tiny bit choked up at a few narrative revelations. My problem with Cloudpunk is the previous point, however, it's not doing anything special. It's clearly very inspired by things like Blade Runner, Cyberpunk 2077, and others in the genre. But it doesn't really do much with that over its runtime. The game itself also feels a bit uninspired. And that mix does not bode well in the long term. How does a game with so many inspirations feel uninspired? It feels like a cover band. You're hearing all the songs you love, but that energy of the original band isn't there. Usually you're fine with that, because you know you're not experiencing the original. But Cloudpunk wants to be original really bad. It really wants to be taken seriously, an earnest entry in the Cyberpunk canon. But it's just not very good. Outside of Huxley, Control, and CORA, the game doesn't have much to say with its narrative. Even then, what is Nivalis. This is the main city you spend all your time in. It has many districts, and places to explore. But outside a few bespoke areas made for the story, I couldn't tell you anything about this place. It's a generic cyberpunk city, with generic cyberpunk problems, and even though your actions as a character end up doing world-altering things, it feels like nothing changed at all. This isn't helped by either the setting's presentation or the game's mechanics. For presentation, Cloudpunk looks very samey. All districts look the same. If you squint, you can see the differences. But if you told me to name two districts, I couldn't; if you told me to name two separate locations, I can't. This world is massive but forgettable. This is brought about in part because the gameplay is also a bit forgettable. Flying around the city isn't challenging, nor is it exciting. It's just something to do, something to fill time. But this should be exciting, should be awesome. And sure, a few time-trial missions to up the ante here and there. But overall, I was simply driving in this game. No thought, no emotion, just driving. It was an activity to fill time; a means to an end. The core problem with these issues is that this game is more of a story game, and less of a courier game, even though the game itself is meant to be a courier game. It really wants to tell its story, and it's a decent story. But the gameplay can't bear the weight. In other courier games, there is usually some onus to your actions. In Death Stranding, yeah, you're transporting a guy's underpants, but there is purpose to it. You have to plan a route, manage your gear and packages, scale treacherous terrain, and then with a sigh of relief reach your destination. Even in lower stakes courier games, like Euro Truck Simulator, there's a process: gather cargo, negotiate traffic, adjust tactics and routes along path as oddities occur, deliver package. Both of these games have a clear arc of preparation, negotiation, action, and ending. Cloudpunk doesn't have this. You pick up a thing, then deliver the thing. Damage to your ship? Not a concern. Just refill the tank or repair it occasionally. Otherwise, you just weave the streets, change maps, and listen to the dialogue. Sometimes you'll be asked to make a decision with consequences, but the consequences are rarely important, so it was hard to feel invested; just the typical illusion of choice. This game isn't bad. I did finish it, and I enjoyed my time. But it's really hard to hold memories of this game. Outside of the few tiny plot threads I really loved, this game is just kind of a time waster. It's a very pretty time waster, and I would recommend it for those who love sci-fi or cyberpunk, and want a relaxed experience and a fun story. But outside of that, this game doesn't have a lot to offer outside of good vibes. Maybe that's good enough for some people. But I wanted more.

质量尚可的独立游戏，也是沉浸感最佳的赛博朋克风格游戏之一。永不停歇的暴雨、五光十色的霓虹灯、川流不息的浮空车、形形色色的行人......游戏用3d像素塑造了一个充满刻板印象但又无比贴切的赛博都市尼瓦里斯，其观感丝毫不逊于今日的大作。游戏的玩法与其说是独游，不如说是增加了更多互动要素的视觉小说，作为云通的新入职派送员拉妮娅，在入职的第一晚就需要驾驶浮空车在尼瓦里斯的大街小巷间奔波送货——从城市之巅的云巅，到无人在意的下水道。派送、收集，以及在派送的过程中了解这座暴雨不息的赛博都市的众生相，卷入影响城市命运的重大事件，就是本作仅有的玩法。考虑到本作的派送玩法并没有像《死亡搁浅》那般做到极致细节，收集任务也是纯纯的重量级，因此连续长期游玩难免会感觉无聊。但本作带来的氛围感与讲述的故事又很好地弥补了这一点，至少对我而言，云朋克弥补了2077至今仍然不能驾驶浮空车的遗憾。切换到第一人称视角驾驶浮空车穿行在四通八达的立体交通网络间，听着连绵不绝的雨声与若隐若现的全息广告声音，亦或漫步在大街小巷听着耳边的人声鼎沸，看着眼前的五光十色，对于赛博朋克爱好者而言无疑是一大乐事。 可能是开发商首次制作发布买断制游戏导致经验不足，本作的一些设计在个人看来并不算优秀。中文翻译中的错别字、收集任务的繁琐无趣、偶尔出现的无法进入目标地点之类的小bug等等还都算小问题，个人最难以释怀的主要有两点：其一，受限于游戏体量，开发者并未对在交通网络间的浮空车添加最基本的ai，这导致高速行驶的浮空车成为了一个个随时会对玩家车辆耐久度造成毁灭性打击的鱼雷，虽然玩家可以离开高速车道从而避免绝大部分车辆，但游戏本体中存在限时配送任务，其时间卡的非常紧张，这导致玩家必须利用高速车道达到效率最大化，从而不可避免的需要与鱼雷进行搏斗；其二，个人感觉本体游戏中后期的节奏把控不是很好。游戏的主线剧情围绕着拉妮娅的配送目标展开叙事，但中期在解决完病毒、明确主线与“机代”相关的故事情节后，游戏依然在主线剧情中加入了运送人工心脏这种与主线故事毫无关联的强制任务，这导致我玩到最后突然接过了决定城市命运的重担后难免感觉有些突兀。当然，故事本身的内容还是无可挑剔的，只是感觉情节安排上出了些问题。 或许开发商充分吸取了玩家对于游戏本体的意见，dlc给我的观感好了很多。与本体旗鼓相当的体量、更加紧凑连续的叙事、改车玩法与街头赛车玩法带来的更多可玩性，除了收集任务依然很让人难受外，dlc可以说是青出于蓝而胜于蓝了。至于开发商的同世界观新作《尼瓦里斯》，由于预告中展现到的内容删除了作品的最大特色浮空车驾驶，主角也不再是拉妮娅，因此个人不是特别看好。不过考虑到现在透露出的内容十分有限，也在此希望开发商能继续书写在尼瓦里斯上的故事，为我们带来更多沉浸式的视听体验。 基础分5 充满赛博朋克风味的沉浸式视听体验+2 优质的故事内容+1.5 青出于蓝而胜于蓝的dlc+2 非常阴间的收集任务-2 仍需打磨的诸多细节-1.5 个人不是很满意的本体中后期叙事节奏-1 总分6/10