Night City stroll to the Afterlife

Accompany me on this late-night walk through the streets and alleyways of Night City. Enjoy the scenery, take a deep breath and let me guide you. I promise to lead you along the most prominent sights of this lively metropole between the massive buildings of corporations, street food stalls, and leisure miles.

Let us catch a glimpse, including some highs and lows that the city has to offer. In terms of safety, you can rely on me. First and foremost, I want you to have a good time and learn as much as possible about the city by taking in the sounds and visuals of the different surroundings.

We start our tour at corporate plaza, the corrupt heart of the city that never sleeps. Not only do these massive and out of reach skyscrapers tower above the city, but they also represent everything wrong with this place. Corruption, classism, and the disposability of flesh tied to the constant body enhancements on the one side and the militarization of security on the other. These things root deeper than anything else here. Let’s not idle too long, and head for downtown. We have quite a way to go if we want to reach the After Life before sunrise.

High-rise buildings, a holographic fish passing by

Night City corporate plaza; tour meet-up point

Welcome to downtown, located next to the colossal corporate blocks you saw earlier, this spot is always populated and thriving. Especially during the night, you can feel the heartbeat of downtown. The flourishing culture offers every bit of entertainment you can ask for with local ad-boards and neon lights pressing into your face. If you have the money for it, you can spend a lot of time or even consider living here. This place is always overwhelming your senses, whether it is the beats of the nearby nightclubs, the never-ending traffic or the overlapping smells of greasy street food and eatery fumes. The dark alleyways of downtown are never empty. They seemingly extend forever and tighten their grasp on everyone that approaches. Better stay away from these, not even the piercing neon lights reach here.

Street view with palms, more greenery, yellow colored neonlights and passing pedestrians.

Downtown Night City; where luxurious living and nightlife come together.

The connecting districts are vast and complex, in one night we simply can’t visit all of them! In the next city part north of here I can still show you a few areas that display quite a bit of contrast to what we have seen until now.

Street-food stalls, populated streets and adult entertainment advertisements on ad-boards. A holographic cherry blossom tree on the right hand side.

What food should we get on the way?

We crossed the border into another district, Watson, a shadow of its former self, what could have connected the nightlife and businesses of downtown, is mostly run down and ruled by violence and gambling. This part of the city is the end of our journey, but before I let you explore by yourself, let’s look at prominent things you can find here. The district city part of Little China where we are right now is a place for gang activity, local stores, and backdoor medical practitioners, called ripperdocs. If you do not have the money, they might sell you cheap body upgrades in their backdoor butcheries.

Alleyway covered in fog, backdoor ventilation systems and pink neonlights, chinese sky lanterns in the distance.

The alleyways here are always crowded, backdoors and small establishments wait around every corner.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this place, most grew up here or lived in one of the mega-apartment complexes for some of their time. Abandoned buildings, fading colors, but also architecture that differs from the stale glass and metal structures of the central districts. Look around you, the food is amazing and there are great options to choose from. I don’t want to rush you, but we almost reached the end of our journey – the Afterlife.

Backyard with a bar entrance, people are talking and smoking outside, colorful neonlights illuminate the night.

Afterlife entrance, a bit hidden but infamous nonetheless.

Enter the Afterlife, Night Citys renowned underground night bar, if you roam these floors, you are in for a good time. Let us finish the last hours of the night with a drink – one you have never had before. Not only exclusive to this place, but these drinks are named after Night City legends that toppled the order, immortalized through their actions and forever remembered.

View on the bar of Afterlife night club.

…and Bar.

"Afterlife" written on top of the entrance door, surveillance cameras can be seen around.

Underground entrance…

Tonight, you have seen only a small part of the city, I leave the rest to you to explore all the secrets and sights of Night City. Some are just passing through; others live in this never-ending cycle of fame and corruption forever.

Basic information:

Publisher: CD PROJEKT RED
Developer: CD PROJEKT RED
Platforms: Windows, PS4, PS5, XBOX One,
XBOX series (Reviewed on Windows PC)
Release Date: 10.12.2020
Genres: Action-RPG
Age Rating: PEGI 18 (Violence, Sex, Bad Language)

Pictures:

All article pictures have been taken by the author in-game (Cyberpunk 2077: Game Version 2.02., CD Projekt RED, 2020).

Post Views: 659

Max Solala

E-Sports enthusiast, Dog-dad, 90s kid, part-time event organizer and full-time game studies student, when not writing papers they do enjoy playing first-person shooters or games with deep narratives.

#openworld #sci-fi #First person #ambience