Woke comes at you fast.
"It's definitely cultural appropriation."
Definitely!
Note that you can customize your character, including adding scars, piercings, style of teeth and even Maori tattoos.
That last one is problematic in that there is no way for the game to verify if you are the correct race to permit this.
Why, you could be white for all we know and choose a non-white tattoo!
Sorry, white people, I'm afraid you'll just have to stick with snakes slithering through a flaming skull.
A heart with "mom" written in the middle is also acceptable.
One way to solve this would be to not allow any customization at all!
Of course, then we'd be back to the original problem of there not being any POC characters. Maybe we should create a series of separate games, each designed for a specific race, gender and identity, which could only be purchased by verifiable members of those groups.
That should bring us all together.
Not that it should matter, but this is the creator of Cyberpunk.
From that 2019 article, Pondsmith responded to people who were criticizing the game for cultural appropriation, racial insensitivity and stereotyping.
"Who the (bleep) do YOU think you are to tell ME whether or not MY creation was done right or not?"
However, the game received some criticism for its depiction of transgender characters and race.
In an earlier comment, Pondsmith said he was tired of "well meaning people on internet chat boards" telling him "what I, as a black person, should be offended by."
Speaking of transgender characters, while the game includes them, it's just not enough.
"The same can't be said of trans characters. Even if you opt to play as a trans V, she's not particularly well-defined. The game is about what you see through her eyes and what she goes through, not about who she is as a person."
Do better, Cyberpunk.
I did spot a trans flag on one character's vehicle, though that hardly counts as positive trans representation and doesn't even necessarily mean the character is trans.
Still not enough.
It felt more like a way for Cyberpunk 2077's creators to say they had included positive trans representation without actually putting thought into it or making trans people a visible part of the makeup of Night City.
Not only can you never be too woke, you can never quite get woke exactly right.
It consists of ceaseless grievance mongering, complaint, and demands and no one is safe from it. Its only outcome is endless fighting, pitting one faction against the other in a constant power struggle to be the most offended.
It does not end well, particularly for the practitioners.
