Some Cyberware is subscription based. In the Corpo storyline, when you have your fall from grace you find your Cybernetics start to literally turn off. Arasaka essentially revoking your license to use them. Something similar happens to Goro, who has a similar fall from grace. Normal cyberware are rented by your average joes like an expensive car would be. The stuff you get from ripperdocs are all illegal jailbroken cyberware running bootleg drivers.

It's mentioned ingame at a hidden gig, A guy dies because his Zeta-tech Heart failed to operate/work, and countless emails stated that he needed to come in to get repaired/warranty was close to being over.

David’s sandevistan is not made by Arasaka, it’s made by Militech. Different corporation that was absolutely at war with Arasaka. They even added it into 2077, it’s called Apogee.

I've been involved with the TTRPG Cyberpunk since 1990. Didn't hear it mentioned in the video, but Night City is a city that was explicitly made outside any Government control. It is itself a Corporation that takes care of the General infrastructure and regulation of it's citizens in the city. The Mayor's office doesn't answer to any Goverment agency outside it's boarders although it does use the Worlds Currency(Euro Dollar). It sits on the boarder between North(a Free State) and South California(controlled by NUSA). Mike Pondsmith designed it that way so the Corpo's could have a place to do business without Pesky Government oversight and regulations. It's the reason each mega Corp. it has it's own private military in the city.

The ending of the video hit so hard that I'm actually crying rn, wow, what an amazing production

This is one of the best video essays I have ever seen! Should be so much more popular

It's honestly so sad that your channel hasn't blown up yet. Your videos have a quality, from the music production to the editing, that is simply unmatched on KZfaq. They may not be the funniest I've ever seen, but your Sound! Euphonium video is probably the most human and relatable video I've seen on this platform. Keep up the good work, you are amazing, I can't wait for the next video.

God dammit!! Another banger!! HE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS!!!

17:12 the Sandy David installed is actually the Millitech Apogee so it's not Arasaka tech. it is however a piece or hardware Arasaka was very interested in as its high pre-requisites were a "baseline" (sort of) for individuals with inate capacity for cyberware use. One reference of a special individual is Adam Smasher who completely sacrificed his humanity and accepted his existence as a machine(he's only 3% human btw, and you can see it in the Knpeki BD for the heist mission), others will always struggle with their human self which can't keep up and end up going in cyberpsychosis. Great analysis BTW, cool video.

I think by saying that cyberware is subscription-based, Jaki means that when you install them you tie yourself into buying the immunosuppressants that you have to continue to use to keep from going psycho/developing other issues. So while you do own that part of your body, you're condemning yourself to having to continually pay for more and more medication. Like owning a mobile phone, but having to pay for a data contract. I love the idea of the cyberware being part of the city. I also love this video! I very much enjoyed the show and your analysis of it. Thank you for making this!

The blade runner reference in the intro was gold. amazing video. i just finished the show tonight and am crying watching ur video

You never disappoint. Keep up the great work.

Its why there is a difference between V and David. David is doing his actions for glory. V is doing it to survive. Night city uses lives for profit. V works as an antithesis to this. Its why i find it interesting that one way of exploring the world is through the product of the anime. And another way to consume it is through playing it. And playing it gives a completely different feel. V doesnt want to die in glory. V instead uses the city for ways to survive. Instead of the cyber augmentation being used by the city to create better workers, v uses it instead to battle the city.

Oh my God. Thanks so much for this. I wanted confirmation on this> I figured that no matter what jobs they do in Night City, they are still in Night City and are still a slave to its system. They make their lives more comfortable but they're just covering up the truth of it all whilst living in Nights City. I personally want a story where sure they do jobs in Night City but they realize that the best way to "fight" the system, is to not play its game at all.

The city is the main villain, and it is impossible to overcome...

V had Johnny to keep the cyber psychosis at bay and that’s why s/he doesn’t have to take immunosuppressants

your videos are just... amazing. so much detail and insight in how you talk about the subject. you introduced me to some of my favorite pieces of fiction, like chainsaw man and mob, and your editing never stops being interesting to watch. from the bottom of my heart, thank you for this videos.

The cyberware being subscription DOES gets explore in rhe game during sife mission. If you're corpo and you get fired or quit, the corporation can remove the implants that belong to them from your body.

This videos its just a masterpiece, god, the best cyberpunk edgerunners analysis i ever saw 12/10

Wow, that was a ride. Your analysis of the series is probably one of the bests out there. You make your points and strongly emphasize them. Congratulations, loved it

this is such a good video, from the beats to the commentary, you nailed it all man. Kudos!

A masterpiece once again Kyle, your commentary, editing, and sound design never fail to impress. Been loving this channel since the start and cant wait for more!

Another absolutely beautiful video! Edgerunners was definitely one of my favorite releases of the year. I've spent a lot of time in the game and it's just one of those worlds that I love to lose myself in, so the anime hits me that much more. You make a really good point about them being less rebels and more like contract workers feeding back into the city and I've never really thought of it that way. It's a really interesting perspective and changes a lot all of these cyberpunk worlds if you look at it through that lens.

Really good video Kyle, I'm so happy you talked about edgerunners, because it has been living in my mind rentfree for months now

please never stop uploading this was amazing

For those who played the game, fate of David was known from the start. In the bar named Afterlife (a major place in story's location) there are few cocktails, but most notable are two - Johnny Silverhand (played by Keanu Reeves), and David Martinez. To get a cocktail with your name in the Afterlife you have to do one thing: Die and be remembered. You are told about it almost the moment you step into the bar. So David's ultimate fate was known from step one by those who played Cyberpunk on release. This made Edgerunners even more interesting for me personally - because it was all about journey rather than resolution.

This is one of the best videos on cyberpunk edgerunners and cyberpunk the genre! Believe I've watched just a few to many videos on edgerunners and there weren't a lot that got so deep into the source of cyberpunk. So thank you very much Kyle!

Kyle makes a video each so much time, but every video he makes is absolutely outstanding and amazing….. I don’t know how to express the way I feel when I see your videos, but i can say that they some what give me that hope you talk about at the end of this video. I am fully aware that changing Night city may be imposible an imposible task, but at least with that hope (that I’m sure not just me but many others of the viewer feel), we can at least try our best into changing something, even if that something is the smallest of things, or something merely within ourselves, It’s something that adds a little bit of fuel to the path the flame of change needs to reach each of our Night city’s and burn it down to its foundations. It doesn’t matter if that path and flame are simply imagination. Thanks for the video Kyle and I will be waiting for the next one.

Holy Crap! The amount of times I got chills in this video Amazing first video of the year.

These essays have so much quality and sincerity. Thank you

This was great, opened my eyes to so many things I never realized/would have thought of

You really never miss. Ever since i've seen your video essay on episode 55 of aot, I've been hooked on your videos.

I've watched the show 5 times and spend waaaay to much time with KZfaq videos about it, yet your video was a very different take & really like it, great work!

This was an amazing video. I've watched other analysis videos of edgerunners, and this is probably the best one I've seen. Thanks for making this video.

Babe wake up, *he* upladed!!!

"Might've been predictable" I wanna know how people predicted the ending.

Wow great video essay, I wish you dropped this before I released my episode on Edgerunners. Great breakdown on rebelling against the system, I didn't quite pick up on this underlying optimism in the series as you did. Great stuff👍🏿

Another awesome video Kyle. It's always a joy to see new one pop up. Hope you have a great 2023 brother. Can't wait for the next one!

to be honest it has to be one of the best and high quality videos ive seen in a longer while

I always wondered in the game why you could literally attack arasaka tower with a body made of arasaka technology. It was bizarre that the most evil group of people in the game wouldn't think to have a way to shut off the implants of anyone attacking them. But maybe they make a profit when someone goes postal with their tech, and so there's no need.

Your videos are a rollercoaster of emotions so deep and understandable it's amazing and I wish I could describe these feelings the way you do in your videos. Keep it up. I love your videos ❤️

i think one of the endings for cyberpunk 2077 is kinda similar to the story of blade runner from roy's perspective, the main character just wants more time to leave and so it turns to the system that created him and his problems in the first place, of course thats just one ending but still i think its interesting

Absolutely amazing video essay! loved it thoroughly

One of the changes I really liked about the 2.0 update was that it effectively made cyberware more essential to survival (essentially as the game scales and on higher difficulties). You can’t just get the best armor to wear and slap some mods on it. To perform at a higher level (more armor, more stealth, more lethality), you need more and better cyberware, which is similar to what the show shows us about Edgerunners. Maine and David kept getting more and more chrome to try and be better. Not to say you can’t run a V with minimum cyberware and beat the game on the highest level, but at that point it’s a question of skill and taking advantage of the game mechanics.

This was an amazing deep dive. Thank you for making this.

Wow, that hit right in the feels. Keep up the great work man

Just halfway through and wow you may be the most underrated channel I’ve ever come across

This was so good!!! Thanks for the banger Kyle.

What an incredible video man wow. ALL of your vids are this good and it's crazy.

adam smasher definitely is a cyberpsycho, he only works for arasaka because they find him more “fun” people to kill, but his whole motivation is killing. he’s a weird exception as in he’s not going on random street massacres but that doesn’t make him sane

Awesome video essay, and your voice is one of the most pleasant to listen to out of the (many) essayists I follow!

This was phenomenal! Well put.

32:32 I was so sure you were gonna say never fade away an iconic song for the videogame... Lol great work Im looking forward to more

goddamn this video is amazing. you legit got me emotional at the end. Bravo

I go to this vid every month and am amazed ever time

William Gibson (Neuromancer) summarized what cyberpunk truly boils down to. High-tech/low-life

The subscription based cyberware is in the game. A couple of cyberpsycho's are that way because they could keep up with the subscriptions

Oh man something about the music and the ending about had me in tears and i dont know why haha well done sir well done

Amazing work as always mr robes.

What a great video! Love it so much.

This was a great breakdown. Thanks for the video

This is actually amazing. Cyberpunk is just the amalgamation of all of our fears.

Please play cyberpunk, the 2.0 update is awesome!

What an interesting take! 👏 Good analysis.

15:40 There's a phrase in 2077 that commonly occurs.. "the city always wins".

how you have so few subs is utterly baffling to me, when i was watchinv this vid while i ate, the quality made me think "this dude's got a few hundered thousand subs for sure" keep up the brilliant work!!!

Just came across your page and really enjoyed your video. I can be pretty ignorant to overarching themes so your breakdown really makes me feel more at peace with how the show ended.

I absolutely love Cyberpunk, but I also hate it so goddamn much. It shows you the tragedies one kid goes through then watch him reach the top... only to be dragged back down in the most heart wrenching way possible. Even listening to its iconic song makes me cry every single time because I think of the good pure moments of a young kid trying to make the world better, to a moment of sorrow, love, and remembrance. Cyberpunk is honestly perfect with an ending that is both infuriating, yet tearfully beautiful and perfect.

Trust Kyle to completely change the way I view a series with an absolute banger video. A few times in one video no less. Now i gotta rewatch Blade Runner....again.

When the video mentions that Corps want all the power, I remembered a line from the game where Panam is helping V take down the AV with Anders Hellman in it. When V asks Panam about a Power Station, which the AV will fly over, they say “Who owns the Power Station? Gov or Corp?” Panam responds “What’s the difference?” That means that Government Power is been given to Corps in NC so what the video says is true about that.

although smasher will work for arasaka, it seems as though he doesnt care too much about them, i.e. ignoring V and jackie when yorinobu and saburo speak alone in a room, with both being unarmed except for a knife that saburo, a 150 year old man, has in his waistband, he also was working for yorinobu, a man who at that point in the story was actively destroying arasakas future by selling the prototype relic to militech. i havent played the tabletop so i could be entirely wrong

They should make a non Canon 2nd season and let Lucy and David have a happy ending

Very well made video loved everything about it greatly 😊

Bro ur really good at this. Keep it up!

HOW IS EVERY VIDEO OF YOUR CHANNEL THIS GOOD

Hey man, I just wanted to say that having recently finished the show and been pretty underwhelmed with the writing, I have been scanning through others thoughts to try and understand what folks are getting out of it aside from it's obvious aesthetic accomplishments. This is an incredibly well produced and thoughtful look at why you found the show meaningful, and has given some real texture to my thoughts about it - something I found sorely lacking in all the other videos I scanned through. I still don't think the show succeeded in delivering on the reading you take from it, I think it commits too hard to creating a tragedy which it then awkwardly subverts in the last couple episodes, but thinking about it through the lens you develop here has been a real pleasure. Also just like, great production quality here, excellently done. Thanks for making this thing.

13:30 I actually remember something like this being mentioned in 2077. V examines a corpse during, I think, a cyber psycho mission and mentions someone’s “heart valve implant expiring”

You're amazing Mr.Robes

I get really happy whenever someone mentions mr robot, i really like your vids and it would be really sick if you made one on mr robot

Very interesting to watch, thank you!

Proly the most underrated video on cyberpunk on KZfaq

Simply Brilliant!

in the cyberpunk red tabletop game you can get access to sort of subscription cyberware, like eyes that play an ad every hour or you cam get cyberware by selling yourself out to corps or having a logo printed on your arms

Absolutely fantastic.

Wake up babe, new Kyle Robes video

A few things you didn't mention 1 cyberpunk was an 80s tabletop game 2 bladerunner is a adaptation of do Androids dream of electric sheep from 1968

Brilliant work you did here my man!! I’m on the verge of tears! I love this show…and this makes me love it even more! Thank you so much for this!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Cyberpunk edgerunner an atomic bomb ❗️ Cyberpunk Edgerunner inspired by the Cyberpunk 2077 games, a universe also inspired by Ghost in the shell or Blade Runner of companies working on implants intended for the army to be faster stronger. David the circumstances the death of his mother finds an implant which is grafted in the back. After some hesitation, he grafts the implant that will make him faster. The meeting with Lucie will change her life and meet the Edgerunners, a gang that works to eliminate for sponsors. A world that put implants is daily but at a cost. David will go all the way as his mentor having extraordinary capacities to support these grafts they will be noticed and will have to be forced to graft an armor. Lucie's dream go to the moon to contemplate the earth with David... Cyberpunk Edgerunners must see urgently.

32:32 Oh come on you missed an opportunity there x) "The hope will never Fade Away" would have been a sweet reference to CP2077 x')

The cyberpunk genre's inherent nihilism is honestly why I'm kinda mad Marvel never capitalized on the cult following of Spider-Man 2099 and try to turn him into a mainstream icon. What happens when you have the nihilistic setting of a cyberpunk dystopia where the corporation controls all, and pair it with Spider-Man, a character with the main gimmick being that he always gets back up, no matter the odds? It would be a very interesting deconstruction of the cyberpunk genre. It's a mix of idea that basically writes itself. Just like how Black Panther represents the fantasy of an African nation untouched by colonialism, or Captain America represents the American values in its purest, untainted form, I feel like Miguel O'Hara, Spider-Man 2099, represents the hope for change you mentioned at the end of this video.

I really wish these types of superb videos would get more attention for the analysis and the messages being analyzed.

There's an often paraphrased quote about science fiction but I don't know the original one or who said it first but it goes something like 'Science Fiction often doesn't really explore the future, it explores the current, our current fears and hopes and then extrapolates those various outcomes and themes...' (but probably put a lot more succinctly, eloquently, and thoughfuly by a much better and smarter writer than me, lol). Great video essay! Loved edge runners! Been a fan of cyber punk since my teens in the 80's!

Brilliant video!!!

nah, knowing Night City and Arasaka, they wouldn't let David go. He's Adam Smasher 2.0 afterall. I mean, not everyday Adam Smasher can get impressed by someone (last one he was impressed by was Morgan Blackhand).

You never fail to impress Kyle. I begin to know you since your mob psycho video and I have to say your these video essays you make are just on another level. This one makes me wonder if you would be interested in talking about another game based on cyberpunk world setting, Detroit become human, where I think holds interesting debates of what is the self,existence, and the differences between human and androids.

Nice to Someone Actually Mentioned Kiwi 🥝 Outside of being the Girl That...... .... ... ... Betrayed The Gang to GUStavo Faraday

🎵I really wanna stay at your house🎵

I am cyberpunk fanboy until the very end and this shit made me feel things I didn't want to

He's back!!!!

Great video!