Ghosts and mirrors: Devourment by the other in Cyberpunk 2077

Abstract

This article presents an analysis and interpretation of the Cyberpunk 2077 digital game in the perspective of contemporary reflection on cyberpunk as a cultural formation. The main hypothesis is that the game offers a narration that immerses players in the experience of psychosis and the fear of otherness. The article focuses on the phenomenon of psychosis as a dominant element of the game narrative. Methodologically, the text is embedded within hermeneutics positioned at the intersection of literary, philosophical and game studies discourse. Clinical descriptions and psychological works on the phenomenon of psychosis were used to ground this reflection. Critical reading of the narrativized fear of the other in Cyberpunk 2077 shows that the game nostalgically returns to the phobias projected by the cyberpunk cultural formation in the previous century.