Cyberpunk is in fashion: you can’t throw a rock without hitting a TV show, game, or movie containing a grimy cityscape full of dazzling neon signs, steam-filled vents, video ads featuring Geisha girls, and the all-pervading stench of hypercapitalism. Blade Runner has a lot to answer for. But, perhaps as a result of disappointing Cyberpunk 2077, that wave may now be receding.
But, though the aesthetic is now a little played out, it’s rare to see it executed as well as in The Ascent.