Cyberpunk RED: The SECRET UNIFICATION WAR & President Elizabeth Kress (Game Theory + Lore—RE-EDIT)
Cyberpunk RED is supposed to be the bridge between Cyberpunk 2077 and the original Cyberpunk tabletop franchise. In Cyberpunk 2077, Rosalind Myers is supposed to be the president of the “New United States.” But in Phantom Liberty, Myers mentions the previous NUSA president, Elizabeth Kress. And Elizabeth Kress is a character that’s been referenced as the American president in Cyberpunk going back to the 1990s. She’s actually been in the franchise ever since Cyberpunk 2020—but she usually just had almost nothing to do with the actual stories or the metaplot overall. But now in Cyberpunk RED, they’ve started featuring Kress in their lore and in the backstory behind RED far more than they ever did before. But what’s interesting is that THE WAY they’ve done this actually puts her right in the middle of the story for the Unification War that’s supposed to come later for Cyberpunk 2077. And looking at some of the things they’ve written in Cyberpunk RED, I’ve always thought this entire civil war between the NUS government and the Free States COULD have actually started with Kress DURING the 2040s in RED. I’ve always thought Elizabeth Kress MIGHT have actually been waging her own “secret war” against all the different Free States all on her own before Rosalind Myers was ever even elected.
Even if you only know Cyberpunk 2077—or Cyberpunk Edgerunners—you probably know 77 was based on a tabletop roleplaying series that created the actual setting that they’re using now for the video game. But from the tabletop game to the video game to the anime, one of the most interesting stories in the lore is the story of the conflict between the separatist states and the NUS federal government. It’s something Cyberpunk RED has gone out of its way to amp up—and it’s something that Cyberpunk 2077 uses to launch off its new conflict between Arasaka and Militech. But there’s something very specific in the Cyberpunk RED character creation that stands out more in terms of lore than anything else. Something that’s always given me an idea for a Cyberpunk story or a Cyberpunk RED tabletop campaign that I’ve always thought would tie well into what comes next in the 2070s with the Unification War.
**Apologies for the reupload. I screwed up the ending in Adobe Premiere the first time. But more importantly, I wanted to test my analytics and try my luck with the algorithm one more time on a Monday with my alternate title. Since I now have something approximating a real YouTube channel, I actually have an excuse to want to try and fish for as many views as I can possibly get. Big thanks to all the people who liked and watched the first draft. This and a bunch of videos would have been done a lot earlier, but something came up and I've been out of the country for nearly a month. Apologies also for the way the video sounds in some places. I kind of rushed the recording of this and when I listened to it in Premiere, it sounded so incredibly stiff and monotone that I had to speed up/slow down some of the video and tweak the pitch to make it sound more natural.**
Also, as you can see, I've started trying to do video essays. Sometimes. I'd love to hear what you think. I'd appreciate any feedback I can get:
Playlist - Video Game Theories: • Game Theory
CP2077 Theory: Could This Be (ANOTHER) Reason Why V Never Develops Cyberpsychosis: • Cyberpunk 2077: Is THIS (Another Reason) W...
CP2077 Theory: Could This Be ANOTHER Cure to Save V's Life: • Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty—Could This...
CP2077 Theory - What is Going on Down in Mexico: • CYBERPUNK 2077: What is Going on Down in M...
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - The Continuity Between Cyberpunk RED & Cyberpunk 2077
03:53 - President Elizabeth Kress
06:24 - The Free States vs. the NUSA (Lore)
09:19 - President Kress vs. The Free States
14:14 - “Join the (Covert) Military”—Cyberpunk RED
17:10 - Elizabeth Kress, Arasaka, and the Unification War
21:51 - Rising Tensions in Cyberpunk RED
25:08 - Final Thoughts
#CyberpunkRED #Cyberpunk2077 #Cyberpunk2020 #Cyberpunk2013 #CyberpunkLore #Cyberpunk2077Lore