A bunch of cyberpunk games from my steam wishlist are on sale, not sure which one(s) I'll get though. Here are some I'm considering:
Ghostrunner 2 (30% off - $28) -- I played the first Ghostrunner and enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if 30% is enough of a discount for me. $28 is outside my "impulse buy" zone. The first Ghostrunner is only $9 at 70% off though and that's definitely worth it if you've never played it.
RoboCop: Rogue City (30% off - $35) -- Even further outside my "impulse buy" zone. But it's got Overwhelmingly Positive reviews and is made by the same group that made Terminator: Resistance, which I loved. Also, Terminator: Resistance is $16 at 60% off if you've never played it.
Sanabi (20% off - $12) -- Now we're getting to prices I'm willing to spend just to try it out. It's a 2d platformer with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews and recently exited Early Access. Could be fun.
SlavicPunk: Oldtimer (60% off - $10) -- Yes, it has Mixed reviews, and yes there are only 100 reviews. But it looks just like The Ascent, and I loved that one. Also, The Ascent is $9 at 70% off.
Turbo Overkill (30% off - $17.50) -- A fast-paced boomer shooter. I'm not yet sold on boomer shooters as a genre, but this one has Overwhelmingly Positive reviews so they must be doing something right. There's another faced-paced FPS called Sprawl which is $7.50 at 50% off but that one looks more "industrial" than "cyberpunk" to me so I'm less tempted.
Gamedec (60% off - $12) -- You play a detective in a cyberpunk world solving cases in VR. Not sure about this one but it looks intriguing.
Ok, those are all the ones I'm personally tempted by. I'll toss out a couple more that are good deals and I recommend if you've never played them:
Ruiner (80% off - $4) -- A twin-stick shooter that's really fun. It's $4, give it a try.
Dex (81% off - $4) -- A 2d side-scroller cyberpunk RPG. The combat is really clunky but the world-building and quests are fun. Again, it's $4, try it.
Observer (60% off - $12) -- You play a detective (voiced by Rutger Hauer) investigating a crime in a cyberpunk apartment complex. This is more of a "walking simulator" in that it's first-person with no combat whatsoever, but it's really well-made.
Mirror's Edge: Catalyst (90% off - $2) -- The first Mirror's Edge was too rough around the edges for me. Or maybe I just sucked at it, that's entirely possible. But this sequel/reboot is fantastic. You don't have to know anything about Mirror's Edge 1 to play this game, and this one is much better. It's a "daytime" cyberpunk where everything is bright and shiny but every single aspect of the world fits a cyberpunk description. The only downside is it goes through the EA launcher. But for $2, maybe the EA launcher won't annoy you.
Remember Me (80% off - $6) -- Another "daytime" cyberpunk, this one takes place in a futuristic Paris. The combat is a bit repetitive in this game but the visuals are fantastic.
I agree, the forced combat parts in Catalyst are the worst parts of the game. The final boss wasn't too bad for me but there was one part where you were forced to fight ~30 enemies and that was awful. Glad it only happened once.
I guess for me, in the original I'd always miss a jump or run into a wall and then I'd have no momentum to do any other moves. So I was constantly slowly climbing ladders or walking up stairs. I think Catalyst was more forgiving because I was actually able to chain moves together and build real momentum. That made the game much more fun.