Let me tell you, as someone who’s spent more time in digital cities than my own apartment, the moment I first saw Starfield’s Neon, I had a serious case of déjà vu. My brain immediately flashed back to those endless, rain-slicked nights in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City. It’s wild how, years after both games launched, we’re still dissecting their iconic digital metropolises. Bethesda went for a galaxy of possibilities, but they couldn’t resist giving us a juicy, compact slice of pure cyberpunk pie nestled on Volii Alpha. It’s like they looked at CD Projekt Red’s sprawling masterpiece and said, "We’ll take one of those, but make it a space station."
The backstory of Neon is honestly one of my favorite bits of world-building. This place didn't start as a tech hub; it began with fish! 🐟 Specifically, the chasmbass. From a humble fishing outpost to the glittering, dubious jewel of the Settled Systems—that’s one heck of a glow-up. The secret sauce? Aurora, that mind-bending drug distilled from the local wildlife. Neon’s big brain move was monopolizing Aurora production, making it illegal everywhere else. Overnight, they became the galaxy’s sole pharmacy for legalized trouble, funding their entire neon-drenched existence. Talk about a profitable niche market!
Now, let’s talk aesthetics. The name "Neon" is about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but hey, it delivers. The city is a love letter to every cyberpunk visual trope we adore:
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Towering megastructures that blot out any natural sky
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Endless, glowing advertisements in languages I can’t read
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A permanent, moody haze punctuated by... actual lightning?
Ah yes, the weather! Volii Alpha’s constant lightning storms aren’t just for ambiance. Some clever folks at the Generdyne Corporation saw a business opportunity and draped the entire city in a "Conduction Grid"—lovingly called "The Span." They literally harvest lightning to power the party. It’s a brilliantly unique feature that gives Neon a distinct technological edge and a killer backdrop for selfies.
But a cyberpunk city is nothing without its shadowy overlords. Here’s where the comparison gets spicy. Both Neon and Night City bow deeply to powerful, Japanese-styled mega-corps. In Neon, you have the sleek and sinister Ryujin Industries. Over in Night City, it’s the legendary (and terrifying) Arasaka Corporation. Their playbooks are eerily similar:
| Trait | Ryujin Industries (Starfield) | Arasaka Corp (Cyberpunk 2077) |
|---|---|---|
| HQ | Ryujin Tower | Arasaka Tower (obviously) |
| Methods | Corporate espionage, private assassins | Corporate espionage, private death squads |
| Player Role | Getting entangled in their conspiracies | Getting crushed by their conspiracies |
Playing through their questlines, I felt the same mix of paranoia and power. One moment you’re in a pristine office, the next you’re hacking a terminal or dodging corporate hitmen in a grimy alley. The vibe is immaculate.
Of course, the corporate elite are only half the story. Down in the gutters, life is a different game. Both cities are brutally divided by class and district. The well-heeled executives plot in their sky-high penthouses, while everyone else scrambles for the scraps. Gangs, fixers, and hustlers clash with the corps and each other in a never-ending war for a sliver of control. Walking through Neon’s Ebbside or Night City’s Pacifica, the atmosphere is thick with desperation and danger. It’s where the real, messy soul of these cities lives.
So, is Neon just a mini-Night City? In 2026, with the benefit of hindsight, I’d say it’s more like a passionate homage. Night City is a vast, living, breathing (and sometimes buggy) organism—a full-course meal. Neon is its concentrated, space-faring essence—a potent shot of the same genre flavor. It proves you don’t need an entire planet to capture that iconic cyberpunk feeling of awe, inequality, and neon-soaked melancholy. They’re two sides of the same credit chip, highlighting just how enduring and compelling this dystopian urban fantasy remains for us gamers. One’s a relentless Earthbound beast; the other is its flashy, drug-peddling cousin from the stars. And honestly? I love visiting both.