That’s clearly not kitbashing, when you have a car completely backwards and don’t even bother to fix it. Why would the perspective be mostly correct yet be backwards? You’d have to pull from two sources that had a) the exact same art style, b) have the same perspective, yet c) have one of the cars be backward. And finally d) not give a shit about it to correct it.
It’s a little strange that there are such drastic changes in culture and climate in such a small area of land, but I still like that they did it. It’s of course completely a fantasy world so they can do whatever they want, and it’s got ‘video game scale.’ But I think the cultural differentiation helps to make the world feel larger and the different areas feel more distinct.
Your generalizations about US consumers has no basis in reality. You really think people would buy these mass-market products if they weren’t good? Just look at the consumer satisfaction surveys. I’m far from a Tesla fan, but for a long time, there weren’t truly good competitors to Tesla EVs. iphones have always and continue to be some of the most highly rated phones on the market.
And what is wrong with voting with your wallet and choosing not to support the business of a terrible person? That’s about the only power you have as a consumer, so people should exercise that power if they see fit.
I won’t pretend to know how it would have gone either way. Had it actually not happened in the timeline that it did happen, it could have easily been different. The momentum, the media narratives, the quickness with which the Democrats united behind Harris, all of these things caught most everyone by surprise. I could see any of those things being wildly different had Biden chose to step down much earlier. We don’t like to admit it, but irrational, unknowable elements like “vibe” and “timing” have always played a huge role in elections.