[Spoilers?] Rush Johnny Or No?

[pliskards]

I know Phantom Liberty will be changing a lot about the game. However, I doubt it does a ton to impact the Life Path and Act 1 (Prologue) stuff.

I haven't played in almost three years now and I have to ask before Phantom Liberty - what is the best way to experience the most story content? Is it better to rush and get Johnny, then start wandering around? Or is there any exclusive content offered during Act 1 if you clear it all out before getting Johnny?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Not sure that the expansion will have any impact before the expansion quest line start, knowing that SongBird seem to contact V when V's dying, so it's after the Heist, the Relic and Johnny anyway.
Or maybe some "expansion-exclusive" cyberwares, weapons,... But nothing significant/related to story.
But I think you can do Act 1 however you want

 

[pliskards]

Not sure that the expansion will have any impact before the expansion quest line start, knowing that SongBird seem to contact V when V's dying, so it's after the Heist, the Relic and Johnny anyway.
Or maybe some "expansion-exclusive" cyberwares, weapons,... But nothing significant/related to story.
But I think you can do Act 1 however you want

I'm not trying to ask if Phantom Liberty impacts it.

I am saying in the game as it is now - if you go and get Johnny before doing anything else, does he interact with things in the Act 1 area where if you do it without him, you miss his content? Or if you don't have Johnny is there additional content to experience before you get him?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I'm not trying to ask if Phantom Liberty impacts it.

I am saying in the game as it is now - if you go and get Johnny before doing anything else, does he interact with things in the Act 1 area where if you do it without him, you miss his content? Or if you don't have Johnny is there additional content to experience before you get him?

Outside of few dialogue lines here and there, no. Get Johnny in your head or not, doesn't change anything (as far as I remember)
(dialogue lines like during Sacrum Profanum, the monk brothers quest).

 

[Iferrebee]

Try not to invest skill points. I'd go 6 body 6 reflexes since gun skills and health are always important

 

[BabaBooey88]

There are some gigs in Act 1 Johnny pops up in, but his attitude is very odd. He goes from trying to kill you, then NOT trying to kill you (Takemura table talk) to suddenly being your bestie all in the course of a few minutes depending on where you go in Watson. So if you want to be more immersed, and feel like you've made a rep even though the meeting with Dex is foisted on your right away - I recommend clearing most of Watson. Get some good gear, pick up the legendary subdermal armor from the Ripper "Robert" in the Kabuki market then move on with the story.

 

[northwold]

I think rushing to get Johnny was the worst advice I was ever given online. Yes, you get more Keanu Reeves, but, with the exception of the quest involving monks, that doesn't lead to any great additional insight. They're just a few quips and asides.

I played it once by just doing what I'd always do in an RPG -- meandering around and doing a handful of gigs to get the lay of the land and the vibe of the game. And i played it once the "get Keanu fast" way. The first gave me one of the most mesmerising game experiences I've ever had, right the way from Act 1 to the very end of the game. The second felt... Completely flat and uninvolving, like I was a tourist in someone else's story that didn't really have much to do with *me*.

Doing extra gigs during Act 1, exploring, taking your time instead of rushing to the heist, allows you to bed yourself in the world before things really start to happen and, importantly, to make it feel like you have actually spent time with certain characters in your life. Without that, what comes after doesn't have any emotional resonance.

You do miss some content by slowing down Act 1. You lose a bit of Johnny. And you certainly don't *gain* content by spending more time in Act 1. But you gain the proper narrative beats that make the story work. If it's rushed, you break the proper delivery of the story.

Honestly, I think by giving players the freedom to zoom through act 1, and to zoom through the main story, without giving players the option to be signposted to the much fuller experience of the game, CDPR made a major mistake. Players can assume that the fast way is how the game is *supposed* to be experienced (not helped by Vik's unhelpful post-Act 1 lines that suggest an urgency that isn't there), when almost everything that is impressive about Cyberpunk depends on *not* playing it that way.