10000 of them are me, so....18000+ posts? Cra-zy!
It’s understandable lol I am also a sucker for a happy ending so I don’t blame you.
I’m mostly just saying people jump in and say “actually it’s great they end like this, Cyberpunk is horrible and protags die and everyone is sad, the end.” But Star ending doesn’t feel like that at all, barring the 6 month sentence there are two flavors of V that get as near to a fairytale ending as I’ve ever seen in a dystopian piece of media. If that was actually the goal, I’d expect endings like Sun/Devil and Star is out of place.
Star- cough a little and then go for a drive, cuddle Panam (platonically or romantically) and look at stars, all voicemails (barring certain love interests) are excited for you and things are looking up, tarot couldn’t be more optimistic
Sun- all alone, argue with whoever is with you (break up in some, not in others, but the arguing is there no matter what) prepare for a space mission all by yourself and fade to black drifting off, voicemails are all bleak or mediocre and your friends miss you, tarot “you’ll be remembered” or something
Devil- space lockdown, scream in pain that pieces of you are missing, that stupid cube, look at earth and fade to black leaving the station, tarot is the spiritual equivalent of spitting in your face, I’m surprised the credits don’t roll and call you an irredeemable monster for picking it.
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What cost or sacrifice do you think would work? The only one I can think of that would be somewhat equal for all V's would be tying yourself to a corpo leash in order to live, kind of like Rogue did. But then again it's just my hope that it would be equal.
I wrote a 40,000 word fanfic expanding on this if you want to explore my theories, it's in my sig. It's Star specific though.
No idea how you'd do it for the other endings.
The Devil ending is downright venomous in how badly the writers clearly did not want you to pick it.
I’m definitely not defending the endings, don’t get me wrong. They ruined the game for me entirely, honestly. I tried going back for a second playthrough and I just can’t. I’m mostly just trying to understand how someone can say all the endings fit the tone of a horrible Cyberpunk world when one of them is just massively different in tone. They’re all “bittersweet” but compared to Sun/Devil the Star ending is about as bitter as water with a splash of lemon.
This of course will never happen but when you have a bonding moment with Johnny at his grave and he ask you what should you write on his grave, if feels like there should be a moment close to the end where V has to give some kind of answer about himself/herself. And maybe the outcome of what you say "legend of night city, true friend etc" will effect your ending path.
I think that would be much simplier and subtle way about telling what your principles are that what we have right now.
Anyway, too late for that...
I think that would be much simplier and subtle way about telling what your principles are that what we have right now.
Anyway, too late for that...
I said this more than once, but i feel for you! I know star suits me well except of that scene before the credits which I would love to have with Judy instead, but you should have something as good as this for you and River.
I find it more fair than the star/sun to be honest...
Also to a RP point of view Takemura will treat you like a friend (he is very considerate and appreciative towards V) so if you considered as such the whole thematic of "choosing what's matter" really fall apart.
Also leaving the space facility and suggesting Goro to try follow your exaple of freedom, facing death rather than be turned as a Engram, is really dignifying toward the player.
At a bird's eye view I do think the Devil is actually ultimately fine for V, and Takemura is one good thing about it. But the actual epilogue is just almost comical in its misery. You find out Yorinobu is actually a secret good guy and are tasked to take him down, Arasaka is somehow revealed to be EVEN MORE evil than in the endings where you take them down, V's "recovery" is horrific, you still get an expiration date, and the epilogue doesn't really feature any of the other characters outside of largely berating voice mails.
Are you referring to any ending where you do not side with Arasaka? I ask because in the Sun I don't think Tak was betrayed at all.
I'd point out Tak was a glorified lap dog. His character was interesting but it's difficult to view him any other way. It's not really his fault either. He was plucked up by Arasaka in his younger years and conditioned into being a fanatic for them (unless my recollection is off). Blindly serving Saburo didn't help matters any. This is how I viewed his character.
If you pursue Hellman or the fate of Evelyn more light is shed on V's predicament but both result in dead ends. The only remaining option is Hanako. The only way the game lets you get there is through Takemura. Once you finally meet up with her and progress to the point of no return more options are available. Suicide at the very least. Various others depending on completed side-content. In other words, it could be argued V assists Takemura because it's the only option at the time.
This is how my V approached the circumstances. My V doesn't trust Takemura. She (in this case), doesn't necessarily hate him either. Sadly, there are no options available beyond teaming up with him. Thus, my V decides to do so and tries to keep interactions amicable. However, my V never intended to commit to his plan. My V never explicitly declared they would side with Arasaka. At most they said they would hear out their proposal. Although, there really is no way out of it. So whether it's a real choice or not is open for debate. Regardless, this is how I RP'd it in my head.
Once the point of no return is reached, after hearing out Hanako, more options were available. In my case all of them. Well, except for the "secret" ending since I handled like one response in dialogue with Johnny the "wrong" way (60% is not 70%, sad face). Upon reviewing those options my V decided the Arasaka plan wasn't the best path to a solution.
I wouldn't consider this a betrayal. My V didn't sign the dotted line and disregard the contract. My V said they would consider signing the dotted line. Then, when push comes to shove, they said no.
On the other hand, Takemura probably did see it as a betrayal. He was, as noted, a fanatic. An honorable fanatic but a fanatic nonetheless. Since my V did not go with his plan, and Hanako's proposal, he threw a fit during the credits and tossed some nasty language into the mix.
Saving him or not has very little bearing on the above. Again, my V didn't hate the man. She understood his motives and filled in blanks to explain them. As misguided as he was it wasn't his fault and he did not deserve to die for it. Furthermore, it's possible keeping him alive would smooth things over with Arasaka if that path was selected after evaluating the options. Barring that he might prove helpful in some other capacity. There are a lot of reasons you would save Tak. Many of those would do not indicate you were on team Arasaka.
In short, it's not really fair to say ignoring the Arasaka proposal is a betrayal. Not universally. It depends on how you approach the situation and the perspectives. Tak sees it as a betrayal because he's Tak. It doesn't mean he's right.
You may have an argument in other endings if Hanako kicks the bucket. Even there I'd say it's less about whether Tak was definitively betrayed and more a matter of perspectives. Especially because Takemura clearly had a hard-on for Hanako. I can't recall if the game even clues you in on the results of the rooftop decision in the moment either. As discussed earlier, it does poor job of it in various other areas (can't predict results without relying on hindsight).
I think the story was rewritten for Keanu Reeves and give him a lot of screen time!
With background information about Yorinobu, the hole story makes no sense!
Because he is the Japanese copy of Johnny Silverhand, he hates arasaka and corpos!
He was an rocker and the gang leader of the steel Dragons and member of the Iron Lotus.
He steals the Relic with Silverhand Engram in Tokyo and went to NC.
Why he is at Konpeki Plaza when he made an raid against arasaka?
Saburo just have to snap his fingers to get his Relic back and the evil son on his knees!
Why no one searches for the truth at the crime scene?
Killed by strangulation ohh don't look at his throat he was clearly poisoned!
When he can do it this style because he's number two of arasaka why he killed Saburo not earlier?
Senseless story!
Takemura searches for the truth, he get the info about V, Jackie und Dex out of wells bad Relic copy you meet at the end at mikoshi.
Just the needed Infos extracted from a dead body.
But how takemura gets the infos when Jackie is brought to his family?
At least takemura knows that V is only a thief and a witness of the homicide.
And why some maelstrom smasher terminators wanted to assassinate them both afterwards and not a team of arasaka soldiers?
Senseless story!
Why all quests feel cutted when it gets behind the secret players in the background?
Prophet song or Sweden borg quest ends always the same, Johnny jumps in and says someone just pranked you or its all the evil corpos fault.
It's the same when hanako asks for the soul killer Programm at the embers, Johnny kicks you should not share any info with her.
Why you can't just connect to alt via cyberspace? At the voodoo Boys mission you get a safe direct link from her to contact her. it's never used! Hey alt, can I get the soul killer from you to free Yorinobu from mind Control of this freemason gang with their singlet rings?
By the way it makes no sense that Silverhand is on the Engram. Who needs this narcissistic assholes?
He killed alt at arasaka when he plugged her just out! So why she should wait for him behind the black wall?
In original cyberpunk you can save alt at arasaka when you wait till her mind is back in her body!
So it makes absolutely more sense that on the Engram is Morgan Blackhand, so the sun ending make more sense. The new solo replaces the old one!
But for the real freakshow Silverhand and Blackhand should be on the Engram!
I believe Johnny survived and lived as an Nomad, that's why Saul looks so nearly the same style!
The real leader of the Aldecaldos is Santiago Aldecaldo! Look at the cyberpunk wiki!
So that's why V questions Saul about Santiago... And after the 2013 alt flashback you have the phone number of Santiago in your holo!
By the way the killed women at the shower of the ebunike seems to be Susan Abernathy but why Julys Sea Dragon is near the same place at the ebunike Docks?
Maybe it's her dead body near the Totentanz, she was kidnapped at the docks when you not helped her.
Its like a dead river when you don't help him with the farm!
So now I feel the game was a great mix of GTA and Mass Effect in a cyberpunk world.
But at the end we got the cutted Johnny Rockstar game, with different endings!
Instead of the more linear mass effect end all endings in one complete run where all your decisions you made in the game are counted!
Now you can choose the ending, but truly you get only a party of the original complete run!
That's why the game is totally broken, because of missing content in the database.
They made an rpg but at the and they cutted all out to get a Keanu Reeves movie!
Great movie but it's sad when you feel what once was really inside!
And don't look and search for logical mistakes in the story it can really hook you to the game into the complete cyberpunk universe, you get addicted when you want to find out what feels so wrong with the game!
You don't have to be at 70% to start the secret ending. I made it with 50% talking to Johnny at his grave that he was only a stupid terrorist!
I think it's an bug at 60%
With background information about Yorinobu, the hole story makes no sense!
Because he is the Japanese copy of Johnny Silverhand, he hates arasaka and corpos!
He was an rocker and the gang leader of the steel Dragons and member of the Iron Lotus.
He steals the Relic with Silverhand Engram in Tokyo and went to NC.
Why he is at Konpeki Plaza when he made an raid against arasaka?
Saburo just have to snap his fingers to get his Relic back and the evil son on his knees!
Why no one searches for the truth at the crime scene?
Killed by strangulation ohh don't look at his throat he was clearly poisoned!
When he can do it this style because he's number two of arasaka why he killed Saburo not earlier?
Senseless story!
Takemura searches for the truth, he get the info about V, Jackie und Dex out of wells bad Relic copy you meet at the end at mikoshi.
Just the needed Infos extracted from a dead body.
But how takemura gets the infos when Jackie is brought to his family?
At least takemura knows that V is only a thief and a witness of the homicide.
And why some maelstrom smasher terminators wanted to assassinate them both afterwards and not a team of arasaka soldiers?
Senseless story!
Why all quests feel cutted when it gets behind the secret players in the background?
Prophet song or Sweden borg quest ends always the same, Johnny jumps in and says someone just pranked you or its all the evil corpos fault.
It's the same when hanako asks for the soul killer Programm at the embers, Johnny kicks you should not share any info with her.
Why you can't just connect to alt via cyberspace? At the voodoo Boys mission you get a safe direct link from her to contact her. it's never used! Hey alt, can I get the soul killer from you to free Yorinobu from mind Control of this freemason gang with their singlet rings?
By the way it makes no sense that Silverhand is on the Engram. Who needs this narcissistic assholes?
He killed alt at arasaka when he plugged her just out! So why she should wait for him behind the black wall?
In original cyberpunk you can save alt at arasaka when you wait till her mind is back in her body!
So it makes absolutely more sense that on the Engram is Morgan Blackhand, so the sun ending make more sense. The new solo replaces the old one!
But for the real freakshow Silverhand and Blackhand should be on the Engram!
I believe Johnny survived and lived as an Nomad, that's why Saul looks so nearly the same style!
The real leader of the Aldecaldos is Santiago Aldecaldo! Look at the cyberpunk wiki!
So that's why V questions Saul about Santiago... And after the 2013 alt flashback you have the phone number of Santiago in your holo!
By the way the killed women at the shower of the ebunike seems to be Susan Abernathy but why Julys Sea Dragon is near the same place at the ebunike Docks?
Maybe it's her dead body near the Totentanz, she was kidnapped at the docks when you not helped her.
Its like a dead river when you don't help him with the farm!
So now I feel the game was a great mix of GTA and Mass Effect in a cyberpunk world.
But at the end we got the cutted Johnny Rockstar game, with different endings!
Instead of the more linear mass effect end all endings in one complete run where all your decisions you made in the game are counted!
Now you can choose the ending, but truly you get only a party of the original complete run!
That's why the game is totally broken, because of missing content in the database.
They made an rpg but at the and they cutted all out to get a Keanu Reeves movie!
Great movie but it's sad when you feel what once was really inside!
And don't look and search for logical mistakes in the story it can really hook you to the game into the complete cyberpunk universe, you get addicted when you want to find out what feels so wrong with the game!
You don't have to be at 70% to start the secret ending. I made it with 50% talking to Johnny at his grave that he was only a stupid terrorist!
I think it's an bug at 60%
You're completely erasing the culture context of him being a traditional Japanese samurai figure and instead calling him a fanatic... Idk it's actually a little offensive. But on the other hand, it is obvious that if you decide to just use Takemura, he doesn't figure it out, gets attached and trusts you when he shouldn't... Reading this in any other way is simply incorrect.
Yeah, I remember that a few months ago when River was your main romance you were really mad about the endings like the rest of us. Then you romanced Judy and chose the Star ending and your reaction changed completely. This is not me hating on you or anything like that, I just think that is a perfect exemple of how the experience is different for someone that romanced one of the girls and did the Star ending compared to someone that romanced Kerry or River and did the Sun ending.
Takemura isn't a samurai. He's a bodyguard for Saburo in a dystopian future. How'd he get there? Again, if memory serves he was picked up by Arasaka in his younger years when all hope seemed lost and given purpose.
In your spare time, look up the word fanatic. Here is the merriam-webster version.
Definition of FANATIC
a person exhibiting excessive enthusiasm and intense uncritical devotion toward some controversial matter (as in religion or politics); a person who is extremely enthusiastic about and devoted to some interest or activity… See the full definition
www.merriam-webster.com
Takemura doesn't care what Saburo does or does not do. It doesn't matter if it's good, bad or anywhere between in the eyes of the rest of the world or Takemura himself. He expresses unquestioning loyalty to his master. One could even say he expresses uncritical devotion. I regret to inform you but, uh, it's just a touch fanatical. Pointing it out isn't meant in either a positive or negative context. It's an observation.
I think you're selling Takemura short. He initially thought V was responsible for the death of Saburo. Even after he reasons it isn't this simple it's not as if he suddenly sees V as a trusted ally in his inner circle. He's not that naive. It could easily be argued he was using V just as much as V was using him when they first opt to work together. They both needed each other.
Nothing in the game, in my opinion, deviated from the above. Even if you end up as "friends" I highly doubt Takemura was naive enough to let his guard down in the way you imply. He's not some wounded puppy.
I'd add, consider the stakes for a second. Takemura was hell-bent on destroying Yorinobu for his treachery. He also wanted to set the record straight, repair his honor and get back to the only world he knew. V, on the other hand, is fighting for their life. At the point of no return V has a decision to make. At that very moment, from V's perspective, it's a critical decision. It's not one where you can blindly chase after what Takemura wants.
Come on, you can't actually believe that. The scene where he and Smasher comes back up to find Saburo dead in the penthouse made it so obvious he knew Yorinobu killed his old man. I don't think he even needed to use the scanner in his fancy Arasaka optics in order to deduce that Saburo was strangled, not poisoned.
When he called Yorinobu after getting V out of the landfill and said he found Saburo's killer, he was playing a mind game with Yori, pretending to be loyal in order to find evidence of the truth so he could present it to Arasaka's board and have Yorinobu ousted. His only mistake was thinking Yorinobu wouldn't see through this and send assassins after him.
They are pretending like the extra dialogue in the texts just doesn't exists for some reason.
nah, he was shocked in that moment, and he punches you in the face when he first finds you if you say something. Something changes from him first finding you to the car scene. V doesn't remember/know what it is. Even if he didnt believe poision, your character is still a likely suspect