So let's summarize what we have:
We have a pan-American continent torn by brutal wars that erupt with enviable regularity. Blackwall, demons, the invasion of savage AI into the human world, cyberpsychosis and street crime are all understandable and wonderful, but we should distinguish between local, global and existential threats.
As a playground we have Night City, a city located in a precarious position on the border of Southern and Northern California. It is separated by a concrete wall from the militaristic NUSA, led by a tough, conniving and power-hungry female president, Rosalind Myers. Myers' armament includes the huge military-industrial corporation Militech with invaluable potential and also the most terrifying and powerful intelligence service on the planet, the FIA.
Of course, I can't know the ideas of the
CDPR, nor can I interpret the final message of the game (if there is one at all), but the bottom line might be: beware of the FIA, it is omnipresent and relentless, you can't escape from it, you can't cheat it, it will use you in any case, beware of even the situation when the agency seems to be "on your side" - in fact, it is always only on its side.
Well, great. If all of the above is even partially true, Night City is over in the medium term, as Rosalind Myers is in absolutely no mood to play liberalism and is full of hopes to unite all independent city-states and free states under her ironclad rule. That she spares neither men nor means, and is unscrupulous in her methods of accomplishing her end, was, I think, amply demonstrated in Phantom Liberty. If so, the game's messege is "Enjoy freedom while you have it". Is that what was needed to be proven? That's it?
Well, freedom will be taken away later anyway, or it will die on its own under carpet bombing. Night City awaits war, chaos, mass deaths, recycling in Militech bunkers, labor camps, and much more.
Cyberpunk, dystopia, dark future and lack of hope - it's good of course, it's quite obvious, but I think in the "FIA and NUSA win" scenario Night City itself just doesn't exist. There just isn't any future at all - who wants to play in a concentration camp? )
Okay. The next achievement of Phantom Liberty that I personally find very significant is the idea of self-sacrifice. Where it came from in a game about a dystopian future - I don't know. But it's there. For the first time, for the first time at all, and it's unprecedented, V is asked to sacrifice his own life to save another human being, and by and large, V does. I won't hide, on my first playthrough of Phantom Liberty, I saved Songbird and sent her to the moon. The consequences of that decision are not obvious to me to this day, but I generally have no regrets. Quite an interesting thing: so we can sacrifice ourselves in Cyberpunk from now on? )) That's an absolute novelty.
Well, then I guess we could probably be given a little more choice as to how and to whom we should sacrifice...er... "our bodily and mental health", no? Or was this an exceptional case, and from now on we are obliged to be rational, selfish, and act only for our own good?
The famous scene in Black Sapphire: Three characters in front of V. But only two scenarios?!
1. Hansen is dead, Reed is dead, So Mi is saved.
2- Hansen is dead, So Mi is dead or worse than dead, Reed wins.
3-
Am I the only one who thinks there's a third option missing here? ))
The point is that in the proposed framework, the FIA wins either way, wins in such a way that Hands also makes V do all the dirty work for him, and then V gets "ditched" anyway, no matter what or who he sacrifices - himself, So Mi, Reed, Silverhand, his future.
So the FIA is the strongest. Okay, we get that.
But V is doomed, he's not going to get out of this world alive anyway, right?
So at least give V the opportunity to fully choose who and how to give his life for )))
In all seriousness, Hansen is the most deserving candidate for this.
He and V have one major thing in common - they're both victims. And what's more, if I understand the FIA's intentions correctly, they're also Target.
They're both being hunted. They are both ruthlessly involved in someone else's plans. And they both have the power to fight fate, while So Mi runs and lies, and Reed also lies, but is adrift due to his cowardice.
The Colonel, on the other hand, never runs from a fight, always turns to face mortal danger. So does V.
The second common trait is courage in the face of imminent doom.
Just as Hansen cares about his men, V cares about the people he cares about, he shows this repeatedly throughout the game. So much for another common quality.
What other common qualities need to be cited?
A capacity for compassion? An inner morality? The ability to make tough decisions in difficult situations? The ability to resist outside influences, no matter how strong? Peoples' trust?
When V looks at Hansen, he's looking in the mirror - that's what's most tragic about Phantom Liberty.
If only by virtue of this alone, the Colonel deserves compassion.
The situation in which Hansen remains alive requires, in my opinion, an alternative ending. Even if V is destined to die, he can and should do so honorably - if only out of love for his city, or out of pride - out of unwillingness to succumb to the FIA and Militech. V has a very strong emotional and moral connection to Night City, he wouldn't betray the city. Never. V saves the Colonel's life, saves his dignity, saves his native Night City, Hansen in turn can and must save V from treason, even if not necessarily from death.
The virtual ending that stands before my eyes is an event I would tentatively call "And Justice for All"
All FIA agents must be caught, all of them: Reed, So Mi, Alex and (I really wish!) Hands. Not killed! All of them must be given a fair trial. All of their actions must be given a fair public assessment. And at that trial, the chief prosecutor, or chief witness, as I think is correct, should be Colonel Hansen. He has much to say about the glorious Agency, I'm sure.
The thing is... I don't want to talk about specific turf... I don't want to tie my post to specifics, but you know... Nothing great would have happened on the Pan-American continent without honest soldiers. The colonization of the Wild West, the Indian wars, the Mexican conflicts, the War of Independence, the World Wars...A lot of honest guys died for their ideals. And thus made one country great, you know.
So now what - ordinary soldiers can't even open their mouths? )) They don't even deserve it? Open narrative?
Hansen has to die in silence? He won't say anything before he dies? So the FIA freaks have the rights to shed their crocodile tears for hours at Phantom Liberty, but the soldiers are obligated to die in silence?
And our favorite V will forever be one of those who kills from the shadows - stabbes in the back like Alex? )) Only from behind, only from the shadows, only as a result of a "serious preplanned operation". Is he obliged to be like that?
So such a scenario is envisioned?
While I was playing Cyberpunk, I figured out the "Become a Night City Legend (posthumously)" category. Check.
I figured out the concept of imminent death. Check.
I even unexpectedly discovered the concept of self-sacrifice (That's in Cyberpunk!). Check.
But what about the category of honor?
Do you think our V has honor? Or does he deserve to have one, at least?