Enlighten me.The payoff or realization isn't missing. You dismissed it because you don't like it. Which is just a point of different strokes for different folks.
The entire nature of Nightcity is summarized by the whole "most legends of Nightcity are all dead". The survival story arc is a surface level, reductive understanding of the story. V saving themselves can encompass elements that are conceptual to the human self: principles, morals, humanity, etc.
The endings aren't even cemented in their conclusions - but it's completely valid to think that you die anyways. Albeit it's weird to think that considering that against all odds you turned two weeks to live into six months to live. The only thing stopping the player here is a lack of imagination.
That's funny, because it didn't stop me from playing the game or starting more playthroughs.
Honest question, since you've said it a million times before that you refunded this game. Did you do it after or before beating the game? This is important, because If the core gameplay loop (you know the main reason for playing most games) isn't inviting enough, then a happy ending to a story (which you dislike top to bottom), isn't going to really redeem it for you.
Where is the payoff?