New Ending (SPOILER ALERT)

[AlienSpaceBats]

In some ways I quite like the new ending; I guess CDPR doubled down on the at what cost? theme that saturated the vanilla endings. I never wanted sunshine & rainbows, but at the same time disagree with the "it's cyberpunk so it needs a crappy ending" narrative I see parroted everywhere (this has not been the case in most cyberpunk media I've seen/read, from Neuromancer to GitS). I still hoped that somewhere along the line they'd pull a (Fallout 3) Broken Steel. Playing through Phantom Liberty I couldn't help but feel unsatisfied somehow, then I realised: I waited almost three years only to be treated to the same disappointment. It'll be interesting going forward where they intend to take the setting (and what is and isn't canon).
Ho-hum.

 

[Vit_o_matic]

It's bizarre how some people calling the game disappointing, calling devs bad writers and such. It just seems a bit disrespectful.

If you don't like the ending it doesn't mean it's a bad writing, you can dig up the details as much as you want, but in such way we can call most of the games and media overall not completely thought out, just because devs didn't explained all the lore details. This is the story, just accept it. V is done.

Don't get me wrong, I am also not a fan of this NUSA ending, but i am not calling it bad, it's actually a good alternative to what we have in base game. It's the only ending where V lives without Johnny, no more 6 month timer. And ya all still pissed. I get it, it is hard to accept that V is no more badass merc, our friends/LI moved on, but honestly you knew those people just for a couple of weeks, what do you expect from them after disappearing? This is a price V had to pay to live.

I didn't like the ending, didn't like Reed (cool character, just not the type i would follow), went for the team So Mi (no way i am selling bird back to Myers), and just sticked with the fact that V either dies as a legend or gives body to Johnny (i am not considering Arasaka ending at all, f**k them). That is it. Choose your option, or make your own head canon (maybe after Crystal Palace gig we can find a way to fix V?), if you are not satisfied.

This thread reminds me how i was on release of the game, also pissed cause there wasn't explicit "happy" ending. But time passed, i reconsidered what i experience in this game, and accept what it has to offer. You don't like it? Move on, don't claim devs to be bad writers, they are not obliged to satisfy everyone.

A little off-topic: didn't like that when you help So Mi then game is not addressing it in end credits. Yeah, you can have a chat with Alex, get her letter, also you get a small message/reward from Songbird, but i expected a little more interactions with her in case of her trip to the Moon.

And yeah, probably this time we are really done with CP77, so now i am curious how they will play out the sequel, what events will be canon and such

 

[BigWezz69]

It's just more weak endings to add to the collection

As for if the endings are believable, imagine cutting off a friend/loved one who has done a lot for you and helped you out, especially after they disappeared with a terminal illness and then turned up again, and they could really do with your help.... but no, lets cut them off ..

 

[Kormac67]

You can let the president die and get a mini-ending of sorts with Johnny

For real? How?

but no, lets cut them off

If that person is a merc living a risky life you may want to expect him dead an move on with your life.
I found Judy totally understandable.
Panam not so, but hard to say since we just don't get anything from her.
River is desperate himself.
And Kerry is just Kerry.

 

[BigWezz69]

If that person is a merc living a risky life you may want to expect him dead an move on with your life.
I found Judy totally understandable.
Panam not so, but hard to say since we just don't get anything from her.
River is desperate himself.
And Kerry is just Kerry.

There's a difference from moving on and deciding to cut someone off, and V isn't just a merc to those people either.

Plus, V did a lot for those people, and that's the thanks they get .. 10/10 writing

 

[PolarMagic]

You only have two choices:

V dies in 6 months, with his Cyberware

V lives further, without his Cyberware

I don't like the new ending, but it is of course the best ending for V, searching for a way to use Cyberware again without being under extreme time pressure and neural degeneration, is way much easier than trying to find a cure for a terminal illness within merely 6 months.

Reed had it right, its better to get V out of the streets of Night City that killed both Jackie and V.

You have a second chance to live and learn, get it or leave it, its your choice.

 

[CTPhipps]

You only have two choices:

V dies in 6 months, with his Cyberware

V lives further, without his Cyberware

I don't like the new ending, but it is of course the best ending for V, searching for a way to use Cyberware again without being under extreme time pressure and neural degeneration, is way much easier than trying to find a cure for a terminal illness within merely 6 months.

Reed had it right, its better to get V out of the streets of Night City that killed both Jackie and V.

You have a second chance to live and learn, get it or leave it, its your choice.

There's also option three:

Live as an Engram in the Blackwall or serving Arasaka.

 

[ENZLEY]

IIRC there are THOUSANDS of clone bodies in some of those Biotechnica labs that were made specifically for "Soulkiller-esque" situations.

I never understood why this was never considered for any of the endings.

EDIT: and correct me if I am wrong but isn't it rumored that THIS is also where some of the 'Ganic meat in Night City comes from too?

 

[medion_no]

For real? How?


If that person is a merc living a risky life you may want to expect him dead an move on with your life.
I found Judy totally understandable.
Panam not so, but hard to say since we just don't get anything from her.
River is desperate himself.
And Kerry is just Kerry.

Just let Myers die at any moment in the prologue where you have to rescue her from Barguest and escape with the car. Johnny will comment on it and some other stuff. Its an ending tho so the dlc main campaign is closed from now on.

 

[Vixpunk]

If you read any of the little notes and stuff sprinkled across the game you get the idea that there are NO happy endings. Literally every story of "we're just about get out, one more thing" ends tragically. Are you not familiar with cyberpunk? I don't just mean this game, I mean the genre in general. It's almost a rule in cyberpunk that nobody gets a truly happy ending. If that bothers you then you're playing in the wrong sandbox, Baby. This ending is literally better than anything we had business hoping for.

Not the best way to have your post taken seriously. And you're incorrect in that I counted more than a few side-stories that ended either on a positive note or a neutral note.

 

[CTPhipps]

IIRC there are THOUSANDS of clone bodies in some of those Biotechnica labs that were made specifically for "Soulkiller-esque" situations.

I never understood why this was never considered for any of the endings.

EDIT: and correct me if I am wrong but isn't it rumored that THIS is also where some of the 'Ganic meat in Night City comes from too?

Well, that's a thing, Hellman says they flat out didn't know how to bond a Engram to a clone body until V showed them how.

It's why he can't help you. He has no idea what the fuck WORKED about you coming back from the dead.

It's because of V that they figure out how Saburo can come back.

 

[tavellone]

It's bizarre how some people calling the game disappointing, calling devs bad writers and such. It just seems a bit disrespectful.

If you don't like the ending it doesn't mean it's a bad writing, you can dig up the details as much as you want, but in such way we can call most of the games and media overall not completely thought out, just because devs didn't explained all the lore details. This is the story, just accept it. V is done.

Don't get me wrong, I am also not a fan of this NUSA ending, but i am not calling it bad, it's actually a good alternative to what we have in base game. It's the only ending where V lives without Johnny, no more 6 month timer. And ya all still pissed. I get it, it is hard to accept that V is no more badass merc, our friends/LI moved on, but honestly you knew those people just for a couple of weeks, what do you expect from them after disappearing? This is a price V had to pay to live.

I didn't like the ending, didn't like Reed (cool character, just not the type i would follow), went for the team So Mi (no way i am selling bird back to Myers), and just sticked with the fact that V either dies as a legend or gives body to Johnny (i am not considering Arasaka ending at all, f**k them). That is it. Choose your option, or make your own head canon (maybe after Crystal Palace gig we can find a way to fix V?), if you are not satisfied.

This thread reminds me how i was on release of the game, also pissed cause there wasn't explicit "happy" ending. But time passed, i reconsidered what i experience in this game, and accept what it has to offer. You don't like it? Move on, don't claim devs to be bad writers, they are not obliged to satisfy everyone.

A little off-topic: didn't like that when you help So Mi then game is not addressing it in end credits. Yeah, you can have a chat with Alex, get her letter, also you get a small message/reward from Songbird, but i expected a little more interactions with her in case of her trip to the Moon.

And yeah, probably this time we are really done with CP77, so now i am curious how they will play out the sequel, what events will be canon and such

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the ending is not bad because of it being another bittersweet ending, it's because it relies on the premise that V would not bother to actually contact their friends and lover to tell them that he/she is going to have experimental surgery that they have no idea how long it will take to recover. It is out of character for V and is a cheap way to give the ending we get. I can only assume this is done to give V a smooth canon ending without pissing a lot of people off by tying V to a specific gender or love interest, OR they were unwilling to put in the effort to have multiple endings tied to the choices you make in the main game. Whichever way, the writing suffers because of it. The ending itself I would have no problem with if you disregard the rest of the characters V meets or you play V as more of a loner who has no attachments to the people they meet, beyond Vik and Misty.

There are many ways the story could be written to show that V pays a cost for their cure without a complete disregard for the characters involved in their life up until that point. Even if CDPR were adamant that V's chosen lover 'moves on', that could have been done in a much more nuanced way than the sledgehammer approach given by this ending.

 

[PolarMagic]

When I think about it, I actually like that V in this ending is not tied to any love interest, in this way V could be the Protagonist of the new Cyberpunk game, he starts from zero, no Cyberware and no romantic relations, and builds himself gradually, if you notice, at the end of this ending, Victor asked V to give him another chance and try again, I think they may have a plan to continue with V story, This is the best Ending to start a new game IMHO.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

When I think about it, I actually like that V in this ending is not tied to any love interest, in this way V could be the Protagonist of the new Cyberpunk game, he starts from zero, no Cyberware and no romantic relations, and builds himself gradually, if you notice, at the end of this ending, Victor asked V to give him another chance and try again, I think they may have a plan to continue with V story, This is the best Ending to start a new game IMHO.

Um, Kerry and V still stay together. I would prefer it stay that way, as a Kerrymancer. I'm definitely hoping the sequel is a continuation of V's story, as I feel it's not over. You can tie all the endings to one path, or one man(Mr Blue Eyes). Maybe have them all lead to a powerless V at first, but then a phonecall occurs, someone says they can give V back what was taken from them....but only if they cooperate...something to that effect.

 

[tavellone]

When I think about it, I actually like that V in this ending is not tied to any love interest, in this way V could be the Protagonist of the new Cyberpunk game, he starts from zero, no Cyberware and no romantic relations, and builds himself gradually, if you notice, at the end of this ending, Victor asked V to give him another chance and try again, I think they may have a plan to continue with V story, This is the best Ending to start a new game IMHO.

Any new game should not have this character at all and any direct continuation of their story from this, or frankly any ending would be a big flub in my opinion and would frankly be the writing equivalent of teenage fanfiction.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

Any new game should not have this character at all and any direct continuation of their story from this, or frankly any ending would be a big flub in my opinion and would frankly be the writing equivalent of teenage fanfiction.

How so? All the endings were a cliff-hanger of some sort, and in none of them is V dead(suicide acts like a game over so it's not counted IMO). They can be built upon. Many of us are attached to our characters and would like to see them back as the protag. Their story doesn't feel complete.

 

[Kasi1978]

So another sad ending, i guess i will wait till this expansion is available for 5 bucks or below.

I was not really into getting it since it was clear that it would be an insert and not a follow up or at least an insert that had let me play in the time between the prolouge and the mission to rescue Sandra Dorsett. So no problem here, my PL Budget goes to Robocop Rouge City then.

I really don't like Endings that wipe everything i have done and all the time i invest in a game out ind the end and shows a me big waving middlefinger!

 

[BigWezz69]

So another sad ending, i guess i will wait till this expansion is available for 5 bucks or below.

I was not really into getting it since it was clear that it would be an insert and not a follow up or at least an insert that had let me play in the time between the prolouge and the mission to rescue Sandra Dorsett. So no problem here, my PL Budget goes to Robocop Rouge City then.

I really don't like Endings that wipe everything i have done and all the time i invest in a game out ind the end and shows a me big waving middlefinger!

You can probably get it on a key for cheap somewhere.

 

[CTPhipps]

Any new game should not have this character at all and any direct continuation of their story from this, or frankly any ending would be a big flub in my opinion and would frankly be the writing equivalent of teenage fanfiction.

It's based on a roleplaying game made for teenagers.

Which is fine.

Being for kids doesn't mean childish.

 

[westyofoz]

I was excited about a new ending when I first heard about it. With so many bitter sweet endings I expected this one to be a good one, it wasn't. V lives and most of his friends including his nomad brothers turn their back on him... It was disappointing and rather empty. I know its Cyberpunk, but surely CDPR could have thrown us a bone and had at least one happy ending. it reduces my incentive to replay this one and increases my incentive to avoid the next one.