The original sin in the main plot is Saburo Arasaka wanting to essentially become immortal. That idea of "beating" death is literally his impulse the game is (in part) critiquing. The idea that when we try to play God and transcend mortality, it all goes awry. I think it's unlikely to be a coincidence that the one ending where V tries to survive at all cost by trusting Arasaka is - I think - by and large considered a less favorable ending for V. Acceptance of mortality is a healthy thing, even in video games. No matter what V does, her body can't live forever.
Making the player deal with that and still choose how to proceed knowing death (in some shape or form) is coming soon - that's very interesting to me. Not something that video games do a lot. Her death doesn't make the things V has done any less impactful. The protagonist doesn't have to survive for there to be meaning in the things they did and the story that's been told.
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It's more than that it's about the themes of the game. Yes it's part that life of an Edgerunner is inherently dangerous. However, more so it's:
(1) Obtaining every material thing you could want (glamour, sex, entertainment, mystery, neon lights, fashion, delicious synthetic food, easy money, adventure, weapons of all types, fame etc) is the allure that draws one into the city;
(2) Night City thrives on making this promise because those in power have realized they can exploit the masses by promising them whatever they want;
(3) So the powerful give the masses this, and in exchange they get a city where it's almost impossible for the most powerful to lose - here those with the power make the rules, a make the rules to benefit those with the power;
(4) One of the few benefits of this unregulated din of appealing to our every whim is that it has become a city of real innovations, meaning lots of progress in the way of cyberware, AI and etc;
(5) However, those enhancements haven't really made anyone's life better, people problems are all still there, and really if Cyberware has done anything, it's just amplified our foibles.
Said by me in another thread long before launch about the themes the game will explore:
By the time we get to 2077, MegaCorps manage every aspect of life from the top floors of their sky-scraping fortresses. The gangs rule the
rest. The world of Cyberpunk 2077 presents a
grim vision of the future. It's trying to
say something about who has power and who doesn't, and why that is. In the world of Cyberpunk, it's the corporations in charge with everybody else scrounging to get by on the streets. It didn’t just happen overnight. It was the slow corruption of society, and now there’s a system to keep it in place. You have people that believe they should be the people at the top. The structures in place don’t allow true freedom, you’re just a slave of another kind. This world is a shining example of consumerism run rampant.
No matter where you look, you’re pitched a product, an aspiration. Whether you’re riding the metro, brushing your teeth, or pissing in an alleyway, the glitter, vibrant color, and allure of it all sucks you in. Corporations are selling an unattainable dream and the masses are buying into it hook, line, and sinker. If you don’t think you’re one of the people that’s going to wind up on top, there is a seductive energy living on the streets still so rippling with texture and life.
There's also
a cynical take on transhumanism. Technology did not liberate the people of Night City from their flesh, their foibles, or their failings. Tech advancement went hand in hand with the decay of society. Body augmentations invented to serve society simply multiplied the problems, and sometimes lead to mayhem on the streets. New inventions led to addictions, and poverty became an ever growing problem. Drugs, violence, and exclusion haven’t disappeared by 2077, as people stayed as they were for centuries – greedy, closed-minded and weak.
The world is broken. Down here, where the streets are run by the drug-pushing gangs, tech hustlers, and illegal braindance slingers, is where decadence, sex and pop culture mix with violent crime, extreme poverty and the unattainable promise of the American Dream. It's this place were high tech and low life meet, that's the feel of Cyberpunk.
That's not a world where an Edgerunner who crossed a megacorp like Arasaka gets to make it away happily ever after. It's an unattainable promise after all.
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Regardless of V's choices, it definitely has a story to tell. "Star" is realizing that the whole story the corporations are selling about the rat race and "becoming someone" is a lie being fed to the masses to keep the powerful wealthy. It's opting out of the rat race in exchange for a community and contentment. The "glory" ending sees V trying to continue to make it within that world, which shows grit, but seems unlikely to be successful in the long run for much more than raising some hell and making a name for oneself. The "devil" ending sees V trust the corporation - which does have the greatest chance at achieving some semblance of digitized immortality ... but at what cost ethically and metaphysically? The "Temperance" ending is somewhat like "Star," V again realizes that the allure is a lie, but in this one, gives her body to Johnny to do what he would with it and she opts out into Cyberspace with Alt. However that's a lonelier path than the Star by a wide margin.
