Platonic relationships with love interests

+

Who is the best non-romance friendship?

  • Panam

    Votes: 17 38.6%
  • Judy

    Votes: 11 25.0%
  • River

    Votes: 6 13.6%
  • Kerry

    Votes: 10 22.7%

  • Total voters
    44
One of the things about Cyberpunk 2077 is that it has a decent number of love interests but very little crossover (there's no bisexual love interests for example) and they never really meat. However, one interesting thing is that you can still develop very deep relationships with the love interests as friends. My deepest relationship in the game, for example, was my Straight Male V with Judy the Lesbian Hacker.

It was interesting the way their story developed because their friendship felt really true and strong. My V had a crush on Evelyn and the two of them bonded over the attempt to save her that failed miserably. Then he was there for her during the whole attempt at Clouds (I was trying to play my V as basically Dwight from Sin City--friend of the Mox) and there was a good moment when Maiko said that V and Judy were clearly hooking up. I imagine the same dialogue is for female V but it was laughable that her ex assumed it with the two. I felt it was all the stronger for the fact that Judy and they bonded and I never took any flirtatious dialogue with her.

Similarly, I actually think V and River had some good "bro" energy even though he does come off as flirty at times. V doesn't have any family left in Night City so helping River rescue his nephew is kind of feeding off the energy of Jackie/Mama Welles. I also felt that the fact V is a street merc and assassin while RIver is a cop is something that nicely dovetails into that "buddty cop" thing even with the, "So, River, do you want me to kill this guy in the hospital?" Which I fully expected to end horribly but was still a great moment.

Panam, well, I did romance.

Kerry? I actually tried to RPG it more as an inter-generational friendship but employee/employer too. V gets to play with Kerry's band but when Kerry is hiring V to blow up musical instruments and assassinate Us Cracks, I'm thinking, "I am being paid to do this and my client is a lunatic." It added an interesting dynamic to it even as poor Kerry uses V as a Johnny substitute in more ways than one since Johnny was an Edgerunner as well as Rockerboy while alive.

What was your take on the various relationships with the love interests when they, well, weren't love interests.
 
Good poll and tough. I still think Judy with River as a close second. I play a male V and I thought Judy hit all the marks of being a close and trusted friend, but River was right there too so in my book I'd have to say both. Kerry was OK, but I felt he was more of a me, myself kind of guy, I guess what I'm saying I thought he was a 'user', and I can almost put Panam in the same category.
 
Judy? Absolutely not. As a partner, she's more than ready to ditch V and his problems in the blink of an eye. As a friend, she is probably even worse. She would be the kind of friend who disappear when you need her most. I see her as an attention-seeker type of woman, who always put her personal problems on the forefront, even when it may seem otherwise.

River would be ok i suppose, even if he has this way of being a bro that somehow make it look like he's flirting. That moment on the tower as a male V was... awkward, to say the least...

Kerry would be a great friend to hang around with. It would certainly be entertaining to have him around, so he NEARLY gets my vote...

... But i choose Panam. She is a passionate woman who always put her friends before everything. She is both wife material AND a beautiful person to rely on as a friend.
 
I honestly feel the Judy/V friendship is best if you choose to help Maiko but turn down the money. It's easy to go along with Judy's stupid plan to cross the most powerful gang in the city but V is correct in putting a stop to it. It's one of the subtle choices that has real consequences as Judy realizes that it really was a dumb move to make even if it didn't change much at Clouds (I'd argue that stopping the rapes and snuff film guys are pretty good changes by themselves).

It's V putting their foot down but Judy forgiving them.

As for Panam, I wonder what she comes off like if you aren't romancing her.
 
Panam, no doubt :)
Although Kerry and River are good friends (by the way, it bothers me every time I say "we stay friends" to River), but I leave Night City with Panam without any regret. Knowing that with her, it's "to life, to death" (if that's make sense in english).
My V being Nomad, Panam and V have a lot of things that bring us together... (alone and betrayed in Night City at the start. With Panam, V finds a family, people to count on and the life of Nomad had missed her).

No need to talk about Judy in my case.
 
Last edited:
Male V with Panam romance here so that naturally disqualifies Panam.

I've played through the game three times and Judy is the easy pick. My male V always regards her as a sisterly figure. She lets you crash at her place, twice. The text message exchanges with her is wholesome, especially
the pictures she sends after leaving the city.
The final holo call was also really well done.
 
I can't choose between Judy and Panam, and the only reason why in my eyes these 2 are the best, is because cdpr worked more in V's interactions with this 2 (but I won't go deep into this, cause we alrady have another thread about this issue :p), but I like how they worked in their friendship routes.

So Judy:
- If treated right and if you promise to call and do it, she becomes closer to you and genuinely worries about you.
- She texts you on her own volition to see how you're doing and despite being a repetitive dialogue, she assures you you can call her whenever
- She lets you sleep on her couch when you're not feeling well and makes you breakfast
- She recommends you to the Peralez
- Among her friends in the Mox, Tom and Rox, she calls YOU first when she discovers Ev
- There's an option to steal her van... and she knows it was you, but she only teases you about it instead of getting mad
- Again, among all the people she knew, she calls you to go diving, an special goodbye just for you
- If you choose to do it, she realizes you're checking her out from behind when diving, and she doesn't get mad, she just has a friendly teasing about it if you're a male V. (Even if she was brutally honest and she said "Dude, don't even go there" before).
- She keeps you updated when she leaves the city and can talk to her about what happened after certain main story mission
- If a bad ending is chosen, you can clearly see how much it affected her

And Panam:
- Of course she starts being a bit rude and making assumptions about you cause you happen to work for the woman who's making her life harder on (apparently) purpose, but she starts to warm up to you and confide in you if you show genuine interest in her and her family's well-being.
- Texts V on her own volition and about her family issues. This coming from a hotheaded stubborn kind of person who doesn't like to be seen as vulnerable, so in that context it's a huge deal
- Granted, she calls you to help her out in her family-related issues because she knows you're a professional, but you should also consider she's basically putting the fate of the most important people of her life in your hands, and that means a lot.
- She mentions Jackie's name when they're remembering their fallen friends, showing that she pays attention to what you say and she cares enough to honour your friends as well
- Like it was already mentioned, she puts her legs on you whether you're male or female, something you'd usually only do with very close friends.
- She welcomes you as an Aldecaldo even before it's made official, she basically asks you to join her family and sees sad when you don't seem to be sure
- If you chose to ask for help and that heartbreaking moment with Adam Smasher happens, she lets her suffering for later and she composes herself to keep helping you until the end.

Of course they have flaws. Judy leaves without a word if she feels like you didn't care enough, Panam can get very hotheaded with you, but have you ever met a friend in RL who wasn't flawed? Their behaviours and interactions seem very realistic, and as far as I know these two can be really great friends for V
 
panam's the only one you can have an ending with, even if you're not in relationship. It felt superweird, having the entire clan sacrifice themselves for me after I helped them with some crap for whish I demanded pay though
 
Playing a female V, you can flirt with Panam but you get put in the friend zone. Ultimately I liked being Panam's bff and being part of the Aldecaldos family.. and that leaves space for a relationship with Judy or River (and potentially have a happily ever after).
 
panam's the only one you can have an ending with, even if you're not in relationship. It felt superweird, having the entire clan sacrifice themselves for me after I helped them with some crap for whish I demanded pay though

The Aldecaldo's were screwed before V came along, and still kinda were when V was done. It is directly mentioned in the ending that they
managed to steal technology from Arasaka that will sustain the family for ages. "worth millions" if I remember correctly. It was one of the reasons Saul agreed to it.

They not only sacrificed themselves for you, but also for the family.. and V is a part of that family. It makes sense.

Although I do *wish you could've done DFTR and the nomad ending. But I suppose a true "happy ending" wouldn't be in the spirit of cyberpunk.
 
Last edited:
I romanced Kerry so no idea there...
There is not enough River content for male V and him to really develop a deep friendship, but it does have potential.
Judy is problematic, since she has so many problems she has to work through on her own, I don't really see how V could play an integral role in that, although I sure wish I could have helped her more.
I don't like Panam. She might be prepared to sacrifice a lot to help her friends and would never abandon them, but at the same time her decisions are really stupid and reckless and I found myself disagreeing with her most of the time.

I think the closest freindships V really can develop in the game at the moment are with Vic, Johnny and maybe Misty and this is kinda sad...
 
IMHO, Judy is the best as you can see) I haven't regret any second playing her storyline. Beauty is in eye of the beholder but it was so interesting to open Judy — this mysterious, closed person who turns out to be a pretty fragile organism that also as everyone in this world needs some support from outside, and the way of "deploying" her is very interesting.

So I am waiting for the patch that will fix my problem and then I know what to do thanks to @LeKill3rFou to finish the game with Panam, and with closest way with Judy)
 
Last edited:
Romance in video games never has the payoff that I think it needs to be viable. Having all the extra dialogue & scenes to make it seem like more than an infatuation is expensive and time-consuming.

I could easily see being best buds with Vic. Vic - the only person in Night City who's really got his act together. Always wants to help - feels horrible when he can't help, makes very few demands. Jackie is really not a good fit for me. River is okay, Kerry - well I really don't know.

I tried the Judy romance - just to see what the writing was like - wouldn't do it again.

Tried the Panam romance for the same reason - won't do that again either. No interest in even trying River or Kerry. V's got no business starting a romantic relationship with anyone. She knows she'd dying and she's got - according to Vic - weeks to live. Getting romantically involved is just a recipe for more pain - pain that can easily be avoided.

Now, if an expansion shows up that gives V a chance (secret ending) - and you got a chance to rekindle the budding romance after you return from the Secret Mission - fine. But aside from experimenting with the game to see what the writers did - It's not how I would act if I were V.
 
With Kerry, no because his missions made V feel like a tag along muppet helping the famous rocker. Very entertaining though. Especially the concert part. But the whole get on a boat and sit down while I play guitar, take this picture for me thing was a little too sheepish from a writing standpoint for V. At least the way I played V for the most part.

River felt like a he was becoming a good friend, I enjoyed the partnership and the missions. I didn't feel like I was along for the ride, it actually felt involved. I was absolutely not trying to romance him so sitting next to each other by the tower was weird vibes, but he's a bro, even if he is a cop, he's a good one.

I did romance Panam, and those missions are so fun and chaotic. I find it interesting that more than once V is able to mention to Panam that he's just helping for the money, but on Kerry's missions V goes along to get along.

Judy? I honestly don't remember her story apart from the Evelin Parker stuff and killing that Clouds guy. There could have been more Mox gang drama and politics because that's the most interesting part for me.
 
Top Bottom