Should there have been a third act?

[incomingdamage]

But also in story terms, I can't see how Act 1 could have been intended to carry on, instead of being deliberate setup for Act 2. Jackie is a likable but generic character, so is V, and if nothing is at stake except being rich and famous, well, that's not (in my opinion) really a game with a compelling narrative at all. It's more of a random adventures action game. I mean, where are those two characters supposed to go, storywise? They got rich? In story terms, that's surely just a huge shrug. Why would anyone care?

Hm, keeping the story evolving around V and Jackie as mercs does seem possible and we could see a lot of drama, plot twists and some inner conflicts of the characters as well in such a story - it really depends on the talent of the storytellers, and REDs showed us already that they are good in this field. We would probably see all the cyberpunk tropes put into the scenario, maybe a huge focus on the conflict with the corpo world in the main plot; some tough choices for both of V and Jackie along the way; some sacrifices; meeting other people from Night City and badlands with their own dramas; alliances, betrayals; they could both learn during the story that the merc work and going towards the top is paved with much more obstacles and complexities than they initially thought, and that everything comes at a price.

Not sure what the end of the whole tale could be... maybe one of them or some people close to them would have to perish to bring the necessary weight to the story; maybe even an evil choice for V to sacrifice his/her friend Jackie to get to the top, just to realise in the end that it was not worth it. Well, I guess many possibilities for a nice, complex and compelling story. All these philosophical questions that we have right now could be implemented to such story too (again, it depends on the talent of the storywriters).

BUT the story is good as it is right now, mainly because it's unique, with you trying to save your life, and having some opportunities to make the lives of others a bit better before you leave the world. It's also a good nudge for V to reflect on life, identity and values throughout the whole game from their own, personal perspective.

So yeah, I think it IS possible to have a good story without Johnny and rush for cure, but the tale we got is already very good, so no point in changing it in any way. Maybe REDs will provide us with some other approaches to stories in the next Cyberpunk game (if it ever comes).

 

[lyin321]

Maybe REDs will provide us with some other approaches to stories in the next Cyberpunk game (if it ever comes).

Expansions. Sorry to lead the topic a little astray here, but expansion could still give us such other experiences. I am hoping for a nice...'lazy' chapter next (as much as I am ok with the current main quest, I find it too unnecessarily focused) myself.
.....in short, I believe the worst thing you can do is to stop working on a game and just leave it as a failure. (Andromeda, Anthem etc)

 

[Guest 3847602]

I believe the worst thing you can do is to stop working on a game and just leave it as a failure. (Andromeda, Anthem etc)

Well, the thing about those games is that pulling the plug wasn't BioWare's decision. It was EA's. CDPR made Cyberpunk 2077 and they're the ones deciding its future.

 

[incomingdamage]

Sure, some nice story expansions to push us off the "main road" for a while are welcome
I'm rather conviced that RED's aren't going to abandon the game, wouldn't make sense from financial and "creative" point of view. They made a really nice and strong "brand" for CP, they surely know that it would be a waste to just drop it. Things are going a bit slow with the fixes, true, but the patches are coming out and I'm sure they are still planning some sweet stuff in the future for this game.

 

[CTPhipps]

The loss of Multiplayer Cyberpunk 2077 is a big blow to the game's future. At this point, I kind of do think they might just think about Cyberpunk 2080.

"We're not going to fuck it up this time."

 

[Draconifors]

This looks to be really far off-topic. Please fix that.

 

[CTPhipps]

My bad:

I think there's multiiple places you could take a third act assuming that the game is completed the same way as before. You would admittedly lose the endings but we're in hypothetical land anyway.

* Going after Yorinobu/Hanako: Now that you've successfully removed Johnny from your Brain, you can try to get revenge for Jackie or deal with the fact Arasaka may be after you (or at least one part of it). In the end you can maybe make peace with Yorinobu because, really, he's a guy who hates Arasaka too or take him down. Either way, there's a big chance that Arasaka wants you dead for destroying Mikoshi.

* Moving to your new apartment: It's a shame we don't get to use V's apartment except for a couple of the endings. It seems like it'd be awesome to actually give you some time to be at the heart of Night City and at the top of the business.

* Ally with Night Corp/Militech: If you have sufficiently pissed off Arasaka forever by your actions, it might be a cool idea to go after the help of one of the other corporations for protection. Night Corp is one that we could have used to follow up on the "brainwashing" plot and probably WILL be DLC but it would have been nice to include in the base game. Militech we've also had plenty of people complaining about having an Advertised Extra role.

* More role for your love interests: They all sort of roll out of the storyline at the end. It'd be nice to bring them back for the ending.

 

[Didacgomez]

Ally with Night Corp/Militech: If you have sufficiently pissed off Arasaka forever by your actions, it might be a cool idea to go after the help of one of the other corporations for protection. Night Corp is one that we could have used to follow up on the "brainwashing" plot and probably WILL be DLC but it would have been nice to include in the base game. Militech we've also had plenty of people complaining about having an Advertised Extra role.

That might be difficult depending on your chosen ending, I pissed Arasaka,Night Corp and Militech...

 

[CTPhipps]

That might be difficult depending on your chosen ending, I pissed Arasaka,Night Corp and Militech...

Then you have to choose the Yes Man ending.

 

[NorseGraphics]

CDPR could have nailed the game very differently.

Act 1. You start out rescuing Sandra Dorsett and get harassed by the scavs, but there is no lock-down of Watson. Jackie drives you home as he wants to borrow the car for a night out with Misty. You wake up the next morning, gets down to the foodstand and Jackie hands over the keys to the car, and you visit Vik for some new cyberware. The gameplay is that Jackie follows you around as you do the NCPD-quests, and the fixer-quests are opened up to you one by one (and not depending on your Street Cred). You won't see all of the yellow markers on the map, just one for each fixer, and all the blue icons for the NCPD-quests.

* * *

Act 2 starts after you've completed at minimum 10 quests for each fixer (you can do all of them if you want to) + all of the NCPD-quests (mandatory). The act starts when you get contacted by Dexter DeShawn at the Afterlife (as it's open to you from the beginning, he simply spawns in at a couch there with his dog). The trigger for this to happen is to talk to Rogue, after you've done a couple of quests for her (minimum 2 quests), and you ask specifically if she has some 'serious paying' quests. She mentions Dexter DeShawn has returned and refer to him. You contact him, and he is actually looking for talent (yours truly). So, you visit him the day after you've talked to him. He'll spawns onto a couch in the Afterlife. The meeting is short (of course) as he only mentions the need for the Flathead-bot (not mentioning what it is for). You do "The Pick-up" meeting the Maelstrom-gang and optionally helping Meredith Stout or that other guy. The quests ends as you deploy the Flathead in the secure room in the Afterlife and have a talk with Dex. Now he asks if V is willing to do a misison for him that pays way better than getting the spiderbot. V says yes or no, different outcomes.

If yes, the quest-line continues with "The Information", if no, he reluctantly muses about hiring somebody else, and he'll stay in touch (he'll wait a week before calling V, and this time the quest goes straight to "The Information").

So, V meets Evelyn and has a talk with her, and the brain-dance quest is done.
(Jackie is following a set routine: daytime at the El Coyote, evening with Misty at her workplace then back to his own place in Heywood during night).

The final part of Act 2 is "The Heist", and we all know what happens.

* * *

Act 3. V wakes up at the landfill and the player follows the various quests (trying to find Evelyn [the Judy-questline, trying to find Hellman [the Panam-questline], contacting Kerry when Johnny asks to 'borrow' your body [Kerry-questline+romance], when V is contacted by Peralez [River-questline].

You see what I did? I deploy all 4 romance-options at the same time. Of course Kerry's and River's questlines are a bit longer than what we got. In fact they should be just as well-written as Judy's and Panam's questlines.

So, we're following 4 different questlines at the same time, but for simplicity, Kerry and River are not main-characters, so their supporting roles should be interwoven in Judy's and Panam's questlines. In essence, you'll do Judy and Panam and get Kerry and River for free. Kerry could be interwoven with Judy's questline, while River is in a supporting role in Panam's quest. Could switch around if River is too good to get on the 'bad side' of MiliTech and crime in general. Kerry is a lot more 'fluid' when it comes to do 'illegal stuff'.

So the act ends after you've done both (or really, all 4 romance-options) questlines. Panam gets the Basilisk, while Judy takes a dive with V for the last time before she leaves Night City (or decide to stay with female V).

Act 4. V has gathered friend and allies, so it's time to get to Arasaka Tower and Mikoshi and fix the issue. The act consist of all the main endings, including the 'secret' (not so secret) ending.

* * *

As you can see, I've changed how the player interact in Night City, V gets to go to all places and gather experience, weapons/armor, materials and eddies before taking on the serious gig with Dexter DeShawn. And the two male love-interests are woven into the main-plot as supporting characters.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

A small detail not to forget I think
Dexter is not looking for "good/knowed" mercs, he is looking for two strangers who will cost him very little (two gonk...). We don't know really what would have happened if "The Heist" was succesful, but in my mind, V & Jackie would have finish in the landfield anyway... So accumulating reputation before with Jackie (really for meet Dex) would not have been useful and welcome.
It is precisely because V and Jackie are "young" mercs that Dex calls on them.
But it's just my opinion and for that reason, now, I "rush" main quests before "The Heist" without doing anything else. It seem to me, quite better in the story line

 

[NorseGraphics]

A small detail not to forget I think
Dexter is not looking for "good/knowed" mercs, he is looking for two strangers who will cost him very little (two gonk...). We don't know really what would have happened if "The Heist" was succesful, but in my mind, V & Jackie would have finish in the landfield anyway... So accumulating reputation before with Jackie (really for meet Dex) would not have been useful and welcome.
It is precisely because V and Jackie are "young" mercs that Dex calls on them.
But it's just my opinion and for that reason, now, I "rush" main quests before "The Heist" without doing anything else. It seem to me, quite better in the story line

He might intend to wack the two gonks (newbies or veterans) after getting the chip to remove any links between himself and the hired hands.

What he looks for is the 'thirst'. Even a veteran could have this 'thirst' to become a legend. When V meets Dexter, he's not a veteran, but somebody who has done a lot of scav-hunts (NCPD suspected crime quests etc.).

And if they went this route, CDPR could easily upped the difficulty during "The Heist" to give a challenge (or what feels like a challenge).

 

[LeKill3rFou]

He might intend to wack the two gonks (newbies or veterans) after getting the chip to remove any links between himself and the hired hands.

What he looks for is the 'thirst'. Even a veteran could have this 'thirst' to become a legend. When V meets Dexter, he's not a veteran, but somebody who has done a lot of scav-hunts (NCPD suspected crime quests etc.).

And if they went this route, CDPR could easily upped the difficulty during "The Heist" to give a challenge (or what feels like a challenge).

Actually what I mean, yes a "hungry" veteran might want to do it, but :
- A veteran will be harder to convince (with all the bullshit Dex is saying, V is little bit (really) naive...)
- It will be more difficult to get rid of (Go in the bathroom wash the blood... Trap announced...)

And above all, Dex thinks his plan was so perfect that even a child could did it. So why bother with an experienced mercenary when two Gonks could do it easily

 

[Guest 3847602]

We don't know really what would have happened if "The Heist" was succesful, but in my mind, V & Jackie would have finish in the landfield anyway...

I've posted this already some time ago, but here's the very interesting speculative video:

 

[lyin321]

Actually what I mean, yes a "hungry" veteran might want to do it, but :
- A veteran will be harder to convince (with all the bullshit Dex is saying, V is little bit (really) naive...)

....funnily enough I don't believe he managed to convince my corpo V...the game just went on and ignored that

 

[CTPhipps]

As you can see, I've changed how the player interact in Night City, V gets to go to all places and gather experience, weapons/armor, materials and eddies before taking on the serious gig with Dexter DeShawn. And the two male love-interests are woven into the main-plot as supporting characters.

While I agree to an extent, there's not much story to entertain you if you're there for it than the small gigs. A lot of people want to progress the plot.

Maybe if you did more of the side missions in the first run or added more story to the fixers.

Post automatically merged: Jun 30, 2021

Actually what I mean, yes a "hungry" veteran might want to do it, but :
- A veteran will be harder to convince (with all the bullshit Dex is saying, V is little bit (really) naive...)
- It will be more difficult to get rid of (Go in the bathroom wash the blood... Trap announced...)

And above all, Dex thinks his plan was so perfect that even a child could did it. So why bother with an experienced mercenary when two Gonks could do it easily

To be fair, the Heist succeeded.

The problem is actually the flaws in the execution. Because if they HAD succeeded, the Voodoo Boyz never intended to pay Evelyn or Dex.

You were always screwed.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

To be fair, the Heist succeeded.

The problem is actually the flaws in the execution. Because if they HAD succeeded, the Voodoo Boyz never intended to pay Evelyn or Dex.

You were always screwed.

In the end yes, but in the execution not really
Dex : "We're going to do this like a pro, discreetly"
T-Bug : "Ideally without leaving corpses behind you"
Dex : "If it goes wrong, Delamain will drive you to the No-Tell Motel, but I'm sure it won't be necessary"

But Evelyne didn't want to sell the Relic to the Voodoo boys at all. She worked for them, they wouldn't have to pay more than what was agreed.
(Simply film the BD and don't worry about the rest. It's not your buisness).
That's why she turned to Netwatch to sell the Relic

 

[CTPhipps]

In the end yes, but in the execution not really
Dex : "We're going to do this like a pro, discreetly"
T-Bug : "Ideally without leaving corpses behind you"
Dex : "If it goes wrong, Delamain will drive you to the No-Tell Motel, but I'm sure it won't be necessary"

But Evelyne didn't want to sell the Relic to the Voodoo boys. She worked for them, they wouldn't have to pay more than what was agreed (done BD don't worry about the rest. It's not your buisness).
That's why she turned to Netwatch to sell the Relic

Again, as we see with the Voodoo Boyz, they were never going to pay her period. Every time you work for them, they pay you the same: nothing.

NetWatch is also about equally likely to screw you as you may note that they put a virus in you.

 

[eatchocolate]

and who sent netwatch on voodoo boys turf, who allowed pacifica to be voodoo boys turf in the first place ...
and why, all questions that should be answered in "act 2" if you want an act 3, so should there have been an act 2 ?! who knows

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Again, as we see with the Voodoo Boyz, they were never going to pay her period. Every time you work for them, they pay you the same: nothing.

NetWatch is also about equally likely to screw you as you may note that they put a virus in you.

Not the same thing, Voodoo boys reserve the same treatment for all "rayons". A quick death
Netwatch is more nuanced, they killed the Voodoo Boys, but the malware does not affect V. So it is "less" worse and more targeted.
Anyway, the lesser evil, always remains an "evil"