Should there have been a third act?

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The funny thing is there are people V would want to kill but they all die without you.

Dex
Your creepy corpo boss
That wannabe fixer
The crooked sheriff

Its very anticlimatic and could have been done as side content.
I prefer that way, it reinforces the concept that the world doesn´t stop for V because he/she is not the chosen one and the world doesn´t care for him/her.
 
I think part of the issue I have with the game is that there's actually just not that much there in terms of emotional development. The Witcher and even Bioware games really do have a lot of solid emotional bonds for characters but the vast vast majority of the game is busy work that doesn't really lead to much bonding.

Indeed, one of the problems of the game is that the developers decided you should hate Night City.

* Panam hates Night City
* Judy FUCKING hates Night City.
* Johnny literally destroyed Night City.
* River lives in a trailer park in Night City and is fired from the only job he's ever believed in.
* Kerry...Kerry is suicidal.
* Goro hates America. Not just Night City.

No one actually believes like the original trailer that you should LOVE Night City and want to live inside it. If I had to make some suggestions for ACT III, it would be finally getting people to love Night City.

* Judy finally gets to set up her own brothel or take over the Mox. That way she can build her actual haven for sex workers.
* Panam will decide to make her life with you rather than Nomad.
* River will become a private detective and live the Noir cliche as he should.
* Johnny will be dead by the end.
* Kerri decides to make the first new album in years or something similarly silly.
* Goro...I'm not sure what can be done there.

I also think that we needed to get a mission where they all interact. Panam, Judy, RIver, and Kerry like an actual adventuring party.
 
I think part of the issue I have with the game is that there's actually just not that much there in terms of emotional development. The Witcher and even Bioware games really do have a lot of solid emotional bonds for characters but the vast vast majority of the game is busy work that doesn't really lead to much bonding.
I don't agree at all... I'm a very huge fan of ME (trilogy day-one, legendary day-one) and also of The Witcher, but Cyberpunk is on another level for me :(
 
I think part of the issue I have with the game is that there's actually just not that much there in terms of emotional development. The Witcher and even Bioware games really do have a lot of solid emotional bonds for characters but the vast vast majority of the game is busy work that doesn't really lead to much bonding.

Indeed, one of the problems of the game is that the developers decided you should hate Night City.

* Panam hates Night City
* Judy FUCKING hates Night City.
* Johnny literally destroyed Night City.
* River lives in a trailer park in Night City and is fired from the only job he's ever believed in.
* Kerry...Kerry is suicidal.
* Goro hates America. Not just Night City.

No one actually believes like the original trailer that you should LOVE Night City and want to live inside it. If I had to make some suggestions for ACT III, it would be finally getting people to love Night City.

* Judy finally gets to set up her own brothel or take over the Mox. That way she can build her actual haven for sex workers.
* Panam will decide to make her life with you rather than Nomad.
* River will become a private detective and live the Noir cliche as he should.
* Johnny will be dead by the end.
* Kerri decides to make the first new album in years or something similarly silly.
* Goro...I'm not sure what can be done there.

I also think that we needed to get a mission where they all interact. Panam, Judy, RIver, and Kerry like an actual adventuring party.
Dunno about Judy and Panam.
Panam is all about family and being a nomad is part of her identity, she feels isolated and an outcast in NC. V would be the only link to it, and it's unfair to expect her life to revolve around V.

Same for Judy, I don't think she had a way to win that fight, not with her attitude. She was too idealistic and irresponsible, the Clouds plan was horribly executed but she still blamed the city for it. Maiko was selfish but knew the stakes.

Like V can say in one of the dialogues, NC is not for everyone. I just wish that the game didn't automatically assume that it wasn't for V either, especially Streetkid V who grew up in it.
 
Like V can say in one of the dialogues, NC is not for everyone. I just wish that the game didn't automatically assume that it wasn't for V either, especially Streetkid V who grew up in it.
It might just be me, but for me, the message would be : "Night City is not for anyone"
(maybe execpt if you are Smasher or Gottfrid Persson)
 
Dunno about Judy and Panam.
Panam is all about family and being a nomad is part of her identity, she feels isolated and an outcast in NC. V would be the only link to it, and it's unfair to expect her life to revolve around V.

Same for Judy, I don't think she had a way to win that fight, not with her attitude. She was too idealistic and irresponsible, the Clouds plan was horribly executed but she still blamed the city for it. Maiko was selfish but knew the stakes.

Like V can say in one of the dialogues, NC is not for everyone. I just wish that the game didn't automatically assume that it wasn't for V either, especially Streetkid V who grew up in it.
Streetkid already left once NC for Atlanta because it was not working for him/her,Atlanta also didn't work for him/her,the whole Heist with Dex and Jackie dearlth... so you can argue that leaving is also a very credible option for streetkid
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It might just be me, but for me, the message would be : "Night City is not for anyone"
(maybe execpt if you are Smasher or Gottfrid Persson)
Or if you are Vik or Misty,that accepted simple live.
 
It might just be me, but for me, the message would be : "Night City is not for anyone"
(maybe execpt if you are Smasher or Gottfrid Persson)
It should have been more of a shithole then, I think I've been to worse places :D

That's the problem of adding a universal message in a game with a custom protagonist. Living in NC didn't look that bad to me, for a certain subset of people and within its setting.

With the way I played my V, it could have worked for her. Nomad life in the badlands didn't look any more appealing.

Streetkid already left once NC for Atlanta because it was not working for him/her,Atlanta also didn't work for him/her,the whole Heist with Dex and Jackie dearlth... so you can argue that leaving is also a very credible option for streetkid
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Or if you are Vik or Misty,that accepted simple live.
V tells Padre that the thought Atlanta was better, but it wasn't. And they're much more capable near the ending compared to the prologue.

I'm not saying that Streetkid V is by default attached to the city, the nomad ending works pretty well regardless of prologue. But in my case, with the optional dialogue options that I picked until the epilogue, it looked like my V still felt a connection towards NC despite recognizing its flaws.
 
It should have been more of a shithole then, I think I've been to worse places :D

That's the problem of adding a universal message in a game with a custom protagonist. Living in NC didn't look that bad to me
Not so sure, I've been to some unsavory places, but Night City beats all records altogether... With all the background stories that you can see/read, frankly I can't see how it could be worse (except in a post-apocalyptic city like in Fallout 4)
Night City is probably the worst city ever :)
 
It should have been more of a shithole then, I think I've been to worse places :D
I can think about couple of cities/countries where people is harvested on the streets (just check some ncpd with scavs and homeless) and sold into pieces or strikers are killed by real fire...I'm sorry if you had to go to such places in real life, in Europe i don't think we have anything like that.
 
I can think about couple of cities/countries where people is harvested on the streets (just check some ncpd with scavs and homeless) and sold into pieces or strikers are killed by real fire...I'm sorry if you had to go to such places in real life, in Europe i don't think we have anything like that.
It's about proportional danger. Putting it in the spoilers tags since I'm going off topic here.
NC has plenty of issues - scavs harvesting cyberware, human trafficking, corrupt cops, snuff producers, psycho kidnappers (River's nephew), gang skirmishes and all that.

At the same time, by Act 2 V is armed to the teeth, either incredibly strong or a capable netrunner, and full of expensive cyberware. The game doesn't convey a sense of danger when V is walking down the street, even in rough neighborhoods like Pacifica. It feels pretty much as dangerous for V as walking in a big city's shitty neighborhood unarmed at 3am is. Only my V has titanium bones and a reinforced skull, I don't.

Shootouts are pretty rare and the police response is instant (you could argue that it's a gameplay issue, but it still affects the impression of the city). As an underdog merc, V is able to afford a car and a pretty big apartment in one of the central neighborhoods. Same for Judy. They have a lot of tech equipment and no roommates. Cyberware isn't hard to come by. Working for corps means dedicating your entire life to work, but there's still vertical mobility. Kerry used to be poor, Rogue lived to 80 in a pretty risky line of work. The level of consumerism is nothing new, I get more invasive adverts on a daily basis.

It's not a nice place, but in the Cyberpunk universe I don't see it unlikely for someone used to NC to be attached to its community and atmosphere enough to remain in it. There's still some humanity left in NC (Stints lets V and Jackie go in the prologue, Vic, Misty and Mama Wells help V out even though they're almost strangers, people like River and Peralez were actually trying to do some good, etc). And it's not like the alternatives presented are so much better.
 
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endings are act 3
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Storytelling wise, ACT I in Watson is something that isn't exactly EXCITING drama-wise but it is a coherent storyline from beginning to end. It's an extended heist movie and the motivations are consistent and understandable. Jackie and V are a pair of criminals that are looking to make it to the Big Time and they've been lured in for a "Big Score" that we know will go horribly wrong. The thing about this is that the side content of the game is consistent with the circumstances and the characters involved.

V does crime in Watson because V's motivations are, no matter their origin, to get rich and famous. They aspire to be a street samurai.

The issue becomes iffier with the ACT II and story of, "Save your life" with Johnny Silverhand as you are someone who has no pressing need for money because you're dying and that never really resolves. People have commented that Act I actually makes more sense as the entirety of the Cyberpunk 2077 game than the Act II part does. There's also an issue that maybe Act II should have been Act III. The time when V realizes being a street samurai is meaningless because all the money and fame mean shit fi you're dead.

A larger period of time when you can wander around doing nerc work would have helped. We also lack a villain in the game which is kind of interesting for such a noir storyline. Dex is killed at the end of Act I, denying us a chance to get back at our betrayer and Yorinobu remains a nebulous presence throughout the game that in all likelihood may not even know we exist. Which is funny when you think about it.
Yorinibu is not villain.
 
It's about proportional danger. Putting it in the spoilers tags since I'm going off topic here.
NC has plenty of issues - scavs harvesting cyberware, human trafficking, corrupt cops, snuff producers, psycho kidnappers (River's nephew), gang skirmishes and all that.

At the same time, by Act 2 V is armed to the teeth, either incredibly strong or a capable netrunner, and full of expensive cyberware. The game doesn't convey a sense of danger when V is walking down the street, even in rough neighborhoods like Pacifica. It feels pretty much as dangerous for V as walking in a big city's shitty neighborhood unarmed at 3am is. Only my V has titanium bones and a reinforced skull, I don't.

Shootouts are pretty rare and the police response is instant (you could argue that it's a gameplay issue, but it still affects the impression of the city). As an underdog merc, V is able to afford a car and a pretty big apartment in one of the central neighborhoods. Same for Judy. They have a lot of tech equipment and no roommates. Cyberware isn't hard to come by. Working for corps means dedicating your entire life to work, but there's still vertical mobility. Kerry used to be poor, Rogue lived to 80 in a pretty risky line of work. The level of consumerism is nothing new, I get more invasive adverts on a daily basis.

It's not a nice place, but in the Cyberpunk universe I don't see it unlikely for someone used to NC to be attached to its community and atmosphere enough to remain in it. There's still some humanity left in NC (Stints lets V and Jackie go in the prologue, Vic, Misty and Mama Wells help V out even though they're almost strangers, people like River and Peralez were actually trying to do some good, etc). And it's not like the alternatives presented are so much better.
Indeed we are drifting a little bit, I will try to keep also in spoiler and maybe can be discussed in another thread if you feel like needed.
i agree that gamewise the game doesn´t transmit enough danger-I did complain about that in another thread-, I think that this is caused by:
-no random encounters while exploring: this is directly from tabletop, based on neighbourhood,time of the day, maybe even how you dress in a certain neighbourhood --> I think this should have been a game option, not all people would have liked it I think... extreme mode: you spend too much time in photomode and a curious ganger decided you are a nice target for a shotgun,ruining your photo.
-In most RPGs, we are doing a suspension of belief. With this I mean that by any measurable standard, in any setting a fully leveled character is a weapon of mass destruction not a normal human,elf,dwarf... Its even worse in games where you import characters to a sequel, since either they force you a reset of stats (so back to average human) or they handle like in Shadowrun:Shadows of Hong Kong that after defeating a demon God in Hong Kong police beats your team with a canister of gas...okey, lets take it for the sake of the story. Only RPGs that I know that avoid this kind of suspension of belief are those that the character can take permanent damage (World of Horror,Fear & Hunger, Kenshi...) so you can lose a limb or an untreatable injury even at high level, since a bad attack on your side and lucky strike on the enemy can cause that... this forces the player to consider whether to combat or not even a low level enemy.

So I think you need to evaluate NC in terms of the lore, not in terms of what V at level 50 with legendary equipment is able to do. Its the most dangerous city of North America,it lost roughly 3 million people in 2 years:
"In the year 2076, Night City's population fell by 29.24% - the third worst decline in North America."
You live in a relatively big apartment, because there is surplus (if you can pay,capitalism is capitalism)... megabuildings were build toaccomodate population after the nuking while reconstructing.
"Kerry used to be poor, Rogue lived to 80 in a pretty risky line of work.", this actually is an interesting discussion about whether they sold out or not and if they are doing what they dreamed to do when they were the age of V. River basically give up as a cop and Peralez has always been an upper class as far as I know.
 
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