[Spoiler Alert] About the endings

[LeKill3rFou]

Is the creator bound by the fixed concept that cyberpunk will not have a happy ending and that the world is cruel? Both for games and anime?

The game and the anime came from Cyberpunk, created by Mike Pondsmith (R. Talsorian) A dysotopic world, in which corporations are full power, are evil and above all, never lose. So probably better to not expect happy ending. At "best", more or less bittersweet endings, but never "happy", in which everyone and everything end well.
And to quote Mike himslef :
"Cyberpunk 2077 is a fanfic created by fans for fans"
So I assume he was rather "happy" with the way CDPR written Cyberpunk 2077 story (and the endings).

In short : Welcome to the dark future !

Spoiler

Even in the DLC, I still couldn't escape from Johnny, which I regret. If there is a sequel, I would like to live freely in my own story as a player.

CDPR always created (and probably will, as far as they announced) story driven games. So you probably never will have the liberty that some other games offer to "play" your own character
On side note, Johnny was a "major" character in all of Cyberpunk edition, so not surprising to see him in Cyberpunk 2077 (keanu have nothing to do with that^^)

 

[Don_the_brawler]

I really like happy endings. I wanna see everything with a good ending. That's cool, right?

You might be thinking, no, that's not cool. It's not realistic. The real world doesn't yadda yadda yadda....

I'm kinda right there with you in a way. Dark or tragic endings can be a acceptable. I say acceptable because I can't bring myself to call a tragic ending good or interesting. Maybe bittersweet is a better descriptive word. Theres some games with sad endings and they're unique games for it, and cyberpunk does that nicely in my opinion.

However I wanna play devil's advocate and say I like compromises. The fun endings leave you wondering well... Did the protagonist really die at the end? They might have died off screen. You might think its implied that they're still alive.

 

[Bearded Geek]

Hello! New player, and unfortunately also former player, who quit the game after accidentally spoiling act 2 and 3 for myself today.

So... my V was lvl 6 when I accidentally spoiled myself about acts 2 and 3 and I lost all will to continue the game. (Not an exaggeration, I feel complete apathy for starting the game again, or pretending to give a reason to care for clothing, or cars, or more importantly story or the NPCs anymore).

This is not "a CDPR are mean and / or incompetent" post at all, but as someone who lost all will to continue the game after finding out what the story actually is about and how it is handled I am still very frustrated; at least I didn't pay full price (Black Friday sale on Steam). I literally spent 4 hours of my gaming session yesterday finding an outfit in act 1 that I was pleased with, not to mention the hour an a half I spent in the character creator. Or to put it another way, I have 38 hours spent in the game as a single character who is now lvl 6. (Which is how I usually play RPGs. I care about my character to the Nth degree; voice (if possible), clothes, tattoos, friendships, everything. There's a reason I have 1900 hours in Fallout 4 over just a few characters for example and it's not only base building).
And now it just feels pointless. Why should I care what she wears, or what choices she makes? Nothing matters, so who cares?

I have read a number of posts regarding the endings, and the story, after spoiling myself, and the "But this is Cyberpunk! You are supposed to be miserable also something about human condition and stuff" mindset seems to be very strong here, probably because this game is based on the tabletop. However it is not a truth set in stone if one pushes beyond the actual tabletop.

Of course my personal mindset matters. I tend to, for some reason, to always be on the fringe of any game community I'm a member of; for example I am convinced to this day that the Railroad are the true heroes of FO4, I consider JDM cars to be posers in Forza Horizon 5... But above all is a personal mental heath guard: I don't indulge in things that makes me feel bad for no reason. And misery "pron" goes right out the window. So no, I have never watched Breaking Bad, I have never played TLOU 1 or 2, and I do consider power fantasies essential, because otherwise I could just watch the news instead.

So, yes, I would like a more happy ending option, since I see absolutely no reason to start up act 1 of the game again without one.
(Oh and if someone could recommend a game that is like cyberpunk but isn't cyberpunk that would be great? (only half joking)).

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Hello! New player, and unfortunately also former player, who quit the game after accidentally spoiling act 2 and 3 for myself today.

So... my V was lvl 6 when I accidentally spoiled myself about acts 2 and 3 and I lost all will to continue the game. (Not an exaggeration, I feel complete apathy for starting the game again, or pretending to give a reason to care for clothing, or cars, or more importantly story or the NPCs anymore).

This is not "a CDPR are mean and / or incompetent" post at all, but as someone who lost all will to continue the game after finding out what the story actually is about and how it is handled I am still very frustrated; at least I didn't pay full price (Black Friday sale on Steam). I literally spent 4 hours of my gaming session yesterday finding an outfit in act 1 that I was pleased with, not to mention the hour an a half I spent in the character creator. Or to put it another way, I have 38 hours spent in the game as a single character who is now lvl 6. (Which is how I usually play RPGs. I care about my character to the Nth degree; voice (if possible), clothes, tattoos, friendships, everything. There's a reason I have 1900 hours in Fallout 4 over just a few characters for example and it's not only base building).
And now it just feels pointless. Why should I care what she wears, or what choices she makes? Nothing matters, so who cares?

I have read a number of posts regarding the endings, and the story, after spoiling myself, and the "But this is Cyberpunk! You are supposed to be miserable also something about human condition and stuff" mindset seems to be very strong here, probably because this game is based on the tabletop. However it is not a truth set in stone if one pushes beyond the actual tabletop.

Of course my personal mindset matters. I tend to, for some reason, to always be on the fringe of any game community I'm a member of; for example I am convinced to this day that the Railroad are the true heroes of FO4, I consider JDM cars to be posers in Forza Horizon 5... But above all is a personal mental heath guard: I don't indulge in things that makes me feel bad for no reason. And misery "pron" goes right out the window. So no, I have never watched Breaking Bad, I have never played TLOU 1 or 2, and I do consider power fantasies essential, because otherwise I could just watch the news instead.

So, yes, I would like a more happy ending option, since I see absolutely no reason to start up act 1 of the game again without one.
(Oh and if someone could recommend a game that is like cyberpunk but isn't cyberpunk that would be great? (only half joking)).

To be honest, even if you don't like how the endings are (which is matter of tastes and perfectly fine), there is enough side content to enjoy the game by ignoring the endings and enjoy the world (like I almost always did/do with FO4... I stop the main quest when all factions ask me to destroy other ones^^). Just my opinion, but the best parts of the game are not during the main quest. And there is no end-game/post-ending content, so no need to finish the game if you don't like the endings (In short, stop the main quest at the point of no return, you won't miss anything except endings that you won't like anyway).

 

[Bearded Geek]

To be honest, even if you don't like how the endings are (which is matter of tastes and perfectly fine), there is enough side content to enjoy the game by ignoring the endings and enjoy the world (like I almost always did/do with FO4... I stop the main quest when all factions ask me to destroy other ones^^). Just my opinion, but the best parts of the game are not during the main quest. And there is no end-game/post-ending content, so no need to finish the game if you don't like the endings (In short, stop the main quest at the point of no return, you won't miss anything except endings that you won't like anyway).

But I am not that kind of person; the journey is far less important to me than the destination. Might pick it up again but I will have to have a checklist and a guide so I definitely get the "least-awful-ending". I mean I am at the point where I think Watchtower probably is best, but suicide is right up there as the most logical and realistic ending. In fact I prefer it as "second best" ending after Watchtower.

Plus of course that you are supposedly dying really soon but please spend 200 gaming hours collecting cars first.

Regarding Fallout 4... that is a game I LOVE the ending of, as long as you don't side with the Institute or Raiders (Nuka World). It's just enough bitter sweet for me, you fail in your main quest, probably even end up killing your own son instead of saving him, but you are alive and well and continue making the Commonwealth a better place together with your friends. Which is the REAL ending imho: The future of the Commonwealth is bright because of you and you will live to see it.

Basically here's a philosophical question for all you who love to talk about "Journeys" and "Cyberpunk vs power fantasy": What do you do when you adore a story based RPG exceptt you cannot stand the story (for the record, when Dex asked I would have personally picked the fade away option. 100% of the time)?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Might pick it up again but I will have to have a checklist and a guide so I definitely get the "least-awful-ending".

Just my opinion, but endings are not "aweful", (more or less) bittersweet for sure. Star and Sun endings are even great (and even hopeful if you want to see them like that).

Spoiler

For example, you can think that Alt or all of those who said that V will die anyway and believe others :
Star ending > Panam say that she know people who will probably be able to help/cure V.
Sun ending > Mr Blue Eyes could probably provide a cure after the heist of the Crystal Palace.
I don't beleive that, but these endings are "open" to interpretations.
Like I said, there is no "post ending" content, so it's also possible to follow Alt behind the Black Wall and consider to leave as AI forever.

For dying soon, it's not "really" soon... According to Viktor, it's "few weeks tops" which is "vague" enough. So it could be 2 weeks but also 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks too

Regarding Fallout 4... that is a game I LOVE the ending of, as long as you don't side with the Institute or Raiders (Nuka World). It's just enough bitter sweet for me, you fail in your main quest, probably even end up killing your own son instead of saving him, but you are alive and well and continue making the Commonwealth a better place together with your friends. Which is the REAL ending imho: The future of the Commonwealth is bright because of you and you will live to see it.

About Fallout, I don't like the endings, all of them (tried once each ending). So I just stop the main quest (don't care to play further but that doesn't stop me from doing something else and enjoying the world which is great^^)

 

[Bearded Geek]

Just my opinion, but endings are not "aweful", (more or less) bittersweet for sure. Star and Sun endings are even great (and even hopeful if you want to see them like that).

Spoiler

For example, you can think that Alt or all of those who said that V will die anyway and believe others :
Star ending > Panam say that she know people who will probably be able to help/cure V.
Sun ending > Mr Blue Eyes could probably provide a cure after the heist of the Crystal Palace.
I don't beleive that, but these endings are "open" to interpretations.

For dying soon, it's not "really" soon... According to Viktor, it's "few weeks tops" which is "vague" enough. So it could be 2 weeks but also 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks too

About Fallout, I don't like the endings, all of them (tried once each ending). So I just stop the main quest (don't care to play further but that doesn't stop me from doing something else and enjoying the world which is great^^)

Last point first: So we have complete opposite opinions on these two games! Interesting actually. I stopped playing this game before finishing Act I for the same reason, I want to avoid the rest of the story, while happily plow along in FO4 (as I said I have 1900 hours in that game over 8 characters, so an average of 235+ hours per character). We should probably stop talking about the retrofuturistic post apocalyptic cyberpunk game Fallout 4 now

As for the time frame: It is obvious in practical terms V lives forever, you can manually push the clock forward 400 years if you want and she's not dead yet. But if you are an actual role player doing ANY kind of side quests after you get your death sentence is just wrong. In FO4 at least there is a logical pause after you find out you have to gear up to head into the Glowing Sea, it is a natural pause point where you can do a lot of stuff. Plus of course that since the game doesn't stop after the ending you can do everything else after the conclusion of the main story.

I might react extra strong to the story because my family have a history of brain diseases. I have seen three grandparents of four not remembering who they are and acting like completely different people. In fact maybe CPRD should have put some kind of trigger warning on that aspect... Having another person in my brain is EXTREMELY unnerving to me.

 

[Eucliddalexandria]

There is one ending where V has a chance to survive:

Spoiler

with the Aldecaldos

and there is one ending where his body survives:

Spoiler

by going with Alt and leave his body to Johnny

However, there is only one "happy" ending with a romance companion:

Spoiler

with a female V romancing Judy and go with the Aldecaldos

and I wish there would be more.
Concerning the OP's question, I'd like to see an ending where V survives (not only a chance) but I guess it depends on the developers idea of any upcoming expansion. There is a main issue

Spoiler

Mr Blue and his rogue AI's

which still is not resolved and could be used to provide such a happy ending. Guess we have to wait and see what the developer come up with.

Cheers Euclid

 

[Bearded Geek]

and there is one ending where his body survives:

Spoiler

by going with Alt and leave his body to Johnny

In my mind, that's not a good ending, it is absolutely freakishly horrifying along the lines of becoming a zombie, or being an incubator for a Xenomorph or something. It is absolutely the worst ending of them all, to me. I am 100% sincere that the suicide ending is my second option was I to finish the game and I somehow couldn't get the Watchtower ending. I honestly feel it is a clear and morally correct choice for V to kill Johnny once and for all by shooting herself.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

In my mind, that's not a good ending, it is absolutely freakishly horrifying along the lines of becoming a zombie, or being an incubator for a Xenomorph or something. It is absolutely the worst ending of them all, to me. I am 100% sincere that the suicide ending is my second option was I to finish the game and I somehow couldn't get the Watchtower ending. I honestly feel it is a clear and morally correct choice for V to kill Johnny once and for all by shooting herself.

@CS554 would agree
But mostly because enough people die for no/stupid reason. V's life worth than other people ones ? Probably not. So it make sense.
Nothing to do about killing Johnny which in my opinion is a well written character... (even V ask "only if Johnny agree"). During a good part of the game, he's an asshole and a hateful person, but more you learn to know him, learn why he did what he did and even see him change during the story, you could even miss him at the end

 

[Bearded Geek]

@CS554 would agree
But mostly because enough people die for no/stupid reason. V's life worth than other people ones ? Probably not. So it make sense.
Nothing to do about killing Johnny which in my opinion is a well written character... (even V ask "only if Johnny agree"). During a good part of the game, he's an asshole and a hateful person, but more you learn to know him, learn why he did what he did and even see him change during the story, you could even miss him at the end

Well written != "Good". I don't care if he's well written, he's a body snatching terrorist actively trying to kill me. If I pick up the game again I will make sure not to befriend him (I checked, you can get the best ending without rising his relationship score with you). I just want him gone no matter what.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Well written != "Good". I don't care if he's well written, he's a body snatching terrorist actively trying to kill me.

Well, if you didn't progress in the game, that's exactly the feeling that CDPR wanted. Feeling which can evolve during the game by learning more about the "thruth" and what happen.
Like I said, you're stick with the first impression

Spoiler

- He's not the crazy terrorist who nuke Night City (Arasaka did, Johnny's bomb only destroyed few floors of the tower).
- He didn't assaulted Arasaka tower for the sake of killing people, but only to save the only woman that he ever loved (kidnapped and killed by Arasaka).
- He did ask to Yorinobu to be on the chip, he didn't ask to V to slot the chip on her head, he didn't ask to be there where he is...
- And so on...

 

[Bearded Geek]

Well, if you didn't progress in the game, that's exactly the feeling that CDPR wanted. Feeling which can evolve during the game by learning more about the "thruth" and what happen.





























































































































































































































































Like I said, you're stick with the first impression 

Spoiler

- He's not the crazy terrorist who nuke Night City (Arasaka did, Johnny's bomb only destroyed few floors of the tower).































































































































































































































































- He didn't assaulted Arasaka tower for the sake of killing people, but only to save the only woman that he ever loved (kidnapped and killed by Arasaka).































































































































































































































































- He did ask to Yorinobu to be on the chip, he didn't ask to V to slot the chip on her head, he didn't ask to be there where he is...































































































































































































- And so on...

Well, if you didn't progress in the game, that's exactly the feeling that CDPR wanted. Feeling which can evolve during the game by learning more about the "thruth" and what happen.















Like I said, you're stick with the first impression 

Spoiler

- He's not the crazy terrorist who nuke Night City (Arasaka did, Johnny's bomb only destroyed few floors of the tower).















- He didn't assaulted Arasaka tower for the sake of killing people, but only to save the only woman that he ever loved (kidnapped and killed by Arasaka).















- He did ask to Yorinobu to be on the chip, he didn't ask to V to slot the chip on her head, he didn't ask to be there where he is...















- And so on...

Well, if you didn't progress in the game, that's exactly the feeling that CDPR wanted. Feeling which can evolve during the game by learning more about the "thruth" and what happen.
Like I said, you're stick with the first impression

Spoiler

- He's not the crazy terrorist who nuke Night City (Arasaka did, Johnny's bomb only destroyed few floors of the tower).
- He didn't assaulted Arasaka tower for the sake of killing people, but only to save the only woman that he ever loved (kidnapped and killed by Arasaka).
- He did ask to Yorinobu to be on the chip, he didn't ask to V to slot the chip on her head, he didn't ask to be there where he is...
- And so on...

Your quote is somehow borked and Chrome locks up when I try to fix it.
I don't have a reason to care about Johnny, so why would I? I mean aside from RPG logic which is "talk to everyone all the time for no reason"

Besides the way play V she would be way too vengeful to care. And that's his presens in your head aside of course which is just... wrong in itself.

Anyway endings: I don't buy the "Cyberpunk is fatalistic" stuff. But then it seems the whole world are all fixated with sad depressing stuff these days (like the 90s all over again) and I feel like a relic from a past where happy endings were a thing. I don't care for TLOU. I don't care for Breaking Bad, Sopranos, The Walking Dead, or whatever new super-depressing ultra violent stuff they are offering for streaming this month.

But people keep confusing edginess and depressing with "deep story telling" for some reason.

 

[The_Blacks]

In my mind, that's not a good ending, it is absolutely freakishly horrifying along the lines of becoming a zombie, or being an incubator for a Xenomorph or something. It is absolutely the worst ending of them all

Lovely. There's nothing like when the characters get their asses handed to them in any way imaginable and there's no escape from tragedy no matter what they do. It's the kind of story and characters that feel the most real, for me.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

Your quote is somehow borked and Chrome locks up when I try to fix it.
I don't have a reason to care about Johnny, so why would I? I mean aside from RPG logic which is "talk to everyone all the time for no reason"

Again, you didn't go through the main story, so... But at the end, without him and the Relic, V would be dead several times and directly at the end of act 1
(I mean, in Fallout, why care about Preston, while your only goal is to find your kid...? So in theory, fuck the minutemen, not your concern...)

Anyway endings: I don't buy the "Cyberpunk is fatalistic" stuff. But then it seems the whole world are all fixated with sad depressing stuff these days (like the 90s all over again) and I feel like a relic from a past where happy endings were a thing. I don't care for TLOU. I don't care for Breaking Bad, Sopranos, The Walking Dead, or whatever new super-depressing ultra violent stuff they are offering for streaming this month.

Nope, it's because the game is directly inspired from a source material which is Cyberpunk (2013/2020/Red) by Mike Pondsmith (R.Talsorian). And in this source material, no one can save the world, corpos are evil and never lose. So there is no "good/happy ending", at best bittersweet.
If you don't like "sad/bittersweet" ending, Cyberpunk (by Mike P.) is probably not the way to go or the game to play...

 

[Bearded Geek]

Again, you didn't go through the main story, so... But at the end, without him and the Relic, V would be dead several times and directly at the end of act 1
(I mean, in Fallout, why care about Preston, while your only goal is to find your kid...? So in theory, fuck the minutemen, not your concern...)

Nope, it's because the game is directly inspired from a source material which is Cyberpunk (2013/2020/Red) by Mike Pondsmith (R.Talsorian). And in this source material, no one can save the world, corpos are evil and never lose. So there is no "good/happy ending", at best bittersweet.
If you don't like "sad/bittersweet" ending, Cyberpunk (by Mike P.) is probably not the way to go or the game to play...

I understand that now. Too bad I didn't do what I usually do and watch a full let's play before buying a game; it is after all the only way I can be sure if I like it or not, unfortunately. So, I guess I will just uninstall it, wasting 50 dollars. My bad.

This reddit post sums it up completely: This game has the worst kind of Ludonarrative Disonance of any game, ever (plus I found it reading that that thru all the side missions V will get annoying messages and start coughing, further proving that doing ANY side missions is wrong from a story playing point of view and the devs actually activerly try to stop you from explore anything or do any side missions):
Cyberpunk 2077 is the worst offender of "ludonarrative dissonance" I have ever played. : truegaming (reddit.com)

Post automatically merged: Dec 11, 2022

Lovely. There's nothing like when the characters get their asses handed to them in any way imaginable and there's no escape from tragedy no matter what they do. It's the kind of story and characters that feel the most real, for me.

To me too. It's called "Real life". Why would I PAY to experience what is actually Real Life?

 

[LeKill3rFou]

This reddit post sums it up completely: This game has the worst kind of Ludonarrative Disonance of any game, ever (plus I found it reading that that thru all the side missions V will get annoying messages and start coughing, further proving that doing ANY side missions is wrong from a story playing point of view and the devs actually activerly try to stop you from explore anything or do any side missions):

Don't agree with the post, but everyone can have his opinion
(knowing that Steam players elected Cyberpunk for its outsantding story, so...)
My V does side quests to help friends, to earn money to buy new stuff to have better chance to survive... so there are several reasons to doing side content.

 

[Bearded Geek]

Don't agree with the post, but everyone can have his opinion
(knowing that Steam players elected Cyberpunk for its outsantding story, so...)
My V does side quests to help friends, to earn money to buy new stuff to have better chance to survive... so there are several reasons to doing side content.

I am not saying people are wrong, I just don't understand people who like nihilistic or depressing things. I am serious btw, I literally cannot wrap my head around it. I have read that some people don't get the same hormonal reactions to horror as most people do, and i know I am one of them. I don't dislike horror movies, I just don't get any positive feedback from them so at best they're just pointless and at worst messy and disgusting. Same with rollercoastes btw, I can't get any positive feedback from riding them although I don't get scared either.
Maybe this is the same thing? I lack the hormone creation gene for "sad stuff" so it all seems pointless?

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

There is one ending where V has a chance to survive:

Spoiler

with the Aldecaldos

and there is one ending where his body survives:

Spoiler

by going with Alt and leave his body to Johnny

However, there is only one "happy" ending with a romance companion:

Spoiler

with a female V romancing Judy and go with the Aldecaldos

and I wish there would be more.
Concerning the OP's question, I'd like to see an ending where V survives (not only a chance) but I guess it depends on the developers idea of any upcoming expansion. There is a main issue

Spoiler

Mr Blue and his rogue AI's

which still is not resolved and could be used to provide such a happy ending. Guess we have to wait and see what the developer come up with.

Cheers Euclid

Um...you completely ignored The Sun ending, my dude. If you're with Kerry or River, that's the best ending because they don't break up with you and stay with you. Also, you're about to rob a space casino in exchange for a cure. It's just as hopeful as The Star, as it's V going off to find a way to survive.

 

[Bearded Geek]

Um...you completely ignored The Sun ending, my dude. If you're with Kerry or River, that's the best ending because they don't break up with you and stay with you. Also, you're about to rob a space casino in exchange for a cure. It's just as hopeful as The Star, as it's V going off to find a way to survive.

Since I always play female characters the Star ending is the only ending my love interest would be able to join.

Post automatically merged: Dec 11, 2022

I'm not even sure what the writers were going for. It almost seems like their 'canon' ending is where Johnny takes over V's body, whilst V vanishes into the internet. But I donn't see any worthwhile 'message' in this resolution, there's nothing noteworthy or meaningful about V dying so the engram can continue in V's body. It's just very morbid and bleak.

More importantly, that ending just highlights the game's massive elephant in the room that never gets addressed. Johnny's engram is NOT Johnny himself. The real Johnny was born, lived his life and then died. The engram imprinted on V's chip is just a copy of Johnny, therefore killing V so that copy can live out a new life is an incredibly dark ending - the original Johnny would have hated to have murdered V in such a way.

It's very odd how the story is written as if Johnny's engram is Johnny himself back from the dead, instead of acknowledging that it's just a copy that's acting as random neuro-malware and killing an innocent person.

To me it feels like the devs were banking on the players being star struck enough by Keanu to allow him to steal their body. No real reason given.