[Spoiler Alert] About the endings

[Guest 4412420]

And I 99% believe this is because both will be NPCs in the next game.

I really really hope they won't be. Small references to them, like maybe some BD's produced by Judy would be cool but seeing them again? I think a lot of people will stick to the base game endings and maybe come up with headcanons how V beats the odds if they want an outcome for their V's more to their liking than this new ending provides. Sure, those are headcanons and nothing more, but CDPR could at least let us have this much. What's the point of making those endings open-ended and dangle hope that there still might be a cure only to have characters who might have stayed at V's side just be somewhere else doing their own thing?

Secondly, Panam is so tied to the Aldecaldos it's practically impossible to separate the two. I'd much rather have a new nomad clan/nation in the next game than have to deal with the same clan again. In terms of lore, I find pretty much every other nation far more interesting than the Aldecaldos and would like to see any one of them getting time in the spotlight.

Either way it's too early to tell. Doubt they have anything more than vague ideas at this point.

 

[Cali66]

If it's another screwd up ending not going to continue wth this new content
I'll just just keep leaving Night City with Judy and Panam in the Nomad ending.
Honestly what's the point I at least thought with this new content V would have finally
lived and been cured. It's like we just can't get a break in this game I swear.
If they can do it in The Witcher why not in Cyberpunk.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

If it's another screwd up ending not going to continue wth this new content
I'll just just keep leaving Night City with Judy and Panam in the Nomad ending.
Honestly what's the point I at least thought with this new content V would have finally
lived and been cured. It's like we just can't get a break in this game I swear.
If they can do it in The Witcher why not in Cyberpunk.

The ending is optional, remember that. I'm going to try it when I get to PL in my playthrough. I romanced Kerry and from what I saw through spoilers, his end ain't terrible. He seems to be the only one who stays...sort of. But I do get ya. I don't like the idea of V having to lose everything to live. It's a kick in the teeth for no logical reason.

 

[Alekzie]

It's a kick in the teeth for no logical reason.

Exactly. Like I said before, it's punishing enough that you already lost your rep, your merc life and your chrome forever, that was the downside of that ending already, yet they wanted to keep making it worse, when we already had more bad than good endings. They gave us the false ilusion that we had a choice, cause what prevented V to tell them what was going on, where they would be and what could potentially happen? CDPR doesn't allow us to tell them all for the sake of drama, cause that would have meant V at least gets to keep their love interest/friends, even if they already lost everything else. They couldn't even let us have this.

Like Judy said once: "It's not enough she already gave up everything she had, they just kept taking more and more".

 

[djisma69]

If it's another screwd up ending not going to continue wth this new content
I'll just just keep leaving Night City with Judy and Panam in the Nomad ending.
Honestly what's the point I at least thought with this new content V would have finally
lived and been cured. It's like we just can't get a break in this game I swear.
If they can do it in The Witcher why not in Cyberpunk.

most of the developers that did witcher 3 were fired or leaved..... so you can guess why we can't have nice things from cdpr anymore like a good ending once and for all....
those devs are no longer in cdpr team.

 

[CTPhipps]

Like I said, it's not V losing everything.

It seems the only thing they lose is their Love Interest and cybeware.

People seem overly focused on the romances, TBH.

 

[LadyMiseryAli]

Like I said, it's not V losing everything.

It seems the only thing they lose is their Love Interest and cybeware.

People seem overly focused on the romances, TBH.

Well, lot of us are attached to our characters, AS WELL AS their significant others and their friends/found family. Losing them sucks. You don't spend a game having your OC bond with another person, build a relationship, a life with them, only to have that snatched away. It's a big kick in the head and last I checked, kicks in the head hurt. A lot. I get that not everyone cares about romance content in RPGs, but those of us who do care, would rather not lose one of the things that made life in Night City not such so bad.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

If they can do it in The Witcher why not in Cyberpunk.

Beside, I could argue that The Witcher 3 is simply not Cyberpunk.
I mean in The Witcher 4, you could expect The Witcher 3 kind of endings, but in CP(2) - Orion, great chances that you could expect Cyberpunk 2077 kind of endings.

 

[Alekzie]

Like I said, it's not V losing everything.

It seems the only thing they lose is their Love Interest and cybeware.

People seem overly focused on the romances, TBH.

Alright, like @LadyMiseryAli said, not everyone cares the romances, and that's true. One of my best friends played the game and didn't romance anyone cause he only cared about the story and being besties with Johnny. Some people don't put the same investment in the main characters' relationships (whether they're friendships or romances) and that's fine. For people like him, losing contact with your friends like that means nothing, but you gotta admit if there's so many people complaining about the ending (despite praising the rest of the DLC) is because people do feel like they lost too much. Not everything, but more than they should.
I wouldn't have minded not being the best merc, all the gigs, all the fame and the cyberware, but at least keeping our connections. Cause in the end, that excuse of 'V was in coma for this long and they didn't even bother to be completely honest with the friends/lover' is a decision CDPR took for us. Wouldn't have been hard to put two endings where V doesn't tell them and where they do, and it would be a different story.
It's the fact that CDPR doesn't give us a choice while I'm sure a good portion of the players would have chosen to be honest that bothers me. And it's the fact that we already had so many bad endings or endings where V will die, yet in the only ending where they live they take human connections from us. It's not 'taking everything' like you said, but for a game with such a deep story and that put so much focus on strengthening bonds with others, it feels like they just take it away from us for the sake of drama.

 

[Karen5164]

The phantom liberty endings suck !!!! No disrespect but was kinda hoping V could go off and live this happy life with Panam at the end!!! Something positive out of all of his bad luck! I have not even finished the game! I came across these endings that are so terrible I don’t want to play it anymore!!

 

[Notserious80]

Havent seen the new endings and i wont since i choose to do thing so i dont get a new ending, cant say im suprised about them tho. Gotten used to the depressing endings in this game i think Yea life sucks then you die, live with it!

 

[Guest 4412420]

Like I said, it's not V losing everything.

It seems the only thing they lose is their Love Interest and cybeware.

People seem overly focused on the romances, TBH.

I don't know. It kind of does sound like V loses pretty much everything. Whatever reputation they earned as a mercenary means very little because they can't go back to that life now. They have no home, might not even have the eddies.

With the 2.0 cyberware changes and removal of armor mods as well as this ending making a big deal about V being unable to use cyberware anymore, it seems like CDPR wants V to rely on chrome more in terms of gameplay but also narrative. They're unable to defend themself from one lowly punk without their implants.

And besides, it's not just losing the love interest but almost every meaningful connection V makes. Their entire life was uprooted and having someone there for them would have made dealing with such a massive change easier, but there's no one left. Misty is not only no longer in Night City but moving even farther away and Vik has the emotional capacity of a socially awkward dad.

Beside, I could argue that The Witcher 3 is simply not Cyberpunk.

I think what they meant is that The Witcher universe is no less dark than Cyberpunk's. Prejudice and violence is rampant, instead of megacorps and corrupt governments you have scheming sorcereresses and often inept rulers, yet Geralt can quite easily get his happily ever after in a pictueresque vineyeard with his lady love and possibly his adopted daughter visiting as often as she can.

 

[LeKill3rFou]

I think what they meant is that The Witcher universe is no less dark than Cyberpunk's. Prejudice and violence is rampant, instead of megacorps and corrupt governments you have scheming sorcereresses and often inept rulers, yet Geralt can quite easily get his happily ever after in a pictueresque vineyeard with his lady love and possibly his adopted daughter visiting as often as she can.

I didn't say TW world is less darker than Cyberpunk, it is pretty dark if not as much. But well, it's subjective, but stories aren't as much as in Cyberpunk (let's "bad" endings are the exception in TW and "good" are exception in Cyberpunk). Beside, Geralt is the quite "hero who save the day" (not really, but still), while V is not.

So saying "they did it in TW3 so why not in Cyberpunk", doesn't make sense (to me, at least).

On side note, I'm surprised that people are "surprised" that PL endings are the same kind of the base game ending. I guess, it was to expect... At least, I expected it and I'll expect the same for the sequel (Orion).

 

[Audi82]

It's a kick in the teeth for no logical reason.

simply, CDP

 

[Cali66]

It was just a waste of $30 on a disappointment. We only get one expansion and
that was it, It's like a middle finger to the games fanbase. For a grand faunally
we get just another bad ending.

 

[Ashii]

With the 2.0 cyberware changes and removal of armor mods as well as this ending making a big deal about V being unable to use cyberware anymore, it seems like CDPR wants V to rely on chrome more in terms of gameplay but also narrative. They're unable to defend themself from one lowly punk without their implants.

I'll just drop in and say that I absolutely hate that change. All my playthroughs before 2.0 were without cyberware. The only thing I used was a cyberdeck for netrunning, everything else? I skipped it. And apparently CDPR didn't care for folks who just want to roleplay as V without cyberware.

My V didn't need any chrome to know how to fight and it was great for lots of roleplay reasons. And in the new ending they really made her like she can't even lift a finger without chrome, let alone defend herself? Seriously? You don't need metal parts to know self defence. Hell, in corpo intro she dropped two guys when she exited AV and she didn't have any chrome there.

That forced narration is just plain bad. I was fine with "losing chrome" she didn't even have in my game to begin with, but all her contacts and loved ones? That's just forced drama for the sake of having drama. And truth be told, this new ending feels like pettines from writers. Like we're being punished, because we asked for an ending where V is cured.

BioWare actually did a very similar thing in Mass Effect 3. People kept saying "I wish I could shoot this starbrat" in the face. And BioWare added that option. But if you do shoot him, everyone dies, literally. So, congratz, CDPR. You're as petty as BioWare all those years ago.

 

[Feline_Witcher_]

BioWare actually did a very similar thing in Mass Effect 3. People kept saying "I wish I could shoot this starbrat" in the face. And BioWare added that option. But if you do shoot him, everyone dies, literally. So, congratz, CDPR. You're as petty as BioWare all those years ago.

It's too bad we haven't had a decent number of good games before reaching the DA2/ME3 phase, at least Bioware spent several years making some great titles before that happened. Here, it's almost as if they had released ME3/DA2 right after KOTOR.

 

[Guest 4412420]

I'll just drop in and say that I absolutely hate that change. All my playthroughs before 2.0 were without cyberware. The only thing I used was a cyberdeck for netrunning, everything else? I skipped it. And apparently CDPR didn't care for folks who just want to roleplay as V without cyberware.

Yeah, I also used next to no cyberware prior 2.0 patch. The mandatory ones from Vik and reinforced tendons for the double jump. Got by perfectly fine with armor mods and a high body stat. It was fun to play a character who navigates the dangers of Night City purely with street smarts (at least mine did because I went with a street kid lifepath) and knowing how to use guns.

Like we're being punished, because we asked for an ending where V is cured.

I feel like they're struggling to balance bittersweet elements in most of the endings. They end up feeling either more bitter or in one case more sweet. At least in my opinion, maybe it worked for other people.

Edit: I'd like to add that I'm not really upset over this (Kerry and River never getting their romances improved despite people asking and hoping for nearly three years was far more disappointing to me personally) and a couple of references to one mysterious man left me somewhat more hopeful that V's situation in other endings is far from hopeless.

 

[CTPhipps]

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.

I mean, Engram Johnny Silverhand is absolutely still a person. He's a clone of Johnny but he has his own thoughts, feelings, and desires.

Same as Engram V.

If you believe Alt Cunningham is the same person as Alt or a new person, they're still both people who deserve to live.

Post automatically merged: Oct 1, 2023

I feel like the PHANTOM LIBERRTY endings could have been improved a couple of ways.

Here's a few minor tweaks:

* Allow Panam to speak with V and admit she's been in a dark place for the past two years but wants to speak with V. Make her very sad but hopeful.

* Give the option to go off with Misty and live in Poland together. Maybe even hint at a romance (it's been two years). V will start off their new life away from Night City and the FIA with a person who loves them, platonically or otherwise.

* If you save her, Have Songbird show up in Afterlife with Mr. Blue Eyes, just sitting there in the "Never Fade Away" ending.

If feel these would have made the endings a lot better.

 

[Prae255]

Here's my unicorn ending:

Save Songbird, send her to the moon. Follow the Devil ending but just as they activate soulkiller, a very familiar red-tinted hack executes. Computers spark, red errors flicker on the screen and neural ports go up in flames.
Turns out there's a certain someone on the moon that also has a bone to pick with Arasaka and had plenty of time to prepare for the right opportunity.

Your engrammatic data gets hijacked before it can be added to Mikoshi, gets transferred and is put on an advanced biochip. Unlike the damaged biochip, this one is optimized with some help of Alt, allowing smooth operation without corrupting the carrier's mind.
Now you're both V and Songbird, a highly skilled merc with the powers of a master netrunner... At least, until they can find a body to put your engram in.
On the other side, Johnny wakes up in V's body and goes on a rampage, before hijacking a shuttle towards Earth.

So there we go, V and Songbird alongside Lucy ( and Johnny somewhere on Earth making noise ) versus Arasaka and the NUSA.
We also assume Lucy had a close eye on things and informed your chooms about the situation on a secure line so that CDPR's narrative Burn All Bridges-theme doesn't trigger.

Happy ending.
To be continued.
More chaos and cyberpunk than CDPR/anyone can handle.


Oh yeah, gameplay wise, you're able to 'switch' minds on the fly and have either Songbird or V appear as support holograms instead of Johnny.
Each personality comes with their own strengths and weaknesses.
And when you're at odds with one another, your 'other' mind can or will make a choice for you.
You know, can't have it all be rainbows, sunshine and unicorn farts. Gotta have some conflict in the game.
Maybe make it a balancing act where if you piss off either one personality, it'll hinder progression or put you on an entirely different path.