[Spoiler Alert] About the endings

[I_Willenbrock_I]

Thank you for the reply.

I never stated she will be successful anywhere. But I trust Panam the most, because she's probably the only one that doesn't want to fuck you over (non-physical) or misuse you in any way other than asking for help.
I am just assuming, but why do you believe in the Arasaka Corp, which yey they are the inventors of the relic, are to not be trusted and are also not completely successful with the relic itself.
You as V, were a very rare, highly compatible host for the relic. As Yorinobu was for his father.
Alt Cunningham is also noth a GODAI, since she also do make mistakes, which is visible in her not regarding the physical body of V into account.

I wonder why you so much undersell the Nomads so much? If you only know the game, then yes, you might not be able to tell that they are a really powerful faction with indeed powerful allies and knowledge that might compete with the MegaCorps.
It also isn't said, that the cure will be in Arizona nor that the solution is there. But she knows people, that might know people and so on.

So there you are, of course you can go/trust with the options of Alt and Arasaka (which have a high possibility of scheming thing behind your back) or you can go with Panam/Nomads who, despite the losses they made on the way, are like a family to you.

Even if a group would fuck me over or extort me to get a cure. It's the word of cyberpunk. Not getting fucked over is the once in a lifetime occasion.

Let them heal me in exchange for my craft. I am a mercenary and if a cure is my payment, I will do it.

 

[fridgeband]

I'm dying

Well now the Cyberpunk2077 endings can't get you! (just kidding friend!)

 

[CTPhipps]

What pathos?

You keep bringing up pathos... I don't see.

If you choose that ending, I assume you want your character to give their life for a true friend you made. A chance to make up for failing to save Jackie.

 

[Barsenthor]

So you're ignoring authorial intent because....why?



That the game says its real.

For me there are three things that makes those cards useless as a plot device
1. Spirituality was never established in this lore, and game especially. There is Buddhism buts that’s that Misty is not o Buddhist
2. Tarot cards are empty. It was never said what makes those cards special why there are telling the futur. Cosmic energy? FSM? You don’t know, no one knows. It was never explained and even in real world if asked why those cards could tell the future it would rise far too many eyebrows
3. Making Misty trustworthy character is also making untrustworthy every other character.
Why would you belive Alt next time you met with her? Hanako? Vic? Hellman? Any other character?

Those cards are making future storytelling difficult. They where not intended to be anything more then an Easter egg.
Even if they will be made a thing since salvage operation will on it’s why they will be a very bad plot device that will be braking the plot.

 

[I_Willenbrock_I]

Alt did create an engram of V with Soulkiller... what she needs now is an intact DNA. If only we could get the blood sample of V from BEFORE the heist, or maybe just the original genetic data from a data storage and then his body would be cloned, then insert the engram and boom, we have healthy V.

We just need 700000 credits per weak and can go to the company who is fixing spinal chords with nanobots...

 

[Simuxas]

It would sadly ruin a lot of the pathos of those who actually think V sacrificing their life for Johnny is more than a Game Over.

If you dont wanna play after the story go for endings where V possibly leaves or dies. For people who wanna play, give ending that V lives, so each could forge their story for V.

 

[arcsirc]

I'm noticing people are getting fixated on the main story endings the game currently offers.

What about all the stories never explored during the game, like all the fixers, gangs, delamain, peralez's, etc? I mean, I get that the urgency of finding a cure overshadows all that, but isn't that really the problem here? If it wasn't for that, so much more story about the actual city could've created SOOOOOOO much more content. Instead, we're bickering about will V die in 6 months or is he already dead?

There's a lot of things that the player never gets time to chew on because of both the pacing and the terminus. The arbitrary post game deathcounter (real or not) doesn't add to the narrative, it removes from it.

Without it the ending is still open and nothing is certain, with it the game lacks any catharsis whatsoever.
If it's a cliffhanger, was it necessary? was there nothing to discuss and fire excitement for future content? was the story so mundane that it couldn't stand on its own?
No, regardless of the dlc plans, endings could have been resolved without it. Even if they are 100% commited to continuing the car crash plot of V still being terminally ill it could all have been set up at the start of DLC.
Personally I don't see the writers as being the ones who wanted to put it in, I smell a producer asking for a hook for further content, and when being offered one asking for a bigger less subtle one.
It's been a recurring thing in this thread for the dialogue to sway to the soulkiller dilemma, it's (sort of) off topic but i'm fine with that because it SHOULD have been the focus of the thread, not this baffling 6-months to live plot cancer addendum.

 

[Wenceslaus]

I'm dying

So... will you refund the video?

 

[Subenu]

you say that neither of those are true since we don't know, Therefor it is a cliffhanger, which is just as bad, if not worse.

*sigh*
If you really want me to "choose" from your awesome array of choices you so beautifully put, i'd go with this one I guess.
But the second part of this is just your own opinion.

 

[tRYSIS3]

So... will you refund the video?

Can't refund it if I'm dead

 

[V-time]

A developer commented in his own time in a different forum that he found it hilarious that people were mad at the endings. I know he is a quest designer but no idea how far up the totem pole he is. So it's up to interpretation whether the developers care or not.

Voting with your wallet usually is the only thing that would probably work and if the IP is liked enough it's often not going to make a dent (most EA IPs) because we are probably a vocal minority.

 

[Subenu]

There's a lot of things that the player never gets time to chew on because of both the pacing and the terminus. The arbitrary post game deathcounter (real or not) doesn't add to the narrative, it removes from it.

Without it the ending is still open and nothing is certain, with it the game lacks any catharsis whatsoever.
If it's a cliffhanger, was it necessary? was there nothing to discuss and fire excitement for future content? was the story so mundane that it couldn't stand on its own?
No, regardless of the dlc plans, endings could have been resolved without it. Even if they are 100% commited to continuing the car crash plot of V still being terminally ill it could all have been set up at the start of DLC.
Personally I don't see the writers as being the ones who wanted to put it in, I smell a producer asking for a hook for further content, and when being offered one asking for a bigger less subtle one.
It's been a recurring thing in this thread for the dialogue to sway to the soulkiller dilemma, it's (sort of) off topic but i'm fine with that because it SHOULD have been the focus of the thread, not this baffling 6-months to live plot cancer addendum.

This is something I can get behind.

 

[CTPhipps]

For me there are three things that makes those cards useless as a plot device
1. Spirituality was never established in this lore, and game especially. There is Buddhism buts that’s that Misty is not o Buddhist
2. Tarot cards are empty. It was never said what makes those cards special why there are telling the futur. Cosmic energy? FSM? You don’t know, no one knows. It was never explained and even in real world if asked why those cards could tell the future it would rise far too many eyebrows
3. Making Misty trustworthy character is also making untrustworthy every other character.
Why would you belive Alt next time you met with her? Hanako? Vic? Hellman? Any other character?

Those cards are making future storytelling difficult. They where not intended to be anything more then an Easter egg.
Even if they will be made a thing since salvage operation will on it’s why they will be a very bad plot device that will be braking the plot.

1. Spirituality is an established part of Cyberpunk 2020. The Net is not servers and data farms but actually an alternate dimension that people link with using machinery.
2. Whoever created the Tarot cards in Night City's graffiti know something about your situation. It's not random. They're placed in very specific parts of Night City like RIGHT OVER YOUR APARTMENT.
3. Misty is like one of two trustworthy characters in the entire game. The fact she and like 2 other people (Vic, Jackie's mother) are trustworthy is part of makes the rest of the world feel so shit.

I think the Tarot Cards are just there to make the game feel more weird and esoteric. Adding them adds another layer to the fact you're dying because people often turn to the mystical at such a time. Thus we have the Sinnerman Quest and Buddhist Zen Master quests.

 

[fridgeband]

So you're ignoring authorial intent because....why?



That the game says its real.

Can you prove that the game says it's real?

 

[Eakani]

For me, the game is more leaning towards to we die, than it is to neutral or to our survival.

I don't see how Mistys Tarot stuff could makes me belief otherwise, i mean she is just telling us "We have a good life in the badlands" or "Babe, the world gonna hear about you, show NC who you are" nothing tells me that i found a cure. The other tarot credit scenes are just bad for V.

All the other people you meet, that created and invented the mess in your head (Hellman, Arasaka, Alt), are telling V, you're done.

Arasaka spends millions to find a cure ( sure, they needed you as a test subject, too) just to tell you, there is no cure.
Arasaka also tells you, there is no body for you, because the relic was messing around with your neurons, DNA and such, no tech is there to fix that problem.

Alt is like, your engram is fixed and still fine, but ups, i forgot that you are a human, you body is done, you die.

Don't see any reason for hope.

 

[CTPhipps]

Can you prove that the game says it's real?

Can you give a single bit of evidence that contradicts what the game says? The game has Panam say they will find a crew [the Aldecados are allied with Biotechnia] and it has an out of universe mystical set of stuff that says they succeed. Now that's evidence.

What is your evidence against?

Hopefully you won't go, "No, you're convincing ME" and not act like you're 14 and discussing the best band with the Beatles vs. Stones.

For me, the game is more leaning towards to we die, than it is to neutral or to our survival.

Eh, I don't think of Arasaka's ending as death because you become a Demon Lord over the New Hell that will eventually consume the Earth. I think that's a happy ending for the evil.

Honestly. I'd really love to discuss the endings and their meanings but I feel like the "Does V live or not" question really has been dragging this down for 500 pages.

 

[fridgeband]

I was happy to find this thread after my own experience and see how many others feel the same.

SPOILERS BELOW

For my ending I assaulted the tower with Rogue, letting Johnny take control even though I didn't trust him in my body, because I assumed that would lead to the best ending. Leaving him with Alt, V gets her body back and has 6 months to live. She takes over Rogues job in Afterlife and makes it big in Night City only to make one last assault on the Arasaka Space Station in what likely is a suicide mission.
Please note if you romance the male character of River or Kerry (which already we got less story than anyone romancing a female character) this is the only ending in which you are still in a relationship with them. They won't come if you do the Panam ending which is widely considered the best.
But still, you can't even choose to be truthful with them in the epilogue. You either are an asshole or put off the conversation. You refuse to ask for help. Why? If I could have at least lived my last 6 months to the fullest enjoying the people around me that would have been better than the shit I was handed.
Also if cdpr is going to add in a secret 7th ending that's super hard to beat maybe there should have been payoff for that? It is essentially the same as the Rogue ending only she lives.

I'm tired of the "this is my art" shitty story endings. I'm not reading a book or watching a movie. If I don't have any way to make a difference in V's story why am I given dialogue options at all? Why do I bother to work hard to get better gear and weapons if I fight tooth and nail to die in the end anyway? It all seems like a lie. As big of a lie as Johnny saying he was just gonna talk to Rogue in V's body and then abusing it with booze and sex V didn't consent to. I just wonder why no one in the writers room questioned these endings. Three different ways to get the same two outcomes. Death or later death.

I really can't bring myself to replay the game at all either, which is really sad. I'm just glad to know I'm not alone in this. I don't even mind the bugs. But the ending ruined what was a great game.

A lot of this hit me right in the feels.

Post automatically merged: Jan 2, 2021

Have to agree with this one. Videogames should provide a certain sense of escapism and the endings in CP don't really do that. I mean, sure, you can have all those shades-of-grey endings, but in a game which was advertised as being the revolution of the RPG genre and all that wonderful stuff, there should be story branches that provide the player with a clear happy ending yet your decisions don't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Like another person already said: there's no closure, no catharsis in CP and that sucks.

 

[Simuxas]

Tarot cards could mean something or could mean absoulte crap load of jack shit, just like the ones in character menu. They are so poorly described its ridiculous. Like the endings and quite a lot of other stuff.

Its like when in literature class, teacher would ask you to interpret the poem, what did the writer thought. Maybe he thought of love, maybe of the colour of the sky or maybe he just saw blue drapes and it rhymed, who knows.

The game is half filled with this ambiguousness, if not more, its getting to the point of retardiness. If almost everything is deep and conveluded, how in the fuck do consumers need to realise what the hell are they doing/watching/playing.

 

[fridgeband]

At some point, you have to start with the mocap and voice line recordings.
If the script is not ready at this point, the hired actors might not be available anymore. This is not only a problem with Hollywood stars...

All actors doing voice over will have a tight schedule.

Then they should have made the whole game text based.
If they couldn't handle it, why even go that far? Do they only care about money?
The endings are a sick joke. It's so sad.

 

[Subenu]

All right, we filled 500 pages, I think I'll leave the rest to you guys (and girls, etc).
I still like the endings or don't have a problem with them. If some want to have some kind of good ending, give it to them (lore friendly, pls)

Have fun