Ah man, thank you, it's been really therapeutic to read through so many people's opinions on this matter! Although this reply is a bit specific (spoilery re: endings/closure if you romance River), I really wanted to get this off my chest and hope y'all don't mind!
Just for context: I think it is a bit shit that there is only one main romance per sexuality, especially considering the endings. I really lucked out in that I really like River and he was the kind of romance I wanted in Night City. But after a questline that I really enjoyed, sex scene that I think was one of the better in the game, agreeing to be in a relationship, and brief (fun) text correspondence, it just kinda died. If you visited, he would have really generic conversation options, and if you phoned he would say (paraphrasing) 'hey babe, I'll call you back soon," and hang up. I naively thought that was the game's way of saying they had no filler content until another quest he would phone you up for. But that quest didn't exist. So, I figured I would look forward to how he would be brought into the ending, and got on with the rest of the game. Eventually people stopped calling and I had no side quests left, so I figured I had burned through all content and went past the point of no return.
Forward to the ending choices >>
It sort of bothered me you could never have a really open conversation with River about the biochip, even though you collapsed in front of Panam and Judy because of it and could chose to explain the situation. But that really, really bothered me on the balcony phonecall when you couldn't tell River what was going on when you called him. He suggests a night cap since you are both awake so late and you can either blatantly lie to him or just vaguely say that you can't. It sucks, it just feels so ingenuine. But I figured, the conversation was otherwise nicely bittersweet, so I would get on and enjoy the ending.
Arasaka: the first option I did. I chose it because I didn't want any of my friends to die for me, but did not think through the implications on Johnny before I went in. I know perhaps that was a bit stupid on my part, but I was too focused on what would be the best way to get the chip out and return to a more stable existence. I actually liked that when you could phone home from space, and tell River what was going on, that he seems to be incredibly determined to find out where exactly in space you were and come find you no matter what. Like, that was actually super sweet. But when I chose the six months option it gave me zero closure regarding what actually happened after that, so I decided to play through another ending.
Panam: I went into this looking for more closure, and didn't consider the implication of leaving Night City afterward. I was just trying out alternative ending options so didn't consider that sure, it would have been a pretty dick move to get the nomads to help you out and then just stay in Night City afterward and let them leave alone after major loses because of you. Obviously, River doesn't want to leave with you because of his family, so you end up having a break up scene that sat really heavy on me. It was super depressing, but his reasoning is honestly logical, and fuck it, I didn't even want to leave night city anyway! So, I figured, what the hell, I would try the Johnny ending, even though I wanted to end things on my own terms and not through him.
Johnny ending: man, this ending would have been the best for my character, if only it didn't skip forward so much in time! It took away the choice of how you wanted to go out and forced your character into doing that one last mission to go out with a bang. I wanted to go visit my friends and romance option again and live out the rest of my life with a priority on them, whilst trying to find a cure. But that just isn't a choice. Instead, the game suggests I have been really distant towards River those last months, which sucked as an ending because I left on the mission feeling like things with him weren't going so well! He says he's going to visit his family and you have the option to say along the lines of 'but i'm dying!' As if his priorities are skewed, even though it's you that are fucking off in literally two minutes. It just feels so unfairly accusing, haha. Even if that mission was actually supposed to lead to your survival, your neglect until that point not being a choice feels unfair.
Initially I was super depressed about the inevitable death. Then I kind of came to terms with it. But it just hasn't sat well with me because of the lack of closure on your own terms. If I have to die, let me chose exactly how.
So, sorry, bit of a rant. But I'm really worried about potential canon because I think options are more or less hopefully for different romance options. Panam's ending sucks for my character's romance with River, but if you romance Panam, it seems much more hopefully to leave with her than her staying in Night City, unhappy. If there had been more than one option per sexuality, it might have been an interesting dilemma to (for example) face inevitable heartbreak with Riven, versus going with an alternate-option who was happy to leave Night City with you, and having to choose your priority in the life you had left, etc.
It just sucks because I absolutely adored my first playthrough until narrative content ran out and I faced the endings, but I cannot bring myself to play it again, knowing what lies ahead. I feel really bad for everyone who rushed the main story to get rid of Johnny and then couldn't find motivation for the side stories
I just keep subtly encouraging my friends to complete all the narrative before they end, because I can almost predict their views of the end and don't want them to regret how quick they did their playthrough!