Nope. Just my honest opinion.
The other endings make my cry and not because they are touching.
The other endings make my cry and not because they are touching.
Maybe not the right thread then for people sharing their favorites.
To the thread topic: All Along the Watchtower.
The two most important endings are the Sun and the Star, because they ultimately represent what Dex asked us in the beginning - blaze of glory or the quiet life. The whole motif of the necklace and what V does with it is super important.
I suppose everyone would have some kind of bias going into this question, but my answer would be the Star ending. Overall, a really feel good ending that has a sense of finality to it. Although, I think that ending is favored towards a lesbian female V and a straight male V (if you had an LI in the course of the story).
The two most important endings are the Sun and the Star, because they ultimately represent what Dex asked us in the beginning - blaze of glory or the quiet life. The whole motif of the necklace and what V does with it is super important.
I suppose everyone would have some kind of bias going into this question, but my answer would be the Star ending. Overall, a really feel good ending that has a sense of finality to it. Although, I think that ending is favored towards a lesbian female V and a straight male V (if you had an LI in the course of the story).
But the Start ending is not about living a quiet life. It's about finding a family, forging a bound with them through difficulties and combat, going to hell and back for them and knowing they would do the same for you. Not a blaze of glory, but it's not a quiet life too.
And remember that V becomes a Night City legend in the Nomad ending too.
The surface level interpretation is that this whole event is a blaze of glory, but keep in mind Act 3 starts from a position where V has two options - wither away and die now or try to get to Mikoshi and live.
What matters is what you choose to do in the events that follow. Thematically, V has to decide what is important to them - their status as a legend in the annals of Nightcity history (continuing down the path of glory), or sacrificing that in the prospect of a hopeful future surrounded by family.
It's the same dilemma Thetis presented to Achilles. If you continue off to Troy you will live on in history as a great warrior at the cost of your life. However, if you stay and choose a quieter life (relatively), you will live a full life albeit at the cost of being remembered by history.
The symbolism doesn't work that well if V isn't particularly close with the Aldecaldos though, especially if they don't romance Panam or Judy. NC can be V's home. In a "this is a shitty city, but at least it's my shitty city" way.
But V does not need to sacrifice their status as a Legend, because in both the Sun and the Star ending V acquires the status of Night City Legend (the V Reputation meter reaches 100% in both ending).
It's communicated more effectively by what they do with the bullet necklace. The romance arcs are inconsequential since the Star ending has V formally inducted into the Aldecaldos.
I'm not really analyzing this in a literal sense. More so the underlying subtext that the writers were obviously trying to communicate. If you want to continue looking at this literally than you need to also factor in the Aldecaldos and their contribution. They sacrificed just as much and held the line so you could make it to the city center.
Put it this way, Nightcity will remember V and the Aldecaldos attacking Arasaka. The world will remember V doing mission impossible in the crystal palace.
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interesting question
but i dont think anything is going to be canon
I don't mean the symbolism of the ending itself, getting rid of the necklace showed V's willingness to let go of the past and start a new life quite clearly. I was talking about the recurring theme throughout the game (quiet life surrounded by loved ones vs glory and power) - you can help Panam, care about Saul and Mitch and unlock the ending without coming even close to considering the Aldecaldos your family. Especially when other characters like Vic, Misty, Kerry and River are still in the city and Jackie and Johnny are gone.
i think its not that simple here, because the hopeful future requires sending others to their certain death to save yourself
I think the title “Legend of NC” requires from you to do something great, memorable. Destroying Arasaka (or at least hard damaging them), defeating Adam Smasher, getting your ultimate street cred and something else are indicators of being a Legend. So after all these actions I don’t see any obligations for V including staying and living only in NC.
He is free to live wherever he wants and whoever he wants. In this case Star ending is very logical decision. He completed mission by destroying Arasaka and deleting chip from his head, now he must find cure with his family and LI (Panam/Judy).
He is free to live wherever he wants and whoever he wants. In this case Star ending is very logical decision. He completed mission by destroying Arasaka and deleting chip from his head, now he must find cure with his family and LI (Panam/Judy).
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the devil ending can be interpreted as quiet life as well
and yes, the star really wholesome with judy
Can you elaborate a bit? Are you speaking on this from a personal level, that is, how you felt about Panam and the gang, or is this your V's perspective? My entire context is that V leaves with the Aldecaldos in the Star ending - there isn't much of a choice here. You only get this ending if you call Panam. Which is why it ties to leaving Nightcity quietly (if you can call driving a tank through a smuggler's tunnel quiet), versus remaining in the city and going out with a bang in space.
V helped the members out quite a bit from the outside. Saul makes it clear that the family would go out of their way to help even when V says it's not too late to say no. A lot of them make selfless decisions to save the family and not just V (Mitch, Bobby and Saul).
I meant that from V's point of view. You can pick certain dialogue options when talking to Judy (when she tells V she wants to leave NC) and Panam (when she invites V to join the Aldecaldos) that make it clear that V considers Night City their home and the nomad life isn't for them, leaving out the fact that V can romance Kerry or River. This potentially leaves V with stronger meaningful connections in NC than outside of it.
In these cases the association:
- Panam ending -> choosing family and "going home"
- Legend ending -> choosing glory to the detriment of meaningful relationship
is not as clear cut compared to a V that wants out of NC and romances Panam or Judy.
Yeah, I noticed this imbalance as well. The legend ending is slightly better if you romanced Kerry or River since they stay.
You're quite correct, CDPR even places a shard called "The odyssey" at some of the ending locations.
If you choose the Arasaka ending you actually get to read the Odyssey on a shard, confirming that CDPR took inspiration from Homer for a lot of the story elements.