I wanted to post this to voice my thoughts on the story of Cyberpunk 2077, having completed the main storyline, as its ending has left me with a feeling perfectly described as “Lack of Satisfaction, Plenty of Depression.”
Disclaimers before reading:
- First, I will begin with my major concerns which I feel go beyond the realm of opinion to certain degrees.
- I will talk about the depressive conclusion to the story, then the lack of satisfaction after.
- Note that I played through the game with the sole intention (narratively speaking) of surviving the biochip. Thus, the choice of becoming an immortalized engram is out of the question - equally as bad as death (you still die, more on that later).
- Later on, my thoughts will become more opinionated.
- The eventual conclusion, and perhaps some future options to consider.
- NO TOXICITY! If this thread gains traction, let’s not ruin it by having it locked by the moderators. Keep constructive, toxicity-free discussion flowing!
(TLDR later, though I advise detail for understanding.)
[Firstly, the dejection and lack of satisfaction.]
This character you spend multiple hours pouring into, having formed bonds with various NPCs (platonic and romantic, more on this later), even going beyond to become the best Night City has ever seen... dies from the Cyberpunk equivalent of cancer. No matter what, V dies - sooner than you may think, too.
Discussions I’ve seen state how you have the choice of multiple endings which all end in the following...
- Dying before Mikoshi,
- Dying at Mikoshi,
- Dying 6 months after Mikoshi.
Not to mention all of these outcomes are spread across many - if not all - endings...
During the raid at Mikoshi, V is struck with the Soulkiller. In the event you have forgotten, Soulkiller kills the host and creates an engram - a copy. In case you glossed over that, let me rephrase it:
The original V is dead, completely gone. The V that comes back is a copy. Not to mention,
this copy is also dying. So how is this bad?
Agency and Choice. V’s death
entirely undoes any initiative taken towards survival. With the intention to survive the Biochip, all that V has striven to achieve has been made irrelevant and pointless - you are doomed to die regardless of your choice. All of this takes away agency and satisfaction, and in both of their wakes come dejection.
With the depressive conclusion, this is where things become opinionated, though still hold true in regards to the agency and narration.
[Now for Opinions.]
Taking a narrative perspective regarding relationships, let’s use Judy as an example, whom my character proceeded to romance. Though I will admit there is a tinge of personal bitterness here (you will soon understand why), V’s story and achievements are unwritten at Mikoshi, which I believe to be more important to emphasise than my own feelings on the matter.
Declaring their feelings for each other, suddenly things start to blossom between our two lovebirds - until...
- With the original V dead, that choice is made null. She will never meet her romance again.
- With the engram taking its place in V’s body (again, not the original V), Fake-V is dying in this relationship. No happy endings there.
- Six months later, that’s another death which not only applies to Judy, but also to other romance options. (Remember how not only the loss of Eve is on Judy’s conscience, but also the suffered backlash from Clouds? Yikes...)
[TL;DR & Conclusion (No, really, the detail above explains it much better.)]
All this only piles on to the depressive endings, which largely make me unwilling to return to the game for a second round. So how can this be changed? (Do also note the addendums below.)
I firmly believe the game would have benefited more from a
timed biochip mechanic rather than static, scripted increases in percentage. The faster V acts, the less damaged the body, thus giving way to a better ending for our protagonist. I also believe the timed mechanic should function from a daily increase. In short: I believe the prospect of a full survival should be offered.
This fixes one problem, but another still remains: V dies regardless. Remember Soulkiller?
This is where I believe DLC can come into play, where the possibilities of evading the Soulkiller entirely are explored for V. How exactly this could be explored, I’m unsure. Perhaps the possibility of ousting the biochip’s damage in the same way the biochip began ousting our own identity? Nanites to eat away at Johnny’s damage after the biochip removal, the same way his nanites began to eat away at V’s brain? We know Arasaka has other areas they operate in, as is evident by Hanako’s questline.
I strongly believe the endings that are present in the game should remain present, though I oppose the idea of the only good ending being 6 months to live. Through future endeavours, grit & determination from player action, I believe the game’s story can and should have a brighter outcome for our V - and keeping the original V alive instead of Fake-V. As of now, it’s too depressive for a positive outlook as the prospect of survival is ultimately irrelevant, which leaves a longing bitterness in gameplay.
Edit:
[Addendums & Highlights]
Bringing to light some posts I feel are worth considering. (Follow the links for full responses.)
My response to a post in another forum...
Posts by MeinChurro and casbynyss...
A post by Argast, along with my response...
A post by Animard...
