The initial story was about V and Jackie making it big [Spoilers]

[animalfather]

Johnny Silverhand was pronounced dead in 2076, died of old age? So when did it become the Johnny show and why? The story of V becoming rich and famous and taking over Night City is far more interesting and exciting than the game we got about dying which is just blah and does a very poor job of showing the full breath of the Cyberpunk world. It's a very narrow story told, which is not very good at all.

 

[Silariell]

Johnny Silverhand was pronounced dead in 2076, died of old age?

Is that right? I don't think that's right.

Spoiler: Johnny lore mixup spoiler

Didn't he die back in 2023 during his raid on Arasaka, becoming one of the first victims of Soulkiller? With him dying being the whole, sole reason Adam Smasher is even a relevant character? Also why you can get his gun from some random dude in a later side-quest with Rogue.

The story of V becoming rich and famous and taking over Night City is far more interesting and exciting than the game we got

Absolutely agreed.

 

[moonknightgog]

So when did it become the Johnny show and why?

When they hired Keanu Reeves. The rumor was that Keanu Reeves became very involved with the project, so the story was scrapped and reworked for the most part. It shows, many of the things in the game feel very unused. Like the gangs, I think they might have been more important and involved in the early build.

As for "why", well, I guess marketing. Keanu Reeves somehow became very "cool" and would've gave the game way more visibility and hype.

 

[gallantchar]

That whole “six month montage” should have been Acts 1 & 2 in my opinion.

Prologue introduces you to Jackie I guess, and Acts 1&2 are you guys making it big, then continue from there.

 

[Kikinho]

Is that right? I don't think that's right.

Spoiler: Johnny lore mixup spoiler

Didn't he die back in 2023 during his raid on Arasaka, becoming one of the first victims of Soulkiller? With him dying being the whole, sole reason Adam Smasher is even a relevant character? Also why you can get his gun from some random dude in a later side-quest with Rogue.

Absolutely agreed.

He is refering to a radio news in the 2018 demo. There at V's apartment the news caster tells us that it's been a year since Jhonny passed away and in his honor we shall play one of his song.

 

[Silariell]

He is refering to a radio news in the 2018 demo. There at V's apartment the news caster tells us that it's been a year since Jhonny passed away and in his honor we shall play one of his song.

But that's not right either,

Spoiler: more johnny lore

Johnny Silverhand is a character from Cyberpunk 2020 tabletop and the whole point of his arc is that he dies for what he beleives in, all the way back in 2020s. They may have invented new lore where he survives for the pre-keanu CP77 but I think it's good that they scrapped it to keep things consistent between the game and the tabletop.

Now, there is a caveat: It's never outright stated that he dies, but it's heavily implied. No one had heard anything of him since, and the 'current' game lore we have on him fits nicely into why compared to the little throw-away line in the trailer.

 

[bureizu]

Only thing I took away from the 2018 gameplay trailer is that V slept on the bed properly and not like a weirdo. And that I still really want the 2018 Chippin In song because that sounds so damn good and they never released that version of it.

Jokes aside they probably had a different story in 2018, evidenced by lack of lifepaths. Which are lacking in the full game anyways.

 

[gallantchar]

Only thing I took away from the 2018 gameplay trailer is that V slept on the bed properly and not like a weirdo.

Jokes aside they probably had a different story in 2018, evidenced by lack of lifepaths. Which are lacking in the full game anyways.

How I understand it is the framework for that same story is there, just handwaved away in a montage.

 

[Rawls]

Johnny Silverhand was pronounced dead in 2076, died of old age?

No they didn't decide to unify the timelines with R Talsorian officially until later is my understanding.

So when did it become the Johnny show and why?

They said over a year ago that Johnny Silverhand had the second most lines in the game. And showed Jackie's fate in the 2019 trailer.

The story of V becoming rich and famous and taking over Night City is far more interesting and exciting than the game we got about dying which is just blah and does a very poor job of showing the full breath of the Cyberpunk world.

Nah they said way back in 2018 when that trailer dropped that the story was quite noir. Check here around around 4 minutes and 30 seconds -

Noir is inconsistent with a "make it big" sort of storyline. What we got is what they were intending.

 

[Silariell]

"RPG first
FPS second"

Boy that didn't age well...

 

[gallantchar]

No they didn't decide to unify the timelines with R Talsorian officially until later is my understanding.

They said over a year ago that Johnny Silverhand had the second most lines in the game. And showed Jackie's fate in the 2019 trailer.

Nah they said way back in 2018 when that trailer dropped that the story was quite noir. Check here around around 4 minutes and 30 seconds -

Noir is inconsistent with a "make it big" sort of storyline. What we got is what they were intending.

That is absolutely fair—I kinda stand with the argument brought in another thread about the Jackie montage. I’d prefer that to have been actually shown, not told. Organically growing to be friends with Jackie, and I think that would honestly make his fate a lot more meaningful in the end—maybe in a future update, they’ll expand on that, and maybe have some kind of outcome where he doesn’t die.

Post automatically merged: Dec 18, 2020

"RPG first
FPS second"

Boy that didn't age well...

That has probably been the hardest pill to swallow. That’s what I was the most excited for—the deep RPG that I was sold on.

Somewhere down the line that changed, though.

 

[Rawls]

Boy that didn't age well...

Aged fine for me.

 

[bureizu]

You never really get to know Jackie before he dies which kind of undermines his death. He's likable but kind of hard to feel bad for the death of a character you barely see.

 

[gallantchar]

You never really get to know Jackie before he dies which kind of undermines his death. He's likable but kind of hard to feel bad for the death of a character you barely see.

It’s like if I were to give you a character, and basically show you a five minute video of you two being chums, and then kill him off.

Compare that to a good chunk of the game spending time with him, getting to know him and then killing him off, instead of the five minute video.

Which would hit harder?

 

[oldawg5150]

I haven't been this disappointed by game endings since Mass Effect 3. What's the point of replaying it, so I can see another way my character dies or otherwise ceases to exist? What an utter waste. I was actually intrigued by the Johnny Silverhand aspect, but even that could have been done better. How about...get the shard out half way through the game, but he still comes up as an AI that wants revenge against the corps? I just never felt like I had freedom...."Uhm...I'm sick...coughing up blood...dying....but I should really take this side job to make some money?" It's like they forgot how to write.

 

[Ramzah]

It’s like if I were to give you a character, and basically show you a five minute video of you two being chums, and then kill him off.

Compare that to a good chunk of the game spending time with him, getting to know him and then killing him off, instead of the five minute video.

Which would hit harder?

Depends, imo i think making 2 chapters worth of bonding would have diluted the storytelling to a point where either i know what's coming, or i don't care anymore.
Might i remind you that UP intro is just under 5 minutes and it's one of the best bonding scenes ever?

 

[animalfather]

Is that right? I don't think that's right.

Spoiler: Johnny lore mixup spoiler

Didn't he die back in 2023 during his raid on Arasaka, becoming one of the first victims of Soulkiller? With him dying being the whole, sole reason Adam Smasher is even a relevant character? Also why you can get his gun from some random dude in a later side-quest with Rogue.

Absolutely agreed.

in the 2018 gameplay trailer the radio says he died a year ago.

timestamped it for you

 

[gallantchar]

Depends, imo i think making 2 chapters worth of bonding would have diluted the storytelling to a point where either i know what's coming, or i don't care anymore.
Might i remind you that UP intro is just under 5 minutes and it's one of the best bonding scenes ever?

Honestly you don’t have to have those two acts focused on Jackie, just have it WITH Jackie, focused on doing jobs, working your way up to the big dogs (like Dexter) and THEN we move on to killing him off.

Like, after prologue, Act 1 is where you’re kinda rocky with him, turning into a casual friendship. Act 2 ends with you being his best bud. In that time, you can have plot points and maybe get to know the different gangs, have run ins, maybe do a job or two in each act that bumps up your street cred or what have you (not the score, but just narratively).

 

[animalfather]

Nah they said way back in 2018 when that trailer dropped that the story was quite noir. Check here around around 4 minutes and 30 seconds -

Noir is inconsistent with a "make it big" sort of storyline. What we got is what they were intending.

well that doesn't make the game good, clearly. If the story was about V and Jackie making it big starting as small time crooks and moving up the ladder interacting with the gangs then with the corps is a far better story than what we got.

 

[Rawls]

well that doesn't make the game good, clearly. If the story was about V and Jackie making it big starting as small time crooks and moving up the ladder interacting with the gangs then with the corps is a far better story than what we got.

But you said that story of V and Jackie is what it was orginially intended to be and then they changed it. That is incorrect.