1. How do you justify V's kill count in Night City?
2. Do you think it's possible to have a good heart when killing has become second nature to you?
Good questions!
The way I see it, Night City is simply a terrible and bizarre place to be in. The many injustices committed with impunity is insane.
1. First and foremost, each life path I play has a different personality in my mind.
For example, my
street kid female V is more inclined to pull a gun in your face to get her answers and this comes from years of abuse she experienced when growing up in the streets of Heywood.
(somewhat head canon)
My male V
nomad, is less impulsive, so he tries the least violent route possible.
My
corpo female V, is probably the most brutal of the two in some regards, but then also very reserved in others. A lot less predictable than the other two.
All my Vs, have dirt under their nails. That much is surely established in my runs.
So while they're not blood thirsty monsters, they're also not angels in disguise.
However, each have drawn a line of their own they don't intend to cross during their journey, but it can be controversial at times.
The line gets blurred in some situations.
That's when my brain begins to go on overdrive.
"Why did I save a person's life yesterday, but today, I blew a Maelstrom's head clean off ....after he was already dead??"
2. I think it's possible to have a deeply embedded good heart hindered by terrible experiences.
You abide by "The law of the jungle" and Night City being the most dense of jungles out there, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.
The challenge is having to emanate that beautiful ray of light from the heart, right through the thickly weaved brush of darkness that surrounds it.
There are rules I abide by when I play my game.
I don't go senselessly shooting police officers, for example. But if in some situations they don't let up and aggravate my V
(depending on which one I'm playing, so let's say female Street Kid V), she might overreact and cross that drawn line I spoke of earlier, followed closely by a sense of regret.
Did that officer have a family? Have I just orphaned a child?
I'm going to be honest with you, there were times where I felt disgusted in myself irl when playing this game. lmao.
I'd get that immersed in it sometimes.
My V (all three archetypes) defend themselves when threatened (violently if necessary) and they do aid civilians who are clearly being harassed or have their lives threatened.
But it's not because my Vs wants to be heroes per se, but because my Vs all retain just enough humanity inside to react to such injustices.
Sometimes the killing happens from frustration and wanting to rid a small sliver of grime, despite knowing it would only grow back like mold.
In game
(especially during my first run back in March 2024) I remember asking myself, while immersed in my character, what is this city doing to me? Or better yet... is this who I really was all along before the locks came off within my darkest cauldron?
My goodness.
Well, I could go on and on but I'll stop right here. haha
I ****ing love this game. 
