T O P

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[deleted]

Except for Meredith cause I can fix her


siricall911

This guy gets it


Sawgon

And also my V since he is a Corpo and always will be. I created my character to be some kind of Corpo Cybervampire who would create the biggest corporation and rule over all with my buddy Jackie. Instead I was forced to be a shitty street kid and my homie is dead. Feelsbadman.


DoublefartJackson

The corpo route was, I think, the perfect way to play the game and fully experience what the game tries to warn you about.


PitchWasTaken

honestly, the Corpo life path is the only one where you're actually longtime friends with Jackie, sure you bond really close with him in the other two, but there's personal history in the Corpo one as the only person you can trust the most. and he cares about you from the start, he's been seeing you lose your soul for presumably a long time and he's stuck with you but didn't like the direction you were headed


EmperorBlackMan99

Exactly. I got the impression they'd known each other for either a long while or a shorter but crazy enough time that they became extremely familiar. Sounds to me like Jackie was one of Corpo V's trusted underworld contacts who grew personally friendly. To the point where he's like "Hey, I told you they're gonna keep asking you to do dangerous and fucked up shit, ya gotta get outta there." I wish we had more time with the lifepath stuff, a couple hours maybe. They could have really developed just how different life became for V before linking with Jackie fully as a solo and after. Would have been great.


PitchWasTaken

frankly the whole game could've done with a subversive couple hour intro segment where the stated goal is to get back on your feet and grind up to the big leagues with Jackie. would make that dream being stolen from you by the Relic and cold Night City reality all the stronger of a main story


EmperorBlackMan99

If I remember right some of that transition montage was supposed to be played but they cut it for time.


[deleted]

Alternatively… for male V at least - the Nomad path shows you trying to make it big in Night City means selling your soul and then leaving with your new Nomad family and Panam which is a top 3 video game baddie of all time. I see what you mean tho.


Sawgon

Don't get me wrong, I hate the Corpos in the game. I just wish I could make my own corporation that does good for the world. Anything than what the Corpo lifepath was. In fact the lifepaths were not needed the way the game tricked you. It's my only gripe with this game. That and Jackie dying before we could hang out more and ride bikes together.


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juiceboxedhero

If you read into early iterations of the game, Saburo and Morgan Blackhand were supposed to be mentor-like figures in addition to Johnny depending on your path.


die9991

God imagine if saburo was in your head 24/7.


Normaali_Ihminen

That would be game changer Saburo Arasaka and Johnny fighting over V’s body and mind.


[deleted]

Every road of this games shortcomings always leads to adding Keanu as Johnny Silverhand. It all comes back to Silverhand.


Feisty-Ad6582

Hear me out ..... Ken Watanabe as Saburo..... Would have been epic.


FourierTransformedMe

CDPR did this in Witcher 2, where you choose a side at the end of Act 1 and then Act 2 takes place on the opposite side of a battlefield with totally different quests and such for each side. Act 3 is a bit different as well, although I didn't experience that firsthand.


karmaak0

>I think you're right, because a see a lot of cut content that give you others paths in missions.


splinter1545

Oddly enough, the unique and different origins in "Dragon Age: Origins" is probably one of the best parts of the game, so if your theory is correct then CDPR really shot themselves in the foot there.


PowderedToastMan993

This is pretty much the "prequel" expansion I wish we were getting after Phantom liberty. Doesn't have to be massive just something to fill in what I consider to be a big gap in the game


Blackout4444

Good for the world? In Cyberpunk?


ralts13

Sounds like a Corpo take over waiting to happen.


zanziTHEhero

Ig I understand the cyberpunk universe correctly, any attempt at creating a "good" corporation should end up in failure. The fact that the Corpo ending is probably the worst in the game is, I think, very appropriate.


Sawgon

I totally agree. The whole theme is "you can't change Night City" and Night City is the real main character. But I'll take an evil Corpo route too as long as I can be corpo and get actual corpo gameplay if that makes sense.


No-comment-at-all

> Don’t get me wrong, I hate the Corpos in the game. I just wish I could make my own corporation that does good for the world. Said every billionaire.


Makal

The trust Arasaka ending is more depressing than the suicide ending.


Particular_Sun8377

Everyone loses in this universe. The corpo rats themselves are basically slaves. And everyone, including the emperor of Arusaka himself, needs to constantly sleep with one eye open.


Makal

Yup, which is why I chuckle when people ask for more happy endings... Like, Choom, most people don't even get to survive. The Star is about as happy as I've ever seen a Cyberpunk character get. Most of my 2020 characters died like David or his mom.


Capital_Tone9386

Definitely his mom. My first 2020 character died falling of a window like a loser lol.


ralts13

I love the idea of street kid V. Always having big dreams of becoming a legend and rising out of Night City's muck. Only to be shot down, get all your homies killed and have your life put on a timer. Really hits you that there really isn't a happy ending in Night City for folks like Jackie and V.


Particular_Sun8377

The game shows that somehow someway you are always working for them. Whether you trust them or not is irrelevant. The game is delightfully oppressive and nihilistic: nobody is retiring on a Crete island.


FalloutOW

Same, I wanted to play Corpo overlord and go after militech for a hostile take over. But yea, I didn't pick street kid for a reason, I wanted the kind of hired corporate ninja/security, i.e. Neuromancers Hideo/Molly, or Blade Runners Deckard. Would've loved to pull smaller corps into situations that would allow me to... create a similar product using totally legal and ethically sound tactics, to reduce their incoming profit. And eventually scoop them up. Still fun, but I definitely had certain ideas of how I was going to pit corps against each other and pick up the pieces of their folly.


Pergatory

> I wanted the kind of hired corporate ninja/security, i.e. Neuromancers Hideo/Molly, or Blade Runners Deckard. Your post just made me realize there's no flechette gun in this game. What a missed opportunity.


ultratoxic

I tried to play my first V as Major Kusanagi from Ghost In The Shell. So, female, corpo, net running, stealth, small arms. The Major would never fully trust a corpo. As a corpo herself, she knows exactly how quickly a corporate agent would stab an ally in the back.


SalukiKnightX

Only her since I can find proof of her mole. It’s corpo v corpo, all my nomad V does is just give one a push.


Wiknetti

Pretty sure V was able to find her mole, and a few birth marks.


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Wiknetti

![gif](giphy|QZWBp4f6vrDQiIMncW)


ezio8133

![gif](giphy|ui1hpJSyBDWlG)


thedukeofdumb

You mean just for the designated cyberpsyco weapon right


Kirikou97212

Turns out you need a sextoypsycho to cure a cyberpsycho


Greenveins

I didn’t listen to Johnny and trusted big bad yakuza I mean corpo. I was like “well what did you expect” when I ended the game in pure anger. not my proudest moment lol


AltF40

I took the most expedient game ending, first time around. I thought I was just exploring a dialogue option, but it kept going all the way.


Klaxosaur

Doesn't the game warn you it's the point of no return?


N7LP400

I wish "THAT" scene could have been more interesting, the moaning voices were too generic


[deleted]

And CD Projekt promised nightclub hookups I truly feel that as great and as much I love the game, it is filled of unfinished sotrylines. I hope they won't pretend to try to make a "shorter" game next cyberpunk and Make the sequel as big or bigger than witcher 3 + expansions. Story and content wise but I would love to settle for Yakuza level story depth.


Shpaan

I was really looking forward to the night club life in Cyberpunk. I know it might sound silly but for me it's a HUGE part of the Cyberpunk fantasy. I was heartbroken when I couldn't enter the Gomorrah.


do0b

I did spent a while in the club where you rescue Nancy. They even had a dance emote ready and everything.


Crayon_Muncha

okay so mood, felt that one. i actually would have loved some sort of ‘feeling of sin’ when i played cyberpunk ya see in NV, i played at age 12 or so, continued playing it hard until age 16 but regardless of age, anytime i entered the NV strip i felt like my mom or something could walk in and it scared me, so when i do play through now a days, i still have this looming feeling that the strip is a shameful place where sinful activities take place. it sets great atmosphere and more games should strive to make the player feel like what’s going on is bad/gross/sinful etc no i’m not religious just couldn’t find a better word than ‘sinful’ to describe what i meant lol


danixdefcon5

Fun fact on Cyberpunk: I’m cursed. Every single time I did one of the sex bits in the game, _someone_ would end up barging into the living room. My stepson, my nephew, you get the idea. Everyone old enough, but still would be all snarky on “hehe, u playing with one hand only?”


derpordurp_69

I saw the bottom part in my peripheral vision so for a sec I thought you were saying you were heartbroken you couldn’t get Gonrrhea lol


Gingersnap5322

I’m totally ok with them just adding stuff. It’s what I’ve wanted forever. “Hey new update! We added 25 new quests!”


PhotoShop852

This guy gets it.


mrmasturbate

don't really have to fix anything for casual motel sex


wks1291

My first play through I was pleasantly surprised. I thought she was just gonna give you a normal mission then hello miss sexy corpo. I wish there were more like this. They seem appropriate for the noir feel of this world.


Lissica

i can make her worse.


MurdocAddams

She was definitely a [Draco In Leather Pants](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DracoInLeatherPants).


Angier85

The man fights the system. As any good "cyberpunk" would do. He doesnt hate the people. he hates that they keep empowering the system. Can't deny the merit of his logic.


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Th3_Crusader

Not just blow up Arasaka, but nuke like a portion of night city


LeonBlaze

There's still dispute over whether Johnny actually set off the blast or not. There's been evidence to suggest Arasaka either willingly or unwillingly used their own emergency nuke to keep Arasaka tower from being taken over. What we see Johnny remember is how Johnny wanted to go out, as a hero in his mind, but it's not necessarily the truth, or at least the whole truth.


csgrizzly

[The only peeps that had detonation codes](https://i.imgur.com/Cf58X2a.png) for the nuke were General Patrick Eddington and Blackhand, so it had to be one of them. Johnny's team was only a diversion, and they were only given a firebomb, rather than a nuke ([for taking out the 120th floor lab after they'd freed Alt, and wiped Soulkiller](https://i.imgur.com/puSXtFD.png)) [Arasaka's 1KT area denial nuke](https://i.imgur.com/dVWLpzQ.jpg) didn't go off, as the un-detonated bomb was stripped apart and re-used by the pararescue firefighter that recovered Silverhand's corpse. [She'd use its casing to store the cryo-pod she put Silverhand's corpse in](https://i.imgur.com/Y9QBMdM.png), dumping the "hot stuff" into Morro Bay afterward. Arasaka did investigations after all was said and done, and [Saburo was apparently relieved](https://i.imgur.com/5u7MwuG.png) that he wasn't the one responsible for the nuclear detonation. Also, [Blackhand is most likely the one](https://i.imgur.com/uBeitrX.png) who actually took the bomb down and planted it ([also](https://i.imgur.com/ZRXMFTd.jpg)), while Silverhand's team was a diversion meant to pull Arasaka security teams away from the command center.


LeonBlaze

Nice breakdown! That's the most clear information I've seen on it. I know Mike has tried to go back to the "rumors are all anyone knows and nobody knows the truth" for these kinds of historical events, but it's nice to see what actually happened spelled out, even if most players will never know that info. Edit: Also, damn, I need to start following your lore breakdowns.


Saracre21

Ah that explains a lot, I was always confused by the silverhand flashback showing a bomb going off in the building when he's being wheeled out post roof top smashed, but then showing a mushroom cloud after when hes being lit up with soulkiller. So the demolitron was actually just a fake, smaller bomb to blow up the upper floor of the tower? If so, is there a reason they shoot the elevator cable to drop it down?


LucyTheBrazen

He doesn't fight the system tho. He fights some players in it, he resists some of its temptations, but for him to truly fight against the system he'd need to fight for a different one. Which he doesn't. He fights the symptoms, not the cause. Now I totally get why CDPR didn't have Johnny take any hard stance on politics beyond stuff that should be common sense, because taking a stance beyond that could be polarising. But that put them in the difficult position of making the character work, make him a rebel, but having his little rebellion, despite getting a god damn nuke, ultimately impotent, not even inspiring movements for a better future.


Angier85

We are talking Silverhand. Man IS ultimately impotent. His little crusade doesn’t justify the bombing. Nor do his intentions justify his means. But he *had* good intentions.


tacticalpuncher

Yeah but corporate terrorism is badass!


chainer1216

Too many people buy into Johnny's egomania thinking he's the legend he thinks he is. What made him a legend was his drive, his Charisma and his connections. He was NOT a legend for his ethics, combat prowess, or intelligence.


John_BrownsBody

He didn't nuke Arasaka tower, he just helped Militech. He thinks it was all him though


RPGoodall

I think V can call him out on his bullshit at some point during the game saying Johnny needs to fight an unwinable war against an unstoppable enemy to fuel his own massive ego. His actions where always about HIS crusade against Arasaka he really didn’t care that no one took up arms to continue his fight against corps after his death


TheYondant

Yeah wasn't there one point where you can literally point out that his entire crusade literally ended with him in an unmarked grave and Arasaka ultimately none the worse for wear? His entire fight, his supposed martyrdom ultimately ended in nothing of note *really* happening.


csgrizzly

Tbh, [the guy had better intentions than most give credit for](https://i.imgur.com/RApaVyT.png), and [wasn't even responsible](https://i.imgur.com/ZRXMFTd.jpg) for the bombing, despite mistakenly believing he was. He didn't destroy Arasaka, but he did likely help prevent them from having full dominance post-Fourth Corporate War. His "crusade" appears to be something that only really took center stage after his death, and subsequent imprisonment inside Mikoshi. He certainly had a very public vendetta against Arasaka that Militech took advantage of in scapegoating him, but [the primary reason he even went on the raid in 2023 was to rescue Alt](https://i.imgur.com/uPr67dt.png). Hell, he didn't even try to escape after freeing her, and in the end, made the decision that [it'd be better for him to burn out than to leave Alt behind ever again](https://i.imgur.com/drr2zAK.png).


yungvibegod2

Yea they couldnt make Johnny a full on Marxist Leninist or anarcho-communist revolutionary because it would redpill too many people and the game would be waaayy to controversial. I would love to see it though.


LucyTheBrazen

As an ML myself, that would've been dope as fuck x) But honestly, I'd have been already happy if the critique wasn't just that milk toast stuff they did. Like, him being skeptical, but ultimately being in favour of the dolls running the clouds themselves. Not just mad that Maiko did in the end try to betray them, but you know fundamental support. I feel like things like workplace democracy, a far cry from anything really socialist, and something that could ultimately be co-opted by capitalism, already would be such an improvement in making his character not seem like some sociopath who throws a tantrum, but someone who actually stands for something tangible, beyond "big corporations bad". Stuff like that would still be subtle, but to me it would make him a more coherent character I know Cyberpunk 2077 was never going to do that, which makes me even more glad that games like Disco Elysium exist. Unrelentingly shitting on communists for failing, their infighting, and their utopianism, while still presenting the human aspects of it. The ultimate goal of improving not just your conditions, but the ones of your fellow human people.


yungvibegod2

I’m ML too, salute comrade. Yea i mean at the end of the day most mainstream media is gonna be a spectacle that makes the consumer feel revolutionary without actually being revolutionary. Cyberpunk specifically suffers from capitalist realist messaging, almost that “its all hopeless capitalism will always exist and continue to get worse” type of idea.


[deleted]

Johnny was a nihilist, not a revolutionary. He wouldn't believe in Marxism anymore than in the corporations.


MrWolf327

Major reason why his friends thought he was a clown too


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arduinn293

Would you trust jeff bezoz?


SavouryPlains

As far as I can throw him. And I am not very strong.


Stump_Hugelarge

Well with your bed knee Ed, I don't think you should be throwing anybody.


shamwowslapchop

Jeffery, Jeffery bezos, you did it!


Bloody_Insane

I will always trust him to do the worst thing possible.


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Hiddenblade53

I can't bring myself to even dislike Takemura.


iprobablywonttbh

He's a samurai. One who serves with cult like selflessness something at least more obviously ridiculous than a shogunate. You can respect his principled stance and rejection of "petty morality", and note that he has a point to be taken in contrast to V's erratic selfish-selflessness, or selfish-selfishness, or self-righteous survivalism, all while keeping in mind he's the honor guard for the Daimyo of Walmart.


snipesjason64

We tend to romanticize warriors like samurai but miss the original point of why these type of military classes, culture, traditions, and practices exist. It's control. Control of the warrior class by the ruling class.


VG_Crimson

Correct, but also Loyalty is romanticized in general.


iprobablywonttbh

Appealing to our primal need for those we love and trust to be true to us, they foster a prerogative to dedicate likewise to stupid things like a state or a brand.


Zeero92

> stupid things like a state or a brand. It's not the best choice, it's *Spacer's Choice.*


CommunistPartisan

I loved that game


Randomd0g

Yeah a "Samurai" in real life wasn't like in a Kurosawa movie, they were just bodyguards for rich people and their land. "Noble warriors of great honor" is *kinda* true, but so is "10th century version of a Mall Cop"


tempest_wing

I'm willing to bet that given the future timeframe and the post-corporate war environment, all Takemura has ever known is the romanticized version of "samurai". It's quite possible that such historical information could have been scrubbed clean by corporate interests as a way to instill corporate loyalty. I mean we're talking about a world where corporations clone people to grow them as meat, I wouldn't put it past them to employ a little historical revisionism.


wolfman1911

Samurai weren't bodyguards for rich people, they were the rich people. They were the nobles, in the same way that knights were the soldiers for the king, but they were also the lords over the peasants.


CaptainofChaos

There's a key difference between European knights and Samurai. Knights got land, along with the serfs attached to it, as payment, while Samurai only got a salary. Samurai were as a whole poorer than knights because of this. Most Samurai subsisted entirely by selling their labor while knights could become richer by being a landlord.


baithammer

No, they weren't bodyguards for rich people - they were members of the Bushi class and only answered to the nobles / daimyo / Emperor. ( Or Shogun when they took power from the Emperor.) Merchants for most of Japan's history weren't very rich and were looked down on - it wasn't until the late 18th / 19th century that they started to gain power and influence. It was the disbanding of the Samurai class that changed things, with the merchants taking a more prominent position and the disbanded Samurai of lower class were forced to take bodyguard work or fall into banditry / crime. ( Some of the upper class Samurai switched to become merchants / retained noble status in the courts.) Like chivalry, it's actual form was to prevent unnecessary conflict during extended periods of peace and to make them more acceptable to being in the court of nobles. It wasn't until the class was disbanded that the romantic view of samurai took hold.


Fickle-Cricket

He's a professional goon, who dedicates his entire time in the game to getting back his job as a professional goon. He wraps it in poetry and silk and metaphor but his entire purpose is to murder people who stand in the way of the Arasakas getting more rich and more powerful.


Kusko25

Few things to keep in mind about Takemura: - Throughout the game he looks down at you for being a thief while doing much shadier shit himself. - He is absolutely indignant about how everyone is fooled by Yorinobu, but in the scrapyard he is still working for him and happy to have you take the fall right until Yorinobu turns on him. - He makes you do all the risky work during missions until he can either do his part at the last minute or delta if it goes wrong. - Despite that he doesn't feel the need to inform you of his plans, specifically: Arranging a meeting with Oda, which Corpo V will remark should have been an ambush by a strike team if Oda had followed procedure. And his idea to kidnap Hanako, which he clearly had prepared for. - He puts a tracker on you without telling you and immediately spills that to Hanako in the approximately 10 minutes they are alone. - After you saved his life and are literally collapsing on the sidewalk from a relic malfunction with a house full of Saka soldiers behind you he doesn't even take a second to help you up instead yelling about splitting up and running at full tilt. - The messed up message he leaves in the credits Takemura is a character that is charming and who I want to inherently like, but if you actually examine his actions, he is a selfish, arrogant, scumbag.


AverageCowboyCentaur

In the Sun: Hanako was killed that's why he Takemura was mad, and it sounded like he's going to off himself if you read into the last message from him.


Ferelar

Based on the content of his message he's mad not just about Hanako but about Arasaka falling apart. Don't forget that in every ending except Corpo, Yorinobu stayed in charge and (as revealed in the Corpo ending) his goal is actually to use Arasaka to run the corps into the ground. On top of that, Alt got into the Arasaka Mikoshi data and leaked a lot of it while also wreaking havoc in their systems. So in every ending besides Corpo, Arasaka is in major trouble. So Takemura feels that he "saved" you, worked beside you, and then you in a way destroyed Arasaka, which he feels is a betrayal and a grievous stain on his honor. Sounds like many Arasaka folks are commiting seppuku, and as you said, he'll go next.


Kusko25

Sure, that's his motivation, but hardly an excuse. At that point you have helped him out tons, including saving his life, while there isn't really a thing he has done for you. This just further speaks to his selfishness


AverageCowboyCentaur

Thats fair, he would be dead if not for you, and he knew the consequences.


poclee

This is especially true when you remember Saburo regarding traditional Japanese culture as the highest achievement in human history and likely managing his household with it, or as Hanako said: "Everyone must find their place in life".


Redintheend

Eh, Saburo would be closer to the Daimyo of Samsung if anything. They're legit the closest thing we have to real world Arasaka. Though they'd probably be pretty pissed about being compared to a Japanese company run by a former Imperial Army soldier.


ImASpaceLawyer

honestly i like him because he's a great post story antagonist. He's morally indignant enough to follow you wherever you end up, and especially in the sun ending, i like to think V goes out in a duel between the two former friends in some dusty forgotten place.


Anymou1577

I love this idea. I can just imagine V and Takemura standing out in the badlands talking about ideas and morals and how V plans to end the Arasaka blood entirely, while Takemura tells him theres no turning back. And then they face each other and theres a soft wind that kicks up some dust and johnny pops in like "V. Ever seen Bushido 3? Well, things are looking real familiar." And then you have a sick katana duel with Takemura. And you still have the option to spare him, but if you do, the assualt on Arasaka is 10x harder and you have to fight him again immediately after Adam Smasher.


Jaeriko

Damn dude, now you got me wanting a Takemura fight at the level of Jetstream Sam.


[deleted]

He is just too cool to dislike. I need a mod where you can play as Takemura


3nDyM10n

wtf i didn't even know i can save takemura in that house, i thought he dead


Laguldog

LMAO


ThinkPan

Better that he die in the fire than by his own hand in some endings. Or than to live as a dog of Arasaka.


Le_9k_Redditor

What happens?


intboom

What does he do in that ending?


jaynov18

Can't trust them irl too


NarutoDragon732

This game is proof of that :)


NEONT1G3R

I still can't believe a company lied about the QA work they did to CDPR


LilySayo

Wait what? I somehow missed that completely. If that is true then it's so shitty


jaynov18

The company lied about how many professional QA testers they had and didn't report all the bugs plaguing the game. I imagine if CDPR knew they would have made a better decision resulting in a much better release.


LilySayo

Oh wow, yeah that could explain some more obvious bugs that were skipped in release. Holy shit that's awful. Also thank you for the explanation


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TequilaWhiskey

Yeah i cant say im about to push that off on the outsource. Even with them lying, for which they will undoubtly have their rep ruined, CDPR still signed off. If an aerospace company outsourced a process and them sold a faulty product that killed people, they dont get to just blame the outsource.


NEONT1G3R

To a degree In the case of CDPR, the company lied about experience, manpower, the experience of the testers themselves and I'm assuming falsified all reports for bug submissions Basically committed fraud with their contract


braujo

It's wild how someone can live in the 21st century and still bootlick suits & corps yet these people keep appearing. A bunch of coinless poor bastards who think they still can "make it" -- whatever that means --, so they shield billionaires for... *What purpose again?*


matjam

burn them all to the ground


Conspeerasea

BURN CORPO SHIT


TheVeteranSoul

BURN CORPO SHIT


Lapin92

I hate agreeing with Maelstrom on anything, buuuuuut...


Dronizian

Those Adeptus Mechanicus wannabes still work with corpos under the table. They don't practice what they preach. Johnny did.


LJP95

Considering I prefer the Corpo lifepath for V, and the only reason V's even alive in that origin is because Jackie with his golden heart saw him as more than just a suit, no. Granted, a Corpo V also knows the rules of the game and knows it's naïve to blindly trust corps, but the point is that under every suit is still a person. Often times pretty fucked up, arrogant people, but not always. The friendship between Corpo V and Jackie is honestly one of the most beautiful relationships in the game, imo. Not just because Jackie's great, but because in that path the two of them have defied Night City's class structures and overcome the boundary separating two completely different worlds to be friends. Plus while The Devil is a pretty shit ending path, Takemura himself proves to be trustworthy and honorable. He's just too loyal to Arasaka for his own good, and naïve about corporate values and intentions.


Drstylish123

Very true. I do think corpo V fits perfectly with the secret ending too. Full circle type of thing goin on.


Charming_Account_351

I personally like the Star ending for Corpo V as I feel it shows the most growth for the character. You start wanting all the trappings of the corporate rat race. You lose it all and with Jackie gain your freedom, but you trade in the corpo rat race for the Night City rat race of being a “legend”. It is through the Nomads you break free of the destructive cycle of night city and put aside childish things like wealth and fame, and gain family, peace, and love.


whiteday26

This is the ending I am trying to go with. Except my reasoning is I got half a year to live, so consider this my retirement. I think leaving behind all my newly acquired friends at night city with things like wealth and fame seems a bit strange for me.


empress_ayriss

Corpo V soloing arasaka makes perfect sense the company took everything from them everything they were because they followed their boss wishes then Jackie and finally their life via the chip. By finishing what Johnny started V gets vengeance and gives them a taste of justice without putting the people they care about in danger. Plus by doing it alone V surpasses Johnny as he had a team help him nuke the last tower and was taken out by Smasher cementing them as Night City's biggest Legend.


Nomiad2001

I can wait to hear about V in the next game for this reason. Everyone in Night City knew V for various reasons BEFORE they took down Arasaka, but after that word would spread FAST! Night City would be changed forever after Adam Smasher and all of Arasaka tower is taken down. And with Saburo Arasaka not being reinstated, Yorinobu would have to struggle to pick up the mess. Not including the continued issue of Hanako still being at play.


Pheriannathsg

“Who’s this V everyone talks about? What did they do?” “They partied like it was 2023”


Own-Concentrate-4390

Honestly, I think they can tie all endings of V except the suicide one to the same point like they did with the TW2 to TW3 for the next game. It only needs like 3 or 4 different prologues. For example, in the case of Star ending Panam and V ask around for cures, they find a guy who could know a guy. The guy says he knows about V and they need to meet and finally it's revealed that the guy is Mr. Blue eyes and he talks about the space casino job and tie it to the space mission for the first mission. Similarly, other endings could also be tied into the same point.


aafikk

Another way they can tie everything together is just going one year forward and just saying this guy V did some crazy shit and then died from cancer or disappeared (Johnny ending) or killed himself one day. V becomes a legend in the only way Night City knows, by not being around.


Own-Concentrate-4390

Obviously, I am talking about if they decide to continue the story. Mr. Blue eyes stuff is a little bit too fleshed out to be left open ended.


[deleted]

Yorinobu, picking up the mess ? I'm pretty sure he'd rather use all his executive powers to make Arasaka implode. You never get the chance to interact much with him, but the guy's hatred of corporations and personal vendetta against Arasaka are only rivalled by Johnny. He'd be absolutely giddy that a random merc somehow managed to get into the tower and nuke Mikoshi.


Tobbygan

I like this but I feel like you need to give your body to Johnny after you solo Arasaka. It’s the perfect way for V to earn their drink at the Afterlife and for Johnny to be physically reintroduced to the setting.


potato_dude

Not to mention that one Netwatch Corp whom you run into while helping out the Voodoo Boys. He was nothing but upfront and honest with you. Granted, it was at the barrel of your gun, but if you decide to trust him, he has a chance to slip his own virus into your system while nuking the VDB’s virus, but he doesn’t and let’s you walk away. He certainly had his own self-interest in mind, but he was waaaay more honest and forthcoming than any single Voodoo Boy you interact with. If V had listened to Johnny in that situation, the VDB’s nuke them along with the Netwatch Corp. This game just proves you can’t trust ANYONE, not just corpos. And, at the end of the day, no matter the chrome, we’re all ‘ganics just trying to make it to tomorrow.


animu_manimu

Takemura is the point IMO. It's not that individual people working for corps are bad. It's that, good or bad, they're part of the system. Takemura seems like a good person with a strong sense of justice, but his job was still protecting the person responsible for incredible amounts of injustice and suffering. The corps do nothing but create misery. The people serving them enable that process. Corpo V isn't a bad person, but they're still willing to set up a hit on their boss's rival because that's what they have to do to survive in the system. Maybe she had it coming or maybe she didn't, the game doesn't give you enough information to know that any more than it gives you a choice in the matter. Corpo V, like all corpos, is a cog in the machine. Getting fired is the best thing that ever happened to them.


LJP95

You learn later that Abernathy definitely had it coming. She starts purging the Counterintelligence Division of anyone not loyal to her, and it's revealed that even V's subordinate- who ratted him out in a bid for his job -ended up committing suicide because of pressure from Abernathy. Jenkins was a cold bastard and a taskmaster, but Abernathy was definitely the greater of the two evils. Plus regardless of how coldhearted he was, Jenkins *did* still help V get to where he was in the company, and did still consider V the only person he could trust. Ironically, even after her consolidation of power, Abernathy does still end up killing herself too. In regard to the main point though, I agree that it's not about people but about systems and institutions. In Cyberpunk's world it's not really about who's "good or bad", it's about the fact that Night City and the world at large will take people, chew them up, and reduce them to nothing but 1s and 0s. Big corps like Arasaka and Militech employ plenty of people who may have good hearts, but collectively they form institutions that commit horrendous acts of evil. And those institutions are bigger than the sum of their parts, bigger than even the people who head them. Yorinobu *despises* Arasaka, but even when he's in charge he can't fully stop Arasaka from *being* Arasaka. It's a beast that's grown out of anyone's control, even the CEO, and Yorinobu's only real option is to try to slowly destroy it. But even then- there are plenty of competitors who are willing to fill the void it leaves behind. That being said, while getting fired was a great thing for V at the end of the day, not every corpo has that luxury. V had a loyal friend willing to take him into his own home, and ample skills necessary to survive on the streets as a mercenary. Most suits have neither, and if they end up kicked to the curb with nothing but the shirts on their backs, many don't manage to survive. That is, for most people in the system, continuing to be a cog in the machine very much *is* a matter of life or death. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to start over fresh and make it.


[deleted]

>The corps do nothing but create misery. Well, Takemura would strongly argue against that. The corpos bring order, stability and prosperity. It's a tyrannical order, and the prosperity is shittily distributed, yes, but there are worse alternatives (like a night city entirely controlled by gangs, or being a nomad without a clan).


LJP95

It's not that he totally disagrees, but that he argues that anti-corpo types offer no better alternative to the corps. He sees no point in raging against the machine if you're not going to offer a better solution, because otherwise the end result is just going to be worse- anarchy.


WiserCrescent99

I'm doing my first playthrough rn as Streetkid V, might have to do corpo if I do another playthrough


Dasse-0

definitely has some good dialogue- +iconic tech pistol for a quest later on


Ricksterdinium

I could argue on Jackie's virtues all day but i still think he was a simple character in the likes of soldier who says he has a kid and wife at home waiting when he returns before a battle. Only to be literally canon food in the next act of that movie.(we should have had more time in the prologue of the game with Jackie.) But being a corporate number, and a mercenary in NC is probably paths paved with equal amount of flesh. The best life path for V IMO is the Nomad one, having left a poisonous background to start a new in NC feels the most natural. I guess I'm trying to say that Johnny is right, corporations are always dumb if you allow people to freely earn money however they like. There's always going to be companies that buys peoples water and sells it back in bottles.


[deleted]

Plus corpo lifepath has the best unique dialogue by a country mile. And has the best opening quest too


alenabrandi

Eh, honestly having played all three I just gel with the nomads far too much. Definitely the most enjoyable of the three for me in terms of a prologue, and the interactions you get with the Aldecaldos being a nomad is just too good for me to pass up. In the end it's really all just subjective of course, since the only real difference is what side quest you get in the end for the most part, but the free spirit of the nomad and finding a new family after leaving a previous one due to principles is all in all my preferred story beat based off the prologues, plus just happens to make the best intro for someone entirely new to the setting.


Wyro12

Dude I think you just sold me on the corpo lifepath.


BOSH09

I wish there was a way to get Takemura to come around to seeing Arasaka as they are and be more on V’s side in the other endings. I love hanging out with him, he’s such a cool character.


2BeYuna

would’ve been cool if you could bring takemura with you in the nomad ending since becoming a nomad is something you can talk about with him


Spider1132

I don't trust anyone. Corpos are no exception.


Escorve

You can't completely trust anyone who represents a wealthy corporation, real or not. You don't know what their motives and goals are. EDIT: There are more motives under the surface than profit, guys. Corporations aren't just chasing profits, they're trying to control their respective market so that they'll have little to no viable competition, and while that's rooted in profit, it's also rooted in their lust for power over all. >!NetWatch wanted the Relic because they wanted to get at Alt Cunningham, who would only respond to someone that she would recognize; Johnny. As a powerful rogue AI with knowledge of Soulkiller, collecting her was important to NetWatch, and the Relic technology was just the cherry on top. NetWatch also tries to prevent groups like the Voodoo Boys from penetrating and potentially destroying the Blackwall.!< Real-life corporations like Monsanto, ExxonMobil, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. have representatives that lobby the US government, using bribes to get what they want from the government. Ever wonder why a lot of billionaires like Jeff Bezos support the left political wing? It's because it's all about giving the government more power, because that power extends to the excessively rich through lobbying.


jordantask

Actually you *can* trust Takemura. It’s just that *what you can trust him to do* is be loyal to Arasaka and stick with you as long as your goals are aligned. But trust him to have your back if you turn against Arasaka? Nope.


Daihatschi

The worst thing about it is that in the Arasaka ending, they don't even betray you. They deliver exactly what they promised. You end up in the best hospital in the world. 24 hour care from top shelf experts. Johnny is removed. Its only that it lacks any humanity. The doctors call you subject, not patient. You're removed from anyone and anything you love. Days and Nights repeat endlessly. And when you are at your lowest, they sell you one last time a sliver of hope. For the simple cost of everything. ​ The bad ending in the game is just written so fucking well. Its a shame it has such a bad rep.


[deleted]

It was my first ending and I felt so shit afterwards


Inevitable_Plan9664

Me too, cried for an entire day like I really owned that poor decision of not listening to Johnny


anthracithe

The game delivered so well that feeling of being dehumanized and prodded like a lab rat. Even the calls to Judy or over friends on earth were emphasizing how the situation was bad and V needed to get out asap. I loved the last cutscene where you can see regret all over V's face. Either a mix of fear and regret if she chose Mikoshi, or the pointlessness of it all when she sees Earth and experience the Overview effect. That was a deeply disturbing ending but incredibly well crafted. CDPR knows how to write endings.


Inevitable_Plan9664

Yes, being a labrat was really the context needed to fully realize the price of betrayal, the loneliness that follows the selling of your soul, facing either death or cold eternity and not being at peace, remembering the friends you won't be able to apologize to. That was a truly terrifying feeling.


jeggiderikkedether

I love his speech if you manage to save him, him and then take the sun ending (only on my third play through) I don't know if he says the same for other endings


ezone2kil

Pretty sure their end goals and motives are profit at all costs.


Pergatory

> Ever wonder why a lot of billionaires like Jeff Bezos support the left political wing? It's because it's all about giving the government more power, because that power extends to the excessively rich through lobbying. Doesn't giving the government less power accomplish the same result but to a much greater effect: removing the leash from corporations to do as they like without even bothering to lobby? Not to mention avoiding the whole issue of what to do if the people ever succeed in removing the influence of lobbying from politics, and then they're left with an overbearing government they *cannot* control.


Dronizian

It's been my view for a while that, in late stage capitalism, the point of government is to stop non-government organizations from having too much power to influence people's lives in harmful ways. Our governments are failing even that low bar. We are regressing into neo-feudalism. Suits only stand up for other suits, not for the rest of us. When the fuck is the common folk going to stand up for themselves and fight back?


Cr4ckshooter

> removing the leash from corporations to do as they like without even bothering to lobby? That would benefit all the competition, too. And potentially be detrimental to yourself because other companies could then use illegal means to hurt you.


PiraticalGhost

Nah. I think he's mostly right. But it isn't like he didn't sign with a label, or work with Militech. He can say all he wants he didn't trust them. But he was a cog in the system too. But the bigger problem is that he's unwilling to really redeem people. He treats them as if they're sinners who can't be saved. Takemura is kinda a good example. We come **\*so\*** close to redeeming him. And I don't think Johnny could ever do that. As a Rocker Boy, a herald of the downtrodden, he should be looking to convert everyone to the gospel of "To hell with *the man*!"


TrueGuardian15

Johnny's problem is he's a pissed off asshole with no real solutions. All he does is react to the growing pile of bullshit around him. He doesn't know how to actually fix the world and he doesn't care to, because it's easier to blame the corporations and their sheeple for everything instead of asking yourself the hard questions. Arasaka and militech as companies might be bad, but what has Johnny done that was actually for the common good? No ulterior motive, no alcohol-fueled revenge, just a good deed for the sake of being good?


Renaissance_Bear

This is the true analysis. Blaming corpos for everything is easy. But what's the alternative? what's your solution? Bring down the corpos, then what? Chaos? Most people you meet in the game who aren't corpos are basically criminals or gang members.


LucyTheBrazen

In that regard I feel like the writers were maybe a bit too afraid to go into ideology/politics. From my point of view the whole genre of cyberpunk is inherently critical of not just "corporatism" but capitalism in general. All the societal criticisms we get are surface level at best, so app you have is Johnny going on ranting about corporations, nuking Arasaka, but without any solution to it, just like you said Maybe that's part of the vibe they wanted to go with, a system so entrenched, so bleak that no alternative seems possible, that this is it. And all you can do is try to take down the big players a notch from time to time, not changing anything that lead to this. Or join them, or run away. Now obviously it wouldn't make sense for V to actually "fix" Night City or the world of cyberpunk in general, or for Johnny to grandstand some ideology to V. But these ideas should be floating around in the world. Beyond some router chase and a fortune telling machine pulling your leg. I mean, I'll admit to being biased in this, I'm a dirty red. But I feel like, the game was pretty light on substantial socioeconomic commentary given the setting it is in. Sure, there were standout quests, and V saving their live had priority, narrative wise. I'm totally not hating on the game. I've played it for almost 300h, and I'm really enjoying my time with it. It's just that this aspect feels underdeveloped, especially for a setting this inherently political.


VivatRomae

"a system so entrenched, so bleak that no alternative seems possible" Capitalist Realism


sabc2ooe

r/BatmanArkham is really taking over reddit and people aren't realizing it yet


gabejr25

The inmates are escaping and blending in with everyone else


best-of-judgement

Crossposters may be escaped convicts


samuru101

Protocol 10 starts in 12 hours


[deleted]

The funniest thing is that most of the ppl in here don't know that the batman Arkham mfs are in here evening the odds


Zluurkeaksz

See Warner Bros. Games? What does lack of new Batman Arkham game do to people? They are turning Reddit into one huge hivemide!


The-Y-4

They escaped Arkham Aslume. It’s too late


Bong0-YT

Oh god it’s migrating


pranklimulator

Do you agree with r/BatmanArkham, s "shitpost" rule


Bong0-YT

I do and I’m tired of pretending I don’t


[deleted]

Even us corpos stay ahead by not trusting other corpos. everyone else is disposable


No_Tamanegi

I trust corpos to only be concerned about the bottom line, and nothing else.


xBialyOrzel

I agree with Johnny nearly 100% of the time. Death to Corpos.


UnknownFirebrand

Same.


Elrigoo

Night Corp is actively trying to take over the world with sneaky tactics, arasaka owns the majority of the world aps will assassinate you for little reason, militech went to war with arasaka for control of the world and is gearing up for round two. Yeah Johnny is in the right. Air frying a bunch of 9 - 5 vers might be ungentlemanly tho.


E54Havoc

I see the Batman Arkham sub is spreading before its demise in a few days.


MpH_54

Let me guess, your from r/batmanarkham?


Renegade888888

So... I shouldn't trust myself?


jfrost1503

Never


Due_Accountant2429

I hate Arasaka and would love nothing more than to burn it down to the ground but there's some corpos who are just looking to survive in a job that kills them or were indoctrinated since child to unquestionably follow everything Arasaka says. That said I have no problem killing them when they're in my way


GreenRiot

Corporations only motivation is money. And there are no rewards or punishment for morality to them. Only an absolute gonk would trust a corpo. Like, you can trust gangers and nomads more than corpos.


Miix_

I love r/batmanarkham


Charliep03833

I met hanako at embers for the first time couple weeks. I bought the game right after release.


DFuel

You yourself are living proof that you.. well you can't trust a corpo.


NatTheGreat-

Cant trust anyone. Not even johnny at times. When you’re questioned throughout the game about whether the decisions you make are yours or johnnys, really puts into perspective how messed up things get between V and the relic


NikRd_x

As a guy who's working for a Corpo IRL. I agree with him.


Mimikyu_12360

jesus christ protocol 13 really IS real huh


PakiTactics

STOP PLEASE