Different starts

[wicked lester]

How different are the 3 starting versions of V? What is the most interesting?

[kth]

why not try yourself?

[Phynrae]

Lifepaths don't have a huge effect on the game, they mostly just add a pinch of backstory.

But i'll tell you what i tell everyone else, the lifepaths are best played in the order they appear, Nomad - StreetKid - Corpo.

And for one simple reason:

Nomad. Your character, just like the player, is new to Night City, and is not expected to know all the ins and outs of how the city works. Nomads get the most dialog that explains things to you.

Streetkid. As a kid who grew up in Heywood, your character knows a thing or two about Night City and how things work. StreetKid thus has dialog options that lets you skip some exposition dialog,

Corpo. You not only grew up in Night City, but as a Corpo you have insight to not just what's happening on street level, but also what's going on behind the scenes in the Corporate world. Ergo, as a player you'll get the most out of a Corpo playthrough if you've played the game atleast once before.

[mistahbungle]

Sage advice @Phyrnae

[Bogmore]

The one thing is Nomad is the only path that requires you to do a fight during the intro, it's also the longest and if the fight goes wrong, which it can depending on the difficulty level you choose, you can get stuck.

In my opinion the order should be Streetkid, Corpo then Nomad, that's also them in order of length.

[Bjørn]

Playing female Corpo now, and did male Nomad the first time. Not tried Streetkid.

Nomad start was definitely much longer and more interesting, with more missions, combat, driving, exploration (if you felt like it). Better chance to get to know the game and basics. Corpo intro was very short and quite boring, imho.

Nomad also has some interesting missions, travels and interactions with Jackie (important character from the start). As Corpo you only text / talk a bit on the phone during the intro.

[V]

I picked Nomad first and enjoyed it a lot. I think it's the best for your first playthrough, and it also has the best prologue in my opinion. You get to learn about Night City together with V.

Street Kid feels like it's the "default" choice and doesn't add anything new to the game.

Corpo is an interesting choice, since Corpo V actually has the most reasons to hate corporations and team up with Johnny. The prologue also shows you how corporations work from the inside, and you instantly get to understand why they are considered evil.

Therefore, I'd say go with the Nomad lifepath if you want to learn about Night City and its rules together with V, of pick the Corpo lifepath if you want to learn more about corporations at the beginning and have more reasons to hate them together with Johnny ;)

[wicked lester]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll go with Nomad.

[Actalo]

So the Nomad has the best dialogue choices that impact at least two quests/gig significantly.

The Street Kid has one dialogue choice affecting a very minor side quest but all in all it suits the male V VO best.

The Corpo just fits the game's lore the best and makes the most narrative sense. If I say any more it'll be spoilers.

[★REM★]

Matters little as they last 10-15 minutes each before merge on the same story, and all you have after is just few speechs that open up based on the start you choose and have zero relevance for the story.

That said, i played 8 times on different characters (to see the different endings) and i usually go with Corpo, rarely StreetKid and picked Nomad only once.

[EricHVela]

To me, Nomad makes the most sense in how V and Jackie meet and become friends rather than Jackie robbing V and suddenly becoming friends and rather than a full-on (cowardly) corpo being friends with Jackie with Jackie picking up the pieces and with a complete, severe shift in personality for V.

Strangers meet and survive together for a smuggling operation. That sounds like an opportunity to keep working together and become friends. Also if you complete the Nomad-specific side mission, V gets a toy car rather than a diorama or clock for the other two life paths.

(Also, a little foreshadowing with the smuggled item in Nomad... Something that V will later see and can acquire in all lifepaths but also seen in the prologue for Nomad only.)

[Phynrae]

Originally posted by EricHVela:

To me, Nomad makes the most sense in how V and Jackie meet and become friends rather than Jackie robbing V and suddenly becoming friends and rather than a full-on (cowardly) corpo being friends with Jackie with Jackie picking up the pieces and with a complete, severe shift in personality for V.

Strangers meet and survive together for a smuggling operation. That sounds like an opportunity to keep working together and become friends. Also if you complete the Nomad-specific side mission, V gets a toy car rather than a diorama or clock for the other two life paths.

(Also, a little foreshadowing with the smuggled item in Nomad... Something that V will later see and can acquire in all lifepaths but also seen in the prologue for Nomad only.)

Agreed. Which is just one more reason i think Nomad is best played first.

On your second, third, and etc etc etc playthrough, you don't really need a long song and dance to introduce Jackie to you, as you already know who he is, but i am glad that i went with Nomad for my first playthrough.

[Tokenn]

Everybody's opinion on this will be different. I like the Nomad start because it's the most action oriented. Corpo if you want to dig into the lore of Cyberpunk (lots of stuff about Saburo and the other Arasaka personalities; toxic corporate intrigue). Street kid if you want the down-and-dirty ambience of Night City. All have their value. There's nothing stopping you from starting a new game right after the intro sequence and playing a new one. Then you can continue into Act 1 with whichever appeals to you most.

I wish CDPR had done more to differentiate the lifepaths throughout the game...unique fixers, unique gigs and side-jobs even a unique ending for each one. One of many missed opportunities, IMO.

[GaijinRuskiHacker]

corpo best lifepath

[MSgt Peterson]

Corpo needs like an additional 15-30 minutes worth of content. It's waaay too short. You don't even get to do anything greasy LOL

[Stray952]

Honestly, I think Corpo is the canon start. It makes the most sense to me given V's involvement and knowledge base. It definitely adds the most to the game, lore-wise. Gives V a reason to have knowledge of and beef with 'Saka, but no understanding of street life.

Nomad is the second best, as it explains why V isn't familiar with NC. Other than that though it doesn't make a ton of sense

Actually, I suspect that the original plan for life paths were Streetkid, Nomad or [insert one they never finished, or maybe 2nd generation Corpo kid] and all of those led to V working for/getting burned by 'Saka.

Streetkid life path is FLAT out immersion breaking. It just duplicates Jackie's background, you literally meet ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up the same job. But with Jackie acting as the ambassador of NC to the player, it makes absolutely no sense. The fact that no one remembers anything from the into montage is already a big plot hole and the streetkid path just makes it 100x worse.