Is the Nomad backstory the most popular?

[セーラーマーズ]

I've been going through people's feedback and realised that a lot seem to like the Nomad back story (on the English channels at least).Why is this the case? I personally relate best to the corpo backstory the most — is this the case for players who like Nomad? Or is my entire assumption that Nomad is the most popular completely wrong?

[Northwold]

I haven't played Street kid but personally I felt Nomad was a significantly better introduction for a few reasons.

1. We are on the same journey as V -- going to Night City for the first time, entering a new world and being overwhelmed by it. That creates a tension while you are waiting to get there and also builds up a mood for Night City before you have even seen it. E.g. The news on the radio (or TV I can't remember) that homeless people are going to be, er, dealt with so stay away from the sewers tells you that Night City is a true dystopia before you've even entered it.

2. It feels much more complete. Aside from the inactivity of the opening town, more thought seems to have gone into the design, whether it be the garage and cop encounter at the beginning, or the meeting of Jackie, or even the Iguana. It feels very polished.

3. V actually meets Jackie for the first time, so you get a proper narrative arc for Jackie rather than his being presented as a figure who is already part of V's life.

[Zebedee]

Nomad is the first of the three on the menu screen to choose sooooo...

There's a nice loop to the story with the Nomad start and one of the endings. Actually makes for quite a hopeful ending, one where V is visibly at peace with their decisions. Parts of the Nomad start on top of that feel more 'canon' or at least more in tune with the overall story (I think Northwold touches on one of the reasons by saying it's a journey for V that the player can more readily relate to). I also feel the same way about female V and some of the lines she gets which give the story another layer (for instance, the suggestion that Johnny could be born again into the world at great cost to V).

My favourite is the Corpo one too. The dialogue options from it offer some useful lore, and one criticism I'd make of the world building is that corporations don't have sufficient presence or explanation even with Arasaka being the 'enemy' and a number of gigs and shards touching on what they're up to.

Streetkid jars for me a lot. There's some nice touches to dialogue options within quests but even things like the relationship with Padre don't make sense as he's introduced and then reintroduced. The two years away from Night City doesn't cover that up. It feels underdone.

[セーラーマーズ]

Thanks for sharing x3 I had initially inferred that people were choosing the backstories based on their life experiences or personality, which would make them more relatable. Looks like I’ll need to rethink that hypothesis 😂

Although both of you seem to think that the nomad story gives a ‘better loop’: the feeling of entering a new world for the first time and being overwhelmed by it and how it seems more ‘canon’. All that does seem to support my thought that how relatable the story is to someone does make a difference in how positively they experience the game as a whole.

I’ll need to read up more on CP2020 to find out more about the canon stuff.

[Zebedee]

Just to clarify, by 'canon' I mean within the game itself where if you were to sit back at the end it would be the one which fits together best. Streetkid has potential with one ending but it depends on V being very gungho, and the relationship part is messy. Corpo has a wicked one but it's deliberately done to make the player feel uncomfortable with the choices made.

[セーラーマーズ]

Originally posted by Zebedee:

Just to clarify, by 'canon' I mean within the game itself where if you were to sit back at the end it would be the one which fits together best. Streetkid has potential with one ending but it depends on V being very gungho, and the relationship part is messy. Corpo has a wicked one but it's deliberately done to make the player feel uncomfortable with the choices made.

I see o.o My favourite ending was the one where you give Johnny your body and give him a second chance at life.

This is followed by the Devil ending. And although it is sad that Arasaka was not able to save V (and we know they aren’t lying because Alt comes to the same conclusion in the other endings), I didn’t feel that allowing Arasaka to safeguard (yes, I used the word ‘safeguard’) your soul until they could give you a new body (whether a total body conversion or a more biological one) not as bad as many other people seem to think. I know the writers of CP2077 meant the Arasaka ending to be less than ideal (particularly with how Misty reacts to this decision), but I simply cannot see it as a really bad ending — it even seemed kinda hopeful to me. Maybe I’m missing something…

I cannot help thinking that many people seems to dislike the corpo ending due to real-life low-trust experiences with similar entities. Or is it because many players are simply aware of CP2020/2077 law and know that corpos are definitely evil (story-wise)? I mean, in this fictional world everything is exaggerated — so I assumed that the literal backstabbing to be not too extreme compared to what the street kid and nomads go through (gang wars and highway robbery, which would in fact make corporate backstabbing seem mild).

[Zebedee]

I think 'The Devil' ending is best summed up by the haiku a guard randomly recites. The whole thing is intended to give the player a sense of being present but lacking something. As you say, it's intended to be dislocating, and it's not just Misty but also Johnny. With the sole exception of River (I think it's the female V romance which leads to it), every phone call is also a dead end. V has severed all relationships even before the epilogue calls. And if you get it without Goro being present then even the friendly face isn't there to offer reassurance that there will be a way back. The whole thing feels 'wrong'. Rather than V or Johnny having a life, V replaces Johnny in that place behind the glass, stuck somewhere in between.

also: random irritation with the writing, and only because I've just completed that ending to try and get The Devil achievement to finally work. Goro tells you Hanako doesn't care anymore, V's insignificant. And the next line says that Hanako has told him to visit to give the offer. One of those continuity errors where it makes you wonder about it being deliberate in the same way as Johnny's arm being attached when you see him talking to Saburo at the very beginning of the game. /rantoff

[セーラーマーズ]

Hmm, I always assumed that Hanako was simply too busy to attend to V personally, and the fact that she sends Goro to communicate her offer as an honour…

The writers definitely did try to portray the entire sequence as almost being in a nightmare of sorts.

<<< The whole thing feels 'wrong'. Rather than V or Johnny having a life, V replaces Johnny in that place behind the glass, stuck somewhere in between.
>>> The only thing that really bugged me was what they did to Johnny (did they delete him permanently?). I actually felt reassured that they had secured V’s consciousness as an engram, ready to be transferred into a new body when it becomes available. I find it fascinating that our perceptions of this event are so different o.o!

Again, thanks for sharing ☺️

[Izzy Wit Da Uzi]

According to a post made on the official Cyberpunk twitter account, street kid is the most popular life path.

[Sol Karas]

Hmm, most people I know liked the Corpo life path the best (I know it's my personal favourite). I haven't heard a lot of people liking the nomad life path.

[セーラーマーズ]

Originally posted by Sol Karas:

I haven't heard a lot of people liking the nomad life path.

It’s just that they seem to keep turning up in playthrough streams and comments, but yes Street Kid seems to be the most popular:

https://www.google.com.my/amp/s/www.thegamer.com/street-kid-most-popular-cyberpunk-2077/amp/
https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/kdqe2v/which_life_path_is_best_in_cyberpunk_2077/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

[セーラーマーズ]

Originally posted by GALLON OF CiROC:

According to a post made on the official Cyberpunk twitter account, street kid is the most popular life path.

I just noticed. Thanks x.x; it seems maybe the nomad players are just more vocal.

https://twitter.com/CyberpunkGame/status/1402988939326103562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1402988939326103562%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-10790404902635584181.ampproject.net%2F2111060251009%2Fframe.html

[Zebedee]

Originally posted by Zaris:

I remember the earlier posts when people were still in the delusion that the life paths mattered and the Nomad life path was described by the devs to see Night City from the viewpoint of an outsider = the new player. Some even thought you would play 5-6hrs in the beginning in one life path and your choices mattered and in the end it was a 15 min intro mission before all merged together in linear design full of unfinished , unpolished cut content.

Yeah, I remember the idiocy of those inventing their own game where life paths would be three entirely different 30 hours main quest lines rather than following traditional RPG lines of occasionally offering different dialogue options, NPC reactions, and even quest solutions. It's quite cute how many are still salty about a game they hate nearly a year on to express it even on discussions of the story. One of the few amusing things about Outer Worlds was part of the old Troika crew clearly taking the piss out of the whole thing by offering a couple of dozen 'life paths' to start with and none of them mattering but for a ridiculously miniscule bonus to an unimportant skill and a line of dialogue in character creation.

[セーラーマーズ]

Originally posted by Zaris:

I remember the earlier posts when people were still in the delusion that the life paths mattered and the Nomad life path was described by the devs to see Night City from the viewpoint of an outsider = the new player. Some even thought you would play 5-6hrs in the beginning in one life path and your choices mattered and in the end it was a 15 min intro mission before all merged together in linear design full of unfinished , unpolished cut content.

To be honest, the reason I am asking this question has nothing to do with the game itself but more out of curiosity to learn more about other people — and it just so happens that sharing their life path choices it gives me valuable data I need to infer insights into their personalities. I couldn’t care less for the ongoing debate and malicious defamation that is going on about the game (which in my part of the world is a criminal offence). I guess it must seem bizarre to you for anyone to take an interest in others, but bear with me.

[セーラーマーズ]

Originally posted by Zebedee:

One of the few amusing things about Outer Worlds…

I did watch a playthrough of that game and some of the main characters were pretty interesting in a weird way 😂

[Wander Wild]

I feel the game was advertised to prioritize Street Kid and so that may be why more people may have started with that one. However, most people whom I have seen talk about the game did the Nomad start and seem mostly 50/50 on love/hate of the game. But, the people I hear who love the game and the story seemed to have picked the Corpo start (including myself).

This, I find very interesting! As someone who has played all three storylines (despite the influence mainly being just the first 30 or so minutes), I will stand on a soapboax and scream to the end of the world why I feel the corpo V storyline is the most fleshed out and full circle, which is why I feel those who seemed to have enjoyed the game the most share the Corpo V as the starting choice.

(This is my personal experience. It may and most likely does mean absolutely nothing )