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They didn't just kick the puppy. They kicked it, booted it down the stairs, stamped on it, doused it in petrol and lit it on fire.
I understand that view. It's not the 'no happy endings' that bother me; it's the excess of cruelty over tragedy.
Gruesome and Horrific to a one.
Yes, Especially that Fairy Tale you are thinking of.
Why even have options if all of them lead to "Booyah!"? I knew those two were sizing V up the second they started talking and then they were waiting for you to leave. Meh.
Yeah and my V was a street kid who should know better than to walk around unarmed. No way V would go to Night City without a gun or at least a knife.
'hey I'm going too a hospital, I don't know how long I'll call you when I'm better.'
or 'hey nurse, I know this procedure is the first of its kind, If anything happens can you tell them I cant?"
like literally nothing its vague and annoying that in the game with 370,000 lines of Dialogue and tons of Shards it seems forced for the overall narrative of metamorphosis.
1. If V didn't romance anyone (he probably won't do it if it's not the first time playing) - the no hard feelings, nobody was there for him anyways, so no regrets a-la "they didn't care to find me, they didn't care to wait for me, they moved on" and some such.
2. Being unarmed and without implants .. isn't that big of a deal. Remember Sandra Dorsett? The first job with Jackie? Yeah, it happened before V got any implants from Viktor. Meaning back then V was basically a "normal human". Yeah he had a gun (a basic pee-shooter) but the job was perfectly doable without firing a single bullet. So I don't see why the same thing isn't possible to pull off - and then V gets his hands on whatever guns and loot the gonks he robbed had on them.
3. If V is "too weak" at all - then wouldn't it be possible for him to go to Viktor's clinic? Not to mooch off the ripper, of course - but I'd wager Viktor would be willing to help the ex-merc with all the "recuperation" business. Lay low for a couple of months, gather strength. Yeah, will probably rack up some debt to Viktor, but nowhere close to the price for the first Kiroshi which the doctor was willing to install with not even any guarantees. I bet Viktor would help.
4. Yeah, probably being a merc is no longer an option. Fine. But V could have some other routes. The options as I see them:
-- Nomad? Why not just leave NC and return to Bakkers? Sure better than rotting in a ditch? It will probably mean some business with that "snake nation" - but alone V likely won't survive.
-- Go to Mama Welles and look for a job there? Being a bouncer at the bar is probably not the greatest conclusion to V's career - but it will give him time to think, regroup and decide what to do.
-- Contact Regina and see if she can help V to get into NCPD? It was Regina who told V how nice it is to have some badges on their side. I'd wager that Barry, Mendez and Petrova would be willing to say some "reassuring" words - and that badge who was Regina's client too. If V completed a lot of NCPD missions, it could be a solid option
Bottom line: too much emphasis is given to V's condition and the "friends moving on". Well, a merc got not true friends. And fixers won't "move on" if the EDs are good. After all, calling in a few favors from the past can come a long way. And V's weakness isn't something impossible to overcome. No implants doesn't equal living on the streets.
If V is even remotely worth his salt, PL ending would mean only one thing for him: "challenge accepted". He's back to "level 1", but at the start of the game he was a "level 1 nobody" - now he's a "level 1 ex-merc with all the connections and reputation". You don't need a gun if you got brains. I simply don't see the drama just because CDPR doesn't expand on "what happens after". You can fill in the blanks yourself.
In my head cannon, you betray reed and alex, and free songbird from her never ending torture, and she finds a way to cure the 2 of you. V calls their romance partner (cause who TF WOULDNT let their loved ones know theyre about to have a major surgery operation done!?) and so your romance partner comes along with you to be by your side during the operation. and ofc the same 2 years pass, but After the 2 year coma, all of V's friends and loved ones are all alive and well and happy to know that V snapped out of their coma.
V's romance partner waited for them, cause lets be honest 2 years isnt that long of a time when it comes to relationships and especially with for example, military relationships.... your loved one gets deployed for 2 years you dont just abandon them and give up on them ... and even if Vs romance partner doesnt know about the operations, them, knowing the line of work V is in theres always the chance that V is alright but just got into a bit of a pickle. Giving up on someone you love that easily just shows how superficial the love that the writers have had in their lifes.... maybe im a hopeless romantic. maybe id like to still believe that true love still exists...
but anyways, after V and said romance parter meet up, V insists that theyre happy with not being able to use biotech anymore. after everything theyve been thru all they want now is a peaceful quiet life away from night city. So they go and say goodbye to all their friends like vic, misty, panam/judy/kerry/river (depending on what gender v you played) and momma welles, basically everyone who helped you thruout the entire story...
oh... and they were also able to get johnny's engram off the chip and he and alt live in cyberspace for eternity who will never fade away kinda like the base game ending where you save johnnys engram. And after all of that, you go and live happily ever after with your partner until the end of your days. and then in a few years V makes a cameo in Cyberpunk 2! lol
I get what CDPR is doing here, Cyberpunk as a genre almost never has happy endings, it's practically a trope for the genre, and part of me can respect that they have stayed true to that trope.
But i've had 4 years with this game now, 4 years to ponder the question "was this the right call to have only unhappy endings?", and what i've arrived at is this: Actions speak louder than words, and according to my own actions, no, it doesen't work.
I've played many a V in this game, and whenever i get to the end of that character, where choosing an ending is the only thing left to do, i consistantly end up just retiering the character, deleting the saves, and preparing to start a new one.
Because what's the point? I know what the endings are, and that none of them reward all my hard work, so why bother going through the motions? Just headcannon something, delete the character, and start over.
I end up doing it every time.
And there is the rub: Rewarding your work.
Lots of old media has unhappy endings, and it's not really a problem there, because it is passive media. Movies, series, books, etc etc etc, they are media you consume passively. They contain characters, things happen to them, but you are never in control of the story, and ultimately, the mark of success for passive media is just this: Did it tell an entertaining story? Was it worth the watch/read? Did the story make sense or make you feel something? And if the logical and most rewarding ending to a passive story is an unhappy one, then it works just fine.
Videogames don't work that way though. They are not passive media, we are actively involved in the actions and moment to moment survival of the playble character, you actually have to put in effort to progress the story, and in a way, you the player become a part of the story.
So when i am asked to excert effort to assualt Arasaka HQ, knowing full well that nothing rewarding is going to come out the other end of it, that the game will not reward my efforts thus far, and just pull the rug away and say "you lose anyway", it just doesen't hit right.
It's not like watching a movie or reading a book that has an unhappy ending, it hits differenty, and it hits wrong. It just doesen't work the same.
Here's the problem with that framing:
Why on earth can't you call Judy and your buddies before you undergo the surgery?
If you decide to assault Arasaka HQ, you do get this option (atleast for your romance option), but not in the PL ending.
Why? Why woulden't you call her?
Why can't you leave a list of contacts with Reed, in case the surgery doesen't pan out?
If i was about to have major surgery, you'd best belive i'd let those closest to me know with a quick phonecall, if the option to do so was at all avalible to me (which it is for V, nothing would prevent it).
The only answer to these questions: CDPR wanted a very specific outcome, so they didn't let you.
Does it make sense? No, no it does not (and this stood out to me instantly the very first time i played PL, why can't i call Judy? That was the very first thing i wanted to do when choosing this ending, or atleast leave a list of contacts with Reed in case things went wrong), but this is the pretzel they had to bend things into, inorder to get the puppy-kick outcome they wanted.
(CP'77 actually provides one that is as close as one can get that's quite a bit out-of-tune with the rest of the game—an ending of hope, fame, and excitement rather than accepting defeat against Night City and reacting in various, bitter/bittersweet ways.)
A lot of people accept "conclusions" with less regard to happy as long as the conclusion has a point.
ME3 is a game that originally had no conclusion, and all actions decided pretty much nothing at all except for the color of the vague, inconclusive ending based on a simple scorecard with a single sum value (that originally required the paid mobile app to unlock all three colors despite EA's claim to the contrary). The "Extended Cut"—a required DLC that replaces the endings in all versions, effectively being a patch and not a DLC—added some content (but the snide remark that players apparently needed everything explained to them didn't go over well).
ME3 is a lesson in non-endings.
There are many games where the protagonist dies or becomes nobody and were well-received all the same. CP'77 ended up well-received once other issues were resolved.
A personal preference isn't wrong, but it isn't right to claim that a personal preference makes something else objectively wrong.