The Arasaka ending sucks big time [SPOILERS]

[Usureki]

I was so disappointed and emotionally raped with the Arasaka ending of my first playthrough that I've decided to summarize my thoughts in this post.

Spoilers and subjective opinions ahead!

So, in my playthrough I chose to be a Corpo agent. I do realize that Cyperpunk 2077 is supposed to implement a futuristic dystopia but my narrative and the narrative of my character was that the technological advancement of humanity is to be endorsed, which advancement is basically only progressed by the corpos in this world. Regardless of being eliminated from Arasaka in the intro, my V hadn't ceased to believe in this, especially after seeing the non-corporate alternatives Night City has to offer: gangs, street violence, petty thefts and murders and the like. Of course, the corpos aren't saints, there are many references and actual events implicating the very opposite, but nonetheless I think the only faction creating actual value in Night city are the corpos - at least they do something for people in an indirect way, unlike Nomads just roaming the roads (I've always had difficult time explaining how they manage to get a livelihood) or ruffians robbing and killing on the streets. By the way, the anime Edgerunners did a far better job in depicting the actual horror a radical libertarian corporate world order would imply in real life and for everyday people. I think Cyberpunk 2077 should have done more content on that, to somewhat justify the expected generalized hatred towards corpos from the player. But let's return ranting on my gameplay;

So, after Arasaka got rid of V, a change in character appears; I'm no longer just a corpo clerk but a professional mercenary. In my mind V is still a lawful and honorable person and since the game offers many ways to roleplay as a pacifist and also provides non-lethal ways to deal with enemies I always went with those options. I did tons of NCPD quests where V is helping marginalized people against gang violence or even corporate abuses (funny how Militech is almost always the bad guy there, while Arasaka encounters are rare). So, in short, I was objectively the good guy.

And then, there's Johnny in my head. The charismatic and cool dude, who always knows what to say to sound confident and badass, but as it is most common with these kinds of people, he's just a full load of bull**** below the surface. In the story it is revealed many times how he mistreated his environment and cared only for his own hatred and rebellious goals. But regardless the fact that he is a terrorist and mass murderer, of course I've grown to somewhat sympathize with him (I also love the samurai musics), since he's stuck in my head killing me unintentionally and he even offers help and insights many times, but regardless I want to be alive and this is the whole Cyperpunk story is about. This is an excellent story narrative, I loved this aspect, the complex and controversial relation my corpo V and Johnny had.

So here I was with a "lawful-good" aligned main character trying to solve the nodus of the game, always trying to choose the least violent and morally most acceptable choices offered by the plot. My perspective saw that gang violence is the alternative to corpos, and with the badass terrorist in my head to get rid of, of course I went with the Arasaka ending, I saved big bro Takemura and wanted to return to Arasaka to actually produce real values for humanity instead of dealing with shady stuff in the afterlife. Also, they had objectively the most reliable tech that could help my main character. So, I've went with the Arasaka route.

And oh boy, did I receive an ending that made me depressed for days.
The narrative of the game is that regardless of me trying to save as many lives and be as morally correct as I can, I'm just a corporate sellout who has betrayed his own and also universal morals. This is implied by the conversation with Johnny during the operation, where the main character is only provided with dialogue options those are rather weak against Johnny's arguments. But it is also implied in the nightmares with the devil motif and overall vibes of the sterile room where the tests on V are ran, and also the demoralizing voice calls with friends who suddenly became hostile.

The game wants to tell me that I've made a bad decision and betrayed morals. What morals??? The morals endorsed by a mass murderer terrorist? Or the for-hire killers in the afterlife? Wtaf???

I know not everyone prefers happy endings, but this whole plot was about the issue of the Relic to be solved, and regardless of the correct choices I did during my whole gameplay, the plot punishes me with making me watch the literal execution of my character. I can't describe how pissed off was I when I saw the button to trigger the last scene that was something like "give in to arasaka".

I kinda get the feeling that V is not the intended main character of this game, but Johnny Silverhand. V's story is that he tries to find help and the whole plot is a cycle of ..
[hi i'm the badass XY who can solve ur problem] -> [lol I can't] -> [restart finding solution]
.. and in the end, the last [lol I can't] is supposed to be THE ending. Terribly disappointing and depressing. I really enjoyed the game but I highly disagree with how the plot ends, because it makes the whole plot pointless as a whole.

What do you think?

[Vela Darney]

i think your mistake was considering corporations the best options. Rule of thumb: If a corportion can ♥♥♥♥ you over for profits, they WILL ♥♥♥♥ you over for profits. They're "lawful evil" at best. To them, you're just a means to an end and once they got out of you what you wanted, they'll toss you aside.

You say you're aware corporations are "no saints" but, heck, there's one HELL of a lot of difference between being "no saint" and being the kind of person (or entity) that ERADICATES entire camps of homeless (and by eradicate, I don't mean "let's relocate the people", I mean "let's kill the vermin") like Militech's been doing. Did you come across that spot in Night City where Arasaka operatives slaughtered an entire camp of homeless people, who did nothing wrong except for simply being in the wrong spot at the wrong time, just because there was ONE SINGLE person there Arasaka was after, and those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ didn't want to leave any witnesses? That alone should tell you all you need to know about corporation "morals". (Read: They don't exist.)

As for technological advancement through corporations - yeah, well, that's for the rich and powerful, those who can afford it. Everyone else is getting scraps off that table (second hand equipment, blackmarket stuff, etc.) because they can't afford the good stuff. Again - profit is key. Corporations will do anything for profit. Once you don't profit them anymore (read: once Arasaka got the chip back from V), you're worthless for them. So why would they care about you? Especially Arasaka. Did you find Saburo Arasaka's diary? You can find it up on the roof of the Konpeki Plaza, in his AV, together with his katana (for your weapon wall). Go find and read it - that's the kind of person you're dealing with.

Sorry, maybe I'm sounding a little harsh, but, to me, this is just kind of a case of "help! the face-eating tigers ate my face!" ...

[Silverbane7]

I get you, I've tried different styles myself.
As a serial replayer (with roleplaying tendencies) and an aversion to almost all of the endings, I do understand.
Hell, I have 9 different V's. 3 guys and 6 girls....of which 3 are Corpos.

Thing is....'lawfull good' dies fast in NightCity. The best you can be is 'neutral good'
But that's fine, since lawfull good does good because its the law...while neutral good does good as its the right thing to do.
(Examples of this being Anna Hamile the police officer with a hit out on her from her buddies at the NCPD, the cops you find shot dead in Northside, whose own commander had them whiped by Maelstrom, or the dead officer in Kabuki with the ncpd iconic pants.)

If you want to find out more about how the world (of cyberpunk) got the way it did, I'd suggest you dip into the dlc page on steam, grab the free downloadable extras.
You get the music (ost) a bunch of wallpapers and photos (some from the earlier days) and, most importantly, a couple of .PDF files
One English, one Polish (for me at least)
Cyberpunk 2020 sourcebook. PDF
A free digital copy of the tabletop game, that this digital game is based upon.
You can also see the original version of how Johnny lost Alt (which might make things with him a tiny bit easier to understand) there.

You might prefer the newer, phantom liberty gained ending too, tho many do not (myself included. But my heart is streetkid, so that's just how I roll)

[EricHVela]

Wanna be depressed? Take "the Easy Way Out" ending and listen to the credits.

If you expect the Easy Way Out to also have a happy option for the ending, you're looking for something CP'77 never offered.

If you don't expect the Easy Way Out to have any kind of happy result, then the Devil ending shouldn't be a surprise at all.

There's the ending of Path of Glory via (Don't Fear) The Reaper where everything seems too perfect. The game's end starts at that penthouse always visible from V's H10 first apartment (even in bad weather)—only in Path of Glory. The game takes V on a walk through V's minor side accomplishments with collected knickknacks all over (including the Iguana if acquired)—no knickknacks are seen in any other ending. The game takes V on a flyby of that H10 apartment where V started a new life—also Path of Glory only. All surviving friends who were still alive before the mission into Arasaka (including Nibbles of acquired) are still alive—other endings are limited on who will be seen and who survives the final mission, and Nibbles is available to see only in Path of Glory. The game shows that V became the legend of Afterlife just like Jackie wanted—Path of Glory only. The game gives V hope for a cure with one final impossible mission (that never gets played)—Path of Glory only. The credits explain that love interests are still on-the-table. Even the offer to join the Aldecaldos is still open which means another cure option if Path of Glory didn't pan out. Other endings can show continued romances but can also show ended romances due to the ending that was reached. Path of Glory keeps those options open but doesn't show them.

That ending is so perfect that I think V's dead and having a fever dream before a final breath. It's very out-of-tone for the game up to that point.

I still like it, though. Warm fuzzies might feel wrong for this game, but if that's what you're wanting, that's the road you want to take.

[Piderman]

Originally posted by Usureki:

I kinda get the feeling that V is not the intended main character of this game, but Johnny Silverhand. V's story is that he tries to find help and the whole plot is a cycle of ..
[hi i'm the badass XY who can solve ur problem] -> [lol I can't] -> [restart finding solution]
.. and in the end, the last [lol I can't] is supposed to be THE ending. Terribly disappointing and depressing. I really enjoyed the game but I highly disagree with how the plot ends, because it makes the whole plot pointless as a whole.

What do you think?

Interesting take, i can tell you´re not familiar with cyberpunk settings. Well in this case, V IS the main char and whatever ending has you go out as an Afterlife Legend is the best ending. You cant expect more than V achieving this goal and if its just because Jackie would expect nothing less from his best choom.
Its a dystopian future where literally nobody gets happy Unicorns and Rainbows. Even Saburo mothereffin´ Arasaka got, despite his plans mostly working out as expected, betrayed by his own Son. And while i believe he expected that from what he saw as a miserable failure, he probably hoped for a different outcome, Yorinobu is part of his family after all.

[Graf Erik]

First of all, you were never 'objectivly the good guy'
Subjective maybe. You suported one evil to fight another evil. Is Arasaka a lesser evil? I highly doubt it.

The game never tells you you made a bad decission by suporting Arasaka. But a lot of people you met, friends of yours, dislike it when you help resurrect Saburo and make him immortal. If you care about their oppinion is up to you.
You are also not required to like Johnny. Feel free to hate him.

But your main error was expecting a reward from Arasaka for your loyality. Trusting them.
Its Arasaka. They dont care about you, they never cared about you.
They used you and threw you away. Thats what corpos do. You made a deal with the devil and expected a reward.

They'd never let V walk away, he knows far too much. In case you didn't realize this: Even when you decide to decline their final offer, you never actually leave the station. The game end with you in the airlock. The ending screens indicate that you never returned.

[Vela Darney]

Imho, the bringing back Saburo thing is the worst thing about the Devil ending. I once again recommend - read that guy's diary. If you help bringing him back, you can pat yourself on the back for helping bring a guy back who's giving the devil himself a run for his money.

As far as the "warm fuzzies" go, the same could be said about the Star (Nomad) ending as about the Sun (Path of Glory) ending: You found a new family (meaning you're not alone anymore), depending on your romance option, you and the love or your life are happy (either female V and Judy or male V and Panam) and you've managed to leave that evil, corrupt, rotten-to-the-core place that's Night City in favor of living among people who truly care about you (as opposed to Night City where people usually care about themselves and that's it).

Plus, there's the possibility of a cure on the horizon (just as with the Sun ending) - who knows what kind of people the Nomads know? They're not without resources, and the Aldecaldos specifically are one of the largest Nomad groups in North America AND member oft the Seven Nations (THE biggest group of Nomads in North America). They know people and got connections. Sometimes, it's all about knowing someone who knows someone who knows someone .. Plus, the end credits messages for that ending are way positive, too (if you're female V and in a relationship with Judy, that one's one of the cutest things I've seen in game).

So if V's having a fever dream while dying in the Sun ending, I'd say the same is true for the Star ending (or, as lots and lots of people call it, the best ending).

I'd argue that, even with the Devil ending, there's still SOME hope for V - if they choose to enter Mikoshi. They won't be alive - but at least, they won't be dead, either, right?

[Zebedee]

Originally posted by Usureki:

I kinda get the feeling that V is not the intended main character of this game, but Johnny Silverhand. V's story is that he tries to find help and the whole plot is a cycle of ..
[hi i'm the badass XY who can solve ur problem] -> [lol I can't] -> [restart finding solution]
.. and in the end, the last [lol I can't] is supposed to be THE ending. Terribly disappointing and depressing. I really enjoyed the game but I highly disagree with how the plot ends, because it makes the whole plot pointless as a whole.

What do you think?

I didn't really feel that with Johnny - the relationship works too much on V's terms for it to be his story in my view - but I can certainly see playthroughs where his story will just dominate everything else. Phantom Liberty helps a bit though by putting him on mute a lot of the time. And that absence gets reinforced by not having him chewing the scenery in every little moment between characters which is almost a reversion back to V in the lead-up to the heist.

Endings are all what you make of them. Apart from Easy Way Out if you get Judy on the line - that one kicked me hard. But I hear you. It's what they aimed for though with a set of homages to the genre.