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(It depends how much you connect with him... If you play the whole game 100% to the end maybe then you will change your opinion, or not ?!)
He's a bit of a doof, but a bro who'll lay his life down for you. What's not to like?
Gives you a great general perspective of what kind of relationship you have, though I will perfectly honest: half of it only registered with me the second time through, so even just slowing it down a little might help.
Still - the cutscene just gives you a: "by the way this is what it should be, now let's get back to the game" feeling, not a "hey buddy" feeling.
Calling him after the heist? Now that is doing something for me. It's still V who is emoting, not me, but it's done so well that I can absolutly buy into their relationship. Same for the taxi drive home after the heist (I am trying not to spoil here, that's why I am trying to be vague)
Same for T-Bug really. Absolutly no resonence with her, feels like a victim of cut content. Jacky does feel like that as well but he got enough to make you at least see where it was going / is going.
Bottom Line:
I can appreciate the idea of what the V-Jacky relationship was supposed to be, but I can't subscribe to it the way it is presented to you in the early parts of the game and that's why the character doesn't work nearly as well as let's say Judy.
With Judy you get a decent progression from getting to know her, to a mix of highs and lows forming a relationship / getting to know her while having the feeling that she is getting to know you (emphesis on feeling). Jacky, T-Bug and some others could have used a simillar treatment in order to make their archs kick a bit more.
Shout out to my boy Dex. He is one note with 0 progression, but even that fits him and just makes the way his character acts better. He is (comperatively) old, washed out and trying to come back swinging. The game gives you everything you need to see that within minutes of meeting him and it does not disapoint. The jacky version of this (make it big or die trying) somehow doesn't feel nearly as good so even on that point it is hard to connect with him.
Depending of what background you pick, he is a longterm Friend or you just meet him by accident, but in any Case he helps you to start a new Life, his Family lets you stay with them for Months until you have enough for your own Home. The Prolog is "rushed" (if you can say that multiple hours for a prolog is rushed XD), i agree, but they make it clear, that he is a good, charming Personality.
that's sort of the problem right there though. They TELL you he is. They don't give you enough time to properly experience it. There is pretty much 0 player agency involved in the parts that would make him likeable so the dissonence between what V would feel and what the player feels is extreme. That's generally a problem with premade characters like V and Cyberpunk has its fair issues with it, but most moments get saved by the stellar performance of the voice actors and the decent to good writing. With jacky it doesn't. It rushes you through the motions and just shouts at you: HE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, ACCEPT IT - and you have to roll with it.
If you look at it like you described - helped you out, invited you to his home, ... - sure, he is a good guy and all, but how much of that had bonding time between him and me?
The first and almost only moment where I can see chances of becoming attached is after the tutorial mission (Rescue Sandra) when you drive back home. The calm talking there, little bit about his life, little bit of expression of what kind of person V is .. that works. You just don't get enough of it with him for it to stick. The two most prominent moments where you could get attached to Jacky outside of that car ride are: his funeral, which you can miss, and the messages V can leave on his answering machine.
Take Judy and Pam as opposing examples. You get to know them, they get to know you, you have shared highs and lows and time to talk about the events you shared - I dislike the character type of Pam, but the character works and I do get invested into her problems because of it. Judy had me U turn my entire playthrough from a mission for glory to Rick and Morty: [Keep Judy Save / Happy] because these moments where there to play out and not just in a montage with a radioman shouting into my ear.
The idea of jacky works. The presentation comes up short until it is too late.
Really? I see more than enough in the montage to establish that he's a stand up choom. Between that and the interactions in game through the first act, it's pretty well cemented that he's a guy who'll always be in your corner. I don't need to be hand held through every detail of their relationship to fill in the gaps. It's this thing called "imagination".
It's too forced, and that's what triggers me. Granted, I just deal with it, but the entire forced heist just rubs me the wrong way. Then the player is stuck with Silverhand....., oh man, what a pain in version 2.2...
I can get the argument that V's and Jackie's friendship can feel rushed or even forced to some people, i didn't really have an issue with it myself, i can accept that the two characters have spend a lot of time togeather and formed a friendship even if i wasen't there to see all of it myself, but i can get why some people would find it wanting, and thus don't feel a lot of connection to the guy.
But actively disliking him? Nah man, that's some puppy and kitten hater stuff right there.
Its essentially all hidden in that summary you get when the relationship between V and Jackie is established. It would have been more helpful if this was extended to a lot more missions instead of just 2.
Yes, how dare they establish the primary plot of the game up front... I suppose you have a problem with the player character being captured and tadpoled in the start of BG3, too, don't you?
Emotionally manipulative? Transactional? How in the F do you get that? It sounds like you found a bunch of psychology terms and didn't really take the time to understand them in a practical sense.
Then, the whole thing with Dex plays out the same way. So, V ends up with a copy of Jackie taking over his mind. Why would this be better? Because V and Jackie like each other. V doesn't want Jackie to be deleted, and Jackie doesn't want V to die for his second chance at life. This would have made the conflict more personal.
Furthermore, I think the blurred line between the engram being a copy vs. actually the person should have been played out for more existential horror. The simulated personality on the chip is not actually the person, they are dead. The chip is just a simulation, so is there a reason to keep them around if they are just a computer program? Do they really feel anything?
I think it would have improved the story 100%