River Ward - Cyberpunk 2077

A comprehensive guide that will detail how to romance River Ward. This guide will include spoilers and is intended for those who have finished the main quests and are looking for something more to spice up the game.

River Ward

First off, it's important to know who you're romancing. When I first crossed paths with River, he was the picture of angst - a damaged soul. However, like most characters in the game, River is complex and there are many layers to his story.

So, who is River Ward? Let me explain (with help from Cyberpunk Wiki).

River and his sister Joss grew up on a small farm run by his parents, but like many small farms, it eventually went out of business as larger corporations took over the farming process. After the failed farming business, his parents took to running a grocery store and River and his family lived in the apartment area above it. (There is a point in River's story-line where he will sit with you and explain this story to you.)

One day, some drugged up thugs broke in looking for cash and, when they didn't find any in the store, the thugs went upstairs to their apartment and demanded money from his father, who swore they didn't have anything else. Not liking this response, one of the thugs killed River and Joss' father and then put a gun in River's hand and had him point it at his own mother's head, demanding he shoot and kill her. River stalled, terrified, to the point the thug gave up trying to bait the child and took the gun and killed their mother himself before the thugs ran off, leaving River and Joss alive. The siblings were then sent off to an orphanage to be cared for but the Night City Police Department never caught the thugs who killed their parents. With this lack of justice, River saw this as complete incompetency regarding the NCPD and made it his goal to become a detective to solve cases like what happened to his family.

Romancing River

Before you attempt to woo River, it's important to note that he is heterosexual and this will only work if you are playing the game as female V. If you're playing as male V, he will simply reject all of your advances.

Some of the romancing basics that I'll go through are also applicable if you're trying to romance Panam and/or Judy (I say "and/or" because you can, in fact, have multiple lovers in the CP-verse simultaneously).

In brief, you're going to want to do the following things if you want a "happily ever after" with any of the applicable NPCs, specifically River:

• Don't play hard to get - complete ALL of River's quests

• ALWAYS answer the phone when he calls

• When he texts you, respond. You'll know you're on the right track if he ends his messages with, " ;) "

• Don't be shy - always pick the flirty dialogue options. Basically, you want to hit on him every opportunity you get

• Finally, pucker up! You're going to want to kiss him whenever, wherever. Every. Single. Time.

Quests

There are several quests involving River, and in my opinion, they are the most fun to complete. The quests, in order, are as follows;

• Life During Wartime (This quest involves the Peralez's and will lead you to meeting River)

• I Fought the War (This is the quest in which you will actually meet River for the first time)

None of the choices you make thus far will affect the potential of building a romance between you and River. You're free to play as you normally would and choose any dialogue options you wish. The real fun begins during the following quests:

• The Hunt - River will call you 24 hours after you've completed "I Fought the War" and ask for help with saving his nephew, Randy. If you want to expedite the receival of this quest, simply skip the time to 24 hours ahead.

The "skip time" option can be found in the character menu

I won't go into detail about how to actually play out the quest, as the goal here is to make River our boo. However, here are the important dialogue selections to be conscious of in order to make Mr. Ward fall head over heels for you:

• "Hasn't let me down yet" - When you get caught out by Doctor Packard who ruthlessly rips into River for being at the precinct. This is when you also find out that River has actually been suspended from the force.

• "River's alright" - After Johnny shows up to give you his two cents worth.

• "Sign me up for that beer" - When you're on your way to River's family's trailer park.

• "I'll help you" - This dialogue option will show up shortly after rescuing Randy.

After "The Hunt", there is one final quest remaining in order to complete River's story arc, and that is;

• Following the River - To start this quest, you will need to wait some time. Again, I skipped time by 24 hours and received a text from River, titled "Need your help again ;)". I chose the following text options to respond to him:

Ladies and gentlemen, a round of applause. At this point, you've basically secured your man, but wait... there's more! Any choices you make after this moment will make or break your chances of pursuing a relationship with River, so read on.

After your last message to River, allow some more time to pass and he will call you. The call alone is very wholesome and cutesy, as he tells you things like "missed you V..." and so on. Don't be mean though, tell him you missed him too. He will then invite you to his family's trailer park for dinner, and this is when the "Following the River" quest will officially commence.

Throughout this mission, you want to use every opportunity possible to kiss River when the option is available. This mostly occurs after River takes you to the water tower. At the very top, whilst you're sitting beside him, River will give you "a gift" - his pistol, which in the CP world is basically a proposal.



Just look at his smug little face, he knows exactly what he's doing!

Anyway, after a little more conversation, River will ask, "And how am I doin'? Do I stand a chance?". Be sure to pick "Just don't fall in love...". He will answer, "Too late, V. Too late." (cue the butterflies in your tummy, because it spirals into a whirlwind of sickly sweetness and steamy baby-making once you choose to "kiss" him.)

The Morning After

The morning after your very intimate "couple's yoga" session and Johnny shows up in true fashion to inform you that he will now be going to gauge out his eyes, River will be in the kitchen making you a cup of coffee. This moment is pivotal. THIS is the moment where you can turn your situationship into a relationship.

River will ask you "... is this goin' anywhere, y'know - longer term?". After a little more dialogue (the choices in between won't change the course of the relationship), you want to tell River that you want to be with him - you'll give it a try.

When you confess that you like being around River and make plans to see each other again "later", you will have completed River's story, thus receiving an achievement for it and unlocking a bonus recording that will play during the credits at the end of the game. Congratulations!




© ⋆ ѕтαя¢α∂ια ⋆ 2023 | This guide was originally created by ⋆ ѕтαя¢α∂ια ⋆ and must not be republished or reuploaded without permission.

[Star]

I’m not sure to be honest, but if you got the wink, it should still work!

[lazy]

Do you have to choose that exact text sequence? My last two texts were different (asked about the car), but his last text still had the ";)"

[roshiron18]

There's another quest, "I Fought the Law" that involve the Peralez and occurs after the "Life during Wartime" is completed. It's started through a random phone call.
https://cyberpunk.fandom.com/wiki/I_Fought_the_Law

[roshiron18]

"Life during Wartime" does NOT involve the Peralez, that quest is V kidnapping Hellman with Panam after rescuing Mitch from Kang Tao.

[Shawnel]

[Star]

If you'd like a guide on how to romance the other NPCs, don't hesitate to let me know!