C2077 CP2077 Adventuring Journals [spoilers]

[danutz_plusplus]

I finished the next ending, with V letting Johnny and Rogue take on Arasaka. It was alright, but the fight with Smasher was just impossible for me on Very Hard. He'd take me out in 3-4 hits, he's fast as hell and he either melees me or takes me out with his missiles which are very hard to keep dodging. Also, my disabling quickhacks don't work at all on him. Cyberware Malfunction, which I generally use to disable most bosses and miniboses (even worked on Oda, to disable his lightning reflexes and invisibility), has no effect that I could see. Anyway, I dropped the difficulty and it was easy that way. It really doesn't feel balanced for Very Hard. I doubt the game is meant to have no challenge, and every now and then 0.01% of encounters be nigh-on impossible.

Am I right to assume that these choices (Johnny and Rogue / Arasaka / Panam) are all just different ways to get to the same binary choice, of either letting Johnny take over V's body, or letting V back into his body?
So, the ending with V pulling off the space casino robbery or whatever it is, is always the final scene for V? I'm not to hot on that ending for V. Kind of uninspired. I thought they were going for something more interesting.

EDIT: hm, no; having taken a glance at the wiki, seems it's more complicated than just that binary V or Johnny. Some of the endings have V leaving NC. Ok, so I guess it's worth going through the rest of them to see what's up.

It is pretty impressive at the amount of variation in how the endings play out. At least from what I peeked in the wiki.

 

[Redglyph]

Cyberware Malfunction, which I generally use to disable most bosses and miniboses (even worked on Oda, to disable his lightning reflexes and invisibility), has no effect that I could see.

Heh. I used that on him when I played in version 1.63, and it was a great help. But I played on Normal, so I could have managed without. On Very Hard, I'm not so sure.

EDIT: hm, no; having taken a glance at the wiki, seems it's more complicated than just that binary V or Johnny. Some of the endings have V leaving NC. Ok, so I guess it's worth going through the rest of them to see what's up.

Yes, there's more to it, though the binary V/Johnny is a thing you may encounter again.

I think you completed Panam's story? It's important because it offers you an extra ending. Since you mention it above, I suppose so.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Heh. I used that on him when I played in version 1.63, and it was a great help. But I played on Normal, so I could have managed without. On Very Hard, I'm not so sure.


Yes, there's more to it, though the binary V/Johnny is a thing you may encounter again.

I think you completed Panam's story? It's important because it offers you an extra ending. Since you mention it above, I suppose so.

Yeah, I pretty much did almost everything. There was one quest, back when I did the nomads quests, where I think Mitch wanted me to go somewhere with him. But I reloaded. And then somehow Panam's next quest triggered, and then they moved to their new camp location, so I never got back to that one. But to my knowledge I did absolutely everything else.
Though I likely could've missed other stuff, stuff I don't even know about. I know I saw one youtube video of a bit longer Johnny dialogue, where he gets on his soap-box about Arasaka, and what he wants to do. But I know I never encountered that monologue.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I also finished the ending where Panam and the gang helps V. On first impression I liked it a lot more than the Johnny/Rogue one, since the Mikoshi part was done from the perspective of V, not of Johnny's, as was the Johnny/Rogue ending.
And it also more clearly explained something I was confused about in the other version. As to how come V still lives even though Alt said that his body is done for, if V chooses to inhabit the body. But now it was more clear that there's still a little time left for V. Though, I'm not sure I understand where Johnny came up with the 6 months estimate left to live; that he comes up with in the dialogue. Anyway, it was a little clearer. It's probably the same in the ending where V robs the space casino, that he has very limited time left.

What kind of disappointed me about the Panam ending was that, since it was from the POV of V I was expecting that if I choose to go beyond the Blackwall with Alt, that they'd actually show that, since we are after all in V's POV. And that would've been great, to see how they visualize that. But no, they went and reused the very same ending where Johnny inhabits V's body, and goes on his little trip in the city, with the kid, getting him the guitar and leaving via the bus. Kind of disappointing. Would've loved it if they actually kept it to V's POV.

Anyway, it is interesting that the Johnny/Rogue ending jumps you in Johnny's POV, while the Panam ending does it in V's. Wonder if it's random, or if there's some hidden meaning.
Also, I'm not sure in which of the endings, since I'm starting to mentally mix them up since I played some many of them one after the other, but there was one where V/Johnny reaches for his bullet-amulet, and it's missing. I only realized that moment could mean something since in the other endings, you always start the Mikoshi by going to Misty's rooftop and pick up the bullet-amulet. Was there a hidden meaning to that, that I missed? Or am I confusing the moment where V is missing his amulet for something else?

EDIT: oh, another thing. Since I mentioned that seeing V in 3rd person for the first time in the final cinematics, I just realized that V's lips not moving in those cinematics is probably a bug. For some reason I assumed that when V talked with Johnny, his lips don't need to move since he's mentally talking with him. But just now, in the Panam final cinematic, V talks with Panam; Panam's lips move properly. But V's doesn't, like almost at all. So I'm pretty sure it's bugged, and it's probably what started my impression that these cinematics are somehow wrong, since I'm pretty sure in the first one I experienced, the newly introduced Phantom Liberty ending, it suffered from a similar bug.

Well, one more ending to experience. The Hanako one.
And I also found out of another variation of this one, that I'm not gonna be able to see. Apparently in this Arasaka ending, if you had saved Takemura (which I had no idea you could), he takes part in the ending. There's an achievement tied to this, which is how I found out about this variation. So that's two that I'm not gonna check off in this playthrough. This and the hidden Johnny-attacking-Arasaka-on-his-own one.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

And I've also gone through the Arasaka ending. This was probably the most interesting of them all.
And I wonder how different this one is, with Takemura alive or with him gone. In my case he was dead. And I haven't delved too deep into it, but I think the broad strokes are the same?
I was offered a contract to be put through what they did to Silverhand. Basically put to sleep but stored in Mikoshi.
Or return to NC for the remaining months.

Anyway, I'm officially done with my playthrough.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Now I'm done. I also got almost all achievements. Except for the one that requires a new playthrough in which to also save Takemura.

 

[Redglyph]

Now I'm done. I also got almost all achievements. Except for the one that requires a new playthrough in which to also save Takemura.
View attachment 5050

It would be a shame, only one left.

I glanced at my achievements to retrieve the endings I did... and I didn't find them, except some of the PL endings (the special one is missing, for some reason). I suppose one of the bugs of that game must have been related to GOG achievements; that wouldn't be the first time on that platform. No big deal.

I wonder if that would take long to see that special ending. Maybe I have a save that could be used, hmm... I'll have to check that.

I think that my preferred one is the Panam ending. It just felt a little strange that you could continue in NC whereas you're supposed to be elsewhere, but I understand why they left the option. On the other hand, they didn't leave that option with the special PL ending we discussed earlier.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

It would be a shame, only one left.

That's gonna have to be some other time. I'm feeling really burned out with gaming in general. Unofficially, I actually started a female V streetkid playthrough, but it's not gonna go anywhehere.

I think that my preferred one is the Panam ending. It just felt a little strange that you could continue in NC whereas you're supposed to be elsewhere, but I understand why they left the option. On the other hand, they didn't leave that option with the special PL ending we discussed earlier.

In terms of complexity, I think the Arasaka ending is my favorite. That's the default one apparently, from what I read on wikis. And it shows; they definitely spend the most time with that one, with all the tests and the Silverhand voices V hears, even after the relic is removed. I also like it since it's the one where Saburo publicly takes over his son's body and takes to completion what's been happening to V.
It's kind of impactful that something like that happened at that level of governance. But it is also a bit bombastic too. So if I were to be honest, it's not my favorite in all. But it's probably my second favorite.

If I were to be honest, I think the one added via PL is probably the most down to earth one. It also forces the most change upon V. I like that kind of stuff.

 

[Zloth]

OK, I finished so I can look here again. (What's with the "spoilers" tag? That's not how it went down. It was more like "no spoilers for Danutz but Danutz can spoil anything.")

Though, I'm not sure I understand where Johnny came up with the 6 months estimate left to live; that he comes up with in the dialogue.

Alt said so as part of one of the dialog options. First, she said that you'll die if you go back to your body. That certainly didn't please me, but then she said a little later that it will take 6 months to die!

I also got annoyed by the 3rd person perspective in the Panam ending and V's lips not moving at all. Then she throws out her bullet necklace, which also made no sense to me. She's trying to leave her old world behind, I know, but that's no symbol of Night City, that's a symbol of how she survived certain death. That's exactly the kind of symbol she'll be wanting as she tries to keep her body from killing her over the next six months!

Anyway, it is interesting that the Johnny/Rogue ending jumps you in Johnny's POV, while the Panam ending does it in V's. Wonder if it's random, or if there's some hidden meaning.

With the Johnny/Rogue ending, you take drugs that lets Johnny take over. With the Panam one, you take blockers that make him completely vanish until you jack in.

Atom Smasher's fight was destroying me on Hard difficulty, but I figured out a way to deal with him: camo armor. For whatever reason, Smasher can't heal himself at all. So, I would shoot him with a tech sniper rifle (in a weak point if one shows up), maybe get another pot shot off against him, then hit the camo and run to hide somewhere. Then do nothing for 50 seconds while I wait for the camo armor to recycle. Not a fun boss battle for me, but it worked. (Panam is perfectly useless in that battle. She does a lot of shooting, but roughly 0 damage. Also, she uses her Overwatch sniper rifle - odd, since she gave me that rifle.)

So, did anyone use the consumables? There's stuff to let you buff your health, or give you an extra RAM point or two, but you can only take them outside of combat.

 

[Redglyph]

So, did anyone use the consumables? There's stuff to let you buff your health, or give you an extra RAM point or two, but you can only take them outside of combat.

I never bothered with all that, but I'm only playing on Normal. Weird that you can't take that during combat.

 

[Zloth]

I just watched through all the endings on YouTube. The ending going to the Crystal Palace casino floored me! Or rather, the individual bankrolling the operation did.


I never would have gone for that ending! (And now I'm wishing I had done Garry's quest.)

 

[danutz_plusplus]

I just watched through all the endings on YouTube. The ending going to the Crystal Palace casino floored me! Or rather, the individual bankrolling the operation did.

View attachment 5057
I never would have gone for that ending! (And now I'm wishing I had done Garry's quest.)

Are you sure there’s a connection there? It never even occured to me that Garry’s statement was related.

I did Garry’s quest, but thought it was only a gag.

Is he the only one that has blue eyes? I was under the impression that other NPC’s eye turn blue, or some other color, when they interact with the net. Or sre this guy’s eyes always blue? I don’t remember.

 

[Redglyph]

Well, I tried to update CP2077 with the last patch, and sure enough, Galaxy failed and corrupted my install once more. I guess I won't try this other ending, then. I can't be bothered to download the whole thing again (even doing that is a lottery with GOG).

 

[Couchpotato]

Just watch the ending on YouTube it will save you a headache with the Galaxy client. Anyway I love GOG for DRM free games but their support, and patching system sucks.

As for that new ending it's bittersweet but at least you survive.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

As for that new ending it's bittersweet but at least you survive.

Unless I'm mistaken you only survive for the little time that's in every ending, 6 months or however much.
So effectively every ending is only different in how you spend the last months of your life.

 

[Couchpotato]

Unless I'm mistaken you only survive for the little time that's in every ending, 6 months or however much.
So effectively every ending is only different in how you spend the last months of your life.

No the new ending in the expansion lets you live but comes with a cost.

Your implants are all removed and you can never get them back.

It's the only ending where your cured and live on.

Cyberpunk 2077's new ending is its most heartbreaking, and worth returning for

Cyberpunk 2077's expansion Phantom Liberty adds a new ending to the base game, and it's both heartbreaking and worth returning for.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

 

[danutz_plusplus]

No the new ending in the expansion lets you live but comes with a cost.

Your implants are all removed and you can never get them back.

It's the only ending where your cured and live on.

Cyberpunk 2077's new ending is its most heartbreaking, and worth returning for

Cyberpunk 2077's expansion Phantom Liberty adds a new ending to the base game, and it's both heartbreaking and worth returning for.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

You're right. I just checked some of the dialogue. It's indeed the one ending where you don't have a set deadline.
I guess all the endings I experienced in such a short time caused them to meld in my head.

Then it's definitely my favorite ending.

 

[Zloth]

Regarding endings - there's another way not to have a time limit. Let Johnny have the body. I really wonder where that bus took him and what he did. He wouldn't just fade away.

There is some hope in Panam's ending, too. The Nomad docs could have a way to fix the problem. Personally, I doubt it, but 'laughably unlikely' beats 'no chance'.

Are you sure there’s a connection there? It never even occured to me that Garry’s statement was related.

Definitely not sure! I think Garry was talking about aliens taking human form and living among us. The guy was crazy... right?

But Blue Eyes is a specific guy. He's watching in the background when you talk to the politician in Dream On. When I was taking Songbird to the rocket ship, I found him watching us go through a room - though he had vanished by the time I got to his location. (Your scanner identifies him as "Mr. Blue Eyes.") When I asked Songbird where she got her ticket, she described a man that sounded just like Blue Eyes.

Here's a video made before Phantom Liberty:

View: https://youtu.be/Njrhu61sOgk?si=RZnaC-PF40lYY-jf


P.S. "There's always another secret."

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Not sure if I'm gonna keep with it, but I started a new CP playthrough with a melee build. Or mostly melee, since during the first levels pure melee is a real pain.
I've started doing the NCPD encounters and a lot of them just tear through me, like you would not believe. So I need to make a lot of use of hiding on rooftops and taking them out with my shotgun.
That's what I've decide my build is going to be. A very mobile and fast melee build, with shotguns as a backup considering I'm already in their faces.
And it's a real pain, especially until I get to level 10 when I'll be able to acces my first sandevistan operating system, to start being able to slowdown time.

 

[danutz_plusplus]

Nevermind. Even if the encounters are significantly more difficult, it's all the more rewarding when you do manage to take out 6-7 dudes by running around, taking one out, then going behind some geometry.
Then singling out one that's left behind and dashing to that one, taking him out and hiding again. It does take a lot of tries, but once you pull it off it's so much fun. The difficulty is making it especially rewarding.
Though I doubt I will have this amount of patience for every encounter.

What's gonna be a real pain is fighting against the cyberware-enhanced ones. That'll take some maneuvering and slow-time will be mandatory.
I hope to be able to get it without any quickhacks, so it'll be interesting how it works out.