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Which of Phantom Liberty’s 4 main endings do you think is the best & why? Here’s what I think! Remember this is just an opinion piece, my personal takeaway from the incredible writing from the CDPR team, with all the shades of grey and the things left unsaid but hinted at. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions too!
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I think people need to remember that there are no happy endings in Night City. Phantom Liberty embodies that just as much as Edgerunners did and the base game. Loved Phantom Liberty so much.
I disagree. Saving So Mi was my choice. She is a liar and manipulates V while Reed is honest. But all of this change just until the end. Before the end So Mi tells you the truth while Reed gives you no other choice than defend yourself (he is the one who tries to kill you first) and kill him.
Also siding with Reed feels siding with the bitch goverment, its far from good.
I am also surprise u did not even mention how Alex (that “good girl”) and Reed kill the 2 belgium edgerunners in cold blood. It shocked me so hard. It was completely unnecesary and from that point i saw thise 2 with different eyes.
I will never ever give So Mi to Reed because he says so, and i will never side with Reed and Alex.
Great video and analisys. Thanks. So sad all these endings tho. I wish a better ending for everybody.
A very balanced and unbiased breakdown of the endings… and I agree with you. I chose to save SongBird due to one reason… hope. I knew at a certain point in the game that Mayers, Reed, and SongBird were self-serving with selfish agendas [so many died that one person may live]. In all 5 endings, only the 'King of Wands' ending made ME feel good… which was self-serving. So I agree 100% that 'King of Cups' ending is the right choice.
Q: I thought in all endings except where Reed is killed, he helps V with the cure? Correct me if I'm wrong. Need to play that ending again.
I disagree because it's the cyberpunk universe. Personally I believe sending So Mi to the moon is the best option.
Writing wise, Songbird is clearly referring to a bird in a cage, yearning to be free, and it's the ending that does it (although you can argue that the death one also sets her free).
Cyberpunk as a whole is about anti-authority, anti-establishment and values in family, friends, and freedom (with consequent survival). Night City is a setting where there is no winning. Either you die a legend or live your life in a worthless alley as a nobody. NUSA is basically fully funded by Militech and are one and the same in all but name. With that in mind, let's look at it the endings.
Reed endings: Reed it arguably more evil than the Myres or the and cooperation overall. He's loyal to a fault, understands friendships and what's good, yet constantly does mental gymnastics to convince himself and others that what you're doing is the right thing. Unlike the narcissistic corpos, he has that conscience and yet constantly goes against it. Takemura is different because to him, Arasaka is his family. Arasaka has provided him support his entire life, education, and raised him above the masses. For that reason one can understand that Takemura is honorable to a fault, but ultimately not a bad person. Reed is different. NUSA isn't a family to him, they're not his friends and he knows it, yet he is blindly loyal to the corp regardless and tries to justify it to himselves and others. You can see when his delusion finally fades away in the Reed->Don't kill songbird ending, where Johnny mentions he's just one bit away from offing himself. Songbird dying means he never learns and continues to be delusional, while the most moral character in PL (Alex) is dead and Myres still got what she wanted (songbird dead or alive).
Songbird endings: This is the only way you can give the middle finger to the corps. Let's go through her backstory real quick. She made one big mistake in her life (hacking militech shit) and has never gotten her life back. No true friends, no family, nothing but herself. Reed acts as a friend but we all know he's a loyal hound to Myres and not his chooms. So for the last 13? years (can't remember exactly), she's been surrounded by souless individuals. Myres constantly forces her to push into the blackwall, each time she loses a bit of herself and takes a bit of the AI's beyond into herself. By PL, she's borderline cyberpsychosis, fully chromed out (not by her own wishes), and using all her energy to just escape and survive. That's why she's relatable to V, because they only have one goal in their head, survive at all costs. She never got a second chance at life, V is her second chance.
So trapped forever, desperate for escape, and she only tells V her biggest lie only after she has EVERYTHING to lose. Why, if she was a master manipulator, would she ruin it with her final words? Because this is the only time in 13 years when she truly trusts someone as a friend. The line right before the reveal says it all. Betrayal if your deepest friends is the worst possible thing. So now you have two options, give her up or send her to the moon. Giving her up is clearly wrong on so many more levels. You have your second chance (Johnny after you got shot in the head), songbird didn't. Giving her up now means she lives forever as a NUSA slave constantly hitting the blackwall (and putting humanity at risk). So the real question is not whether you take the cure for yourself or not, but whether you consider So Mi a friend and fulfill that vision of a person she finally truly trusted. By shooting Reed you let him die standing by his dumbass morals.
Cyberpunk is never about living a perfect life, life fucking sucks. It's about sticking it to the corps, valuing those close to you, and valuing your own survival. The whole game is around these points. Jackie's relationships with V/Misty/Mama. Nomads live and die by their family. River has his own family. Judy was a close friend to Evelyn. Kerry to Johnny and his love of rock even if he didn't act like it in the past. David and his mother, his crew, or the old crew. It's ALWAYS been about personal connections.
Sending songbird to the moon is the only one that fulfills all of it. You flip off the corps, you showed that you SoMi's trust was not misplaced, you embody the cyberpunk genre. Johnny says it best. Maybe So Mi had that bit more determination for survival, that's why she deserved to live. It's no coincidence that PL/Edgerunners/Don't fear the Reaper all end in space either. King of wands and The star both talk about inspiration and pushing forward. It's also the only ending where you hear back from both SoMi and Alex (the more upstanding characters of the PL cast), happier than before.
I chose my ending based on saving Alex instead of Somi and Reed. Both of them are just a bad trip.
So Mi, in my opinion, was too far gone. Even in the beginning, she was willing to trade the president for her life. And when you came along? Trade your life, among many others in the stadium, so she could live. Song is EXTREMELY selfish, and does not deserve my pity. She decided to venture into the Blackwall. Noone else. She dug her grave, and now she must lie in it.
Love it, I second your opinion. Further and this is because of the references with casino royale.
So Mi is a good reflection to Vesper in that movie. Its quite the very same ending in a sense.
Reed and V is Bond, realizing Vespers manipulation – he will be a complete misogynist to every lover from now on so he wont ever be betrayed again.
Its a little head canon but all these feels like the same to me
Thanks for the essay. I love stuff like this
Slightly disagree, but thats because i look at it different.
I think sending Songbird to the moon is best. Yes she betrays you.. a merc shes known for a few weeks… we do the same shit in the game. The end on the train really solidified sending her to moon as best. Shes home free, you are helping her, all she has to do is shut up… but she doesnt, she tells you the truth at a moment she can no longer stop you no matter what. She finally trusts someone after years of betrayal. She gives you the choice to save yourself.
Put yourself in her shoes, she was coerced into joining the FIA, then coerced into becoming a WMD. She will never have freedom, never be able to take a vacation away from the job, fall in love, have a family, be normal. She was literally turned into Myers living brief case. would you not be willing to do everything she has? Have we not done similar in our play throughs???
There is also Alex, I dont feel right letting her die. She was another victim of Reed, he coerced both Alex and Songbird into the FIA, Neither want it, both want out. Not to say Reed is necessarily a bad guy but he just puts too much blind faith in the government. Sure, he sees the error in his ways at the end if you kill songbird, but I dont think its right to sacrifice Alex and Songbird to do it, that cross is his to bear.
As for Mr. Blue Eyes… Im not convinced hes a bad guy even as an AI, sure he was brainwashing the Peralezes, but the y were actually doing good things for night city, much better than Holt would have. Maybe he did just have Songbird taken over, or maybe he helped her. Hard to say, I dont think all AI is inherently bad, look at delamain… I think they are a lot like us humans. I dont trust that the FIA wont just overwrite the brain of songbirds dead body with a Relic type device.
But yeah, dont think you are wrong or anything, just have different thoughts on it, but that is whats great about the writing in this game.
I dont think any of the endings are all the way happy. I am guessing the creators of the game wanted it to reflect life and its ups and downs. Thanks for sharing.
Phantom Liberty is the best "quiet life" ending for sure. It's bittersweet as you lose your ability to change the world while your friends are trying to live under the suffocating boot of corpos or have moved on to greener grasses, but you're alive and can enjoy life… but is it a life worth living?
Panam and the legendary heist are the best "blaze of glory". Both still promise salvation, but most importantly guarantee V's story to be remembered for decades to come.
Mistake numbero uno. Male V voice actor choice is already as bad as it gets…
+ that ending was the worst. Reed is a loyal bosssimping dog, getting to shoot him in the face is the best ending. His acting was good though. His mindset he was given for the his role stuborn, Boring and bland.
Either way like Johnny says he'll hang himself. Good job.
+ moon ending is far superior in interestingness.
I've commented this is the right ending on 3 or 4 videos. Though I never took erubus as a node for the blackwall ai to get through, I'm still on the fence on whether I will make it or not. I do, however, believe the cyberdeck is a horrible idea to install I think the gun has less connections to the terminal that is V. I think I will decide on it later.
Reed was a monster. He lied more than So Mi and was a cold hearted murderer. He wouldn't hesitate to kill V whenever it was convenient. He was way to far gone in his pursuit of duty he is willing to kill So Mi just because she wanted to be free from the horrible stuff she was made to do and rid herself of the Blackwall sickness imposed onto her by the NUSA. Guy really goes all the way to play no russian with the president if you try help So Mi escape at the spaceport. So Mi only lied about the cure for V main factor for even helping her was that. So it was easier to go along with her than Reed and the NUSA who have a rather fun history of fucking each other over and killing each other for the president. The whole Mr Blue Eyes thing is another bag there's not enough info for his true motives. But I'm more willing to allow for her to get cured and live free than let her die like that and still be used.
While this game will never compare or amount to a great RPG game, i value how there is no right answer when the player is asked a question. At the very least, this game nails that part.
I wish there was fifth ending where you could go through killing moon, kill So-Mi and Reed then walk away flipping Myers the bird. Maximum carnage.
The way I see it is the best method is to let nobody win, that is by killing So Mi, betray her.
Nobody win
Somi didnt get her cure
V not getting the cure
Myers, Reed and Nusa fail
Alex didnt get her retirement
Mr blue eyes didnt get whatever he wanted from So Mi on the moon
The best ending, is the king of wands
My personal headcannon (just let me have it please :,( ) is that V sends So Mi to the moon, then does the (Don't Fear) The Reaper ending. When he goes to space in that, he remembers Mr. Blue eyes and puts it together, knowing it can't mean anything good, and knowing he's doomed anyways, he uses all his wealth he has gained from being a mercenary legend and goes to Tycho to free So Mi, going down in a blaze of glory on the moon while buying enough time for her to get back to Earth and disappear.
What about just letting Myers Die by lolly gaggin around instead of trying to save her?
Im just sad i couldn't romance her.
Your right ending is highly depend on if Blue eye is bad or dangerous. However, we don't konw what Blue eye's true motives is. There is no right decision if we don't know his purpose.
First, I don't believe in doing what's best for humanity. V is simply not that kind of hero. Second, because there are no definitive good endings in Cyberpunk, the ones that give us a glimmer of hope are the best. For the base game, that's going with Aldecaldos, for Phantom Liberty, it's helping Song. I would have helped her even if she had told me from the jump, that there's just the one instance of the cure. I also understood why she wasn't truthful until the very end; Her trust had been broken by the people that were supposed to be on her side many times before.
That ending also means the least amount of people we've come to care for die.
In your choice, literally everyone dies: Alex gets offed by Hansen, You off Song and Reed likely offs himself in not so far future. In helping Song, it's just Reed that's definitively dead.
so mi tells you you can use the neural matrix after she's gone maybe there is a real cure for v there. the nusa doesn't use it on you the only remove the chip
Honestly… the ending, especially siding with reed, is SUCH bullshit that my girlfriend won't even play the next game. She's done with CDPR entirely. I'm pretty pissed too, but honestly I almost expected it. We asked them for just ONE ending that let's V live, even if it's hard to get and takes doing like every single mission, we would do it because we wanted to give V a good future, a life where he could have some happiness. What they gave us was sad, empty, and leads to nothing but loneliness. It's not LIFE, what they gave us is SURVIVAL but never life. V lost everything he built, everything he loved, and everything he was just to survive, he would have been better off taking the path of least resistance ending. The bullet would be kinder than CDPR was.
The ending you got reminds me so much of what Panam said in the Nomad ending. "My life was in a million pieces, you broke it into a million more, but sometimes its only then you can piece it together again."
I still believe saving Somi is still the best ending but damn, the king of cups ending is equally just as good. there is no "best" or "right" ending in this case. I also feel like in a way. Somi's flashbacks when choosing to side with reed also feels like a "punishment" so to say. you see her desperation and what she's experienced, and it made me feel like I wanted to give her a second chance knowing that all her life she has never experienced freedom, happiness or anything really.
And here I am, I thought The killing moon was the better ending as people said on the first week, not realizing there's Mr.Blue eyes at the terminal.
that changes things.
I mean it felt so weird that ending was so much more shorter than somewhat broken, and ending screen shows only Cynosure.
And I kept thinking how could that be the right ending, and I was missing one dot. Now everything is connected in my head, loading back the firestarter quest right now.
It's insane to think about if you missed one small detail you won't know if you are doing right thing.
So I would say side with reed first, see all fhe bad endings, then do the killing moon, come back and do the aomewhat broken once more and end so mi for good.
I think thats story wise a good way.
Cant you just say what is the best ending??
Best ending is siding with songbird. She is actually cured and returned to earth after sometime, Alex lives on and Reed died for what he believed in. V starts over on his search for a cure and continues on with Silverhand
Siding with Reed means you have to kill songbird or turn her over to be a slave forever, Alex dies and please do yourself a favor and don’t trigger V’s new ending with this decision, it’s very dark and you will then understand why this is the wrong decision
Cyberpunk isn’t about saving the world it’s about saving yourself.
I refused to kill her at the end because I was still holding onto hope that she could be saved. I felt so guilty when I had to hand her over Myers and basically told Myers to go fuck herself.
To be honest, I am amazed by how everybody reasons their way out of So Mi being a selfish bitch, by throwing the blame waguely on the "blak wall". She is not a good person, deal with it already.
But I am happy to see at least you can see past the veil of "believe all women, just because they are women and be a good lapdog" and "the good guy black market ripper on the moon will save the day in the end, 100%". But to be fair, the writing in this DLC is incredible – for those who pay attention, there are various clues to validate even pro-NUSA endings.
Thats why I am still not convinced the only good thing is not to give her to NUSA tho…
Can somebody tell my just one thing? Whas she on the AV with the president at the start or not? I have a feeling even that Rosaline bitch played V on this, seeing the oportunity to catch critical asset went rouge.
To me , help Sol and save So Mi life felt right. At least there is glimpse of hope that So Mi could regain herself and might sucessfully escape one day. If you choose death , it ends there and nothing else. If people fear the rougue AI invasion that much then should let So Mi live and study it and handle those by our hands not just end someone's life to buy some time for that. Coward choice to run away , rather fight the AI and if human fail to do it , then extinction is a fair price.
This was the ending I got. A lot of other YouTubers are saying this was the worst ending but I disagree. For me, this isn't the best ending but this is the correct ending.
My opinion: Siding with So Mi is true ending
1. Reed and NUSA has been portrayed as untrustworthy through Reed killing Jacob duo and Johnny's dislike towards them, So Mi is also the first who promised us cure and has been with us for the longest, thus V is more likely to trust her.
2. V is a anti-authority protagonist, he/she almost always side with individual instead of society/authority, and V's background, whether if it is Corpo, Streetkid, or Nomad, gives him no connections towards NUSA, nor any sense of patriotism, therefore V is less likely to trust them as well.
3. Eyes glowing black-red is just her either using the blackwall's power or consequences of blackwall usage. Just like eyes glowing blue represents holo-ing or using technical abilities, it doesn't mean that you are being taken over by phone AI or some other AI.
4. Don't want Alex to die.
No, Somewhat Damaged was NOT FUN TO PLAY. Mf I lost half of my lifespan playing that mission. Jokes aside yeah Phantom Liberty is peak Cyberpunk 2077.
I really dislike this ending and any ending that has Reed living. He committed mass murder by leading leading Mayers troops into the airport and killing every single civilian + the security. This bastard is a piece of sh*t that hides behind his loyalty but deserves to die like the civilians they killed.
The biggest "Flaw" here, comparing the endings, besides difference in personal perceptions, is this: If something is true in one ending, is it true for the other as well or is every ending it´s own "design".
Making it even harder to decide whon we trust and how much.
Even the skills of the NPC changes, one Alex is superior, in the other, well we see in the video what happens.
And i don´t think we get some kind of canon ending at least not in detail and i think to make that possible, they pulled the 2 year coma trick for the new ending out of the hat, because the state of the world can be true for all Endings, Arasaka pulls out, other take over…Does not matter if it happens because of the unrest sparked by Yori or the return of Saburo and V…just vanishes.
So the good ending is the one, you decide for yourself, could be the new life, or passing through in blaze of glory and maybe also helping a lot of Friends.
So Mi is a universally deceitful duplicitous person who will sell anyone else out and kill others for her own benefit. She is also in possession of highly dangerous powers she’s not in full control of that risks the lives of everyone in night city.
If she were another character we’d be absolutely gagging to put a bullet in her brain.
But CDPR dressed her up in an attractive character model with a sad backstory and half the people in your comment section are saying we should protect her at all costs
For me for my first playthrough, it was, Songbird who hired me, Songbird who goes to the ship. Client first. Killing Moon was fun.
I still sent her to the moon cuz whatever happens up there that can affect humanity, it's all well deserved in this cursed story with no happy endings.
I am only two minutes in, and I'm scared you're going to say the king of cups ending, because i want to have been able to do more and i don't want to know that there was nothing more i could do
i don't think cyberpunk is a story where you get any good endings , its all just sacrifices, one for another. I guess when hands reprimanded me once and said you are the master of your own emotions, it was him saying the gist of the game, You do what feels right and never look back ….if you start being altruistic, well then prepare to loose some to "win" some .
I really don't wanna play that horror mission….
Definitely the right choice. The other way around you sacrifice Alex, So Mi and Johnny for your own survival. And that's the selfish way to do so.