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This video essay covers Cyberpunks new ending in the Phantom Liberty expansion. There’s various ways to look at this new ending, but honestly, it’s not nearly as melancholic as you might initially believe. There’s realistic hope for the future of V.
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Music:
Cyberpunk 2077 “New Dawn Fades” OST
Cyberpunk 2077 Mikoshi Core OST
Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction
1:55 – Blaze of Glory
3:30 – Quiet Life
8:45 – Silverhand’s True Response
10:50 – An Unfamiliar Home…
14:00 – What’s Next for V?
22:00 – Thanks for Watching!
#cyberpunk2077 #phantomliberty #cdprojektred
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I hope you all enjoyed the video and maybe I could provide some sort of insight. This is definitely a more controversial topic as this is woven with our own reality. Everyone will have their own opinions and perspectives. I just believe at the end of the day, this is a realistic and more positive outcome for V. For the foundation of what the Cyberpunk world is, it just makes sense. So I hope you all enjoyed!
Side note: Please, let's not bash the writers and developers of this expansion and the new ending. You can have your opinions on the reality of it all, but I believe it's unfair to just outright claim its "poor writing" just because it doesn't match an idealistic situation. For example: I've seen many criticize Panams reaction as poor writing and character assassination. It must be realized that she was an immature and irrational character throughout our time with her. If you didn't fully agree with her and do what she wants, she'd abandon you. Let's also realize that we knew this characters for a relatively short time. So to claim complete and utter knowledge is unreasonable.
Valerie????????
I was feeling depressed at the ending until I saw that hint of a smile right at the end before V turns to join the crowd, and I realised that if you look at the broader picture, this is a positive outcome. Johnny's construct is finally laid to rest with all its hate at the world. V lost a couple of friends, but ultimately they were flings he had only known for a few weeks. He's still a fully able human, even without combat implants, and not the only one living in the world without them. He's more skilled than most, in combat and net running. He has friends, contacts, money and opportunities.
He's still in a better position than most people, it just hits harder because he came down from being on top, but he never enjoyed being on top and all it led to was seeing those around him die. He managed to do something almost nobody in Night city does. He got to live on top, build a legend, and get out with his life and health.
5:03 Major disagree with Song "not the type to legitimately discard and kill whoever she uses". Listen, Song tells you again and again, "I won't leave you behind." "We're in this together." But she knew the Rogue AI was one use from the beginning. So her plan was always to use us, get us to do all the dirty work, get to the moon, and then just leave us to die. I like her a lot, but she deliberately lied again and again so that she could use us. Can't really forgive that.
Also, Johnny's sudden displeasure at being erased feels a little strange depending on where you are in your playthrough. We already had a moment earlier where he said that replacing someone, erasing their will and taking it for your own, was the worse possible thing you could do to someone. That's what Arasaka did to so many, and Johnny promised then that he would do his best to make sure that doesn't happen. So it feels kinda weird that I can't even bring that point up to him, and he acts all hurt and mad that we're even considering erasing him, because we already had this conversation.
in the end, V selling out his Songbird(as faulty as she is) to life worse than death, wiping johnny, letting Alex die, to steal away someones hope of survival just to live on as a empty husk of a "has been". people who say this ending is the most hopeful kinda misses the point in my opinion and pull out copium just to make it seem V has a chance to become a solo again. the game cant tell you how it is, but will show you how it is. v lost everyone he cared for, has lost all his capabilities and even some bums of the street hands his ass back to him, which means he can no longer stand up for himself. and just walks away as a face in the crowd. even Misty tells it like it is to V. yea he can live, but in the end for what? living for the sake of surviving or living for something that is important to you? quiet life or blaze of glory?
One of the things that really bothered me about this ending was not so much what was said in the video (which is all true btw, great content!) but the fact that the majority of the drama could have been completely and utterly avoided if V had just taken roughly about an hour or even less of his/hers time to just tell everyone around them what was happening and make the right calls. Considering at this point of the game V is essentially at a legend status (especially if you did phantom liberty on a max level character 50) they have a lot o resources and contacts to basically make sure nothing too serious happens during their time being away. Call Misty, Vik, romance of choice, Rogue, Fixers etc. anyone who is important and just clarify what is about to happen. Then make sure eddies are secure for at least one apartment and the list goes on. I find it incredibly random how V does none of those things, calls up Reed and disappears for 2 years.
To have all these resources at your feet and just poof and disappear is just odd to me. I know the game desperately wanted to send another message but to me it just felt V was an idiot to not take Reed's deal on his/hers term BEFORE going in the AV and preparing accordingly.
As for the actual ending, something that did stick out to me was the Reed genuinely follows through and cares for V. He even offers them a job and makes sure their surgery is a success PLUS keeps in contact once they're out of the coma. V has plenty of options in this ending and I think its short-sighted to say its bad because you can no longer be a pseudo cyber-psycho going around terrorising the underworld with your chromed out super builds. The thing I take away is this; V played Night City and SURIVED. More than can be said for 99% of others who try it. Not only that, V came out the other end with other opportunities.
I'm surprised how many people thought the FIA ending was the preferred outcome…throughout the story and even from the getgo V's mission is to become a legend and even states a couple times that their biggest fear is to fade away…..the new ending is literally V's personal worst fear whereas deal with the devil was Johnny's worst fear. Don't fear the reaper seems to be the best one. Phantom liberty proves there are more than one way to deal with the relic
I feel like cdprojekt was a little done with this game. They kind of failed on the first release of this game. They were okay with that and they wanted to just quietly let the game die when suddenly the anime boosted interest into undeniability. So they reluctantly made this expansion cause they said they would and stated they were done. But every story they tried to tell in this expansion is dripping with a cynical attitude.
My only issue with the ending is some of it feels forced when it comes to the detachment from friends. Im sure the FIA wouldnt tell Vs friends but it makes very little sense why V wouldnt tell their loved ones about whats going to happen. Especially panam being mad just doesnt make sense she cares about her family . So you having a better way to get the relic out other then a suicide mission on arasaka tower makes no sense. Youre about to get the relic out in some insane unheard of surgery you arent going to say BRB lol.
I do think some characters were only friends with V because V was a top merc. They definitely would treat V like they died if they were no longer that person. So i do believe with some NPCs they would be selfish towards V. But others like panam an crew need a better explanation id had prefer if they were on the run from militech. Since militech takes over NC an they stole from them. That would have given a better bitter sweet goodbye.
The concept is great tho an again I do feel realistic in a lot of ways . V Definitely would feel a shell of themselves. Vs friends from the biz an friends they made doing biz all except one hands worth would leave for sure. Just need some better explanations for the more selfless characters.
I honestly only watched the "What's new for V" segment of your video. You're talking like V lost all his cyberware which isn't the case. If you look during Victor's diagnostics, he is still pretty much running on cyberware, just no longer able to use combat implants. That's why V still has his neural ports, personal link and even CPU. So V isn't really immune to the AI attack.
Another thing is that V's body cannot fully recover because everything that the relic has damaged cannot be healed. That's the reason he can't use any more combat implants in the first place. So V is actually weaker than a normal human in this world's standards. He's basically a PWD that can barely function normally to some degree. V's only option to survive is to take Reed's offer for that deskjob at Langley. At least with that, V still has an influential ally he could possibly rely on.
The ending with V having the highest chance of survival while still keeping the implants and probably even Johnny is sending Songbird to the moon THEN doing the Crystal palace heist. We know Songbird was helped by Mr. Blue Eyes. We also know that sending her to the moon cures her. This means Mr. Blue eyes is confirmed to have the means to cure V.
I cant bring myself to play as Vincent… something about Valerie just fits. I mean. I know canonically, V is female, and i still wanna do a male V playthrough, but im on my 3rd run as Valerie. Just cant help myself. Also…. her ass looks way better on a bike than his does. Lol
You are as good as dead as a chromeless civvy the aldecado ending might be the only decent ending.
Good God dude, did we even play the same game? Shes exactly the type who uses and discards people. Thats what she does to everyone in the game. As for being a victim, its made pretty clear she was doing crap she shouldn't have been and got caught. Sol saved her the only way he could. Shes a narcissist, and you're a simp.
That is a good point at 19:45 . In an 'apocalypse scenario', where every bit of tech could be used as a weapon by the invaders; The one with no tech is as close to untouchable as can be. Like the old saying goes: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."
First time disagreeing with you…
Damn. I'd hope that from most of the Cyberpunk erudites. You wouldn't be the one of the defenders for that lackluster of an ending…
It's the most horrifying ending, because V becomes another face in the ground, which mirrors 99,9% of not 100% of the players playing. Never had a game show me a mirror after beating it. Gave me chills. Awesome game. Awesome ending. Still the one I would never play again.
While I agree with this video that V still has options to make it in life you're not exactly correct about Morgan Blackhand. He has lots of combat cyberware that he uses. His listed cyberware from the Cyberpunk TTRPG are: Neural processor, Sandevistan, smartgun and vehicle Links, interface plugs, chipware socket, nasal filters, two cyberoptics (targeting scope, low-lite, infrared, anti-dazzle), right cyberarm (Rippers, heavy SMG, microwave/EMP shielding, hydraulic rams), muscle & bone lace, and Nanosurgeons. He is a solo that has what he needs to keep up without 'Borging Out like Adam Smasher. V could still make it given he takes enough time to get good with a gun without combat cyberware, but he'd never be the best, and every battle could be the final one.
Theres also bioware in universe. Nanomachines, kevlar and fiber weaved flesh, bones and skin that protect you like a ballistic vest. Lab grown grafted muscles, nanosurgeons, bioengineered antibodies, etc.
V's arsenal isnt empty. They may not be an Adam Smasher or David Martinez, but they're fully capable of being a Captain America or BJ Blazkowicz and thats several steps higher than when they were saving corpo rats like Sandra Dorsett from scav haunts.
I think that comparing V from the end of COMA, to Morgan Blackhand is totally misplaced. Morgan's Cyberware Lisa: "Neural processor, Sandevistan boost, smartgun and vehicle Links, interface plugs, chipware socket, nasal filters, two cyberoptics (targeting scope, low-lite, infrared, anti-dazzle), right cyberarm (Rippers, heavy SMG, microwave/EMP shielding, hydraulic rams), muscle & bone lace, Nanosurgeons.
While the only thing V has to rely on is Personal link. In addition, we don't know exactly what condition V's body is in. We only know that he refers to himself as a crippled person.
In my opinion, this ending can be compared to a crippled veteran returning from war.
I think everybody is forgetting something though. Before all of that can happen, V already died. The relic brought his body back sure. But V was well past dead. Who’s to say the relic brought V’s soul back before overwriting his brain. The relic restarted the brain but that was the only thing keeping V ‘alive’ anyway. That’s why no one could just rip it out. V’s soul had already gone. It’s like that movie Lazarus Project on Netflix. The person was brought back, physically but their soul did not. I didn’t watch the movie I admit but I watched the trailer and read the summary. The person acted like their self at first but then began to change and hunger for flesh. While V is not in danger of becoming a flesh eater, although that is up for debate with biotechnica using mystery meat to sustain the populace, the principle is still the same. V’s soul left his body the minute that bullet pierced his skull. Remember V died in a hotel, yet ‘woke up’ under piles of garbage. We should be under the impression that V was dead a little while at least. Just because V’s body was resurrected doesn’t mean his soul was too. Talking about being soul killed by soul killer is impossible for V because his soul already did when he was shot.
The ending should make people cry. It seems that some people are angry that this happened to them.
The video essay really resonates with me because it reinforces a concept that I’ve recently come to terms with, which reinforces why cyberpunk is more realistic than fantasy: because cyberpunk as a genre practically abandons all forms of idealism as being practical or achievable because idealism really just isn’t. No one person is going to change the world, it’s a waste of time to even try. A realist out look is understanding and coming to terms with the barriers of an idealistic outcome, and understanding you’re going to have to settle for the best feasible resolution to a realistically shitty situation. Cyberpunk isn’t completely cynical or pessimistic about reality or all outcomes of life, but is realistic in a philosophical and ideological sense that life is messy, and all we can hope to do is make the world a little better in our corner, and for those we care about. The world is not about us nor does it care about us, we just live in it, and our hope should be to just make the best of it, not to wallow in despair, nor to attempt to project our will onto the world in an attempt to shape it beyond what is feasibly possible.
I straight up wept when I got the new ending. Like I just cried as V faded into the background. It didn't leave me feeling hollow. It left me shunned by reality.
Did you see the Honest Gametrailer choom?! It had me dying! 😂
The problem isn't that the ending is a downer; it's that the ending is horribly/stupidly written. If your friend came back after suddenly missing for 2 years and told you they'd been in a coma, you would have a party, regardless of how much you've "moved on." At the bare minimum, you wouldn't treat them like shit, like the characters in the ending here do. Everything else aside, THAT is what truly makes the ending terrible and leaves V in a terrible spot.
Also, V's DNA was never being rewritten.
Beautiful video buddy
Yolo vs. I lived, bitch.
So the more I play now phantom with endings like 8 times (only been documenting main remake campaign the day before phantom). May I say the more I think about why songbird repressed silverhand was to stop him from asking questions…imagine what the dialogue would've been at certain parts of Vs and Somis Convo if Johnny was around.j.s.
This ending was so sad and depressing in my opinion.
If you think this ending is intriguing, you should look into the original leaked ending. Since the story was rewritten since the leak, the original Phantom Liberty ending was pretty interesting.
Im the old version, V got the "Songbird" chip, a splinter chip that was capable of rebuilding their damaged neurons, but when the shard was examined by Victor, he said Arasaka was the only place that had the advanced tech to utilize the Songbird splinter chip. V chooses the Devil ending, but has the option to activate the chip or not. Long story short… it works. V wakes up, and does some creepy tests, one involving a chick and a spider. Something's… off though.
Hellman comes in and says the procedure was a success. "They said the changes caused by the biochip gone too far… but then something happened, your neurons started to rebuild."
Hanako offers V a job in Tokyo, and V can accept. Takemura tells V to call Vic so Arasaka can kill them. However, V's reaction is… wrong. V changed. Changed in a dark way. Almost as if empathy has been wiped away, and Takemura is taken aback. At the end credits during the phonecalls, all of V's friends are scared, saying there is something deeply, deeply wrong with V since returning from the operation.
The original Phantom Liberty from the old script. I used to hate it, but I think it would've been interesting. Truely a deal with the Devil.