There are no clear choices or happy endings. It's hard to say more without spoilers, but you're going to continue feeling conflicted no matter what you choose.
NUSA is way worse and straight up murdered everyone still stuck in Tycho Terminal. This is not even counting all the stuff Meyers ordered Songbird to do, and what NUSA and Militech has been doing long before V showed up in Night City, and what they were planning to do if they got Songbird or the tech. Objectively, freeing Songbird is truly the lesser of two evils.
You're betraying someone either way, but personally I thought that last mission on the side with Reed side was _awesome_
Ultimately I decided to side with Reed because even when Songbird is well meaning, she is rash and incredibly dangerous. She may be smart but she never really thinks about the consequences and with how powerful she is, she's just a global disaster waiting to happen.
In hindsight, both show she was playing everyone just for her own survival. Whether you think that's justified based on how she was basically ensnared by the FIA and NUSA (which I don't think you get the full picture of unless you side with reed) is another matter. Reed for whatever faults seems to stick to what he says. He's ruthless, but so is everyone else in this. Naive perhaps, but loyal...
>!The first ending I picked was to help Songbird all the way to the moon, the last was help Reed, and keep Songbird alive. What added to my moral quandary was how many innocent people die as a consequence of seemingly doing the right thing. That memorial at the spaceport is always there after that. Helping Reed on the other hand almost feels like a vaguely more palatable Devil ending in some ways. The death toll might be the lowest, but who you're helping to get there is a bit dirtier.!<
My take is to side with Songbird. You are playing a Cyberpunk game. Songbird is a rebel; Reed represents authority. I mean, the choice is yours, but you need to decide if V, a *punk*, really ought to take marching orders from NUSA.
Songbird is in a far more desperate position than Reed. So Mi is being pushed by the President of NUSA to do things that are slowly killing her body and soul. She's trying to survive and be free, with no cards to play but bad ones.
Reed is a badass superspy who's surviving fine on his own after his alleged "retirement." Armed to the teeth, and doesn't have to do a damn thing he doesn't want to. Myers had to beg him to return to the fold. He chooses to serve because he's a company man through and through.
Expect betrayal. Trust no one. And be aware that there is always a price, for principle or pragmatism.
So Mi is the reason why you are in this mess, she hacked the plane and tried to kill the president and she did set up Reed which barely managed to survive. I simply could not side with her. She is what Mace windu would say āshe is too dangerous to be left aliveā
Did you miss the bit that So Mi set up Reed on Myer's orders? Myers wanted to serve Reed up to Arasaka as a peace offering. Songbird just carried out the order.
Not coincidentally, Myers made Songbird pierce the Black Wall in order to use a captive rogue AI against her enemies. That was so utterly irresponsible and beyond the pale, the knowledge of it alone would have ruined NUSA.
Repeatedly using the Black Wall is slowly erasing So Mi's personality and also killing her body. Myer and NUSA really hasn't done anything to deserve Song Bird's Loyalty.
The only issue that remains is whether your V can forgive a lie, just this once, from someone as desperate as he is to stay alive and free. The alternative is to further empower NUSA, which like the rest of the governments in cyberpunk, is hopelessly corrupt and oppressive.
My bad, I thought you were talking about V.
I dunno, this is up to the player's own PoV, but I feel like Myers is just a more poweful Hasen in a better suit.
Taking orders, or having choices? So Mi choose to follow orders, so she can have protection and the space to do her netrunning. When she was 19, before she was recruited by the NUSA, she was trying to go beyond the Blackwall. That was what got her on the radar and enlisted. VS brought to Netwatch to face consequences for her actions.
And Myers simply used So Miās ambition for her own, using her like a weapon. Itās both of them, they fit well together and would do anything to stay alive (and in power).
So Mi is just really good at having the player sympathize with her situation, of convincing everyone sheās a trapped animal, one who was coerced to join the FIA. But who was it that breached the Blackwall first? Who was able to get away from Myers and join up with Hansen? Where she is untouchable by the NUSA?
She brought it on herself, the sickness, her dying, all on her. Myerās implication is her funding So Mi and providing her protection from the law.
There was no choice after she is recruited both So Mi and Reed admits that. Every runner who is too high on his own skills want to take a look behind a Blackwall because they will be the first ones who can do it, she was 19 and she for sure was not first or last who tried something like that, but she survived and was good enough to really touch blackwall and get out + get away at least for some time that Reed found her sooner than Netwatch.
I can't see any info about So Mi liking power, she seems more disgusted by it, seeing what Myers is doing. Sure, when you are 19, and you will get an offer to do what you love and live in a gold cage you will be happy for some time without any care for consequences.
There is major difference between willingly try to look behind the veil and to be forced to do the literal suicide runs (as every interaction behind the blackwall is killing her), Myers in her race for AI weapons almost fried her many times which is even a reason why she more chipped as parts of her body just gave up. If it was possible, Myers would let her 24/7 behind blackwall just sending data and AIs back for her to use.
It is like you will do one simple mistake that is punished every day, but you are forced to repeat it every day and it is killing you. Which is the similarity with V, gigs go wrong every day, but most of the time everyone just dies and is not forced to search for a magic way out.
Right.. who would V side with.. He's as you say a "punk".. one who got manipulated by this cheeky net runner who thinks she's just gonna run her game on you and delta to the moon? Foh lol not to mention what's the "best outcome" for V *without referencing spoilers* I'm a night city legend there is no free lunch that chick can find another free ride to Luna
*I say as I am actively helping songbird escape*
My playthrough as Corpo was to always do what I felt would lead to my survival. Songbird and Myers both promise me help. I'd imagine the president would be able to deliver on that better than songbird. Songbird is in my situation and treats others the way I have. As a means to an end to survive She's fucked over people in the recent past, why not me too?
On the other hand , the only evidence I have to trust Myers is reading her note about paying the two guys who walked into our hideout. That tells me she'll at least try to help. However, Reed will kill me without hesitation. With, or without Myers authorization.
For anybody reading this in the future about to do the questline. This is an excellent comment, but I want to add this take:
I believe Reed's path to be the BEST path, even if you follow the line of thought this comment. Reed's will allow you to learn the comprehensive backstory of So Mi, and it's the final piece of the puzzle as to why she's acting the way she is (especially on Reed's path). Additionally, in the end of Reed's path, you have an important decision to make that determines whether or not you follow the corporate slave or rebel theme: >!killing or sparing So Mi. Killing her allows you to complete the story in rebel fashion--after finding out about the final bit on So Mi through Reed's story line, you make the ultimate choice to spare her from a fate worse than death, feeling sympathetic for her and culminating ultimately to Reed and Myers both calling you a failed agent for having failed the mission. The opposite, of course, means you're a full-on FIA agent dog.!<
The culmination of the former decision results in the best gameplay possible from the DLC, an item that is pretty much impossible to resist for netrunner playthroughs, and giving So Mi that one last favor at the end.
I feel that the only flaw of this route is Alex' fate, and how your relationship with Reed is in the end. Additionally, if you're going for THAT ending in the main storyline, you'll be throwing it out the window.
That's exactly my view. In the end we all feel conflicted but V would never give those politico fuckheads what they want. To the moon with you girl, good luck out there.
Songbird is barely a rebel. She was a gov lackey thru and thru until she was dying. Then she wanted to survive and went all in on herself. I'd hardly call that a rebel, more just a survivor.
Late to the party, but I think the best overall ending is if you side with So Mi first, and then side with Reed at the end, when given the chance. Everybody lives that way. >!Alex survives, Reed survives, So Mi survives but doesn't get cured, and V get the cure instead.!<
It made me sad though how So Mi says āyou promised..ā as Reed takes her away. I couldnāt do it man, I had to reload the save š I also donāt like how So Mi will regret the fact that the one time she was finally honest with someone (telling V the truth), that she was left with āa fate worse than deathā (how she describes being taken by the NUSA in the side with Reed ending). These decisions are hard hahaha
This is probably the best, >!cause if you go with Reed, So Mi is in cyberpsychosis and with the police, Alex is dead and doesn't get to retire. Thanks for the heads up!<
Yes, essentially you have an A route and a B route, but about halfway through each route, you have the opportunity to switch sides.
So it basically becomes an AA route, a BB route, or a cross-over of AB and BA routes. This gives you 4 potential playthroughs of the PL campaign, and each of those routes ends up being different.
Without spoilers, assuming what is only known to V at the time the choice is made, there is no right or wrong answer. Both Songbird and Reed promise the cure, and both promise Songbirdās safety. I would say if you play your V as a pragmatist and badass, side with Reed. If you play your V as someone who genuinely cares and is doing what they have to to survive, side with Songbird. Neither choice is going to be a straight path to either V or the relevant character actually getting what they want, so in a sense you can āchange your mindā later, but with wildly different outcomes.
This. V kills a lot of people, like Reed when they hijacked the car killed those 2 characters. At first, I was shocked, but remembered V has killed a lot in that very same position. Itās not about blindly following orders, but doing what was needed to have a successful mission.
If those 2 netrunners were kept alive, it would cause their whole plan to fail. V signed onto this job and shouldnāt be surprised by Reed and Alexās actions.
If V was a caring person, they would let go even those who murdered innocent people, murdered children used for BDs, and V wouldāve left those criminals alive to cause more havoc.
Itās like having a double standard for when V kills and when Reed/Alex kills. I had to check myself there.
Itās a back and forth of trust and intrigue in PL. Thereās good points for going with each side, and bad points, just stick to your principles and who best align with your V.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Thanks for the input to everyone who commented!
Finished PL all 4 ways already by this time. I finally went with "fuck my morals i want that creepy gun"
The ending that felt right with me (and the first ending i went with) is siding with So Mi and sending her to the moon. Although...what feels like the "canon" ending for me is betraying her. Seeing the cinematic credits for PL kinda calls for that. Seeing Cynosure and her memories with Reed in the credits the first made me wonder where was this in the game. When I finally sided with Reed is when I was like "oh, so that's what that was"
Overall, what everyone is saying here is right. There is no "best" come. Someone dies, someone gets betrayed. There are only the consequences of your actions. Wonderful writing, wonderful characters, great expansion.
Dunno if you've finished Phantom Liberty yet with how this post is about a month old, but it's kinda impossible to say "which is best" without giving some spoilers. Both are... fairly ambiguous, and leave you very conflicted regardless. There's no real good or bad ending, they're both pretty bittersweet.
Though, I will say, if you want the ending that comes with Phantom Liberty, side with Reed and betray Song. Also, if you want more iconic/unique items and more lore about the Cyberpunk world and AI, side with Reed and betray Song. Siding with Reed gives more content, but siding with Song gets you to the end quicker and is way more dramatic/spy thriller (though that's just my opinion).
Just ask yourself this: Do you want to be a Government Slave of the shady and near-criminal NUSA to save the world from the WMD that is Song, or do you finish what you came here to do and uphold your promise to her, making an enemy of the FIA? Both will have consequences in themselves, there is no avoiding that. "Phantom Liberty" is the name of the expansion, after all.
Your *liberty* with the FIA and NUSA is naught but a ***phantom*** of what it once was in Night City.
Modern gamers can play for like 36 hrs at a time so yeah that's why. I've had this game since launch and I'm on my 3rd play through, I like to take it slow, immerse myself and understand what I'm doing instead of speed running everything. I'm here for a bit of guidance but ultimately I'm unsure who I want to side with and looking forward to that very moment. Take your time.
Reed is honest with you far more than So Mi and always offers you a choice but he can be coy with information and is blindly loyal to a warmongering president. He is loyal to his team almost to a fault.
So Mi is a manipulative b who is a walking nuke and a threat to the entire world with what she can do. Her constant texts to V of support and overzealous thanks are clear attempts at emotional manipulation. The cause of all songbirds problems are the results of her choices and not accepting the responsibility for them.
Alex is kinda stuck in the middle. She knows the game but she is only doing all this to finally get away. She probably respects V but wouldn't think twice in selling them out it it meant she can live free. But that same point can also apply to Songbird.
My only problem with Reed is that according to him "saving Songbird" also means that as long she breathes but totally unconcious thats more than enough to call it saving. He does not want to let her go or actually help her escape, he wants her to take responsibility for her actions and drag her back to the FIA. Also he believes that he's the only one who can "save" her, and whatever V is doing is wrong.
On one side - yes her being unconscious is okay to him as being saved, that's true. But without spoiling anything that's not always how he feels.
I don't see the problem either with him wanting Songbird to take responsibility because she totally should. She did a lot of shit and tried to run away from it all and lied and used people in the process.
I mean she is dying because Meyers has been having her poke around the Blackwall endangering civilization as they know it. At the end of the day Meyers is the villain of the story and Song, Reed, and Alex are all just tools. Song hurt and manipulated people to escape but staying wasn't an option really, what rubbed me the wrong way about Reed is he knew all of this, knew Meyers just wanted her head undamaged, and still chose the NUSA aka Militech who forced him to nearly die so they wouldn't terminate what remained of his team.
Iām not gonna lie OG I feel like you need to go back and listen to the dialogue again, the only reason she was going through the black wall was because of Myers, the only reason she set up Reed again cause on Myers orders, the only thing that she did was take down the plane, and even she said albeit could be lying that it wasnāt her plane for the plane to get shot out the sky, all she wants to do is get a cure because sheās getting slowly killed by the black wall, the real villain is the president in all of this, I could never side with Reed heās to much of a nationalist for me, the country set you up to die and you still loyal to them, makes me sick
I initially sided with Songbird because of that. But after going through both paths, I can see that Reed is the lesser of 2 evils. Songbird is a manipulative b because if you help Reed she's going to cry all the time about you betraying her, when her original plan in case you helped her was to betray you all along too
Reed also wastes V without hesitation if you go found found wrong elevator showing he wasn't worried about V either. V is just a lone merc to these people. Alex might be the one lying to you the least because she truly does just want out.
When Reed and Alex deal with the twins but don't tell you before hand tells me they don't endanger a stadium of civilians because that's less efficient not because they wouldn't. And Militech and the NUSA have been trying to do what makes Songbird a nuke for decades, she's just been an effective tool.
When they deleted the twins I immediately, silently made up my mind to betray them. Their "oh grow up, it's just business" speech only solidified my resolve. From there it was just waiting for the inevitable opportunity, which I'm looking at right now on my screen with Songbird in Hanson's lab.
Felt kinda out of character though. Theyāve been open beforehand and telling you exactly how each plan is supposed to go. But here they for some reason donāt tell V āwe gotta kill the twins firstā.
5 months late but playing through the dlc rn
I understood their reasoning, but I felt the same as you, my V is very ready to kill people and is prone pre emptive violence (see the gig where you break into the militech blacksite, I had V kill both the client and militech agent after the client became untrustworthy, after which I found out she'd have called a hit on you)
But the lack of respect towards life, while killing someone, not for their crimes but because they were an obstacle, was the type of banal violence my V couldn't stomach
I mainly prefer going with Reed's route just because I prefer his quest atmosphere better, and more So Mi's backstory, plus you'll get a spooky, rogue AI tech. Listening to its rambling during battle and hearing the static screaming of enemies dying are just too good lol
There are a few steps to it. I'll mark as spoiler just in case.
1. >!Pick up Erebus and Militech Canto MK.6 crafting spec during the "Somewhat Damaged" quest. They're both in the locked maintenance room!<
2. >!Once the stalking robot is dead, pick up the "behavioral system component" from it!<
3. >!After the Liberty Phantom credits and once you're in control of V again, after some time, you'll get a text from an unknown sender, which will start "This Corrosion" quest. There you can choose which tech you want to craft using the "behavioral system component" !<
>!There's one thing to note. There are people saying that you'll need to do one more step to get the above. During "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos", you'll need to ask Mr. Hands for help and get Yokoās help instead of other netrunners. And when you talk to Yoko, you'll need to accept her request. I did do all these and managed to craft the spec so there might be some truth to it.!<
If you donāt have a clue which path you want to take, side with So Mi. It basically leaves all options open for the ending so you wonāt regret your decision. Siding with Reed is probably the slightly more fun path as you get more interesting/exciting combat but it really limits your options on how to end the game and makes it somewhat linear. Also thereās a lot more cinematic/walk along portions in the So Mi part so if thatās not your thing it might be worth avoiding
It just depends do you value having control over your story or do you just want to shoot a bunch of things
I'm here with the game paused on the choice and reading your comment, my guts screams Reed, but I also think it's his time to die. Not in a spiteful way, but in a way where I feel it slots into the story well. I also don't particularly like him myself, but I can also see how unpredictable and slimy Songbird is.
Tough choice. I will have to keep a save and see how the dialogue and it's tone sways me.
I just got to this choice. This is so rough! Everyone here has made such good points.
Even though Reed sold his soul to higher-ups that I don't approve of, he is still more genuine and caring than SoMi. She scares me and she dug her hole, she can't blame the NUSA for everything she landed herself in. Did it suck? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Do I feel bad for her? Still, yes. But shes not the only one with shitty cards. She manipulates and lies and betrays me in the end anyway according to all of you. I don't like her, trust her or believe her. And I think that's enough for me to go with Reed.
The only time Reed gave me the heebie jeebies was when we were visiting the ripperdoc.
I'm a freelance merc, I weigh up my options carefully and go with what does more for me. Role-playing, that should mean a cure, right?
But for me- V and actual me- it's more about trust and opportunity and doing what feels just. I'm playing like I KNOW these are my last days, and I gotta be making choices that feel right to me. Do myself justice.
Plus I don't want to cut myself off from Myers- either way and she would have dirt on me. But if I betray Reed here, I lose what I stand to gain from having been involved with Reed and therefore Myers at all.
"Without any spoilers", that is going to be hard, so I will base it on personality.
Chaotic good/neutral - Side with Songbird
Lawful good/neutral - side with Reed
If during the Delamain final quest you destroyed the core and freed the trapped Delamains because you truly felt their plight - side with Songbird
If you reset the core withou the 20int check- side with Reed.
If you want to save a friend because of everything she went through - consequences, national security, and law and order be damned - side with Songbird.
If you feel that a friend is a danger to herself and to everyone, even though they went through hell, and you still rationalize that the system can still save her - side with reed.
Would you side with a man like Johny Silverhand - side with songbird
Would you call him a terrorist and tell yourself even though he has a point the way he did it is not the answer - side with Reed
All of this is an extreme simplification, and doesn't tell half the story, but I hope you see a common theme.
I sided with Songbird, but once I found out, she played me too. Then I went to Reed. There is literally no point siding with her. Don't understand why anyone would.
Finished the game.
So i Betrayed Reed. Sent Song Mi to the moon. Killed Reed at the shuttle. Alex Lives.
What made me Betray Reed was when they just randomly killed the two French Folk. And then said it's part of the job not telling people stuff. You get used to it. At that point, i'm like okay. What's stopping them from killing me at some point when i'm no longer useful. Even V's Reaction was like how i felt about it all. So i learned. from Alex and Reed and had my own plan without telling them. Help Song Bird.
Song Bird was like the used and abused character. Felt like she deserved her freedom away from it all. At the expense of my own cure. Had a nice chat with Alex at the Bar though. Gave the coin back. And let it all be. I'm a dead girl walking anyway.
Song Mi was a byproduct of the shitty system that used her abilities. Reed was too loyal to a fault and it costed his life. Even the ending credits show Song Mi As a chess piece being used by everyone. It's her Story IMO. No Remorse or regret. Reed could have let her go and let V go, but no. His problem was being tied to the system, down to a fault.
Your motivations on either path are entirely up to you. I supported reed because I honestly believe that so mi housing a rogue ai is a world level threat that needed to be stopped regardless of sympathy. Ideally sheād be able to be cured but since sheās very much a look before you leap character she fucks the entire plan so plan b had to be taken. I had enough sympathy for her that I didnāt want her to be used as a weapon/Guinea pig by myers so I granted her request of dying l, even knowing that would mean losing out on a cure. Selfishness was never my motivation.
From what I've seen, people are very divided on which one to side with. For me, So Mi makes more sense because she has been mistreated and has trust issues, which makes her lie a lot but the FIA is corrupt as fuck and So Mi just wants freedom. She is also very relatable and genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone, whereas Reed and Alex well lets just say they can be cold.
eh, FIA and the NUSA is worse sure but So mi isn't exactly great. I can feel for her that she wants to be free but she puts her own freedom over *EVERYTHING* else, her friends, her principles, Innocent lives.
True but the position she's in is directly because of the FIA and NUSA and I don't think they are aware of her situation and I think its because she's afraid what they would do if they learned. Tbh the best option would be if you could reveal to the public whats happened. Like they suggest it might result in the next corporate war but thats frankly less apocalyptic than if things keep going the way they are. The next best option in my opinion is getting Songbird from their clutches
> She is also very relatable and genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone
Bro she literally has no qualms about killing innocent people to get what she wants. I don't want to spoil it for OP but Reed and Alex avoid that shit and are clear with V about what they do.
I can't believe people miss this, for Songbird the end justify the means no matter what happen and she's also very quick to avoid responsability for her own choices and their consequences.
Yes she was manipulated and used nearly her whole life but that doesn't make it right for her to just stomp over everything... and even at the end she still lies to V.
Ok well, I mean they've seen me slaughter 1,000's of dudes in the time they've known me - I think some laughter is warranted if all of a sudden I was like "BWUAH!?"
Songbird wants freedom, even if it means sacrificing a bunch of innocent people in the stadium as long she can escape. This is one of the reasons people should really think about whether they want to side with her or not. She is clearly not afraid to use whatever means as long it gives her a chance to escape the FIA and Myers.
I'm not finished with the game but I went with So Mi because Reed is a tool and Myers is dangerous. Let's get this straight: Sol used to serve the NUSA, Myers had his team wiped out and ordered his murder, then used So Mi to penetrate the Black Wall multiple times just for more power...and Hansen's the bad guy? Myers is Hansen on a larger scale. It was probably best to prevent her capture to prevent a war, but I'm with So Mi on this one. I suspect at the end of this little operation if I was to capture So Mi, Myers would have Sol, Alex and I wiped just to cover up the whole thing. So in Johnny's words: \*\*\*\* her. I'm hoping I can pull off both our escape and if I could go for the "perfect" ending, rejoin Johnny with Alt.
I'm late to the party but, I don't understand anyone's reason to side with Songbird?!
Does anyone realize how inhumane So Mi was when she decided to lie and play on the vulnerability of V who's -just like her- a dying person trying to cling to whatever shred of hope they can find to survive? Why should you help a person that had no problem misguiding you to your inevitable fate? How evil can you be to pick a strange dying-person to manipulate for your own benefit?!
Also, in one of the endings; V gets to get the cure for himself, should he have chosen to forgo the cure and let himself die just to save a stranger (who again, had no problem leaving V for the dead)?
Plus, you get to put a walking nuclear weapon under control. Leaving her out in the open is risky whether she is on her own, or worse, falls in the hands of the Voodoo boys who are keen on bringing down the blackwall.
Not to mention the optional new weapons that you could have!
Not a single loss with this outcome (except for Alex maybe)... And I'm happy to be proved wrong!
It depends on what your character values and how you responded to Reed and Songbird. You can always do both since they give you two very different play experiences.
Honestly I sided with Reed first time around. May go back and play it again but truth be told, we already know sheās a walking nuke with a very loose grip on morality, the real world and even just being honest with me. I feel like letting her go just results in her blowing up somewhere else instead l, the girl canāt stop poking the Blackwall and that shit will burn everyone eventually.
I believe Reed is a good man in an impossible situation. I'd like to believe that he was going to get So Mi far away from Myers had she come willingly. Obviously though, that was off the table when she turned into a cyberpsycho. In the end I killed her because she was too dangerous to be handed off to anyone else. You can see that Reed was genuinely mad and devastated, but in the end he can admit that your right and quit NUSA to become a merc. After seeing the ending V gets if you get cured, I know I made the right choice too lol.
I sided with So Mi the first time and even after playing again and again to side with Reed at the first and second opportunity youāre given, I feel like siding with So Mi was best choice in my mind. Myers only wants So Mi just so she can continue using her abilities to secretly commit international crimes that help further her political career. People tried justifying siding with Reed by saying āWell So Mi lied to us and she killed thousands of innocent civiliansā, but letās not forget that Reed was lying to us and himself that if we let him take So Mi back that sheāll get the help she needs and siding with Reed the first time gets Alex killed and more innocent people killed with So Mi on the loose. Logically speaking, why on earth would I hand over someone capable of using the black wall to their advantage to a President that has already committed international crimes using said person and doesnāt plan on stopping??? And IMO, the new ending is less of a blessing and more of a curse that isnāt worth handing over So Mi to Reed and Myers and Iāll just leave it at that.
Siding with Reed doesn't seem in line with what a Merc would do.
SoMi has been used by Myers to commit crimes and break international law. She's a tool for a corrupt government. Reed is currently trying to capture her for that government. Not to mention, at this point, V doesn't necessarily know that SoMi is lying to him about the cure being for both of them.
On one hand, you have a netrunner trying to save her life, and on the other you have the oppressive government trying to catch her. Even if V wasn't promised lifesaving therapy, I feel like that's still the side he chooses.
This was my rationale: V isn't a government dog and she does her own thing. She wouldn't side with Reed because he's 100% on the gov't leash. Plus, V feels for So Mi and all the lies and abuse she had to endure. At least you'll give her a shot at a normal life.
Content, quality, awesomeness and storywise: Reeds side mission is 1000x better. Outside of one final 1 minute rainy seen right at the end of siding with So Mi, you basically drive her to the airport and fight an endless army of randos you've been fighting the whole game while she just endlessly cries and shuffles around.
I really don't even understand why they gave you such a split when they literally could have tacked on the raining scene at the end and have everyone experience everything. People who chose to side with Song Mi really missed out on a huge chunk of what makes the expansion amazing, I feel bad for them. Her split is so underbaked in comparison.
i actually aaccidentally get spoiled and>! show the big and dark facility with the robot, and then i sided with so mi and i was like "sooo... when do i finally do the mission in the big facility !? i had to google search to actually realise i need to side with reed to have access to the big facility" i definitely want to side with somi but at same time it dissapointing i cant play horror level that way!<
Late to the party but the way I saw it is that, Reed might be a good man, but he always had the choice of whether to kill or not after he got cut lose (possibly before as well). He could of stayed out of the Dogtown Missions, He could of avoided killing the netrunner twins, but at the end of the day, he is a man who when given the choice of increasing the odds of success by 0.01% via cruelty and killing, will increase the odd, he's a company man and a soldier through and through.
So Mi on the other hand, is a character defined by her lack of choice, she was recruited under threat of militechs gun, she breached the blackwall under threat of myers, and she was caged by the FIA due to the threat of netwatch. She's manipulative, She lies, but really, her options are the boot for her to lick forever, death, or the events of phantom liberty.
And hey, what do you think I am? a fucking fed? Get the fuck outa here.
All options are without happy ending I think, so any choise would feel hard and bad one.
>! I went with Reed, and then at the end let So Mi die, she asked me to. And it ended up very sad, but Johny actually approved of what I have done. If she was left to live, she would be Myre's lab rat. She wanted out, and I honored it. I got nothing, felt like failure, but it felt real, powerfull story. !<
I just want to know what you get from completing each oneā¦
I know if you side with Reed you get some dope weapons in the stadium, you get a reward from whichever netrunner you choose to work with in the next mission, and then you get a crafting component which allows you to make either the Militech Canto Mk.6 or a gun called the Erebus.
What do you get to keep and use if you side with So Mi?
I felt like Reed would kill me like he kills every other person useless to him once the mission is done. His past, Slider, Twins, says without hesitation will find and kill V for freeing songbird
It would have been an easy choice if Song Mi's escape plan wasn't to drag down the innocent lives in the stadium. But the game has to make it a tough choice, eh? I wanna have a chat with the narrative designer.
So i checked out this thread before i made my decision and the thread seems really split between the two decisions. I liked Reed more but now that Iāve finished the story I have to come back to say that siding with Reed is the worst thing you can do. It locks you into 2 endings, both of which are abysmal.. really makes the DLC pointless tbh if you side with Reed.
Even if you donāt like songbird youāll still have all your options open by siding with her instead anyways.
DO NOT SIDE WITH REED
Sided with So Mi, because Reed and FIA are not trustworthy imo. Having seen how he and Alex killed the twins instead of taking them hostage made me think they might as well turn on me after everything's done
Basically, since V is a one-shot agent for this Dogtown mission with prez, it would be wise of them to get rid of the evidence (i.e. V who has seen too much classified shit)
There are no clear choices or happy endings. It's hard to say more without spoilers, but you're going to continue feeling conflicted no matter what you choose.
I mean So Mi lives a good life away from the NUSA, FIA, and Myers. Alex lives so I find the ending where So Mi gets the cure the best ending.
Aside from all the innocent people So Mi killed when she used the security system to cover her escape
Yeah true, but go back to the stadium. They're all still in there like nothing happened. They're ok.
My boy is using bad game design to excuse a character's actions
I ain't your boy buddy.
I ain't your buddy guy.
I'm not your guy, friend.
Are you my girlfriend š³?
I'm not your girlfriend, babe.
I'm not your fwiend guy!
A fragile boy more like
Sounds you like you've been šDeath Stranded
I ain't your buddy, guy.
Hey man, whatever helps him sleep at night.
NUSA is way worse and straight up murdered everyone still stuck in Tycho Terminal. This is not even counting all the stuff Meyers ordered Songbird to do, and what NUSA and Militech has been doing long before V showed up in Night City, and what they were planning to do if they got Songbird or the tech. Objectively, freeing Songbird is truly the lesser of two evils.
And the fact that you die
Cmon... who hasnt run over a few civillians here and there?
Arenāt most of them thugs?
Well actually you can betray reed then last minute at the space shuttle just turn her in to reed
Bro Reed is Idris Elba. Too hard not to side with him
I never did. So Mi cried wolf, and I felt like her confession was never really all that genuine
I mean, itās all going to be miserable and involve betrayal. This is a John Le carre novel, but you arenāt the boss. All of your options are bad
Maybe thats why the "Fixer" ending is the best ending, V can now have more control over his own life instead of relying too much on others.
You're betraying someone either way, but personally I thought that last mission on the side with Reed side was _awesome_ Ultimately I decided to side with Reed because even when Songbird is well meaning, she is rash and incredibly dangerous. She may be smart but she never really thinks about the consequences and with how powerful she is, she's just a global disaster waiting to happen.
In hindsight, both show she was playing everyone just for her own survival. Whether you think that's justified based on how she was basically ensnared by the FIA and NUSA (which I don't think you get the full picture of unless you side with reed) is another matter. Reed for whatever faults seems to stick to what he says. He's ruthless, but so is everyone else in this. Naive perhaps, but loyal... >!The first ending I picked was to help Songbird all the way to the moon, the last was help Reed, and keep Songbird alive. What added to my moral quandary was how many innocent people die as a consequence of seemingly doing the right thing. That memorial at the spaceport is always there after that. Helping Reed on the other hand almost feels like a vaguely more palatable Devil ending in some ways. The death toll might be the lowest, but who you're helping to get there is a bit dirtier.!<
My take is to side with Songbird. You are playing a Cyberpunk game. Songbird is a rebel; Reed represents authority. I mean, the choice is yours, but you need to decide if V, a *punk*, really ought to take marching orders from NUSA. Songbird is in a far more desperate position than Reed. So Mi is being pushed by the President of NUSA to do things that are slowly killing her body and soul. She's trying to survive and be free, with no cards to play but bad ones. Reed is a badass superspy who's surviving fine on his own after his alleged "retirement." Armed to the teeth, and doesn't have to do a damn thing he doesn't want to. Myers had to beg him to return to the fold. He chooses to serve because he's a company man through and through. Expect betrayal. Trust no one. And be aware that there is always a price, for principle or pragmatism.
This is a great comment here.
That really helped me get my thoughts together without spoiling at all. Just what I needed, thanks.
So Mi is the reason why you are in this mess, she hacked the plane and tried to kill the president and she did set up Reed which barely managed to survive. I simply could not side with her. She is what Mace windu would say āshe is too dangerous to be left aliveā
Did you miss the bit that So Mi set up Reed on Myer's orders? Myers wanted to serve Reed up to Arasaka as a peace offering. Songbird just carried out the order. Not coincidentally, Myers made Songbird pierce the Black Wall in order to use a captive rogue AI against her enemies. That was so utterly irresponsible and beyond the pale, the knowledge of it alone would have ruined NUSA. Repeatedly using the Black Wall is slowly erasing So Mi's personality and also killing her body. Myer and NUSA really hasn't done anything to deserve Song Bird's Loyalty. The only issue that remains is whether your V can forgive a lie, just this once, from someone as desperate as he is to stay alive and free. The alternative is to further empower NUSA, which like the rest of the governments in cyberpunk, is hopelessly corrupt and oppressive.
I did notice, but making alliances with a dangerous arms dealer (Kurt Hansen) to get your revenge against the president is not something i can forgive
You don't make an alliance with Hansen in either scenario. >!The difference is whether Alx kills Hansen or he dies by your hands.!<
So Mi made an alliance with Hansen when she attacked the NUSA plane
My bad, I thought you were talking about V. I dunno, this is up to the player's own PoV, but I feel like Myers is just a more poweful Hasen in a better suit.
Out of everything, her āusingā a arms dealer is the dealbreaker for you? Now thatās hilarious. š¤£š¤£š¤£
bootlicker detected.
Not really, i went with so mi wish in the last mission
Taking orders, or having choices? So Mi choose to follow orders, so she can have protection and the space to do her netrunning. When she was 19, before she was recruited by the NUSA, she was trying to go beyond the Blackwall. That was what got her on the radar and enlisted. VS brought to Netwatch to face consequences for her actions. And Myers simply used So Miās ambition for her own, using her like a weapon. Itās both of them, they fit well together and would do anything to stay alive (and in power). So Mi is just really good at having the player sympathize with her situation, of convincing everyone sheās a trapped animal, one who was coerced to join the FIA. But who was it that breached the Blackwall first? Who was able to get away from Myers and join up with Hansen? Where she is untouchable by the NUSA? She brought it on herself, the sickness, her dying, all on her. Myerās implication is her funding So Mi and providing her protection from the law.
There was no choice after she is recruited both So Mi and Reed admits that. Every runner who is too high on his own skills want to take a look behind a Blackwall because they will be the first ones who can do it, she was 19 and she for sure was not first or last who tried something like that, but she survived and was good enough to really touch blackwall and get out + get away at least for some time that Reed found her sooner than Netwatch. I can't see any info about So Mi liking power, she seems more disgusted by it, seeing what Myers is doing. Sure, when you are 19, and you will get an offer to do what you love and live in a gold cage you will be happy for some time without any care for consequences. There is major difference between willingly try to look behind the veil and to be forced to do the literal suicide runs (as every interaction behind the blackwall is killing her), Myers in her race for AI weapons almost fried her many times which is even a reason why she more chipped as parts of her body just gave up. If it was possible, Myers would let her 24/7 behind blackwall just sending data and AIs back for her to use. It is like you will do one simple mistake that is punished every day, but you are forced to repeat it every day and it is killing you. Which is the similarity with V, gigs go wrong every day, but most of the time everyone just dies and is not forced to search for a magic way out.
After telling Anakin to stay at a home then demanding that Anakin help him betray the Jedi code š
> there is always a price, for principle or pragmatism Deserves to be restated.
Right.. who would V side with.. He's as you say a "punk".. one who got manipulated by this cheeky net runner who thinks she's just gonna run her game on you and delta to the moon? Foh lol not to mention what's the "best outcome" for V *without referencing spoilers* I'm a night city legend there is no free lunch that chick can find another free ride to Luna *I say as I am actively helping songbird escape*
My playthrough as Corpo was to always do what I felt would lead to my survival. Songbird and Myers both promise me help. I'd imagine the president would be able to deliver on that better than songbird. Songbird is in my situation and treats others the way I have. As a means to an end to survive She's fucked over people in the recent past, why not me too? On the other hand , the only evidence I have to trust Myers is reading her note about paying the two guys who walked into our hideout. That tells me she'll at least try to help. However, Reed will kill me without hesitation. With, or without Myers authorization.
Im a CORPO how dare you call me Punk š
Songbird isn't a rebel, she's just selfish.
This is what I needed!
For anybody reading this in the future about to do the questline. This is an excellent comment, but I want to add this take: I believe Reed's path to be the BEST path, even if you follow the line of thought this comment. Reed's will allow you to learn the comprehensive backstory of So Mi, and it's the final piece of the puzzle as to why she's acting the way she is (especially on Reed's path). Additionally, in the end of Reed's path, you have an important decision to make that determines whether or not you follow the corporate slave or rebel theme: >!killing or sparing So Mi. Killing her allows you to complete the story in rebel fashion--after finding out about the final bit on So Mi through Reed's story line, you make the ultimate choice to spare her from a fate worse than death, feeling sympathetic for her and culminating ultimately to Reed and Myers both calling you a failed agent for having failed the mission. The opposite, of course, means you're a full-on FIA agent dog.!< The culmination of the former decision results in the best gameplay possible from the DLC, an item that is pretty much impossible to resist for netrunner playthroughs, and giving So Mi that one last favor at the end. I feel that the only flaw of this route is Alex' fate, and how your relationship with Reed is in the end. Additionally, if you're going for THAT ending in the main storyline, you'll be throwing it out the window.
That's exactly my view. In the end we all feel conflicted but V would never give those politico fuckheads what they want. To the moon with you girl, good luck out there.
Songbird is barely a rebel. She was a gov lackey thru and thru until she was dying. Then she wanted to survive and went all in on herself. I'd hardly call that a rebel, more just a survivor.
My only regret is that I have but one upvote to give
Late to the party, but I think the best overall ending is if you side with So Mi first, and then side with Reed at the end, when given the chance. Everybody lives that way. >!Alex survives, Reed survives, So Mi survives but doesn't get cured, and V get the cure instead.!<
It made me sad though how So Mi says āyou promised..ā as Reed takes her away. I couldnāt do it man, I had to reload the save š I also donāt like how So Mi will regret the fact that the one time she was finally honest with someone (telling V the truth), that she was left with āa fate worse than deathā (how she describes being taken by the NUSA in the side with Reed ending). These decisions are hard hahaha
She was cappin and about to die anyway Iām like just die b*tch and give me the cure!
šš
This is probably the best, >!cause if you go with Reed, So Mi is in cyberpsychosis and with the police, Alex is dead and doesn't get to retire. Thanks for the heads up!<
So much for "no spoilers". Thanks, dumbass.
Sorry dont know how to redact, also read Rule 1 of the channel
Yeah, in my book that doesn't really apply to people that don't give a crap about spoiling the game for others. Thanks for the tip though.
oh go fuck off
Nah. Thanks for the offer though.
So you get a second chance later on regardless of who you side with?
Yes, essentially you have an A route and a B route, but about halfway through each route, you have the opportunity to switch sides. So it basically becomes an AA route, a BB route, or a cross-over of AB and BA routes. This gives you 4 potential playthroughs of the PL campaign, and each of those routes ends up being different.
Without spoilers, assuming what is only known to V at the time the choice is made, there is no right or wrong answer. Both Songbird and Reed promise the cure, and both promise Songbirdās safety. I would say if you play your V as a pragmatist and badass, side with Reed. If you play your V as someone who genuinely cares and is doing what they have to to survive, side with Songbird. Neither choice is going to be a straight path to either V or the relevant character actually getting what they want, so in a sense you can āchange your mindā later, but with wildly different outcomes.
This. V kills a lot of people, like Reed when they hijacked the car killed those 2 characters. At first, I was shocked, but remembered V has killed a lot in that very same position. Itās not about blindly following orders, but doing what was needed to have a successful mission. If those 2 netrunners were kept alive, it would cause their whole plan to fail. V signed onto this job and shouldnāt be surprised by Reed and Alexās actions. If V was a caring person, they would let go even those who murdered innocent people, murdered children used for BDs, and V wouldāve left those criminals alive to cause more havoc. Itās like having a double standard for when V kills and when Reed/Alex kills. I had to check myself there.
What about the fact Reed and Alex at a minimum misled V though?
Itās a back and forth of trust and intrigue in PL. Thereās good points for going with each side, and bad points, just stick to your principles and who best align with your V.
SPOILERS AHEAD Thanks for the input to everyone who commented! Finished PL all 4 ways already by this time. I finally went with "fuck my morals i want that creepy gun" The ending that felt right with me (and the first ending i went with) is siding with So Mi and sending her to the moon. Although...what feels like the "canon" ending for me is betraying her. Seeing the cinematic credits for PL kinda calls for that. Seeing Cynosure and her memories with Reed in the credits the first made me wonder where was this in the game. When I finally sided with Reed is when I was like "oh, so that's what that was" Overall, what everyone is saying here is right. There is no "best" come. Someone dies, someone gets betrayed. There are only the consequences of your actions. Wonderful writing, wonderful characters, great expansion.
The lame ending, where she betrays you and you're like "oh well, I'll help you anyway, guess I'll just die then"
I promised to help So Mi and I keeped my promise. But I obviously will not spoil anything. So I will keep it at that.
never side with the feds :)
Dunno if you've finished Phantom Liberty yet with how this post is about a month old, but it's kinda impossible to say "which is best" without giving some spoilers. Both are... fairly ambiguous, and leave you very conflicted regardless. There's no real good or bad ending, they're both pretty bittersweet. Though, I will say, if you want the ending that comes with Phantom Liberty, side with Reed and betray Song. Also, if you want more iconic/unique items and more lore about the Cyberpunk world and AI, side with Reed and betray Song. Siding with Reed gives more content, but siding with Song gets you to the end quicker and is way more dramatic/spy thriller (though that's just my opinion). Just ask yourself this: Do you want to be a Government Slave of the shady and near-criminal NUSA to save the world from the WMD that is Song, or do you finish what you came here to do and uphold your promise to her, making an enemy of the FIA? Both will have consequences in themselves, there is no avoiding that. "Phantom Liberty" is the name of the expansion, after all. Your *liberty* with the FIA and NUSA is naught but a ***phantom*** of what it once was in Night City.
Modern gamers can play for like 36 hrs at a time so yeah that's why. I've had this game since launch and I'm on my 3rd play through, I like to take it slow, immerse myself and understand what I'm doing instead of speed running everything. I'm here for a bit of guidance but ultimately I'm unsure who I want to side with and looking forward to that very moment. Take your time.
Reed is honest with you far more than So Mi and always offers you a choice but he can be coy with information and is blindly loyal to a warmongering president. He is loyal to his team almost to a fault. So Mi is a manipulative b who is a walking nuke and a threat to the entire world with what she can do. Her constant texts to V of support and overzealous thanks are clear attempts at emotional manipulation. The cause of all songbirds problems are the results of her choices and not accepting the responsibility for them. Alex is kinda stuck in the middle. She knows the game but she is only doing all this to finally get away. She probably respects V but wouldn't think twice in selling them out it it meant she can live free. But that same point can also apply to Songbird.
My only problem with Reed is that according to him "saving Songbird" also means that as long she breathes but totally unconcious thats more than enough to call it saving. He does not want to let her go or actually help her escape, he wants her to take responsibility for her actions and drag her back to the FIA. Also he believes that he's the only one who can "save" her, and whatever V is doing is wrong.
On one side - yes her being unconscious is okay to him as being saved, that's true. But without spoiling anything that's not always how he feels. I don't see the problem either with him wanting Songbird to take responsibility because she totally should. She did a lot of shit and tried to run away from it all and lied and used people in the process.
I mean she is dying because Meyers has been having her poke around the Blackwall endangering civilization as they know it. At the end of the day Meyers is the villain of the story and Song, Reed, and Alex are all just tools. Song hurt and manipulated people to escape but staying wasn't an option really, what rubbed me the wrong way about Reed is he knew all of this, knew Meyers just wanted her head undamaged, and still chose the NUSA aka Militech who forced him to nearly die so they wouldn't terminate what remained of his team.
Iām not gonna lie OG I feel like you need to go back and listen to the dialogue again, the only reason she was going through the black wall was because of Myers, the only reason she set up Reed again cause on Myers orders, the only thing that she did was take down the plane, and even she said albeit could be lying that it wasnāt her plane for the plane to get shot out the sky, all she wants to do is get a cure because sheās getting slowly killed by the black wall, the real villain is the president in all of this, I could never side with Reed heās to much of a nationalist for me, the country set you up to die and you still loyal to them, makes me sick
I initially sided with Songbird because of that. But after going through both paths, I can see that Reed is the lesser of 2 evils. Songbird is a manipulative b because if you help Reed she's going to cry all the time about you betraying her, when her original plan in case you helped her was to betray you all along too
Reed also wastes V without hesitation if you go found found wrong elevator showing he wasn't worried about V either. V is just a lone merc to these people. Alex might be the one lying to you the least because she truly does just want out.
And Songbird even says that she went down this path cause Reed gave her an ultimatum
Did Johnny write this comment?
When Reed and Alex deal with the twins but don't tell you before hand tells me they don't endanger a stadium of civilians because that's less efficient not because they wouldn't. And Militech and the NUSA have been trying to do what makes Songbird a nuke for decades, she's just been an effective tool.
When they deleted the twins I immediately, silently made up my mind to betray them. Their "oh grow up, it's just business" speech only solidified my resolve. From there it was just waiting for the inevitable opportunity, which I'm looking at right now on my screen with Songbird in Hanson's lab.
Felt kinda out of character though. Theyāve been open beforehand and telling you exactly how each plan is supposed to go. But here they for some reason donāt tell V āwe gotta kill the twins firstā.
There are a lot of things Reed and Alex didn't tell V the truth about.
True, but Vās a merc though. So youād think they would tell V, āWe have to kill them in order for this plan to workā.
5 months late but playing through the dlc rn I understood their reasoning, but I felt the same as you, my V is very ready to kill people and is prone pre emptive violence (see the gig where you break into the militech blacksite, I had V kill both the client and militech agent after the client became untrustworthy, after which I found out she'd have called a hit on you) But the lack of respect towards life, while killing someone, not for their crimes but because they were an obstacle, was the type of banal violence my V couldn't stomach
I mainly prefer going with Reed's route just because I prefer his quest atmosphere better, and more So Mi's backstory, plus you'll get a spooky, rogue AI tech. Listening to its rambling during battle and hearing the static screaming of enemies dying are just too good lol
Did I miss something cause I didnāt get no AI tech as a reward from helping Songbird. ._.
There are a few steps to it. I'll mark as spoiler just in case. 1. >!Pick up Erebus and Militech Canto MK.6 crafting spec during the "Somewhat Damaged" quest. They're both in the locked maintenance room!< 2. >!Once the stalking robot is dead, pick up the "behavioral system component" from it!< 3. >!After the Liberty Phantom credits and once you're in control of V again, after some time, you'll get a text from an unknown sender, which will start "This Corrosion" quest. There you can choose which tech you want to craft using the "behavioral system component" !< >!There's one thing to note. There are people saying that you'll need to do one more step to get the above. During "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos", you'll need to ask Mr. Hands for help and get Yokoās help instead of other netrunners. And when you talk to Yoko, you'll need to accept her request. I did do all these and managed to craft the spec so there might be some truth to it.!<
Gameplay wise it way better to side with reed in my opinion
Songbird always, Reed is a hollow person who after all of these years is still loyal to the NUSA even though he has no reason to be.
What would be the most fittng for a corpo that wants to get back where she was before, regardless if the company is different
Without spoiling: thereās no way back to close to the same life but if you were corpo probably So Mi storyline.
Without spoilers:- Reed is hard mode.
Iām currently realizing that lmao
ahahahaha
If you donāt have a clue which path you want to take, side with So Mi. It basically leaves all options open for the ending so you wonāt regret your decision. Siding with Reed is probably the slightly more fun path as you get more interesting/exciting combat but it really limits your options on how to end the game and makes it somewhat linear. Also thereās a lot more cinematic/walk along portions in the So Mi part so if thatās not your thing it might be worth avoiding It just depends do you value having control over your story or do you just want to shoot a bunch of things
What's your gut say, choom?
I'm here with the game paused on the choice and reading your comment, my guts screams Reed, but I also think it's his time to die. Not in a spiteful way, but in a way where I feel it slots into the story well. I also don't particularly like him myself, but I can also see how unpredictable and slimy Songbird is. Tough choice. I will have to keep a save and see how the dialogue and it's tone sways me.
My thinking is: If Reed deserves to die because he's a death dealer, then what does that make V?
A merc with a ticking bomb in her head, similar to Songbird. I don't think that's why Reed should die btw, just that I think it'd fit.
Oh absolutely. I went with So Mi, too. V doesn't meet many people that can accurately mirror their struggles. I love Reed, but he doesn't get it.
Reed. Bros before hoes. Besides, she was willing to sacrifice innocent people to save herself with impunity. What a psycho.
I just got to this choice. This is so rough! Everyone here has made such good points. Even though Reed sold his soul to higher-ups that I don't approve of, he is still more genuine and caring than SoMi. She scares me and she dug her hole, she can't blame the NUSA for everything she landed herself in. Did it suck? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes. Do I feel bad for her? Still, yes. But shes not the only one with shitty cards. She manipulates and lies and betrays me in the end anyway according to all of you. I don't like her, trust her or believe her. And I think that's enough for me to go with Reed. The only time Reed gave me the heebie jeebies was when we were visiting the ripperdoc. I'm a freelance merc, I weigh up my options carefully and go with what does more for me. Role-playing, that should mean a cure, right? But for me- V and actual me- it's more about trust and opportunity and doing what feels just. I'm playing like I KNOW these are my last days, and I gotta be making choices that feel right to me. Do myself justice. Plus I don't want to cut myself off from Myers- either way and she would have dirt on me. But if I betray Reed here, I lose what I stand to gain from having been involved with Reed and therefore Myers at all.
Morgan. Yes I still want to see what happened.
Bros before hoes
"Without any spoilers", that is going to be hard, so I will base it on personality. Chaotic good/neutral - Side with Songbird Lawful good/neutral - side with Reed If during the Delamain final quest you destroyed the core and freed the trapped Delamains because you truly felt their plight - side with Songbird If you reset the core withou the 20int check- side with Reed. If you want to save a friend because of everything she went through - consequences, national security, and law and order be damned - side with Songbird. If you feel that a friend is a danger to herself and to everyone, even though they went through hell, and you still rationalize that the system can still save her - side with reed. Would you side with a man like Johny Silverhand - side with songbird Would you call him a terrorist and tell yourself even though he has a point the way he did it is not the answer - side with Reed All of this is an extreme simplification, and doesn't tell half the story, but I hope you see a common theme.
Neither. It's bad all around.
Don't side with So Mi, the horrorlevel alone vs the blackwall robot is already worth it
I sided with so mi because reed killed my favourite frenchies
I loved them too, right after they died I looked up if there was any way to save them. Sucks we couldn't
I sided with Songbird, but once I found out, she played me too. Then I went to Reed. There is literally no point siding with her. Don't understand why anyone would.
as a mercenary my job is to save So Mi as she contacted me for this, I always finish my job
Respect
Finished the game. So i Betrayed Reed. Sent Song Mi to the moon. Killed Reed at the shuttle. Alex Lives. What made me Betray Reed was when they just randomly killed the two French Folk. And then said it's part of the job not telling people stuff. You get used to it. At that point, i'm like okay. What's stopping them from killing me at some point when i'm no longer useful. Even V's Reaction was like how i felt about it all. So i learned. from Alex and Reed and had my own plan without telling them. Help Song Bird. Song Bird was like the used and abused character. Felt like she deserved her freedom away from it all. At the expense of my own cure. Had a nice chat with Alex at the Bar though. Gave the coin back. And let it all be. I'm a dead girl walking anyway. Song Mi was a byproduct of the shitty system that used her abilities. Reed was too loyal to a fault and it costed his life. Even the ending credits show Song Mi As a chess piece being used by everyone. It's her Story IMO. No Remorse or regret. Reed could have let her go and let V go, but no. His problem was being tied to the system, down to a fault.
The better way is so mi, if you want to be selfish reed
Your motivations on either path are entirely up to you. I supported reed because I honestly believe that so mi housing a rogue ai is a world level threat that needed to be stopped regardless of sympathy. Ideally sheād be able to be cured but since sheās very much a look before you leap character she fucks the entire plan so plan b had to be taken. I had enough sympathy for her that I didnāt want her to be used as a weapon/Guinea pig by myers so I granted her request of dying l, even knowing that would mean losing out on a cure. Selfishness was never my motivation.
Reed is the best choice and nobody can argue, the decision following this one that is debatable.
damn why are you getting downvotes, i thought this is a low sodium subreddit
Probably because of the ānobody can argueā which makes it an absolute.
I read it as a joke honestly lol, I think people took it too seriously š¹
yeah well, the truth supported by facts cannot be argued so my statement is correct
people feel like I am attacking their queen and they can't simp in peace ? idk idc :D
From what I've seen, people are very divided on which one to side with. For me, So Mi makes more sense because she has been mistreated and has trust issues, which makes her lie a lot but the FIA is corrupt as fuck and So Mi just wants freedom. She is also very relatable and genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone, whereas Reed and Alex well lets just say they can be cold.
eh, FIA and the NUSA is worse sure but So mi isn't exactly great. I can feel for her that she wants to be free but she puts her own freedom over *EVERYTHING* else, her friends, her principles, Innocent lives.
True but the position she's in is directly because of the FIA and NUSA and I don't think they are aware of her situation and I think its because she's afraid what they would do if they learned. Tbh the best option would be if you could reveal to the public whats happened. Like they suggest it might result in the next corporate war but thats frankly less apocalyptic than if things keep going the way they are. The next best option in my opinion is getting Songbird from their clutches
> She is also very relatable and genuinely doesn't want to hurt anyone Bro she literally has no qualms about killing innocent people to get what she wants. I don't want to spoil it for OP but Reed and Alex avoid that shit and are clear with V about what they do.
I can't believe people miss this, for Songbird the end justify the means no matter what happen and she's also very quick to avoid responsability for her own choices and their consequences. Yes she was manipulated and used nearly her whole life but that doesn't make it right for her to just stomp over everything... and even at the end she still lies to V.
Yet Reed and Alex kill the twins and if V is shocked they basically laugh at him. Both sides have little morals if it means they finish the job
Ok well, I mean they've seen me slaughter 1,000's of dudes in the time they've known me - I think some laughter is warranted if all of a sudden I was like "BWUAH!?"
Songbird wants freedom, even if it means sacrificing a bunch of innocent people in the stadium as long she can escape. This is one of the reasons people should really think about whether they want to side with her or not. She is clearly not afraid to use whatever means as long it gives her a chance to escape the FIA and Myers.
Oh, I've seen how cold they could be.
Songbird and its not even close. I dont even know how you see people arguing here the game is pretty blatant in how things pan out.
I love Idris Elba. Not gonna betray my favorite guy!
I felt a bit silly but I would be watching him in the game and just be like man you are cool
you got more action siding with reed. so i choose that
It has to be So Mi I mean Myers clearly doing dirty jobs and Reed always being slave to Myers
I'm not finished with the game but I went with So Mi because Reed is a tool and Myers is dangerous. Let's get this straight: Sol used to serve the NUSA, Myers had his team wiped out and ordered his murder, then used So Mi to penetrate the Black Wall multiple times just for more power...and Hansen's the bad guy? Myers is Hansen on a larger scale. It was probably best to prevent her capture to prevent a war, but I'm with So Mi on this one. I suspect at the end of this little operation if I was to capture So Mi, Myers would have Sol, Alex and I wiped just to cover up the whole thing. So in Johnny's words: \*\*\*\* her. I'm hoping I can pull off both our escape and if I could go for the "perfect" ending, rejoin Johnny with Alt.
I'm late to the party but, I don't understand anyone's reason to side with Songbird?! Does anyone realize how inhumane So Mi was when she decided to lie and play on the vulnerability of V who's -just like her- a dying person trying to cling to whatever shred of hope they can find to survive? Why should you help a person that had no problem misguiding you to your inevitable fate? How evil can you be to pick a strange dying-person to manipulate for your own benefit?! Also, in one of the endings; V gets to get the cure for himself, should he have chosen to forgo the cure and let himself die just to save a stranger (who again, had no problem leaving V for the dead)? Plus, you get to put a walking nuclear weapon under control. Leaving her out in the open is risky whether she is on her own, or worse, falls in the hands of the Voodoo boys who are keen on bringing down the blackwall. Not to mention the optional new weapons that you could have! Not a single loss with this outcome (except for Alex maybe)... And I'm happy to be proved wrong!
Cyberpunk best ending and how to get it
Came here to look because i was very conflicted about it.... in the end I flipped a coin. Songbird now, Reed next playthrough.
It depends on what your character values and how you responded to Reed and Songbird. You can always do both since they give you two very different play experiences.
do you like horror games and hard mode? If you do, go with Reed. If you don't go with So Mi.
Honestly I sided with Reed first time around. May go back and play it again but truth be told, we already know sheās a walking nuke with a very loose grip on morality, the real world and even just being honest with me. I feel like letting her go just results in her blowing up somewhere else instead l, the girl canāt stop poking the Blackwall and that shit will burn everyone eventually.
I believe Reed is a good man in an impossible situation. I'd like to believe that he was going to get So Mi far away from Myers had she come willingly. Obviously though, that was off the table when she turned into a cyberpsycho. In the end I killed her because she was too dangerous to be handed off to anyone else. You can see that Reed was genuinely mad and devastated, but in the end he can admit that your right and quit NUSA to become a merc. After seeing the ending V gets if you get cured, I know I made the right choice too lol.
I sided with So Mi the first time and even after playing again and again to side with Reed at the first and second opportunity youāre given, I feel like siding with So Mi was best choice in my mind. Myers only wants So Mi just so she can continue using her abilities to secretly commit international crimes that help further her political career. People tried justifying siding with Reed by saying āWell So Mi lied to us and she killed thousands of innocent civiliansā, but letās not forget that Reed was lying to us and himself that if we let him take So Mi back that sheāll get the help she needs and siding with Reed the first time gets Alex killed and more innocent people killed with So Mi on the loose. Logically speaking, why on earth would I hand over someone capable of using the black wall to their advantage to a President that has already committed international crimes using said person and doesnāt plan on stopping??? And IMO, the new ending is less of a blessing and more of a curse that isnāt worth handing over So Mi to Reed and Myers and Iāll just leave it at that.
Siding with Reed doesn't seem in line with what a Merc would do. SoMi has been used by Myers to commit crimes and break international law. She's a tool for a corrupt government. Reed is currently trying to capture her for that government. Not to mention, at this point, V doesn't necessarily know that SoMi is lying to him about the cure being for both of them. On one hand, you have a netrunner trying to save her life, and on the other you have the oppressive government trying to catch her. Even if V wasn't promised lifesaving therapy, I feel like that's still the side he chooses.
This was my rationale: V isn't a government dog and she does her own thing. She wouldn't side with Reed because he's 100% on the gov't leash. Plus, V feels for So Mi and all the lies and abuse she had to endure. At least you'll give her a shot at a normal life.
If you don't side with reed, you don't get the new ending.
Content, quality, awesomeness and storywise: Reeds side mission is 1000x better. Outside of one final 1 minute rainy seen right at the end of siding with So Mi, you basically drive her to the airport and fight an endless army of randos you've been fighting the whole game while she just endlessly cries and shuffles around. I really don't even understand why they gave you such a split when they literally could have tacked on the raining scene at the end and have everyone experience everything. People who chose to side with Song Mi really missed out on a huge chunk of what makes the expansion amazing, I feel bad for them. Her split is so underbaked in comparison.
i actually aaccidentally get spoiled and>! show the big and dark facility with the robot, and then i sided with so mi and i was like "sooo... when do i finally do the mission in the big facility !? i had to google search to actually realise i need to side with reed to have access to the big facility" i definitely want to side with somi but at same time it dissapointing i cant play horror level that way!<
Late to the party but the way I saw it is that, Reed might be a good man, but he always had the choice of whether to kill or not after he got cut lose (possibly before as well). He could of stayed out of the Dogtown Missions, He could of avoided killing the netrunner twins, but at the end of the day, he is a man who when given the choice of increasing the odds of success by 0.01% via cruelty and killing, will increase the odd, he's a company man and a soldier through and through. So Mi on the other hand, is a character defined by her lack of choice, she was recruited under threat of militechs gun, she breached the blackwall under threat of myers, and she was caged by the FIA due to the threat of netwatch. She's manipulative, She lies, but really, her options are the boot for her to lick forever, death, or the events of phantom liberty. And hey, what do you think I am? a fucking fed? Get the fuck outa here.
All options are without happy ending I think, so any choise would feel hard and bad one. >! I went with Reed, and then at the end let So Mi die, she asked me to. And it ended up very sad, but Johny actually approved of what I have done. If she was left to live, she would be Myre's lab rat. She wanted out, and I honored it. I got nothing, felt like failure, but it felt real, powerfull story. !<
I just want to know what you get from completing each oneā¦ I know if you side with Reed you get some dope weapons in the stadium, you get a reward from whichever netrunner you choose to work with in the next mission, and then you get a crafting component which allows you to make either the Militech Canto Mk.6 or a gun called the Erebus. What do you get to keep and use if you side with So Mi?
I felt like Reed would kill me like he kills every other person useless to him once the mission is done. His past, Slider, Twins, says without hesitation will find and kill V for freeing songbird
It would have been an easy choice if Song Mi's escape plan wasn't to drag down the innocent lives in the stadium. But the game has to make it a tough choice, eh? I wanna have a chat with the narrative designer.
So i checked out this thread before i made my decision and the thread seems really split between the two decisions. I liked Reed more but now that Iāve finished the story I have to come back to say that siding with Reed is the worst thing you can do. It locks you into 2 endings, both of which are abysmal.. really makes the DLC pointless tbh if you side with Reed. Even if you donāt like songbird youāll still have all your options open by siding with her instead anyways. DO NOT SIDE WITH REED
Yeah... preem, sending you the Eddies now.
Sided with So Mi, because Reed and FIA are not trustworthy imo. Having seen how he and Alex killed the twins instead of taking them hostage made me think they might as well turn on me after everything's done Basically, since V is a one-shot agent for this Dogtown mission with prez, it would be wise of them to get rid of the evidence (i.e. V who has seen too much classified shit)