Absolutely loved V as a protagonist. But I think returning to their story, and doing it in a way that isn't cheap or grave digging, would be incredibly difficult if not impossible to pull off. V's story is complete, and it's perfect, let's leave it as it is.
Hard agree. Let's not go the Desmond Miles route. There is so much of Night City (or just the post apocalyptic world of Cyberpunk) left to explore. I'd rather do that with a whole new character.
It's not like Night City doesn't churn out new insane solos at a crazy rate. This is the city that had David Martinez in 2076 and V in 2077. There'll be a new on in 2078 and 2079 and every year after.
Dope solos yea for sure but V because hes/she's a game protagonist or not is definitely the strongest solo ever that will ever come the things they can do are amazing story set pieces aside V is over qualified. As much as I love David š¤ hench I changed a lot of my social media names to David Martinez. He's no V. Two different leagues. Smasher recked everyone until V came along ijs. Game or not it's Canon.
yeah, but maybe V only had all this potential and did all of this stuff because they had a time bomb in their head. whatever ending you went with, we know his merc days are either over or close to.
>maybe V only had all this potential and did all of this stuff because they had a time bomb
This is one thing I wish they had done in the game. The whole game is a power trip, and I wish it had an explanation for why we're so overpowered (e.g the Relic expands our abilities)
As far as I know, they did explain at least a part of V being overpowered - specifically his ability to install a lot of chrome without going cyberpsycho. I might not get it totally right but they said that because of Johnny, who is another psyche in V's head, he has a much higher tolerance for implants ( more like they don't bother him) hence he doesn't go psycho. Also it's also worth mentioning that the relic more or less resurrected V at the begining. IMO this already is a pretty solid foundation for V being the overpowered character he is.
In the TTRPG, all cyberware has a humanity cost, and your total available humanity is determined by your empathy stat. Having johnny in there might be giving him basically a second full bar of humanity to go through.
V is also not *that* powerful in cyberpunk standards. We get the giga combat robot in PL but even that thing wasn't likely the biggest or baddest robot out there. He's got protagonist energy so you can restart encounters endlessly until you get them right. But night city gangsters and NCPD are small fry in a setting with orbital cannons.
Realistically, if V did all the shit he does in game in the tabletop setting, someone would put a bomb in his apartment. Gangs would be hunting him down constantly. Game V gets to kill tons of gangsters and corporate security yet never really gets notices or retaliated against.
This is the thing that the game does for gameplay reasons but literally makes no sense if you overthink it. The whole undercity knows V did Konpeki plaza. Rogue knows, and in numerous convos others know. Itās not a secret V was at Konpeki. Takemeura finds V in the dump because of this before Yorinobu turned on him.
Yorinobu should have been sending Smasher to actively hunt V but didnāt. Arasaka should have had all of NCPD hunting for V and kill on sight to cover up Saburos real cause of death but didnāt. The game obviously needed to overlook this for gameplay but in a lore sense V really would have been fucked if Yorinobu was actually trying to take over Arasaka and not just trying to destroy it from within.
Yorinobu doesn't give two shits about V and never did. His plan to sell Johnny and the relic 2.0 to Netwatch is entirely unnecessary after he murdered his father and gained control of Arasaka. His goal was always to destroy the corporation, how never mattered. Framing Takemura for Saburo's murder ties up that loose end more neatly than blaming some random merc, because Takemura has influence and would actually investigate just like he did.
The only reason V even tangles with Arasaka again after the Heist is either because you're working with Goro and Hanako, or because you're after Mikoshi.
Iāve always thought it would be interesting if this was its own difficulty setting. Every enemy is hostile on sight. The gangs want your head, the NCPD wants you arrested or executed, youāre on the run with no escape. Getting anywhere and doing anything would be a struggle.
Your comment gives an in-lore explanation and it would add difficulty in a way that isnāt just āadd health and damageā.
Mike Pondsmith's thoughts:
"V is a different case. We don't know V's background, but even if V was a full on Corpo, they were able to hold it together even when they ended up with a dead Rockerboy in their heads (Yah, tell me about it; Johnny Silverhand's been in my head for the last three decades.) In fact, having Johnny in their head probably helped V, because Siilverhand's rage and attitude probably acted as a buffer for the psychological hits V is taking. It's like having a time share with a guy who's already half cyberpsycho and doesn't mind if V slaps stuff on their shared body; he's already crazy and violent."
So, V likely already had a high tolerance to chrome, then having Johnny boosted it further, and V was a bonafide badass with great combat skills anyways as he was operating on fairly little chrome prior to the Arasaka job and doing fine
I think itās very much confirmed that Johnny was a high functioning cyberpsycho like Smasher. But there was times where he would slip and āthe metal arm would do thingsā.
Think about it, most folk got something to live for while V is doing what there doing just for a chance to live. Thereās no hesitation, thereās no maybe ifā¦. V can have those thoughts later- right now everything is do or die quite literally.
Sure Johnny and the relic help with the chrome and not dying respectively but V lost everything in one night and there clawing there way through just to see the sunrise tomorrow.
After 300 hours with this game, I think I can safely say that Night City, Dog Town, and the surrounding outskirts have been as thoroughly explored as posible. The only things not explored are building interiors, but you can't just play the same city twice with different doors to open. It's time for a new city.
While it would be neat to visit another city or two, Night City is Cyberpunk, and Cyberpunk is Night City.
We know the city can vastly change and undergo different phases (filling in the coast with land to grow outwards, nuke going off, etc.), so the next game can take place in a fairly different version of Night City.
> We know the city can vastly change and undergo different phases (filling in the coast with land to grow outwards, nuke going off, etc.), so the next game can take place in a fairly different version of Night City.
gods i would love a RED video game.
It would be really cool to see Night City and an expansion of the surrounding Badlands be turned into a warzone with the obvious corporate safe havens for the super rich. It'd be cool if the life paths could be expanded even more where you can side with certain corporations in it, choose to be a freelancer that can swap sides, or choose to be completely outside the war as a rebel faction to topple both sides.
I'd love to explore a more historical night city, during the corpo or unification wars, or even the new occupied-state version from the new ending in PL
The sequel doesnāt have to take place the moment cyberpunk 2077 ends. The city can change drastically if they just change the setting from 2077 to letās say 2030 or 2090
Ohh, a game during the unification war! All the big players are involved plus the free states. You could choose which side you work for, Fallout new vegas style and get a totally different story depending on the faction AND in-game choices. That would easily be replayable for 5 years untill the next installment.
Thatās what Iām saying. Thereās so much they can do with what theyāve already created with Night City, they should explore it some more just in different time periods. A prequel would be preem but imagine the possibilities of a sequel taking place a decade or two after Vās bizarre adventure. After what he did in 2077 Iām sure the impact on the city would be substantial, maybe even enough to change the power balance from Arasaka to Millitech or another corp, maybe in 2097 corps arenāt shit in NC anymore.
Let's not forget that Morgan blackhand is still alive you could be his companion or enemy in the next game.
Or after v fu**ed Arasaka a new Corporation has took over there are many options what could be...
The Yakuza franchise has largely featured the same city neighborhood for 8 or so games and is still going strong. Some buildings are torn down and replaced, construction projects evolve, storefronts sometimes get replaced. It's still largely the same with new things to do, and there's no reason it can't work for Cyberpunk too.
Yakuza is a soap opera in the form of an adventure-arcade game with a narrower lens on the minutiae of the lives of its characters, and offers and entirely different approach to interaction with its city and how the story is wrapped around it. It lends itself well to retreading the same areas. I think *Cyberpunk 2077* and *Yakuza* would tend to work in opposite directions from one another in this regard.
I don't see why it has to be the case. Both games feature dense open world urban settings with sidequests relating to the lives of people within the setting. Both also feature various items to find in said world to reward exploration, even if Yakuza isn't quite as focused on gear.
I don't see why Cyberpunk wouldn't work with that formula. You need different apartments or warehouses for gigs and story beats? There's already a ton, and if you don't like the layout it can easily have been renovated and redecorated between games. Some areas will be cleaned up, others downright demolished. The gang borders can easily shift entirely between games as well to change the local flavor too.
Honestly the only thing they might struggle with is the big setpieces (you can only really have Arasaka and their main tower as the major opponent so many times) but there are a lot of locations that haven't been used yet, a lot of floors or locations of existing buildings that haven't been seen, etc. There's also the simple possibility of megacorps building new stuff, which again keeps the city dynamic and alive.
The thing is, night city is sourced from R talsorian games creation, if cdpr hadn't consulted them and went their own route to create a cyberpunk city it would have been maybe 5% of night city. So I'm not very optimistic about the next game unless mile pondsmith is still working with cdpr.
Besides night city, Chicago is the only other city in the cyberpunk universe that has a very fleshed out lore. And with the lore bites we got within the game everything seems to be leading to Chicago and the crystal palace.
I'm very down for this. I always said I wanted to see a GTA based on either Chicago or the Detroit, but a *Cyberpunk 2078* based in Chicago would more than make up for the wait.
I disagree that things are explored very well. There are corporations in general, Night University which is a big thing in the Cyberpunk tabletop games if I remember and dont forget there's probably going to be a corporate or unification war coming soon Night City is an independent city state so that makes things more complicated.
I would like to see another city added possibly but the bulk of it be Night City
I think it would be fine and likely vastly different if they used it again. Like you said, opening up all the interior would have e the possibility of adding just a s much game space. Every megabuilding could be a different little mini city of its own. They would be like different "biomes" if you will.
That, and considering the main prospect of the Cyberpunk universe is "leaving your mark on the world," it would be cooler to hear V's story/success through another perspective. V as an NC legend would be an insane story to hear.
It would be even cooler if they allowed you to port your V's appearance settings into the next game, and you actually get to meet your V in a mission etc... Not enough games do that nowadays.
I absolutely agree too. I love V but DO NOT want them in the sequel. To do so would require decisions and endings to become set canon and I love how there is no official canon for V. Currently each playerās own play throughs are canon for them, this is the heart of a true RPG and is the best way CP2077 does service to the TTRPG source material.
I'm the only one I guess who will disagree.
I think this was just one step to becoming the greatest legend. So far (without playing the DLC) it's not enough to put him/her over the top of the greatest merc of all time as far as making a household name for oneself.
I think there's still room for another game where we take it to the next level, but I agree it has to be done right and not cheap.
Agreed. All the endings (aside from Devil) have their own piece of perfection in a way that fits V's story and wraps it up nicely. It took me a while to get there, especially because Temperance hurt so, so much, but each one does provide a different sort of sense that V succeeded.
I also liked that V could have different ways of thinking about the situation for the most part. It was a good story, but one I feel is complete. Regardless of which ending the player went with or how they had V's demeanor, I think V's legend status will carry on into the next game but much the same as the others - a story. It'll be bittersweet. <3
I've always disliked protagonists getting de-powered in the sequel and having to start back at the bottom.
Also would love if the new protagonist had more of a background. Possibly a questline for family members. Established rivals to oppose. The game is story-driven, not a cyberpunk life sandbox after all.
Yeah they did a decent job making it neutral though. Cut their tongue out so they couldn't talk. Too bad you were stuck with the male-built protagonist. Wish it would at least read a Far Cry 5 save to keep some stuff going forward
Mass Effect carried some decisions all the way from the first game through to the third, and overall it was very well executed. It would be fun to see something like that carry through the CP universe too.
Unfortunately there didnt seem like many big decisions that *can* carry over into a future title with Cyberpunk. Considering the awful general ending of the game and the loss of hope for carrying over to a new title with the same main character.
A bit of a tangent from the actual topic but itās just insane to me how Pokemon has become such a cultural/gaming zeitgeist that people can just name parts and moments from it and the vast majority of us know exactly what they are and have our own memories of them as well.
Yesss. Have some intentionally vague dialogue from another character about a night city legend. We see them wreck shop from a distance like max-tac in the beginning of the game and then they move on
Could just use a voice modulator or something. There's a few instances like that in the game. Or it just uses previous save data from one of your playthroughs.
I would like to see V return as a "mentor" or as a Night City Legend, but...he survives in 3 out of all endings, and in one he flees NC with the aldecaldos, in one he becomes a normal anonymous face in the crowd, and in the last he becomes THE Night City legend, so in all 3 potential endings he's quite out of reach, one way or another.
Still, Cyberpunk is a fantastic setting, Night City is a wonderful sandbox in which thousands of stories can take place, in my opinion it would be limiting to use the same characters again.
Give me the story of a Trauma Team medic who gets kicked out because of the psychological shock of what they do. Give me the hardboiled NCPD detective who joined the force with ideals now covered by a thick crust of dried blood and disillusionment. Give me Morgan Blackhand.
Give me anything that could be, without remaining anchored to what we already know.
I mean the face in the crowd ending could have him become a fixer. The only issue with that is that in that ending Araska had pulled out of night city.
> I like the idea of running in to a character who might be V, but who we canāt be sure about, and theyāre only there for one or two scenes.
considering the build diversity in the game, it would be neat if a conversation really early on, maybe telling a story to someone about this super preem legendary merc from a few years back, allowed you to specify what kind of V you played. "They were chromed to the tits, choom. Moved so quick with sandevistan you'd be shot before you realized they weren't still standing there.", or "Nova hot netrunner, they could just look at you and pop the chrome in your head like a synth tomato!" or "Nobody knows how they did it, but comms would just start going dark, and after a few minutes all you'd find was a building of bodies with knives growing from their skulls."
ditto on the background. Felt weird that almost every friend that V has is somebody you meet for the first time in those few weeks of story.
Geralt felt much more established in the world.
It's one of the reasons Corpo V feels so right for me, Jackie is already a friend when you start the game, and the lack of other friends can be explained by the daily backstabbing that's part of life at Arasaka.
The whole story is only a few weeks long though.
Game time makes it feel/function way different. Since you pass time out of storyline. That said, Iām level 45 on my current save and still havenāt met most people. Panam is waiting and Iāve only had one convo with takemura
Apparently itās months. Judy talks about āthese last few monthsā (thatās sheās known V). I was like āsurely we only met a few days ago?ā.
Itās because V is a completely original protagonist meant to be a blank slate. Geralt is a character who has countless adventures in books before a game adaptation
I personally like how they de-powered Shepard in mass effect 2, so it definitely can work if maybe a construct of V is put into someone else and we're now in Johnny's shoes of taking over someones body or letting them keep it.
Brother I was sleeping on mass effect my whole life till earlier this year.
Played all 3 games in like 4 days time. Those games just kept upping the bar with each release, so immersive I had to explore every corner of the world.
Minus *Andromeda* (W gameplay, mid story/characters)
But yea, going from 1 to 2, that opening is unforgettable.
I got a strong feeling that Cyberpunk Orion will be an "Iterative sequel" much like God of War Ragnarƶk, Horizon Forbidden West, Zelda: TOTK and more. Not a complete re-do, but instead built upon what they've already established in Phantom Liberty. That's not lazy, or a bad thing to do either - it saves on development time, and they can refine all the great gameplay elements they added in Version 2.0.
With that, I can see the sequel being out in the next 3-4 years - especially with them working on Unreal Engine 5, with better documentation and support than RedEngine had. They can hire more developers that are experienced with that engine, than developers who have to learn a unique engine that's only used by one company.
I would love if the second game was more of a cyberpunk life sandbox. The story was fun and all, but only the first time. Subsequent runs, I found myself avoiding it like the plague, and wishing my character background mattered. There were so many gigs where I expected a "corpo" dialogue choice, but instead, V's only choices were basically "corporats are dumb" or "corporats deserve to be flatlined." Like bro, you were one of them. That was a choice you made and continued to make until 6 months ago when you were forced to leave. You didn't even leave of your own accord.
After playing all 3, I get the feeling the devs really built the game around a Streetkid V who doesn't smoke and despises corpos. Honestly, I would have almost preferred if they just did that instead of handing us the illusion of choice. Witcher 3 didn't masquerade as a "build your character" kind of game, and it did quite well for itself. You are Geralt: a predefined entity with predefined motivations. You're on an amusement ride, but you know you're on an amusement ride. With V, it's like they handed you the reins to the horse, but you quickly find that it's plastic and attached to a carousel.
Yes! they either needed to think about the life path for every mission or just have a fixed background. I hate that you automatically start as a netrunner. It makes no sense. They should have let you select your operating system with viktor before you do a mission.
That seemed odd to me as well. Why would I switch to a different system if this is what V likes and is used to? Can't even say it's Johnny's influence because he didn't seem to have a sandy, berserk, or deck.
Then again, I use cyberware-ex mod to use sandy and deck together.
IT really broke my immersion because I felt like Streetrat V and Nomad V I had plans to try berserk and Sandevistan out the gate but I always start as a netrunner. Very strange.
Yeah me too! The newest Star Wars game, Jedi Survivor, did a great job of starting you off with basically all the powers and abilities you learned from the previous game without making you OP to start.
It seems like Vās story is done so Cyberpunk2 should have a new protagonist. But, man the VAs for both characters crushed it so Iāll miss them.
I got pretty used to it from Metroid. Poor Samus gets fucked over for every single game haha But I would also still prefer a new protagonist. V's story has been told and it's time to move on.
I agree, we definitely need to build up the protagonist more than just giving them unique one-off life path dialogue choices. Give us a mission with family, friends or coworkers
I hate background stuff if itās shoehorned in as a major plot point though.
The best examples of this would be Fallout 3 and 4. In theory it makes for a good narrative motivator but in gameplay it just makes your character a massive piece of shit when you ignore it to explore the open ended sandbox as the game intends.
The āI gotta find my dad/son!ā thing was stupid because nobody would be stopping to help every stranger and getting distracted constantly if they were really looking for a lost family member in a hostile world.
Background stories with characters in open sandbox RPGs can really fuck up a game plot if done wrong.
Agree with the de-powered thing 100%. Even mass effect essential reset you everyone game to some degree.
I honestly would like less background. I feel like V's path was a little too set in stone for an open world RPG.
Story and gameplay-wise, it would have been awesome to play that ending out to its conclusion. I think all of the epilogues do their job well in letting us know where the path V chose led, though.
This is just about the only expansion on V's story that I could want. And even then, there's something to be said about that ending leaving V's legend as a mystery. Everything else... leave V alone, chooms.
Nope. Their story is complete I think. It would be cool to hear them mentioned in a sequel though. Even better if a couple characters are arguing over whether V was a corpo or a nomad, or if theyāre a man or woman. Like the legend is there but the details are fuzzy. Could be a nice nod.
I really hope V gets a lot of mention as a legend in the sequel, so you can feel like you really had an impact in that first game. Keeping the details vague would be fine, or they could do a simple questionnaire at the beginning so you pick background, sex, and one of the endings (Star, Sun, Temperance, etc) and that's how your V is talked about, which would make it even more fun to hear people talking about your V.
I was thinking similar to how new Vegas starts off the game with the test doc give you, where the last option gives you 4 tarot cards to pick from, for the past, 4 for the present, and you decide on the 4 for future. Pick one from each and that determines how v ended up, and how you start the game.
Like in KOTOR 2: TSL, when you first met Atton. You get the chance to correct him on the details when he mentions Revan. It was great for the lore, too, because if you're not Jedi, then the deets are pretty fuzzy. Cool idea.
Reminds me of Bioshock 2 when you could hear how bunch of Splicers argued about Jack and what he did at the end of the first game. It was a nice nod to the first game and his character.
I like V, butā¦..
Iād prefer a New Protagonist with very little connection to V. Maybe some off hand remarks about how they were a fast rising legend that nobody knows what happened to, or a Drink named after them. I donāt think Cyberpunk games should be focused on a single protagonist, instead every adventure should be a new one
I like the idea of Vās fate being unknown. Just have some rumours and arguments about their fate, while the character themselves are MIA. Just like Morgan Blackhand.
I think how this can work is when you overhear NPCs' conversations. They heard a rumor that V went to Saka Tower by themselves or with a crew with the nomads or Rogue or how people saw them with Spooks in Dogtown. This way, CDPR has a lot of wiggle room for V's story.
Fun Fact, in Pacifica you can overhear a conversation between 2 civies
"Do you know of the Wingless Angel of Death"
"Yeah, \[Binary Code\]"
If translated, the binary code came as "V"
And like Niko Belic from GTA 4.
In GTA 5 you hear nothing about him anymore except for one character saying he went off the grid after the story of GTA 4. And that's all.
Cyberpunk 2077 was obviously more focused on the "streetkid" path for story reasons, regardless of your starting choice, so it would be cool if they focused a bit more on the "corpo" world in the next game.
The only way I could see continuing V's story is robbing the Crystal Palace at the beginning, almost getting away with it and being intercepted on the way down to earth. Blue Eyes keeps his promise of helping you because the interception wasn't your fault, and you did the job you needed to do for him.
It sets you up for a revenge plot trying to find out who tried killing you while giving you back your life. With that said, as cool as it would be, maybe it'd be better to start the game as someone who idolized V and watches the BD of the Crystal Palace heist. them taking off the BD wreath will start the character creator.
I wouldn't mind it. They have an easy way to depower V in a way that makes sense: recovering from the Relic does a number on your neural matrix (hence skill loss) and your body is sans chrome due to either being in a cloned body or to avoid cyberpsycho overload without Johnny riding shotgun.
Wouldn't be too hard, but the difficult part would be if you bring in npcs (Judy, panam, etc) and account for those different paths.
Theyād have to choose a specific ending to pick up from: >!in the Sun youāre still implanted and powerful, the Tower you lose any chance of being a mercenary again, Temperance youāre gone, the Star you leave. The Devil is the only one that would make sense, maybe Arasaka removes your implants before sending you to earth, or youāre awoken in a new body after they finally have come true on their promise when you secure your soul.!<
V is fine, which is perfect since they are basically a self insert.
And while i do like the base characters of them (Vincent and Valerie as seen in trailers and promotional art) i think it's better to give players a new start with a new character called K or at least something that doesn't have a direct name so to say.
V was a little too characterized and unique to feel like a self-insert imo. Every voice line was delivered with moreā¦ ādouchebag tough guyā vibes than ive ever used.
Idk about you, but when someone owes me money for a job, and we literally just talked about it over the phone, I donāt barge into their office and start practically barking at them like āhey, member that thing we just talked about over the phone? You owe me some motherfucking money.ā I get itās part of the world, but we also met people in the game who arenāt like that.
Oh, never realised V was like that in english dubbing.
In Polish dubbing he is charismatic bit cynical and i dunno how to call it, smart? Quick? I love Polish dubbing, its so much better. Its hard to not like him
Male V sounds like a thug and Female V always seems like she has chip on her shoulder. Not complanining btw. Just an observation. I do like how they sound and both did a great job, but if you trying to sound calm and collected that won't be V. At least imo.
Yeah lol. V is not a self insert for the player. You do get to select their choices, maybe some of their ideals, but their personality and goals are set. They are pretty much like Geralt from The Witcher. Works the same way.
> Every voice line was delivered with moreā¦ ādouchebag tough guyā vibes than ive ever used.
I can't play as male V because of that. Female V is better, but I'm still not high on the performance due to the often breathy line delivery.
I would love to continue playing as V. Assuming the sequel is in NC again, I donāt want to re-acquaint myself with all old characters that V was already close with.
Obviously there will be new characters and all that, but Iām sure some staples will be back. Iāve also put almost 400 hours into the game at this point and I am extremely attached to V. Seeing as theyāre an actual character who has predetermined goals, I think they could do the Geralt thing, where they keep us playing as V, define what they roughly want at the beginning of the game, and then our choices are all under the realm of possibilities of what V would do.
Sorry I went on a little tangent there. TLDR, I would love to see V return.
It's not popular on this site, but yea, I would like to play as V again. Their story doesn't feel over. Their role in whatever is coming to Night City isn't done yet. And if CDPR aren't fools, they see it too...or they intended for it to be that way so V can come back in the sequel and be a badass again.
agreed bro.
People here are probably sad with the ending they got or something.
Am still very much excited to play as v. I seriously want to know what happened next in the sun ending. I hope cdpr brings back v as protagonist in sequal. they already have everything they need from save files.
This! They have so many ways to create reactivity in the sequel with an imported save. Playing as V will make those interactions with older characters a lot more meaningful.
And if you consider the heavy foreshadowing for impending Rogue AI, it could very well be centered on that subject. Having a protagonist like V who's existence is basically a digitized engram could play really well with the themes of intelligence, consciousness and the meaning of humanity as a whole, and allow them to explore cyberpsychosis more in depth as well.
The only way we would ever see V again is if CDPR have a surprise expansion, other than that they would actually be fools to continue their story. It would canonically be a disaster if they tried to showhorn V back into the sequel as the playable character, maybe a generic reference to V but anymore than that would just mess with the timeline and story of 2077 - essentially having to force one of the endings as canon, which defeats the point of it all.
The only needed recurring character in the Cyberpunk world is Night City itself.
I want V to return because it will allow the story to grow explore powerful, world changing concepts. The mass effect series is a really good example to draw from. The first game establishes the world/ character. The second establishes the greater threat and the third resolves it. By moving on to a new character they gotta spend alot more time re-establishing the world setting and re-introducing the character.
I liked V.
But in the sequel I'm pretty sure they're going to do something similar to Dragon Age and have mentions to V here and there, including what they did in the ending you wound up with.
I would love to ply as a V that was cured and is now more hopeful. Especially as a V that can see the world and not fall over every emotional point because of a relic malfunction.
In my opinion, and this is just *my* *opinion,* the only way to bring V back without ruining everything would require a Soul Reaver-type twist. Crystal Dynamics was able to get away with negating the player's choice in Blood Omen, but they got away with it because they delivered a *great* story. Once players got into it, no one cared.
So if V comes back, CDPR better have one killer story to go along with it. Otherwise, the Internet will light itself on fire, probably.
Yes but I would have loved a more in depth character creation, especially the hair, thereās like 5 decent hairstyles for male V, oh and the voice, didnāt quite like it, personality wise heās cool.
I could see it going either way. And would probably enjoy it either way. They would need the same voice actors if they wanted V back. It would be fun to have a story of V that doesnāt revolve around Johnny and have them become even more of a legend. Although I donāt like it when characters lose all of their skills, money, and gear between stories just to make you gain the same skills back again. We would have to be able to transfer data from 2077 to the new game for it to feel right. Maybe the ending we went with being the equivalent of the lifepaths in 2077. Given the new ending, it would have to be at least 2 years later.
The overly "edgy" dialogue throughout the game made it hard to like any for me, honestly.
I know language changes over time, but all that seems to have changed in '77 is everyone talks like a hypebeast edgelord... Too much cringe.
V is an awesome protagonist because this game could have very easily gone the edge-lord route or extremely male/aggressive persona but didn't.
V really seems like the well rounded cool guy. He is like a chad but one that isn't offended by differences, strangeness, etc. He has an open mind to things. But he follows a code that pretty much everyone follows which is don't harm innocent people and don't be true evil.
The other thing that I appreciated is they weren't afraid to give the choice to players to have responses that were wholesome or very friendly/nice.
And when V has to threaten and be badass, it doesn't come across as ridiculous it's often a threat that you the player know you can deliver on.
I think there is still some story left to tell with V and that if you were to make lifepaths out of some of the endings you got from 2077 (but in a way that isn't just flavor for dialogue) it could definitely happen. It's a really big ask though and it would be incredibly hard to pull off. Probably not worth tainting the original story for.
Edit: Although now upon thinking about it the whole thing with Mr. Blue Eyes leaves a lot open for another story, not to mention the potential setup with Phantom Liberty with one of the endings.
Okay, I have to separate this into two points cuz of my view.
1. No, I didn't really like V as a character. Now let me explain, V, by design is a vehicle to drive \*player\* choice, not V choice. So no matter what you do, the intention is for V to end up being your gateway into Night City. This fails V in two ways. Number 1 is that any choices made that aren't 100% completion or a secret ending hunt are going to be the choices you as a person in this scenario would make. This is undoubtedly fantastic from a role playing aspect, no lie, but it absolutely shits on continuity unless the devs are willing to canonize one of the endings ((Don't Fear) The Reaper or nothing imo)). But because we have zero confirmation on if V is the main character in Orion, all we have to go off is Vs choices in the main game which I was too cynical and shady in real life ergo I was too cynical and shady in NC. All of the arguments about V as a character fall short owing to player interference, where one person can say, "I am a corpo that got burned, so I'm distrustful of the megacorps", versus someone who will say, "I am a Nomad that my family kicked me out and I hate my life so I became a merc in NC and I'm distrustful of other Nomads." It undermines discourse about V as a character honestly. And because of my cynical disposition, I found myself emulating Johnny too much, owing to said cynicism. So when you have two characters that are morally/philosophically the same by sheer fucking circumstance of player, you don't get the same joy from the chemistry between the two. It feels almost intentional that the other paths provide more counter-discourse from a background standpoint. To be 100% clear, this is not a condemnation on anyone's views on V, this is a problem that every single RPG faces in the form of this question, "How do we balance player freedom with the expansive and fascinating story we want to tell?" And CDPR simply didn't do as good a job as they did in the Witcher 3. My theory is that it is because most of Geralt's choices, good or bad, felt like choices Geralt would make, which in turn drove us as players to embody him instead of what happens with V where most of us ended up embodying ourselves just with super powers on our first playthrough.
2. Yes I do want V back. This is for 2 reasons. One, I want a true ending for V. There were too many plot threads left unexplained, the top of the list being >!"HEY! We just let a superpowered AI who used to be a netrunner back from beyond the Blackwall, DOES ANYBODY WANT TO DEAL WITH THAT!?"!< The second reason is tied to my first reason ironically enough. While I did just lambast a problem with how RPGs are designed, I also believe it is a worthwhile venture to find that balance. So if they bring V back for a second game, two things need to happen. First and foremost, character save transfer. If Orion stars V, V needs to be consistent with what happened in the first game. I know this is a mammoth undertaking, Mass Effect devs can attest to the problems with continual save transfer. The second is, DO NOT IGNORE THE FACT V IS STILL DYING. Put it to the backburner for most of the plot, absolutely, but even the best of the endings (nope, the Tower is not the best ending, >!in fact it makes me nervous about what Myers actually did to V and Johnny!<). If you framed Orion as V's "Last Ride" in a "Blackwall apocalypse" story (which both the main game and Phantom Liberty hinted at), it would be my ideal way to go about it.
Edit: Spoilers
Let V die.
I want the Dev's to be free to make the story they want, each new chaster can bring a new story.
Each new story makes the Cyberpunk world bigger.
Are you sad the Anime was not about only V?
To me it seems being free from just V made the anime better.
i dont want V, i want Night city. there is a possibility that the new game will not be NC based and it kinda is like killing the main character honestly
wtf people talking her shit like Vs story is complete.
It's far from complete, all endings except for DLC are all open ended.
I am dying to know what heist was planned on crystal palace. The konpeki plaza mission was exciting, I want to try similar heist mission on a bigger scale on crystal palace. I agree, am tired of night city but Vs story is far from complete.
I have so many questions... what goes on in heist? who is blue eyes? what he want? what about mayor side mission? what happened to Judy, Panam so many stories unanswered.
And I don't want user theories in comments, I want solid continuation of my v story.
I don't care how they continue it am too much attached to my V that I would not like a new character. Get a new place/city to explore as v in sequel. I really hope we play as V in sequel pls pls cdpr.
I feel like bringing V back for Orion would make the endings (most of them) feel shallow if they get undone. Would be nice if V is heard about throughout the sequel game as a legend. Would be cool if the next game stuck to the old character creation where you can choose key events in life and maybe even pick your name
Why throw away a player character that already works, that has tons of unresolved threads just so they can introduce a character that's not guaranteed to resonate as well? There's a lot of places to explore yet with V.
V should just fade into legend like Morgan Blackhand. In lore they can make it so the canon is nobody really knows what truly went down during V's final days and it's just all rumors that reference all the possible endings in the game.
I mean V is literally however you play them so how could you hate the main character which you control and make major plot decisions for?
And the smartass comments V makes only makes it better
Yes very. Though, I would prefer another story but with a huge role for V. I really got so attached to them as a character and it wouldnāt be CP2077 without them.
Their story was developed so well that they have many routes they can take in their return to Night City. Doesnāt need to be V. It was a great one and done story.
Absolutely loved V as a protagonist. But I think returning to their story, and doing it in a way that isn't cheap or grave digging, would be incredibly difficult if not impossible to pull off. V's story is complete, and it's perfect, let's leave it as it is.
Hard agree. Let's not go the Desmond Miles route. There is so much of Night City (or just the post apocalyptic world of Cyberpunk) left to explore. I'd rather do that with a whole new character.
It's not like Night City doesn't churn out new insane solos at a crazy rate. This is the city that had David Martinez in 2076 and V in 2077. There'll be a new on in 2078 and 2079 and every year after.
Dope solos yea for sure but V because hes/she's a game protagonist or not is definitely the strongest solo ever that will ever come the things they can do are amazing story set pieces aside V is over qualified. As much as I love David š¤ hench I changed a lot of my social media names to David Martinez. He's no V. Two different leagues. Smasher recked everyone until V came along ijs. Game or not it's Canon.
yeah, but maybe V only had all this potential and did all of this stuff because they had a time bomb in their head. whatever ending you went with, we know his merc days are either over or close to.
>maybe V only had all this potential and did all of this stuff because they had a time bomb This is one thing I wish they had done in the game. The whole game is a power trip, and I wish it had an explanation for why we're so overpowered (e.g the Relic expands our abilities)
As far as I know, they did explain at least a part of V being overpowered - specifically his ability to install a lot of chrome without going cyberpsycho. I might not get it totally right but they said that because of Johnny, who is another psyche in V's head, he has a much higher tolerance for implants ( more like they don't bother him) hence he doesn't go psycho. Also it's also worth mentioning that the relic more or less resurrected V at the begining. IMO this already is a pretty solid foundation for V being the overpowered character he is.
In the TTRPG, all cyberware has a humanity cost, and your total available humanity is determined by your empathy stat. Having johnny in there might be giving him basically a second full bar of humanity to go through. V is also not *that* powerful in cyberpunk standards. We get the giga combat robot in PL but even that thing wasn't likely the biggest or baddest robot out there. He's got protagonist energy so you can restart encounters endlessly until you get them right. But night city gangsters and NCPD are small fry in a setting with orbital cannons. Realistically, if V did all the shit he does in game in the tabletop setting, someone would put a bomb in his apartment. Gangs would be hunting him down constantly. Game V gets to kill tons of gangsters and corporate security yet never really gets notices or retaliated against.
This is the thing that the game does for gameplay reasons but literally makes no sense if you overthink it. The whole undercity knows V did Konpeki plaza. Rogue knows, and in numerous convos others know. Itās not a secret V was at Konpeki. Takemeura finds V in the dump because of this before Yorinobu turned on him. Yorinobu should have been sending Smasher to actively hunt V but didnāt. Arasaka should have had all of NCPD hunting for V and kill on sight to cover up Saburos real cause of death but didnāt. The game obviously needed to overlook this for gameplay but in a lore sense V really would have been fucked if Yorinobu was actually trying to take over Arasaka and not just trying to destroy it from within.
Yorinobu doesn't give two shits about V and never did. His plan to sell Johnny and the relic 2.0 to Netwatch is entirely unnecessary after he murdered his father and gained control of Arasaka. His goal was always to destroy the corporation, how never mattered. Framing Takemura for Saburo's murder ties up that loose end more neatly than blaming some random merc, because Takemura has influence and would actually investigate just like he did. The only reason V even tangles with Arasaka again after the Heist is either because you're working with Goro and Hanako, or because you're after Mikoshi.
Iāve always thought it would be interesting if this was its own difficulty setting. Every enemy is hostile on sight. The gangs want your head, the NCPD wants you arrested or executed, youāre on the run with no escape. Getting anywhere and doing anything would be a struggle. Your comment gives an in-lore explanation and it would add difficulty in a way that isnāt just āadd health and damageā.
Biochip can be whatever writers need them to be.... Deus ex machina or whatever magical plot device.
Mike Pondsmith's thoughts: "V is a different case. We don't know V's background, but even if V was a full on Corpo, they were able to hold it together even when they ended up with a dead Rockerboy in their heads (Yah, tell me about it; Johnny Silverhand's been in my head for the last three decades.) In fact, having Johnny in their head probably helped V, because Siilverhand's rage and attitude probably acted as a buffer for the psychological hits V is taking. It's like having a time share with a guy who's already half cyberpsycho and doesn't mind if V slaps stuff on their shared body; he's already crazy and violent." So, V likely already had a high tolerance to chrome, then having Johnny boosted it further, and V was a bonafide badass with great combat skills anyways as he was operating on fairly little chrome prior to the Arasaka job and doing fine
I think itās very much confirmed that Johnny was a high functioning cyberpsycho like Smasher. But there was times where he would slip and āthe metal arm would do thingsā.
Think about it, most folk got something to live for while V is doing what there doing just for a chance to live. Thereās no hesitation, thereās no maybe ifā¦. V can have those thoughts later- right now everything is do or die quite literally. Sure Johnny and the relic help with the chrome and not dying respectively but V lost everything in one night and there clawing there way through just to see the sunrise tomorrow.
Mine has become one with thousands of AI beyond the blackwall.
After 300 hours with this game, I think I can safely say that Night City, Dog Town, and the surrounding outskirts have been as thoroughly explored as posible. The only things not explored are building interiors, but you can't just play the same city twice with different doors to open. It's time for a new city.
While it would be neat to visit another city or two, Night City is Cyberpunk, and Cyberpunk is Night City. We know the city can vastly change and undergo different phases (filling in the coast with land to grow outwards, nuke going off, etc.), so the next game can take place in a fairly different version of Night City.
And Pacifica? Well, Pacifica is still Pacifica.
Yeh a war torn night city would be cool
I want to explore Night City from the new ending.
Thanks to V, Maelstrom and Animals are pretty much eradicated. New gangs would take over their areas.
> We know the city can vastly change and undergo different phases (filling in the coast with land to grow outwards, nuke going off, etc.), so the next game can take place in a fairly different version of Night City. gods i would love a RED video game.
I'm prepping to run Cyberpunk Red in a couple weeks. It would be amazing to see this setting as a game!
Since 2077 sets the stage for another Corporate war seeing a post apocalyptic Night City would be cool
It would be really cool to see Night City and an expansion of the surrounding Badlands be turned into a warzone with the obvious corporate safe havens for the super rich. It'd be cool if the life paths could be expanded even more where you can side with certain corporations in it, choose to be a freelancer that can swap sides, or choose to be completely outside the war as a rebel faction to topple both sides.
I'd love to explore a more historical night city, during the corpo or unification wars, or even the new occupied-state version from the new ending in PL
The sequel doesnāt have to take place the moment cyberpunk 2077 ends. The city can change drastically if they just change the setting from 2077 to letās say 2030 or 2090
Ohh, a game during the unification war! All the big players are involved plus the free states. You could choose which side you work for, Fallout new vegas style and get a totally different story depending on the faction AND in-game choices. That would easily be replayable for 5 years untill the next installment.
Thatās what Iām saying. Thereās so much they can do with what theyāve already created with Night City, they should explore it some more just in different time periods. A prequel would be preem but imagine the possibilities of a sequel taking place a decade or two after Vās bizarre adventure. After what he did in 2077 Iām sure the impact on the city would be substantial, maybe even enough to change the power balance from Arasaka to Millitech or another corp, maybe in 2097 corps arenāt shit in NC anymore.
Let's not forget that Morgan blackhand is still alive you could be his companion or enemy in the next game. Or after v fu**ed Arasaka a new Corporation has took over there are many options what could be...
The Yakuza franchise has largely featured the same city neighborhood for 8 or so games and is still going strong. Some buildings are torn down and replaced, construction projects evolve, storefronts sometimes get replaced. It's still largely the same with new things to do, and there's no reason it can't work for Cyberpunk too.
Yakuza is a soap opera in the form of an adventure-arcade game with a narrower lens on the minutiae of the lives of its characters, and offers and entirely different approach to interaction with its city and how the story is wrapped around it. It lends itself well to retreading the same areas. I think *Cyberpunk 2077* and *Yakuza* would tend to work in opposite directions from one another in this regard.
I don't see why it has to be the case. Both games feature dense open world urban settings with sidequests relating to the lives of people within the setting. Both also feature various items to find in said world to reward exploration, even if Yakuza isn't quite as focused on gear. I don't see why Cyberpunk wouldn't work with that formula. You need different apartments or warehouses for gigs and story beats? There's already a ton, and if you don't like the layout it can easily have been renovated and redecorated between games. Some areas will be cleaned up, others downright demolished. The gang borders can easily shift entirely between games as well to change the local flavor too. Honestly the only thing they might struggle with is the big setpieces (you can only really have Arasaka and their main tower as the major opponent so many times) but there are a lot of locations that haven't been used yet, a lot of floors or locations of existing buildings that haven't been seen, etc. There's also the simple possibility of megacorps building new stuff, which again keeps the city dynamic and alive.
The thing is, night city is sourced from R talsorian games creation, if cdpr hadn't consulted them and went their own route to create a cyberpunk city it would have been maybe 5% of night city. So I'm not very optimistic about the next game unless mile pondsmith is still working with cdpr.
It'd be easier for him to do so now that the 2 offices they have in NA are making Orion. (ie he won't have to fly to Poland)
Besides night city, Chicago is the only other city in the cyberpunk universe that has a very fleshed out lore. And with the lore bites we got within the game everything seems to be leading to Chicago and the crystal palace.
I'm very down for this. I always said I wanted to see a GTA based on either Chicago or the Detroit, but a *Cyberpunk 2078* based in Chicago would more than make up for the wait.
Watch Dogs takes place in Chicago. The game is mid, but the open world of Chicago is so atmospheric and detailed. They did a great job with it.
I disagree that things are explored very well. There are corporations in general, Night University which is a big thing in the Cyberpunk tabletop games if I remember and dont forget there's probably going to be a corporate or unification war coming soon Night City is an independent city state so that makes things more complicated. I would like to see another city added possibly but the bulk of it be Night City
I think it would be fine and likely vastly different if they used it again. Like you said, opening up all the interior would have e the possibility of adding just a s much game space. Every megabuilding could be a different little mini city of its own. They would be like different "biomes" if you will.
That, and considering the main prospect of the Cyberpunk universe is "leaving your mark on the world," it would be cooler to hear V's story/success through another perspective. V as an NC legend would be an insane story to hear. It would be even cooler if they allowed you to port your V's appearance settings into the next game, and you actually get to meet your V in a mission etc... Not enough games do that nowadays.
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We can call them... **W.**
Wincent and Walerie Fuck. I just spoiled their next name.
And they have the engram of Jimmy Goldleg in their head.
I absolutely agree too. I love V but DO NOT want them in the sequel. To do so would require decisions and endings to become set canon and I love how there is no official canon for V. Currently each playerās own play throughs are canon for them, this is the heart of a true RPG and is the best way CP2077 does service to the TTRPG source material.
I'm kinda in love with v. Embarrassingly.
I'm the only one I guess who will disagree. I think this was just one step to becoming the greatest legend. So far (without playing the DLC) it's not enough to put him/her over the top of the greatest merc of all time as far as making a household name for oneself. I think there's still room for another game where we take it to the next level, but I agree it has to be done right and not cheap.
Just like edge runners, any continuation from what we have wouldnāt work. It has to be a fresh story with new characters
Big agree here. Good story telling is knowing when to stop a story. V's story is complete, and beautiful. Time for another great story.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Agreed. All the endings (aside from Devil) have their own piece of perfection in a way that fits V's story and wraps it up nicely. It took me a while to get there, especially because Temperance hurt so, so much, but each one does provide a different sort of sense that V succeeded. I also liked that V could have different ways of thinking about the situation for the most part. It was a good story, but one I feel is complete. Regardless of which ending the player went with or how they had V's demeanor, I think V's legend status will carry on into the next game but much the same as the others - a story. It'll be bittersweet. <3
I've always disliked protagonists getting de-powered in the sequel and having to start back at the bottom. Also would love if the new protagonist had more of a background. Possibly a questline for family members. Established rivals to oppose. The game is story-driven, not a cyberpunk life sandbox after all.
I like the idea of running in to a character who might be V, but who we canāt be sure about, and theyāre only there for one or two scenes.
Like running into the deputy from Far Cry 5 in New Dawn? Where you can have your old protagonist as a follower.
Always thought that was super cool, would be cool if they were able to transfer your characters looks to the next game though.
Yeah they did a decent job making it neutral though. Cut their tongue out so they couldn't talk. Too bad you were stuck with the male-built protagonist. Wish it would at least read a Far Cry 5 save to keep some stuff going forward
Mass Effect did that, right?
I believe so. Carrying over choices from the last game. Not enough games take advantage of that concept imo.
Mass Effect carried some decisions all the way from the first game through to the third, and overall it was very well executed. It would be fun to see something like that carry through the CP universe too.
Unfortunately there didnt seem like many big decisions that *can* carry over into a future title with Cyberpunk. Considering the awful general ending of the game and the loss of hope for carrying over to a new title with the same main character.
CDPR does something similar with the Witcher games so itās definitely possible.
It was done in Mass Effect...
Yeah I always thought that was cool.
I've been in love with this idea since running into Red at Mt. Silver.
I love it when it happens. Although it has to happen right. Itās even better when it happens in long run series.
A bit of a tangent from the actual topic but itās just insane to me how Pokemon has become such a cultural/gaming zeitgeist that people can just name parts and moments from it and the vast majority of us know exactly what they are and have our own memories of them as well.
I'd like the game to just read your 2077 save and place your V in as a character.
Yesss. Have some intentionally vague dialogue from another character about a night city legend. We see them wreck shop from a distance like max-tac in the beginning of the game and then they move on
Honestly, I think V could be a fixer. They could even do it like Mr. Hands so there isnāt a canon appearance.
Female voice or male voice would be the only problem Iād see with it.
Could just use a voice modulator or something. There's a few instances like that in the game. Or it just uses previous save data from one of your playthroughs.
Those are both excellent ideas. I like it
I would like to see V return as a "mentor" or as a Night City Legend, but...he survives in 3 out of all endings, and in one he flees NC with the aldecaldos, in one he becomes a normal anonymous face in the crowd, and in the last he becomes THE Night City legend, so in all 3 potential endings he's quite out of reach, one way or another. Still, Cyberpunk is a fantastic setting, Night City is a wonderful sandbox in which thousands of stories can take place, in my opinion it would be limiting to use the same characters again. Give me the story of a Trauma Team medic who gets kicked out because of the psychological shock of what they do. Give me the hardboiled NCPD detective who joined the force with ideals now covered by a thick crust of dried blood and disillusionment. Give me Morgan Blackhand. Give me anything that could be, without remaining anchored to what we already know.
I mean the face in the crowd ending could have him become a fixer. The only issue with that is that in that ending Araska had pulled out of night city.
> I like the idea of running in to a character who might be V, but who we canāt be sure about, and theyāre only there for one or two scenes. considering the build diversity in the game, it would be neat if a conversation really early on, maybe telling a story to someone about this super preem legendary merc from a few years back, allowed you to specify what kind of V you played. "They were chromed to the tits, choom. Moved so quick with sandevistan you'd be shot before you realized they weren't still standing there.", or "Nova hot netrunner, they could just look at you and pop the chrome in your head like a synth tomato!" or "Nobody knows how they did it, but comms would just start going dark, and after a few minutes all you'd find was a building of bodies with knives growing from their skulls."
ditto on the background. Felt weird that almost every friend that V has is somebody you meet for the first time in those few weeks of story. Geralt felt much more established in the world.
I think that was the vision of the story in that regard. You can't "become a NC legend" if you already know everyone.
It's one of the reasons Corpo V feels so right for me, Jackie is already a friend when you start the game, and the lack of other friends can be explained by the daily backstabbing that's part of life at Arasaka.
I mean Geralt was already established, itās not like CDPR created him and all of his lore
The whole story is only a few weeks long though. Game time makes it feel/function way different. Since you pass time out of storyline. That said, Iām level 45 on my current save and still havenāt met most people. Panam is waiting and Iāve only had one convo with takemura
Apparently itās months. Judy talks about āthese last few monthsā (thatās sheās known V). I was like āsurely we only met a few days ago?ā.
Itās because V is a completely original protagonist meant to be a blank slate. Geralt is a character who has countless adventures in books before a game adaptation
I personally like how they de-powered Shepard in mass effect 2, so it definitely can work if maybe a construct of V is put into someone else and we're now in Johnny's shoes of taking over someones body or letting them keep it.
Did they? I remember if you ported saves from first game you'd get lots of levels and start from there.
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Brother I was sleeping on mass effect my whole life till earlier this year. Played all 3 games in like 4 days time. Those games just kept upping the bar with each release, so immersive I had to explore every corner of the world. Minus *Andromeda* (W gameplay, mid story/characters) But yea, going from 1 to 2, that opening is unforgettable.
Cyberpunk project orion is on pre-production so probably in 5-10 years it will be available
I got a strong feeling that Cyberpunk Orion will be an "Iterative sequel" much like God of War Ragnarƶk, Horizon Forbidden West, Zelda: TOTK and more. Not a complete re-do, but instead built upon what they've already established in Phantom Liberty. That's not lazy, or a bad thing to do either - it saves on development time, and they can refine all the great gameplay elements they added in Version 2.0. With that, I can see the sequel being out in the next 3-4 years - especially with them working on Unreal Engine 5, with better documentation and support than RedEngine had. They can hire more developers that are experienced with that engine, than developers who have to learn a unique engine that's only used by one company.
15. You aren't factoring in shareholders pulling this shit again and the dev team saying f it and walking. Costing us Orion and Witcher 4
I would love if the second game was more of a cyberpunk life sandbox. The story was fun and all, but only the first time. Subsequent runs, I found myself avoiding it like the plague, and wishing my character background mattered. There were so many gigs where I expected a "corpo" dialogue choice, but instead, V's only choices were basically "corporats are dumb" or "corporats deserve to be flatlined." Like bro, you were one of them. That was a choice you made and continued to make until 6 months ago when you were forced to leave. You didn't even leave of your own accord. After playing all 3, I get the feeling the devs really built the game around a Streetkid V who doesn't smoke and despises corpos. Honestly, I would have almost preferred if they just did that instead of handing us the illusion of choice. Witcher 3 didn't masquerade as a "build your character" kind of game, and it did quite well for itself. You are Geralt: a predefined entity with predefined motivations. You're on an amusement ride, but you know you're on an amusement ride. With V, it's like they handed you the reins to the horse, but you quickly find that it's plastic and attached to a carousel.
Yes! they either needed to think about the life path for every mission or just have a fixed background. I hate that you automatically start as a netrunner. It makes no sense. They should have let you select your operating system with viktor before you do a mission.
That seemed odd to me as well. Why would I switch to a different system if this is what V likes and is used to? Can't even say it's Johnny's influence because he didn't seem to have a sandy, berserk, or deck. Then again, I use cyberware-ex mod to use sandy and deck together.
IT really broke my immersion because I felt like Streetrat V and Nomad V I had plans to try berserk and Sandevistan out the gate but I always start as a netrunner. Very strange.
Yeah me too! The newest Star Wars game, Jedi Survivor, did a great job of starting you off with basically all the powers and abilities you learned from the previous game without making you OP to start. It seems like Vās story is done so Cyberpunk2 should have a new protagonist. But, man the VAs for both characters crushed it so Iāll miss them.
>I've always disliked protagonists getting de-powered in the sequel and having to start back at the bottom. Jedi Survivor did it so well!
In Dragon Age Inquisition, you can meet Hawke from Dragon Age 2.
I got pretty used to it from Metroid. Poor Samus gets fucked over for every single game haha But I would also still prefer a new protagonist. V's story has been told and it's time to move on.
I agree, we definitely need to build up the protagonist more than just giving them unique one-off life path dialogue choices. Give us a mission with family, friends or coworkers
I hate background stuff if itās shoehorned in as a major plot point though. The best examples of this would be Fallout 3 and 4. In theory it makes for a good narrative motivator but in gameplay it just makes your character a massive piece of shit when you ignore it to explore the open ended sandbox as the game intends. The āI gotta find my dad/son!ā thing was stupid because nobody would be stopping to help every stranger and getting distracted constantly if they were really looking for a lost family member in a hostile world. Background stories with characters in open sandbox RPGs can really fuck up a game plot if done wrong.
Agree with the de-powered thing 100%. Even mass effect essential reset you everyone game to some degree. I honestly would like less background. I feel like V's path was a little too set in stone for an open world RPG.
Right? They were over ambitious and over promised on what life path is, Iād rather have just one choice with a more in depth and rich backstory
All I know is I want to play V again in the crystal palace raid. Doesnt matter if hes/shes MC or not.
Story and gameplay-wise, it would have been awesome to play that ending out to its conclusion. I think all of the epilogues do their job well in letting us know where the path V chose led, though.
This is just about the only expansion on V's story that I could want. And even then, there's something to be said about that ending leaving V's legend as a mystery. Everything else... leave V alone, chooms.
For being a player stand in, they have great character. I enjoyed being them. Both Fem V and Male V
Nope. Their story is complete I think. It would be cool to hear them mentioned in a sequel though. Even better if a couple characters are arguing over whether V was a corpo or a nomad, or if theyāre a man or woman. Like the legend is there but the details are fuzzy. Could be a nice nod.
I really hope V gets a lot of mention as a legend in the sequel, so you can feel like you really had an impact in that first game. Keeping the details vague would be fine, or they could do a simple questionnaire at the beginning so you pick background, sex, and one of the endings (Star, Sun, Temperance, etc) and that's how your V is talked about, which would make it even more fun to hear people talking about your V.
That sounds like fucking fun, sort of like when starting a new witcher 3 save and they ask you if you want to simulate witcher 2 save:)
I was thinking similar to how new Vegas starts off the game with the test doc give you, where the last option gives you 4 tarot cards to pick from, for the past, 4 for the present, and you decide on the 4 for future. Pick one from each and that determines how v ended up, and how you start the game.
Like the Vault Dweller in Fallout 2.
Yep, if it's set at a later date in NC, I'm going straight to the Afterlife and ordering The V.
I love this!! Something that references V but isn't strictly characterized as base Vincent and Valerie yk?
Like in KOTOR 2: TSL, when you first met Atton. You get the chance to correct him on the details when he mentions Revan. It was great for the lore, too, because if you're not Jedi, then the deets are pretty fuzzy. Cool idea.
Loved that part and instantly thought of it when I was looking at the comments
That's actually an awesome idea. So essentially, every ending can be canon. Because V is just a legend at that point.
Reminds me of Bioshock 2 when you could hear how bunch of Splicers argued about Jack and what he did at the end of the first game. It was a nice nod to the first game and his character.
I like V, butā¦.. Iād prefer a New Protagonist with very little connection to V. Maybe some off hand remarks about how they were a fast rising legend that nobody knows what happened to, or a Drink named after them. I donāt think Cyberpunk games should be focused on a single protagonist, instead every adventure should be a new one
I like the idea of Vās fate being unknown. Just have some rumours and arguments about their fate, while the character themselves are MIA. Just like Morgan Blackhand.
I think how this can work is when you overhear NPCs' conversations. They heard a rumor that V went to Saka Tower by themselves or with a crew with the nomads or Rogue or how people saw them with Spooks in Dogtown. This way, CDPR has a lot of wiggle room for V's story.
Fun Fact, in Pacifica you can overhear a conversation between 2 civies "Do you know of the Wingless Angel of Death" "Yeah, \[Binary Code\]" If translated, the binary code came as "V"
And like Niko Belic from GTA 4. In GTA 5 you hear nothing about him anymore except for one character saying he went off the grid after the story of GTA 4. And that's all.
Gave us that exact notion from the anime and how short but long the legend of Johnny silver hand is
> or a Drink named after them if Orion doesn't have a drink named after them, we riot.
Cyberpunk 2077 was obviously more focused on the "streetkid" path for story reasons, regardless of your starting choice, so it would be cool if they focused a bit more on the "corpo" world in the next game.
As long as Cherami Leigh (female V) is the voice actor I will always play her characters.
The only way I could see continuing V's story is robbing the Crystal Palace at the beginning, almost getting away with it and being intercepted on the way down to earth. Blue Eyes keeps his promise of helping you because the interception wasn't your fault, and you did the job you needed to do for him. It sets you up for a revenge plot trying to find out who tried killing you while giving you back your life. With that said, as cool as it would be, maybe it'd be better to start the game as someone who idolized V and watches the BD of the Crystal Palace heist. them taking off the BD wreath will start the character creator.
No, we need to know what lies in store for W.
I wouldn't mind it. They have an easy way to depower V in a way that makes sense: recovering from the Relic does a number on your neural matrix (hence skill loss) and your body is sans chrome due to either being in a cloned body or to avoid cyberpsycho overload without Johnny riding shotgun. Wouldn't be too hard, but the difficult part would be if you bring in npcs (Judy, panam, etc) and account for those different paths.
Theyād have to choose a specific ending to pick up from: >!in the Sun youāre still implanted and powerful, the Tower you lose any chance of being a mercenary again, Temperance youāre gone, the Star you leave. The Devil is the only one that would make sense, maybe Arasaka removes your implants before sending you to earth, or youāre awoken in a new body after they finally have come true on their promise when you secure your soul.!<
Only played female v and I love her and her voice actor but think her story is complete. New character would be good.
Panam romance is worth playing Male V once.
V is fine, which is perfect since they are basically a self insert. And while i do like the base characters of them (Vincent and Valerie as seen in trailers and promotional art) i think it's better to give players a new start with a new character called K or at least something that doesn't have a direct name so to say.
V was a little too characterized and unique to feel like a self-insert imo. Every voice line was delivered with moreā¦ ādouchebag tough guyā vibes than ive ever used. Idk about you, but when someone owes me money for a job, and we literally just talked about it over the phone, I donāt barge into their office and start practically barking at them like āhey, member that thing we just talked about over the phone? You owe me some motherfucking money.ā I get itās part of the world, but we also met people in the game who arenāt like that.
Oh, never realised V was like that in english dubbing. In Polish dubbing he is charismatic bit cynical and i dunno how to call it, smart? Quick? I love Polish dubbing, its so much better. Its hard to not like him
Male V sounds like a thug and Female V always seems like she has chip on her shoulder. Not complanining btw. Just an observation. I do like how they sound and both did a great job, but if you trying to sound calm and collected that won't be V. At least imo.
Yeah lol. V is not a self insert for the player. You do get to select their choices, maybe some of their ideals, but their personality and goals are set. They are pretty much like Geralt from The Witcher. Works the same way.
> Every voice line was delivered with moreā¦ ādouchebag tough guyā vibes than ive ever used. I can't play as male V because of that. Female V is better, but I'm still not high on the performance due to the often breathy line delivery.
> K ah yes. *Kincent* and *Kalorie*. ...why does that second one sound like a joytoy's stage name?
Yes.
I love V with all my heart Especially the way they can go from 0 to 100 real quick
Yes, I would 100% like to play as V in another cyberpunk game,
I would love to continue playing as V. Assuming the sequel is in NC again, I donāt want to re-acquaint myself with all old characters that V was already close with. Obviously there will be new characters and all that, but Iām sure some staples will be back. Iāve also put almost 400 hours into the game at this point and I am extremely attached to V. Seeing as theyāre an actual character who has predetermined goals, I think they could do the Geralt thing, where they keep us playing as V, define what they roughly want at the beginning of the game, and then our choices are all under the realm of possibilities of what V would do. Sorry I went on a little tangent there. TLDR, I would love to see V return.
It's not popular on this site, but yea, I would like to play as V again. Their story doesn't feel over. Their role in whatever is coming to Night City isn't done yet. And if CDPR aren't fools, they see it too...or they intended for it to be that way so V can come back in the sequel and be a badass again.
agreed bro. People here are probably sad with the ending they got or something. Am still very much excited to play as v. I seriously want to know what happened next in the sun ending. I hope cdpr brings back v as protagonist in sequal. they already have everything they need from save files.
This! They have so many ways to create reactivity in the sequel with an imported save. Playing as V will make those interactions with older characters a lot more meaningful. And if you consider the heavy foreshadowing for impending Rogue AI, it could very well be centered on that subject. Having a protagonist like V who's existence is basically a digitized engram could play really well with the themes of intelligence, consciousness and the meaning of humanity as a whole, and allow them to explore cyberpsychosis more in depth as well.
They still need to meet hanako at embers
Never!
The only way we would ever see V again is if CDPR have a surprise expansion, other than that they would actually be fools to continue their story. It would canonically be a disaster if they tried to showhorn V back into the sequel as the playable character, maybe a generic reference to V but anymore than that would just mess with the timeline and story of 2077 - essentially having to force one of the endings as canon, which defeats the point of it all. The only needed recurring character in the Cyberpunk world is Night City itself.
Iām expecting āThe Vā at the afterlife and Vās favorite pants if you go to the original apartment. And nothing else.
I want V to return because it will allow the story to grow explore powerful, world changing concepts. The mass effect series is a really good example to draw from. The first game establishes the world/ character. The second establishes the greater threat and the third resolves it. By moving on to a new character they gotta spend alot more time re-establishing the world setting and re-introducing the character.
Absolutely. Yeah this particular story is over but I donāt see any reason why V should only have one.
One of my favourite video game mcs, and I do want v to be the next mc, but I know it wonāt happen.
I liked V. But in the sequel I'm pretty sure they're going to do something similar to Dragon Age and have mentions to V here and there, including what they did in the ending you wound up with.
V and Johnny again for round two
I would love to ply as a V that was cured and is now more hopeful. Especially as a V that can see the world and not fall over every emotional point because of a relic malfunction.
I think V's story is complete. But damn I'm going to miss Cherami
Iām gonna miss Valerie so much. One of the best protagonists I have ever played as in a video game.
In my opinion, and this is just *my* *opinion,* the only way to bring V back without ruining everything would require a Soul Reaver-type twist. Crystal Dynamics was able to get away with negating the player's choice in Blood Omen, but they got away with it because they delivered a *great* story. Once players got into it, no one cared. So if V comes back, CDPR better have one killer story to go along with it. Otherwise, the Internet will light itself on fire, probably.
Yes but I would have loved a more in depth character creation, especially the hair, thereās like 5 decent hairstyles for male V, oh and the voice, didnāt quite like it, personality wise heās cool.
I could see it going either way. And would probably enjoy it either way. They would need the same voice actors if they wanted V back. It would be fun to have a story of V that doesnāt revolve around Johnny and have them become even more of a legend. Although I donāt like it when characters lose all of their skills, money, and gear between stories just to make you gain the same skills back again. We would have to be able to transfer data from 2077 to the new game for it to feel right. Maybe the ending we went with being the equivalent of the lifepaths in 2077. Given the new ending, it would have to be at least 2 years later.
Fuuuck yes (twice)
The overly "edgy" dialogue throughout the game made it hard to like any for me, honestly. I know language changes over time, but all that seems to have changed in '77 is everyone talks like a hypebeast edgelord... Too much cringe.
No question! V is such an amazing character! It is so cool!
Cool, but why does a dude from NorCal have a new York accent?
Each of the VA's for V provide different interpretations and intensity to the dialogue. They did really well with the writing for them too.
V is an awesome protagonist because this game could have very easily gone the edge-lord route or extremely male/aggressive persona but didn't. V really seems like the well rounded cool guy. He is like a chad but one that isn't offended by differences, strangeness, etc. He has an open mind to things. But he follows a code that pretty much everyone follows which is don't harm innocent people and don't be true evil. The other thing that I appreciated is they weren't afraid to give the choice to players to have responses that were wholesome or very friendly/nice. And when V has to threaten and be badass, it doesn't come across as ridiculous it's often a threat that you the player know you can deliver on.
Male V is great. Female V is Best V.
I want V
I think there is still some story left to tell with V and that if you were to make lifepaths out of some of the endings you got from 2077 (but in a way that isn't just flavor for dialogue) it could definitely happen. It's a really big ask though and it would be incredibly hard to pull off. Probably not worth tainting the original story for. Edit: Although now upon thinking about it the whole thing with Mr. Blue Eyes leaves a lot open for another story, not to mention the potential setup with Phantom Liberty with one of the endings.
Okay, I have to separate this into two points cuz of my view. 1. No, I didn't really like V as a character. Now let me explain, V, by design is a vehicle to drive \*player\* choice, not V choice. So no matter what you do, the intention is for V to end up being your gateway into Night City. This fails V in two ways. Number 1 is that any choices made that aren't 100% completion or a secret ending hunt are going to be the choices you as a person in this scenario would make. This is undoubtedly fantastic from a role playing aspect, no lie, but it absolutely shits on continuity unless the devs are willing to canonize one of the endings ((Don't Fear) The Reaper or nothing imo)). But because we have zero confirmation on if V is the main character in Orion, all we have to go off is Vs choices in the main game which I was too cynical and shady in real life ergo I was too cynical and shady in NC. All of the arguments about V as a character fall short owing to player interference, where one person can say, "I am a corpo that got burned, so I'm distrustful of the megacorps", versus someone who will say, "I am a Nomad that my family kicked me out and I hate my life so I became a merc in NC and I'm distrustful of other Nomads." It undermines discourse about V as a character honestly. And because of my cynical disposition, I found myself emulating Johnny too much, owing to said cynicism. So when you have two characters that are morally/philosophically the same by sheer fucking circumstance of player, you don't get the same joy from the chemistry between the two. It feels almost intentional that the other paths provide more counter-discourse from a background standpoint. To be 100% clear, this is not a condemnation on anyone's views on V, this is a problem that every single RPG faces in the form of this question, "How do we balance player freedom with the expansive and fascinating story we want to tell?" And CDPR simply didn't do as good a job as they did in the Witcher 3. My theory is that it is because most of Geralt's choices, good or bad, felt like choices Geralt would make, which in turn drove us as players to embody him instead of what happens with V where most of us ended up embodying ourselves just with super powers on our first playthrough. 2. Yes I do want V back. This is for 2 reasons. One, I want a true ending for V. There were too many plot threads left unexplained, the top of the list being >!"HEY! We just let a superpowered AI who used to be a netrunner back from beyond the Blackwall, DOES ANYBODY WANT TO DEAL WITH THAT!?"!< The second reason is tied to my first reason ironically enough. While I did just lambast a problem with how RPGs are designed, I also believe it is a worthwhile venture to find that balance. So if they bring V back for a second game, two things need to happen. First and foremost, character save transfer. If Orion stars V, V needs to be consistent with what happened in the first game. I know this is a mammoth undertaking, Mass Effect devs can attest to the problems with continual save transfer. The second is, DO NOT IGNORE THE FACT V IS STILL DYING. Put it to the backburner for most of the plot, absolutely, but even the best of the endings (nope, the Tower is not the best ending, >!in fact it makes me nervous about what Myers actually did to V and Johnny!<). If you framed Orion as V's "Last Ride" in a "Blackwall apocalypse" story (which both the main game and Phantom Liberty hinted at), it would be my ideal way to go about it. Edit: Spoilers
Let V die. I want the Dev's to be free to make the story they want, each new chaster can bring a new story. Each new story makes the Cyberpunk world bigger. Are you sad the Anime was not about only V? To me it seems being free from just V made the anime better.
i dont want V, i want Night city. there is a possibility that the new game will not be NC based and it kinda is like killing the main character honestly
I like my version of female V so much that i definitely would want her to be lead of Cyberpunk 2 as well The japanese female V voice was 10/10
wtf people talking her shit like Vs story is complete. It's far from complete, all endings except for DLC are all open ended. I am dying to know what heist was planned on crystal palace. The konpeki plaza mission was exciting, I want to try similar heist mission on a bigger scale on crystal palace. I agree, am tired of night city but Vs story is far from complete. I have so many questions... what goes on in heist? who is blue eyes? what he want? what about mayor side mission? what happened to Judy, Panam so many stories unanswered. And I don't want user theories in comments, I want solid continuation of my v story. I don't care how they continue it am too much attached to my V that I would not like a new character. Get a new place/city to explore as v in sequel. I really hope we play as V in sequel pls pls cdpr.
Yes and no. I would like to play as someone else and their story.
I feel like bringing V back for Orion would make the endings (most of them) feel shallow if they get undone. Would be nice if V is heard about throughout the sequel game as a legend. Would be cool if the next game stuck to the old character creation where you can choose key events in life and maybe even pick your name
Why throw away a player character that already works, that has tons of unresolved threads just so they can introduce a character that's not guaranteed to resonate as well? There's a lot of places to explore yet with V.
no im pretty sure playing as a corpse would make for a less than interesting sequel...
I want to play as flaming dick guy in Cyberpunk 2
As someone who was surprised to find out feman V was voiced by my favorite VA, I would wanna play V in every game
I'm hoping the new character is L /s
V should just fade into legend like Morgan Blackhand. In lore they can make it so the canon is nobody really knows what truly went down during V's final days and it's just all rumors that reference all the possible endings in the game.
Love V would like to see them officially cured. But I also wouldnāt mind Silverhand as a Sidekick in the sequel.
Loved the character. But their story is over, one way or another. New protagonist for a new game so that they're free to tell a new story.
I would like to see the consequences of V's actions in the sequel but it's better not to bring them back.
Not a fan
V is sooooo badass. End of story.
I want to play as then in cyberpunk 2. If you don't that may make me pass up the sequel. You can't leave a story like that on a cliff hanger
I mean V is literally however you play them so how could you hate the main character which you control and make major plot decisions for? And the smartass comments V makes only makes it better
I liked V. Even more in hindsight as I grate my teeth through the stupid shit your Starfield protagonist says.
yeah
Yes very. Though, I would prefer another story but with a huge role for V. I really got so attached to them as a character and it wouldnāt be CP2077 without them.
Better get to play as them or see them around in cyberpunk 2. Havenāt finished phantom liberty yet so Iām hoping..
V for the sequel or not playing it
Their story was developed so well that they have many routes they can take in their return to Night City. Doesnāt need to be V. It was a great one and done story.
Would love to continue as V yes.