The Cyberpunk Adventures of Bro V

After playing through Cyberpunk 2077 as female V, I wanted to see how different the male and female characters were.  I decided to roll a male V, choose a different life path (street kid), and check out a different set of skills (less stealth, more shooty).  I also had a few different story related goals--one was to check out the Panam romance option and the other was to unlock the hidden ending.

(FYI:  Some spoilers ahead...read with caution!)

Street kid V's story begins on the streets of Heywood in a booth in Mama Welles' El Coyote Cojo.  V takes a job (from a slimy feeling fixer-like character) to steal an expensive car from some nameless Arasaka corpo.  The scumbag assures V that it's an easy job--simply go to the garage, use some special security defeating device on the car, and then drive it back.  It feels a bit too easy though, so you know something is guaranteed to go wrong.

Poor V rocked this look for awhile.

V arrives at the garage, hops in the car, pops in the supposed wonder device....and is greeted with a gun to the head.  Is it security?  Is it the Arasaka corpo?  Nope, it's none other than Jackie Welles who is also trying to steal the car.  They have a brief exchange of words before the sound of sirens cuts them off--it's the police!  The cops roll up with guns drawn and V and Jackie find themselves getting arrested.  The Arasaka corpo makes and appearance and tells the cops to "get rid" of the street trash...things aren't looking good.

Fortunately for V, this meeting had some providence--Jackie and the cops know each other (because the cops in Night City are basically all crooked) and after some light beating, they let Jackie and V go.  Jackie and V, who had just been competing to steal the car, find themselves brought together--Jackie invites V to grab some food and their friendship begins.

Street kid V, as the name implies, is very street savvy and most of the dialogue options are V using his/her knowledge of how Night City works to his/her benefit.  There are several times where that knowledge is very helpful and can be used to talk around certain situations.  I actually really liked the street kid vibe.

1.) Judy's Happy Ending

I opted to romance Judy as female V (Judy's definitely my favorite character) so the relationship and ending was a bit different.  Judy's storyline doesn't differ in any way until you finish up the diving mission--if you romance her, she decides to stay in Night City.  If you don't (she's not an option for male V) she announces that she is leaving Night City and the diving trip was her way to say goodbye.  The nice part about V's relationship with Judy--either romantic or as friends--is that she still offers her apartment to V.  If you go back and visit her apartment you will also find a rare/iconic Mox-themed shotgun that she leaves for V.

Judy contemplates the future.

She will still message V several times after she is gone.  Her messages reveal that she is on a bit of a journey of discovery--her first stop is to visit her grandparents in Oregon (she sends a picture of a beach); she then sends an image of her van with a message about the road being filled with adventure; her last message is a picture of Seattle.  She states that she intends to check out a BD studio for a couple of days (but has no intent of staying because she doesn't want to settle down just yet) and then head east.

Her holo message during the credits is different--she thanks V for being such a good friend and implores them to leave Night City.  She also talks about how depressed she was and how leaving has made her much happier.  It's definitely a better ending for Judy than the majority of the options if she's V's romantic partner.

2.) The Basilisk = Cyberpunk stuffed unicorn (if you know, you know--winky face)

One of my goals for male V was to have Panam be his romantic interest--this is actually more difficult than I thought it would be.  In Panam's first main story mission, V gets the flirty option to suggest that he and Panam share a room in the hotel.  I was shocked when she agreed...and then dropped the fact that each room has two twin beds and it would save them some money.  V then explains that that wasn't what he meant--and Panam doesn't even bat an eye!  Not what I expected, but it did make me laugh (and respect Panam more because I assumed her impulsive nature would extend to sexual matters).

Panam looking intense.

Panam's storyline involves several more side missions and there are multiple opportunities to flirt.  Weirdly though, she doesn't seem very receptive.  Finally, toward the end of her story chain she reveals that she has been playing it safe with V--she does really like him, but for once, she wants to control her impulsive behavior so that she won't get hurt/lose V (*don't be put off by her seeming rejection--just keep flirting).  It's a surprisingly sensitive moment with a character who is pretty intense.

The final side mission with Panam involves taking the Basilisk out for a quick spin to check out its capabilities.  Like any hot date, you blow up some cars, and put the floating tank through some light navigational maneuvers.  Panam then drops a fact bomb--when hooked up to the Basilisk, the nervous systems of both pilots are intertwined...making for the opportunity for some intense sensations.  Things escalate from there (it's one of the crazier sex scenes...definitely reminiscent of Geralt and Yen on the stuffed unicorn).  It seems a bit too cramped for the sexcapades of V and Panam, but they make it work.

Romancing Panam gave me more respect for her character.  I liked her as a friend for my female V, but the way she deals with male V's flirtations gives her character more depth.  She's not as impulsive as she seems and has a bit of a sensitive side.  I don't think Panam quite gets as much fan love as Judy, but she's a solid character.

3.) Kerry gets revenge.

Somehow in my first playthrough I missed fully completing Kerry Eurodyne's mission chain by one mission (*remember that some missions are triggered by certain time intervals passing--Kerry's final mission is a 24 hour interval).  Kerry's final mission involves him getting revenge on his manager (the one who roped him into the initial deal with Us Cracks).  He asks V to show up to the marina and it sounds like a recreational opportunity to drink on a fancy yacht.  V boards the yacht, Kerry grabs a guitar and starts strumming a nice tune, and the Seamurai (oof, what a name!) sets out toward its unknown destination.  Kerry and V have some nice moments of chatting about the future--Kerry has decided to go on tour with Us Cracks and serve as a sort of manager and he actually seems happy about it.

The chill vibe of the mission changes when Kerry suddenly smashes the valuable guitar that he was playing on the floor of the yacht.  V is shocked and then Kerry reveals that the yacht actually belongs to his manager.  He asks V to join him below decks for some light vandalism--V can help Kerry trash fancy items.  Kerry's romantic trigger happens during the trashing as both he and V get close while trying to pull a lever that is stuck (since my V was team Panam, this moment passed).  Kerry lights up a cigarette and asks V if he will do the honors and set the yacht aflame.  Hells yeah!  V drops the cig and the ship erupts in flames.  Kerry and V jump overboard and swim to shore.  There's another opportunity for some conversation with Kerry as he and V watch the ship burn...and eventually explode (Kerry had a plan...that involved explosions).  It's a nice way to cap off V's friendship with a former rocker and rebel.

4.) Suicide mission. (SUPER SPOILERS!)

My ultimate goal with the male V playthrough was to unlock the hidden ending.  To make this happen you have to choose exactly the right dialogue options during the side missions that revolve around Johnny (there are tons of guides out there that lay it all out).  This is the only way to get Johnny's relationship with V up to 70% which is the requirement for the ending.  Once you've landed on the pre-final mission decision making point you have to choose a specific ending (that Johnny and Rogue should go) and then just sit and wait.  After about 3-4 minutes of waiting on the next dialogue selection screen, Johnny will finally recommend his option--that he and V storm Arasaka together...without any additional help.  Either V makes it to Mikoshi, or he goes down fighting.  It's the perfect option!

Sparkly cowboy hat V and the magical motorcycle.

V simply walks through the front door of the Arasaka building and starts shooting.  Johnny is there to provide some guidance as V tries to locate Mikoshi.  The major challenge of this option is that V cannot die during any of it or the game ends--basically V committed suicide.  V faces waves of angry Arasaka soldiers...all while his health is gradually dropping thanks to the continuing malfunction of the relic.  This ending definitely has the toughest combat of all of them.  There's also the looming threat of Adam Smasher right before V gets to Mikoshi.  I had upped the difficulty on this playthrough and it took me many times (the good news is that the game does autosave at several points during the mission, so you don't have to completely start over).

Once V has defeated Smasher, he enters Mikoshi and you get the same "Path of Glory" ending--V is the top merc in Night City.  The major difference with this ending is that no one dies--Rogue is still alive and as V heads into Afterlife to discuss the details of his final gig, he can share a drink with her.  She indicates that V is now top dog and that she's basically in retirement.  V still takes the space suicide mission...and it's game over.

It's worth it to play through this ending once just to have the experience.  All in all, it's one of the nicer endings--no one else dies and it lets Johnny go out with a bang.  I still went back and chose my favorite ending (The Star...plus, how could V leave Panam?  That would be wrong--but I do think street kid V's canon ending would be Path of Glory)

Take a good last look....

Is it worth it to re-roll as a different gender?

Even though it's arguable that there's not a ton of replayability to Cyberpunk, I found that playing through it again was worthwhile and would recommend playing as male and female V.  One thing that was much more significant in my second playthrough was the location of the tarot cards and how they tie into the characters and main storyline.  You'll find yourself going..."ohhhh!" and making the connections in a different way.  Pursuing other romantic relationships also gives you more insight into certain characters.  Plus, there are always small things that you'll find that you missed (I stumbled across a side mission that rewards a cool motorcycle).

So who's better--male V or female V?  I think this is one case where both the male and female characters are voiced very well and I didn't find myself with a clear preference (which is something that I have experienced with other games--FemShep in Mass Effect and Kassandra in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey are two that I've always felt superior to the male options).  Personally, I would lean toward a female V because, dammit, Judy.