Missable Details in the Arasaka/Devil Ending

[@MataNuiOfficial]

Saburo: breaks all possble laws of life, buddhism, bushido and everything else by coming back to life, literally posseses his son like a demon Takemura: neat

[@TaigaXsenpai]

One of main themes of this game is that "crime not always evil". If system is not fair, don't adapt into it because you will only give even more power to those that already have too much power. When crime can still let you develop your own individuality and freedom. As a result see world in bigger picture and tell if law is right or not. Takemura is somebody, who is brainwashed by law and cannot think for himself. Every law no matter how moral or necessary is always form of brainwashing. Its force of influence and can still take away individuality. Also every law protects and gives privilages to those in power in the first place. The same theme was in anime Akudama Drive.

[@AugustSchroif]

Japanese mentality is very different from the westerner's one. It might be hard to grasp for the people who didn't actually spend some time studying Japan's history and culture. To cut it short, the Emperor had literally been a God figure for the Japanese for centuries and this mentality (uncondiciotal devotion to authority) is still engrained in many Japanese people. However, it's still not that simple. For example, a samurai must NOT follow any order given to him, he has a right to actually argue with his superiors insisting on changing the order or not follow the order at all if he believes said order contradicts the ideas of honor instilled in him. Also, it doesn't root from buddhism, it roots from shinto. So it's all not as contradictionary as you make it sound.

[@MataNuiOfficial]

@@AugustSchroifI was making a joke, but you're making good points. I admit I forgot about mentioning that transience comes from Shinto. And true, one of the most important parts of traditional Japanese philosophy (especially amongst samurai) is the notion of absolute loyalty. Still, a big thing in Bushido is the importance of death (and the above mentioned transience) and Takemura, a huge fan of the samurai, blatantly ignoring all the red flags about Saburo and even praising him shows how much blindly he believes in his master. Now, it's well in line with his characterization. He was given everything he had by Saburo and would never think of abandoning this life. I think the contradiction is there, and it's intentionally being shown from a perspective of a western lower class citizen, who simply wouldn't understand Takemura's point of view. When we're taking to Hellman in that scene, he admits with fear in his voice that Saburo is indeed a god and that's why they must obey him.

[@Shadow3397]

I read that 'neat' in Piccolo's voice from DBZ Abridged.

[@s_t_r_a_y_e_d]

to be fair Takemura watched Saburo be murdered and hates Yorinobu ferociously for the dishonor

[@olzhas1one755]

The guy who asks you to sell your soul to "live forever" is literally named Hellman.

[@Skyelilith]

Hell in German means bright tho XD

[@bluelense7]

@@Skyelilith Hellman=Bright man is fitting too. Another name for Satan is Lucifer which means "Light Bearer"

[@Skyelilith]

@bluelense7 True and Anders means different. So: Different Brightman. Fits pretty well XD

[@nicison314]

takemura asks you to if you kept him alive - shame on you if you didn't!!!! :p

[@Soggz4]

ten bucks that Hideo offered the name

[@dexnasty9586]

Rogue and Saul insta-die to Smasher like chumps. Weak. Goro taunts Smasher for the entire fight and survives. "The beast is angry!"

[@coyoboyo]

I'm seriously considering going all the way back to save him now. I had no idea!

[@va5780]

V comments a few times how Takemura is a good fighter, I admire the consistency.

[@mandu6665]

@@va5780 Yep. V says even without implants, Goro would fuck them up. He's got that posture and the way he carries himself is of a trained killer.

[@DaviRenania]

I really wish we fought him and Oda at all non-Devil endings, if we left them alive

[@shehtazruslan]

saved him on first playthrough

[@EternalNightingale]

Johnny cringing in the background while V bows to Hanako is great😂

[@hisgreasiness]

I'm surprised you missed the significance of Takamera dressing in all white. In Japan, white is worn at funerals and is the color associated with death.

[@Schopenhauer667]

Interesting. Thanks.

[@Shadriand]

You should really check your sources. White isn't worn at Japanese funerals. The association with white and death is in Buddhist religions.

[@Sorain1]

It sure makes Silverhand's comments about her either ironic (because he doesn't know that) or surprisingly cultured. (If he does.)

[@tonyaxis3063]

Silverhand seems very well read and knowledgeable. He recognizes a rare painting, a prized cyberdeck of his age and whatnot. He just appears as a dumb and horny rocker by choice.

[@pungtap]

@@tonyaxis3063 agreed. Typical anti-hero archetype behavior. He has to remain gruff and aloof all while sneaking in a bit of sophistication to impress the groupies!

[@John-uw2je]

One thing to note, is that Takemura says Hanako forgot about you, but immediately gets desperate and lets it slip that she called him to convince you. Also if you leave the station, Hanako calls you personally to give you jobs lol. They never forgot what you did to them. Whether or not they are grateful or just see you as an asset is another matter though.

[@Hi-xr6dt]

Hanako calls you to give you jobs? Where does this happen?

[@kingfisher_imperialist]

@@Hi-xr6dt if you choose to go back to earth

[@lordtrinen2249]

One thing I always pondered is if Arosaka would ultimatley honor its word and put V in a new body at a later date. Would be nice to picture Takemura out someplace in Japan and have V in a new body approach and surprise him. Lost some faith in this notion when I saw the contract up close and the bad terms. But your comment about Hanako does make me wonder if she does feel a measure of debt towards V or more uses. Either way, V could walk the Earth one day again.

[@Dragonking-vp4sx]

@@lordtrinen2249I know I’m late but I think they definitely would. Imagine the bargaining chip they’d have with V completely under their control. Smasher 2.0 baby!

[@matteb859]

Yeah V just becomes the new Adam Smasher if they sign the contract, someone forced to work for Arasaka for life after the corp saves their life. Plus they could edit V’s engram to be more loyal or something like that

[@captainitalia811]

Takemura is one of my favorite characters, but I just hate the only ending that makes him happy is what pisses off every other character

[@Schopenhauer667]

Yeah, he is so loyal. Dude is an old school Samurai.

[@TheUrizen]

@@Schopenhauer667 It's tragic that he is so loyal to a family so unworthy of him.

[@pbplayerjim]

I really do like the one part of the devil ending that you might one day see him again and actually get good food together

[@SymbiSpidey]

@@TheUrizen I always remember that one moment where V almost convinces Goro to turn his back on Arasaka, but then he says that he basically has nothing except for them. It really echoes Corpo V's backstory where so much of his life was tied to Arasaka that when he was cut off, he basically had to rebuild from scratch. Goro's even worse off since all he knows is Arasaka. To him, I'm sure it feels like he's so deep in the rabbit hole that he can't get out.

[@uncledoctor6920]

Unfortunate that he never actually cares about you or considers you his friend.

[@satanicbeats]

I didn't know you could talk to Jackie's engram at the end. That's a disturbing, cruel end for Jackie, and might just be one of the game's best, truly cyberpunk moments

[@3monkeysinatrenchcoat543]

You can only do that if you send his body to Vik's instead of his mom's

[@annoyance.2583]

@@3monkeysinatrenchcoat543 aaaand, from gameplay perspective, you are missing out on Jackie’s Pistols just to talk to his shadow

[@bigfactsbigstacks6261]

I played it raw and was hyped at first. Then I saw something was off and realized what was going on.

[@GusBDamme]

Really hes dead like johnny, thats why hes not really "there" with his responses, he was already dead when they scanned his brain, but Johnny was still alive so you get all of his memories and enough of his brain patterns to form his personality, but really its not him, Johnny even tells you hes just code and that any soul he had went wherever souls go

[@politecat9207]

Yeah, the only way you can get that is if you send Jackies body anywhere that's NOT to him family. Because you can find out that his body gets stolen and that's when he becomes an engram.

[@Leongon]

At the end Takemura calling V "V-san" is very meaningful in sum with the earlier bow to V. They selected very carefully when, where and if Takemura would display any respect for V.

[@tigrispanthera5496]

51:10 ughhh why does he have to be a loyal lapdog 😢😢😢

[@Wolfs0n]

I went on the full revenge path with Corpo V. I like to think the Devil Ending will allow V to chase after Saburo and the Arasaka family Altered Carbon style.

[@BSGNZ]

Watching Altered Carbon (seas 1) and the Edge Runner anime has me hoping that someone might take the plunge on a live action 8-10 part show.

[@jbkb24]

That would be a interesting sequel game.

[@azizbrownkuwindacorp]

I cried so much after I got the devils ending on my first and very honest playthrough. I was hyperfocused on just winning and living and didn't take the time to slow down and enjoy night city and connect deeply with the other characters I met. It was heartbreaking watching this ending happen to a character I put so much of myself into. This game taught me a real life lesson, it will always have a special place in my heart for that. Edit: Fantastic video! Love the analysis 👍

[@coyoboyo]

Yep. Same on my first playthrough. I stuck too close to Arasaka and figured the game ended in one big tragedy. Now it's hard not to choose the Panam or secret ending every time. Just to save Rogue and V in a way. Now if only I could save Saul and still get to leave with Panam...

[@YeaiMeanYeah]

Yoooo i played nomad first time through,I played a game not a tory, and seeing my character in thirdperson for the first time actually scared, yo I had had a rl big lose and def didn't need that kind emotional blow. Your not alone in the tears.

[@rockinrolla102]

I started out with the Nomad path and put around 100 hours into this character played every single side quest in met every side character and this ending made me tear up feeling like I betrayed my own self saying to myself "what did I do" when the twist showed its head. Adams thought that deeply in about a game in a very long time so absolutely awful about my final decisions in the game.

[@TheFloodFourm]

Not your fault. The game doesn’t really encourage you to enjoy night city beyond the phenomenal aesthetics.

[@phugindomas]

@@TheFloodFourm don't think we played the same game... did you spam C in all dialogue or something?

[@marcusgarcia4926]

I just realized, at 34:52 of the vid when Hellman says "fate is a fickle mistress, isn't she? You spend your life fighting something only to become that very same thing." The implication is that he's talking about Yorinobu, but that he could actually indirectly be talking about V too. It's a double meaning. Rebelling against Arasaka makes sense in any lifepath but it's especially more powerful if you start out in the Corpo lifepath. It's here you start up believing in them, and then you get your eyes opened when you find yourself at the wrong end of Arasaka's gun when you get double-crossed because of your involvement with Jenkins and the Frankfurt data leak. Then you do the heist against Arasaka and meet Johnny and in a way "rebel" against Arasaka... and if in the end of it all, you choose to get blinded again in the corporate ideals, cooperating with Hanako and selling your soul to the Devil, you've become one with the very thing you sought to destroy.

[@bengunn9670]

Being fired for taking a hit on your boss hardly counts as "double crossing".

[@Eyestudio11]

The meaning, the delivery and sudden change in background music when Johnny says "Shame you chose wrong" really hit me.

[@JakeAkinTUL]

God I didn’t even realize you COULD backstab Panam or fail to save Saul. Those texts and that phone call from Panam are brutal. Just gonna imagine those are modded content, sheesh!

[@ashirii8347]

Really guess it goes to show that if you disappoint her, there are no second chances, even if you've helped her along the way

[@AnonYmous-hu7jo]

I literally got this ending and never even did that storyline AT ALL🤣 I accidentally just skipped ALL the Nomad stuff lol

[@maxmustermann-zx9yq]

I mean you really can't, what gamer looks at a generic quest, then starts it and then just runs kilometers out of range of it you pretty much would have to fail it on purpose a good RPG would give you quests with different choices where you can decide against it (example: in Wasteland 3 you can attack and murder each NPC without bricking the story, even resulting in a unique endings)

[@honestbenny]

Shame you can't kill Panam.

[@Mentallyheld]

@@honestbenny why would you want to kill her??

[@jjejet]

I have over 570 hours in the game, I never had the heart to choose the Devil ending, especially after seeing what they did to our boy Jackie, and now seeing how Johnny reacts at certain times I know I'll never be able to opt for this ending. It really makes you feel like you've betrayed all of your loved ones and all those who cared for you, and in the end - betraying yourself. Selling yourself short to the big corporation thus selling your soul :(

[@EternalNightingale]

Yep that’s why it’s the easiest ending to get early on in game don’t have to do any real work unlike the other endings, but either way V dies Johnny take over or Vs psyche is stored on an engram maybe that’s the canon ending?🤔

[@phugindomas]

What did they do to Jackie aside from defend their own property?

[@Matt_10203]

@@EternalNightingale I believe the (Don’t fear) The Reaper ending is the true ending. It really embodies the “do you want to live the quiet life or go out in a blaze of glory?”

[@ReviewersGuildArSR]

@@Matt_10203 that's what I think also. It requires the most work to get to. And it's one of the most fulfilling ending. (Panems ending being the other)

[@stellarmagic3316]

A Company this big! can even build an Cybernetic Body like Hanka Robots! and Give V a New Cybernetic Body! I sure there will be Scarlette's Engram in Mikoshi, We can bring all the dead people back to life in a Cybernetic Body!

[@JimLeonard]

This was really above and beyond the call of duty. Even with the debug menu, this must have been a lot of replaying and save game management. I have 300 hours invested in the game (about 100 per lifepath) and I completely missed all of the small details, like the photo being covered up by the pen or the cup. Outstanding investigation!

[@yesman350]

You can hear Johnny’s heart snapping when you don’t forgive him. He really wanted to do good. And then and there the only person left who cared about him hated him. He was ready to go.

[@reinbeers5322]

Some people didn't, but I really liked Johnny. This whole situation wasn't even his fault.

[@Jumpboy5100]

​@@reinbeers5322I liked Johny as a character too. More specifically i liked his engram. He was a huge dbag but came around to be somewhat mature and accountable. His intuitions/insightswere usually on point. He was also pretty funny. As a person though he was awful. He was a narcissistic maniac who nuked a city.

[@kirbyis4ever]

​​@@Jumpboy5100His engram totally matures as part of being stuck as a passenger in another body. He's forced to feel V's emotions because they're the same person and is practically forced to learn empathy through them. He had 50 years to replay things in his head within the soul prison and finally got to see what it's like to be in someone else's shoes. Being stuck with his thoughts for 50 years with all the regrets and decisions he made with nobody else to bounce ideas off but him? That'd eat at you.

[@harleyquilt]

I think what's really cool and subtle, but heartbreaking at the same time is just how...mellow he is about it. Like 30 hours earlier in the game, you might have expected him to yell back, calling us weak, and double down on what he's always said and done. But instead, he accepts it, regretfully, suddenly reduced to nothing after V shoots down any chance of reconciliation. It's almost pitiful to watch, demonstrates how much has changed over the course of the game. Really punishes you if you decide not to forgive, too, unless, idk, you're heartless lol.

[@Seikretmhw]

Seeing goro beging v to reconsider makes me so sad. He really cares about v

[@orbit1894]

he just wants to take V out to eat real food together

[@bartofii]

Goro makes siding with Arasaka the best.. If he dies? Well... time to throw the whole corp out.

[@janosd4nuke]

Yyup. I just finished my first run. (Bought physical a year ago, but just started w/ 1.6 dropping and finished about 2 hours ago.) 170h, Nomad to Nomad w/ Judy romance. Pretty satisfying... the only thing that made me regret a thing was Goro's voicemail during the credits. But ehh, wouldn't be a cyberpunk story with levels of happy ending where V could convince him to ghost with us.

[@mservice5229]

The fact that he lies about who sent him to see you makes be sus to his actual motivations. I think they want you soul, and they need you to give it up willingly.

[@kirbyis4ever]

​​@@mservice5229It wouldn't be good for them to take his soul by force unless they just intended to lock him away. V is a capable merc, a legend by the time you finish the game. Sticking his soul into another body while he's pissed off would NOT be a smart idea as he'd likely turn on them (Johnny immediately tries to take control so he can destroy ARASAKA when V wakes up in their apartment). He signs up willingly and becomes part of the crew? Don't gotta worry so much, just keep him in line.

[@MoxieRocker]

The gut punch I felt when I realized that Yorinobu was the good guy and I was the bad guy, oh my god. I was shell shocked. This ending was definitely the most heartbreaking.

[@Dognuhtz]

He definitely isnt

[@MoxieRocker]

@@Dognuhtz did you not see what he was trying to do? He’s essentially a corpo Johnny Silverhand

[@kedly]

@@MoxieRocker Johnny wasnt a good guy either

[@MoxieRocker]

@@kedly that really depends on perspective. Ethically, absolutely not. But there’s a massive debate to be had about what he believed he was trying to accomplish.

[@kedly]

@@MoxieRocker I mean sure, HE thought he was trying to do good, but on a larger scale, he nuked either hundreds or thousands of people who were just as much, actually MOREso fucked than he was by the system considering how much sway and power he had at the point, and on a smaller scale he made the lives of those close to him miserable and held them back to the point that those that survived became VASTLY more prosperous once he had left the picture. Johnny was an asshole who made the world worse in every way, it doesnt really matter what he thought of that

[@bluecapgun785]

Seeing the way they butchered not only Jackie's body, but also his mind really actually shook me. Hearing his old lines repeated out of context makes soulkiller really seem like the worst thing that could happen to a human.

[@Tywil714]

I thought It was really disturbing and errie because he was just repeating lines from past conversations like a broken record. Like we wern't even there. I guess since Jackie was completely brain dead by the time they used soul killer on his corpse. There wasnt much left to salvage.

[@meeeeooooww]

I was actually shocked when I saw him in Mikoshi. It had me for the first few sentences. To find out it was old lines was just saddening. I never actually got attached to Jackie before his death, I just saw him as a sidekick for newblood V. But this specific interaction made me want him back more than anything.

[@Yusuke_Denton]

Don't worry, the Jackie you know and love was long dead already. :)

[@Scrappy_ill_fold_ya_Doo]

They didn't butchered his mind or his body. Jackie was already dead. When they soulkill his corpse, they only managed to savaged bits and pieces of his memories, namely, the memories he had moments before he died. In order for soulkill to work, the person has to be alive. The soulkill kills the host and copy their minds and physique to an engram or to the net. What players saw wasn't Jackie, that was just some false version of him.

[@maskedvalk1406]

People criticized this game for lifepaths not mattering and choices, yet small things like Johnny trying to take your body for not being nice to him and V blaming him for every time he starts dying is small but still a result of your choices, I also like the unique dialogue each lifepath had. as it made things more interesting.

[@fapnawb]

Because people who criticize this game's missions, story and choices have only scraped the surface of this game. You would need a 6+ hour Joseph Anderson video to really go into all the details.

[@paradoxpizza]

People criticized the game because they were lead to believe from all the talks by CDPR before launch that each lifepath actually have different storylines so it would feel like you have 3 main stories in 1 game.

[@fapnawb]

@@paradoxpizza I followed this game closely like a lot of people prior to its release and never got that impression. Probably cause I have this thing called common sense. I mean how dumb do you have to be to think that they make 3 separate games at these production values within a single game. Especially considering that they started full on CP development in 2016. Even Dragon Age Origins which tried it's hardest to separate the origins was very much the same game later on. And Mass Effect's backgrounds did f*ck all.

[@paradoxpizza]

@@fapnawb watch the lifepaths trailer and you can read the comments.

[@Saaaaaaber]

You answered your own question, choices did not matter aside from small dialogue options. The only choice you had was the ending

[@parry2680]

I just started the video to skim through this. But I was just engaged in it and actually watched the whole video. Impressive work in finding these. Great Video.

[@TheJuggerClutch]

I think you're right in Hanako controlling/puppeteering the Jackie engram. The more I listened to it, the more it made sense. Hanako is panic-searching through Jackie's memories to try to try to find responses to V in order manipulate/guilt V further into helping them. Since Jackie didn't get a Mikoshi upload before the full death of his brain like Saburo did, of course she basically has to pilot his memories/pieces of Jackie's mind, instead of them being autonomous. I mean, he was dead long before he was hit with Soulkiller, its a miracle they got anything. The dialogue choice that says "Seen enough. Its not him" sealed it for me, as V seeing through Hanako's bullshit

[@ovum]

This checks out with Hanako secretly being a netrunner

[@andre3328]

He has the same responses in the other endings where you meet him in Mikoshi, though. And V basically realizes it isn't really him in those too, so I don't think Hanako has anything to do with it

[@TheJuggerClutch]

@@andre3328 on the contrary, in each playthrough the amount they soulkill from Jackies brain is probably the same, so they amount hanako has access to is the same, hence the same responces. She's basically operating a very fancy soundboard with whatever audio memories they were able to pull from Jackie's brain. That's my view anyway, too bad there's no way to confirm

[@andre3328]

@@TheJuggerClutch Hanako isn't in Mikoshi in the other endings, nor does she know V is there so I don't see how she'd be controlling Jackie in those

[@janosd4nuke]

@@andre3328 Yyup, more like this. The 'fancy soundboard' analogy is not exactly bad from Mark, just given how Hanako has nothing to do it in the other endings, it's more like a rudimentary (even by IRL 2022 standards) chatbot on a Jackie soundboard. But given the amount of trauma, that's the most the tech can get out of Jackie's data. I interpret Hanako's eyes as keeping a look on the tab ready to Alt+F4 Jackie if need be.

[@summerrose1363]

I think playing Corpo V is one of the best ways to play the game Starting as this heartless employee of Arasaka, and gradually taking more and more jobs, tasks and gigs to help people, originally just for the money, but eventually because V has grown as a person, especially through the romantic options side quests, just to turn back to Arasaka for help at the end of the game in a final attempt to live.

[@edge1247]

I played Corpo V and turned Him Nomad in the End. After Being chewed up and Spit out and losing Johnny to the Corps. I made V pretty much Anti Corp, and the Johnny Ingram wasn't helping with the Hatred since the qere merging. Just saying Fuck It all and leaving with Panam for better pastures made more sense then going back the same beast that fucked you and damn near everyone you knew over seemed stupid especially after the Story. Fuck Arasaka.

[@YABUKIJOE2077]

It’s fitting for corpo life path. The corporation is a corpos perceived higher power they give their lives to. Corpo rats are spineless in nature so they’ll do what it takes to save their sorry lives. It’s not far from reality how normies live their lives.

[@honestbenny]

V grow as person? Help people? You realize for the whole game you are basically an killer/thief for hire and you murder tons of people just for eddies?

[@summerrose1363]

​@@honestbennyI mean sure, but mostly criminals, and, its more about the people giving you the jobs, the families who need help

[@wzx6x6z6w]

@@honestbenny There's always the non-lethal option, and some quests even encourage you to complete them without acting like a cyberpsycho. V's growth completely depends on how we players want to do with them.

[@spacefinity3190]

I just completed the devil ending. I actually cried as I finished it. To have my Corpo V go through the maddening cycle over and over again was disheartening. I couldn't stop thinking about what Johnny had said about me "Choosing wrong." I felt it, but I knew the Corpo in V wouldn't think that. At least not right away. By the end of it, I decided that V would want to just go home. Rather be free that stuck in an Arasaka lab waiting for the day that a body could maybe be procured. This ending is dark, and emotional. I loved experiencing it at least once.

[@Nado0227]

Definitely cried for my V when I chose to live simply because I had made friends and romanced River and Judy and now I would be leaving them behind in the hopes that one day they would have a body. However it would be at the cost of leaving people I care about behind for an ultimately selfish reason.

[@luney1283]

It's incredible how intricate this ending is, how many details shift depending on your choices. The unfortunate thing is that those details are not visible to players unless they do what you did and painstakingly record all of the variations. It's frustrating that players see this as a game where your choices don't matter, because they really do, but the game doesn't hit you over the head with it -- it doesn't outright tell you "hey, this character is treating you differently because of X!". But I love how the characters and outcome subtly shift and adapt to how you decide to play your V.

[@cronus7500]

I almost feel like the copro path and the devil ending was the a true cyberpunk storyline. Like, it just felt right. It felt cohesive and it felt like it couldve been ripped straight from a novel or movie. It'd survive in hollywood just as easily as it would being played at home on a PC or console. Just my thoughts tho

[@Tonius126]

This is the canon ending and the best written out of all of them.

[@MoxieRocker]

I literally just said the same thing to my partner. This ending feels like canon because it was the best written and most emotionally impactful.

[@zrusit9640]

it would not survive in Hollywood because Hollywood mostly is developing crap :D

[@cronus7500]

@@zrusit9640 that's a fair take

[@cronus7500]

@@MoxieRocker periodt that's exactly how I felt too

[@Intdyr]

This version of never fade away always gets me in the feels

[@KittyThaliaX23]

God I never noticed Johnny double face palm when you bow to Hanako, that’s fantastic

[@unrankedchevron742]

I like that the guard you meet at the end of the sell of your soul ending is likely the same Hajime Taki that you and Jackie were supposed to be meeting in Konpecki as part of your cover. He was one of Yorinobou's main underlings, and now he's working for Saburo. So the advice he gives you is just as much for himself, since he's basically in the same boat. In addition, the name Hajime is probably taken from the Meiji Restoration samurai Hajime Saito. He was the last surviving member of the Shinsengumi, the last samurai unit to serve the shogun, but ended up joining the Imperial Police Force after the shogunate ended. So the advice Hajime Taki gives you could just as easily come from Hajime Saito.

[@edmungbean]

Wow. I had no idea the level of work and nuance that went into the endings. Incredible. I wish I'd got to see the corpo ending! Great, thorough video.

[@kamikazelookinheads3494]

This ending also suits a playthrough where your characters trying to become an immortal netrunner, and if you're employed by arasaka and they value you / your skills enough just like Adam smasher they just might put you back in a chip in a new body

[@Kilo_23]

It won't be you tho it'll be a copy of you, the chip dosnt take your consciousness it copys it, V is going to die full stop as his mind/software is being overwritten and deleted every single second by the chip, ontop of that yes maybe the corpo see's a complient V as an asset but the chips transfer process is only used or will be for the higher ups of arasaka since it literally is an interpretation of "Immortality" I doubt they would waste the resources on a merc.

[@kamikazelookinheads3494]

@@Kilo_23 although I'm not going to argue with your point I do see that, even if it is a copy of V it could say he's mortal in the sense of being a living legend kind of a deal along those lines although you may be right I can dream.

[@ayashinightcore8282]

@@Kilo_23 yeah but the thing about your comment is that it assumes there's such a thing as a consciousness to begin with. Everything you experience and will ever experience will never be something you recall in real time your entire life is a memory of sensations and sounds and that can be copied and uploaded. You would still live on cause if you are just a collection of memories created by your brain's data collection then that data was never fully destroyed

[@Kilo_23]

@@ayashinightcore8282 the game highlights in the arasaka ending that you can store your memory to hopefully in the future be used to bring "you" back, but they literally say it won't be you it's a copy of you, to which V kinda loses it a bit because they know they're going to die but a version of them will live on, a bit unfair in there eyes as they've went through all the trouble to live just to be told a copy of them will get to but they won't. From the point of the memory scan that is when the chip AI forms and creates the copy of you, everything after that is frozen until the chip is inserted or activated, if you died immediately after the chip scan you wouldn't remember dying or feeling it, because it's not you, your consciousness is real and is essentially (if your religious) your soul, its the little voice in your head that made you type your comment or decides to eat a certain meal or like a type of music, it's not your brain or your heart, there just flesh, they don't control who we are as people, yes there very important and store vital info or carry out work to make sure we live and operate but it's not us as a person. We live then we die. Sure a special chip to make us "immortal" but the catch is it's just a copy of us (kinda like a clone, minus the body). So yeh consciousness exists, no one person knows how or where its stored or comes from (speculated in the frontal cerebral cortex) but its essentially awareness of who and what we are, without it you don't operate, it's the pilot seat and if you change the pilot it can make different decisions, thus if you scanned your brain, decided you didn't want to have it scanned a day later and killed yourself, your scan wouldn't know that and could choose the opposite to live and do whatever it wanted for example, thus meaning its not you but a copy with free will and thus you'd be dead and a new "you/not you" would be alive and have another form of consciousness dictated from the memory's relative to when the scan happened.

[@Kilo_23]

@@ayashinightcore8282 anotyer point, who's to say the scan isn't just an AI imitating the subject, basing its choices and thoughts upon the memory's it's been given, would you class an AI imitating someone as alive and the same person carried over?

[@_yikesforever]

Terrific breakdown of this ending. I finished my corpo V/Devil ending not too long ago and it was honestly soul-crushing. Really wonderful to see what would've happened had I chosen different dialogue options or story events. The Jackie/Hanako scene was particularily interesting.Thanks so much for doing these!

[@zachgrabow9541]

Yeah, this ending really angered me, only because Johnny was right in the end, Saburo only cared for himself, and would do anything to continue living, and Johnny believed in living free, meaning dying also, which Saburo took from him (death on your own terms) by using soul killer. Then only once Yorinobu had been stopped, they take his right away too, and Saburo keeps subjugating the world, in his son's body, while you die. Even if you start a war by the other endings, I personally believe this was the most manipulative end. I really hate the fact that "the fool" your tarot card was so very accurate here. At least if you get to know Johnny better, he ends up telling you exactly what his motives are, and thus where you both stand, and also, as crazy as it sounds, the other three endings really boil down to the same thing; you are dying, it is your choice to fade away, live on with Johnny in your place, or end your life as a bonafide night city legend, fighting the corporate scumbags who turned the world into this desolate, lifeless husk of earth that you see, those whom stole your very right to die, fighting till the very end.

[@TwilightWolf285]

To be fair, The Fool in tarot refers to someone beginning a journey, and a life-changing journey at that. This perfectly describes V and, to a certain extent, Johnny. As the game goes on, you're supposed to find more of the major arcana cards, indicating progression through this journey. At the end, the top of Viktor's clinic, you find The World, indicating becoming one with everything, a true sense of finality, which is ultimately how V's story ends. They *will* die, regardless of what is done. The only thing that changes is the amount of time left to them.

[@abuyousef6224]

I keep saying Cyberpunk is what Mass Effect promised to be in how much the game reacts to roleplaying choices and your videos are the best at demonstrating this. I started noticing that the game felt very different with each playthrough starting from my second one but didn't know before watching videos of yours that it was because of dialogue tree variations rippling throughout the whole game changing my interpretation of scenes and relationships.

[@longhairhiggins]

Interesting point. In a lot of ways I think that the criticisms of cyberpunk only having illusions of choice are overblown, but cyberpunk has so many nuances in choice that all compound into great endings. Mass effect had all these changes that felt significant as you were playing that were made to feel meaningless in the end, by generic nondescript endings. Honestly I think the issue with mass effect's ending is that the themes of the three games were at best ignored and at worst contradicted by the endings. In a lot of ways I hope cyberpunk lets you carry over save files in the sequel so that you are from the universe of your particular V, I have always wished games would continue that trend started by mass effect with more options that shift the game as you play, like for example more relationships with maelstrom based on what you do with Royce and brick. I love that cyberpunk does this in a nuanced way but I think there's plenty of room to ramp it up in the sequel. If the sequel gets a better development cycle with the same staff and vision something really special can happen.

[@spaceriot23]

New Vegas : "Hello"

[@ausaskar]

Bioware showed they could do a RPG with radically different endings with Dragon Age: Origins. Mass Effect's fatal flaw, was that it was spread out over three games and the resources required to create a true butterfly effect branching narrative were simply too great.

[@SayMy_User_Name]

Love that ur still finding new stuff in the game .. I just started a 4th playthrough, i dont know I can’t get enough of cyberpunk right now, no other recent games have really interested me so I’ve just been sticking with cyberpunk, and the amount of freedom u have and variations in how the game can play out makes it feel warranted for me to do so many play throughs

[@DoBTF2]

Wow, this deserves way more views. I had no idea there were this many variations in the ending. Also possibly another detail: At 32:34 you get a relic malfunction the moment V mentions Saburo as being the one who strikes fear into people. Maybe this can be interpreted as Johnny being afraid of Saburo since the soulkiller incident.

[@va5780]

Johnny afraid? I rather interpret it as Johnny's wrath, especially when you have an option to tell Saburo's engram to go fuck himself

[@YABUKIJOE2077]

Its anger. Cause Johnny wants to settle his score from losing it all

[@ShortThe1st]

Wow, sat through the whole video and learnt a lot, safe to say I need to do a corpo playthrough ASAP.

[@rasmustagu]

Honestly, while canonically the "worst" ending, going with the arasaka route you'll get the most fleshed out ending imo. Feels by far the most fulfilling, best thought out and not that cheap compared to all the others. It's more of a sad ending, makes sense in the Cyberpunk universe.

[@S3Cs4uN8]

I dunno, I'd pin the 'Easy way out' ending as being the worst, but The Devil definitely comes very close.

[@secondaryfront]

It's because you underestimate how fucked up conclusion is Rogue's Sun Ending, you feel it unambigously the worst. In Rogue's path she dies, but not before bombarding the Arasaka facilities as distraction to the attack. Than Alt kills everybody on the board of Arasaka's space station. THAN she fries the brains of most of Arasaka's employees inside the building. And the new corpo war becomes the inevitable in the near future, as MILITECH will surely do oppostunistic assault at desorganized Arasaka, so paving the way to NUSA attacking the Night City again. And also you start your work for Mr. Blue Eyes, someone who might be potencialy way worse than Saburo ever could [still too early to know this for sure, thou].

[@Resi1ience]

@@secondaryfront Blue Eyes is the one who worked on brainwashing the Peralezes. So, yes, his ending is perhaps one of the most terrible of them all. But while you're right that this ending will likely cause another corporate war _and_ another unification war, it also means that Arasaka, a brutal and totalitarian corporation, may be destroyed - if not by Militech, then by Alt. Setting the world free of Arasaka's bonds, possibly Militech's, might be worth the deaths that ensue. Not to mention the possibility of Night City being attacked, which, again, while brutal and yielding a potentially high death toll, could result in the destruction of NightCorp as well - and the revelation of their mind control technology. What's worse - a world where the corporations win, NightCorp takes mental control of whoever they want unopposed, Arasaka's soul prison remains intact - or a where a terrible war happens, but will likely stop all of the above?

[@ketamineanonymous8396]

the nomad ending feels like "worst ending". It's so hollywood and generic. Devil ending feels more impactful and cyberpunk.

[@secondaryfront]

@@ketamineanonymous8396 "Worst" in the meaning "the bleakest"...and in my opinion this one is also not as simple as it seems.

[@energidaan]

I wonder how the clan reacts when you go to that side mission where the alcecaldos are dealing with those dudes in the city after Saul died

[@Eskolol]

If you were familiar with Cyberpunk lore before 2077 you knew that Yori was probably the good guy all along :P It is a shame that you don't see any of his stuff playing out unless you pick the Arasaka ending.

[@Sorain1]

Funny thing is, there's basically zero reason for V to know that. In a funny way, it works for V to make that mistake out of ignorance, and the well informed audience can appreciate the classical Irony involved.

[@whadafish9440]

The new Phantom Liberty ending shows us, that if we do nothing and let Yorinobu cook, he will be successful.

[@th3comb1ne13]

I find it hard to believe that this ending is as bleak as people think it is. V was already at the mercy of Arasaka the second they started operating on him to remove the relic. If they really wanted to “imprison” him they would have gone and done it as apposed to giving V the opportunity to return to earth.

[@Mr_Catastr0phe]

So, I'll be honest, going through it, as fucked as Arasaka is, I noticed that the tests they put you through show genuine progress in helping V, I noticed it in V's vision returning to normal. So I stuck it out with the tests, seeing that V was actually doing better. Hearing Takemura offer Save Your Soul to V was definitely something I took up though, cause while with Hellman, it was a corpo throwing you a bone, with Takemura, the guy wants to see you alive, he doesn't want to lose his friend. I chose to enter Mikoshi, to make sure Takemura didn't have to go through the same pain V did when losing Jackie. Takemura was the character I bonded with most in my playthrough, and he ended up as the guy who was my real choom all things considered. Guy gave me genuine hope of my V having a future beyond the final battle with Arasaka, surviving the blaze of glory. And hey, he owes me some real food.

[@sillylittlesheepjax6009]

imagine trusting corpo rat like Takemura over your other friends through the game, Takemura is loyal only to Saburo and Arasaka. Turning corpo rat is the worse ending after what happened to Jackie and others

[@HontasFarmer80]

Look for a video of the calls at the end. IF you don't choose to go into Mikoshi and made allies of everyone you could ... you get all these great calls from all your friends. Hanako even makes a job offer, Rouge offers you work, the Aldecaldos offer you work. Everyone is alive and wants to help you. All people have to do is choose not to be a jerk while being a corporate agent... being about the benjamins...and this ending can be a "good" ending.

[@honestbenny]

@@sillylittlesheepjax6009 Excuse me? What do you mean what happened to Jackie? You tell like it was Arasaka that killed him? You realize it was V and jackie that decided to STEAL FROM ARASAKA? Before Heist THEY HAD ZERO personal beef with Arasaka. Even corpo V was left alone months after being fired from corpo. They went there to steal from them and got killed in the process. Why you blame Arasaka for shooting thiefs? Wouldn't any company security shoot people who stole priceless technology? Where exactly do you see Arasaka fault here? Or do you blame Arasaka for V dying too? Becasue let me remind you after Saburo dies, isntead of just running away (becasue heist is fucking botched at this point) both Jackie and V like IDIOTS put DAMAGED(!) PROTOTYPE TECHNOLOGY inside their brains in a world where you can be fried by viruses and malwares. You blame Arasaka for that too? That V puts that thing into his/her brain? Would you put a damage GPU into your PC? Of course not. Inside your brain? That's right, even more no. I don't understand how people can blame Jackie death on Arasaka. Jackie death is only fault of V and Jackie. They wanted to go "big leagues" and shoot above their weight. In the end both Jackie and V die as every other Merc - they picked a wrong fight and died. Literally they only reason Arasaka is after V is becasue V and crew decided to make Heist. I don't really see people feeling sorry for crew in Heat movie, since it's them that decided to go and try to rob bank "one last time". They fucked around and found out.

[@sashasally]

This was a fantastic deep dive. I usually balk at watching hour long videos, but I was glued to my seat. I beat Cyberpunk for the first time last year and I still find myself constantly thinking about the story - it was enrapturing. And I so greatly appreciate seeing other's takes on it. It was really great to see all the little details and variations between different choices. Thank you so much for sharing, and I can't wait to watch more from you. One other little note - I'm not sure if it was intentional, but having different hand/arm cyberware for your Vs made it really easy to follow along with which version/playthrough was the focus in each clip. It was a nice touch, even if it was accidental haha.

[@Airuutv]

thanks for the vid, chum. as an average cyberpunk enjoyer, I appreciate this video, as well as others cyberpunk videos you did. in a long haul for the updates

[@Riverboat374]

That was beautiful. I did the devil ending once. Really depressing.

[@dulio12385]

The Devil ending is actually the ending that is most closely tied to the lore of the TRPG. All the other endings pretty much just have you as some random murder hobo showing up off the street and causing havoc. The Devil ending puts you right into the middle of the intergenerational conflict between Saburo and Yorinobu and reveals a ton of information that most players who didn't play the TRPG would never be privy to and manages to invert Yorinobu into being the actual hero of the story. It might be the saddest ending of the bunch but in terms of writing is actually the best since it actually uses the setting to make something more than a generic dungeon run.

[@francklawson1339]

so In the end yorinobu was the real Hero, hanako is a doll used by her father, johnny is a revolutionist who can't understand that the way you make change isn't by blowing up a building but by blowing up the whole system. And by storming arasaka you do the same thing, if you side with arasaka you just might as well have never existed.

[@secondaryfront]

The only effect of Yorinobu's revolution will be another corpo war, and maybe something worse, because there are hints of greater enemy lurking behind the BlackWall.

[@MrAntraxico]

Ahhh, this video was great. It reminded me of the first ending I got that I absolutely LOVED. I roleplayed a corpo who gets a taste of freedom and goes all for what Silverhand is offering but at the very end is tempted by the return to a corpo lifestyle. Like she inevitably falls back to her true nature. Only in the epilogue she realizes what she had lost but learns from it and decides to go back to earth to live the rest of her life -maybe fix some of it-. Her singing "Never fade away" was absolutely perfect. You can say many things about Cyberpunk but the writing and storycrafting was absolutely amazing! Thank you for showing all the incredible alternatives to this path.

[@CalvinJKu]

This is one of the best Cyberpunk 2077 videos I have seen. Played thru the games three times with V starting out with different backgrounds and have tried out all the endings I totally agree with this video that this ending is the best crafted one. What’s ironic is that this is also the most depressing and worst ending that V can probably get, excluding the suicide ending of course. I like the Panama’s ending with Judy tagging along the most. But I was hoping there would be an ending where Johnny could still stay in V’s head while the two brains would just stop the blending process and coexist.

[@petergallai469]

What I could never understand why is it default for V to go back to Night City instead of leaving it after refusing the Arasaka offer if you helped the Nomads as well. They would happily accept you in, which is further evidenced in the calls during the credits. Also I romanced Judy and was pretty shocked that she left the city without me O.O

[@Yusuke_Denton]

Yeah I felt the ending reactions were lame in this ending. Most of them were exactly the same as Path of Glory, no matter which choice you made.

[@stevendeamon]

Um... she shouldnt have left. You can leave with the nomads and take Judy with you. That's literally one of the endings.

[@petergallai469]

@@stevendeamon I know, but that is only available in the Nomad ending. I am talking about the Arasaka ending when you refuse their offer.

[@Nomilh]

@@petergallai469 I think it's done on purpose. Only the people very close to you that have known you for a while or someone that knows the value of family ( Panam ) answer to you and take the time to talk to you in the Devil ending. Kerry cares more about his show than the person putting his life in order being stuck in a room in space, River prefers eating with his family than taking 5 minutes to talk to you when you need him even though you're the reason his nephew is alive and well and Judy leaves without saying shit and doesn't bother answering her phone. Only Viktor and Panam take the time to talk to you even though Viktor doesn't like doing this kind of things at all. Panam is the only character with Vik that doesn't leave you to dry when you're in need, it's probably made to show that a lot of people in NightCity move on quickly and give up on their friends and keep going. ( Something that Johnny and Rogue also have done )

[@petergallai469]

@@Nomilh Fair points made and I wish it would work like that. To my understanding and what I know two romance options will leave the city (Panam and Judy) and two will remain (River and Kerry) no matter what and that is I found somewhat lame with the Arasaka ending after the offer refusal as this ending forces you into remaining in the city. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@keto4366]

Its funny how Saburo kind of respects you more when you disrespect him

[@sgg3586]

The thing about the Devil Ending, is that it's the one that gives you the most answers and (arguably) brings the best outcome for the majority of people by limiting any of your friends dying and preventing another Corpo War (which at this point have basically replaced wars between countries). It also makes you realize that in the grand scheme of things...V was/is a nobody. Arasaka/Yorinobu/AdamSmasher/etc. didn't even know who you were, and they didn't even care to hunt you down beyond the initial attempt just after you woke-up in the junkyard. In the end Arasaka Corp. was not even remotely your personal enemy, it was only Johnny who throughout the entire game seemed so driven by personal vendetta that he constantly tried to reinforce the idea of going out in a blaze of glory to take them all down. If anything can be taken away from the Devil Ending, it's that good and evil are relative. As much as we kept being told throughout the entire game by Johnny that Arasaka is pure evil, Hanako still keeps her word, Goro becomes one of your closest and most honorable allies, and you're even given the choice to become a Engram when they realize they can't save your life through conventional means. (With even line.1 of the agreement stating that you can legally terminate your engram at any point while still alive, in the event you change your mind before you die). I know people say this is the bad/evil ending. But I played a V who took non-lethal/stealth options through much of the game, and helped all his friends by completing all their questlines. In the end I just felt that despite how close I got to Johnny and how much he seemed to change, he still was single-minded in his hatred for Arasaka above literally all-else. Every other ending of wanting to lay siege to Arasaka tower just felt pointless and kind of selfish in the desire to have someone else to blame for events that V technically inflicted on himself. But choosing to side with Hanako felt more like I was trusting in a friend (Takemura), and ended up preventing a war. Plus I felt like the Devil ending is the one where it's 100% on your own terms. Johnny didn't get to influence my decision, none of V's friends had to risk their lives to fight a battle that wasn't their's, and V gets to learn WHY this all happened (closure to unanswered questions).

[@excitedme530]

this, cant agree more, in all the other endings we get 0 further info on soulkiller/mikoshi/saka family, and basically face the same fate, I'd rather die knowing how deep the rabbit hole goes. and yes, corps are f'ed up, but it's not like V and the rest of the gang are model citizens, dog eat dog world, and i'd rather be the smartest of the bunch.

[@Viraled]

I felt like Goro came to you to offer you an opportunity of a lifetime, like he tried his hardest to convince the people above him to give you this chance that only peasants dream of and if you turn him why wouldn't he feel gutted. Like if your best friend said "hey I brought you a big Mac meal", but you tell him you tell him that you hate McDonald's then you are literally shitting on his parade. With Arasaka's limited knowledge outside of their own empire, I feel like they were offering you their best solution, their solution to death and their concept of immortality.

[@theveteransergeant]

The whole story repeatedly hammers in the fact that the corporations hold people in wage slavery, the wealthy disregard the lives and wellbeing of the masses, and their disregard for people and the environment is what fashioned the landscape into a wasteland with literal mountains of trash. All you do in this ending is side with the status quo. It's like if you side with Maiko at Clouds. Technically it's the "best" ending because nobody later gets hurt or killed, but it reinforces that all you did was change management at Clouds, and everyone working there stayed miserable and abused. This ending is only good for V. The idea that this "isn't anyone else's fight" really just misses what everyone else's fight was. They're not fighting because you're their friend. They're fighting because your fight against the corps is also theirs. You didn't save them by choosing this ending. You technically sold them out. The corporations want the people to believe that they are nobody and that their actions are insignificant. It's how they rose to power, and how they maintain it.

[@CardinalSinner]

Damn man you made my head cannon don't fear the reaper ending feel like the worst ending

[@greenbrickbox3392]

Saburo becoming immortal is the worst ending as he can continue to follow through on his lifelong plan of global domination (now something which we can do for multiple lifetimes) but also dominates the human soul via a manmade hell which Arasaka keeps souls in to get whatever information necessary or to control the other elite and powerful. Arasaka is the most powerful corporation and demonstrates its malevolence throughout the game either directly or using its proxies to murder and torture anyone who opposed or inconveniences them and while before you'd eventually die in Night City and that would be the end, Arasaka can copy your consciousness and imprison it forever or overwrite you with their own people. True the corpo war is temporarily avoided, but that is because Saburo sees that at the current trajectory Arasaka will win unopposed.

[@fatty1040]

Honestly it made me sad when you had to call your friends and slowly watch them move on without you. Especially Panam and such, they are really worried at first but then later act like you're wasting their time. It Honestly lead me to questioning every friendly characters motives and makes you feel like you're with the devil. Plus being haunted by a disappointed Johnny and being color blind.

[@iamsohandsomeindeed]

In other videos they'd say Goro is the Devil that lured you into this trap and have no intention to help V. But after seeing this again, Goro really does want to help and this is the only way he knows. As he once said, you can't teach old dog new tricks, Arasaka has been his life, even now he has fallen from grace, and really hates the Arasakas, this is all he knows and all he can do. I said he hates them now because he no longer speaks their name with respect.

[@therealquade]

So, from what I can tell from having now seen all the endings, I Believe that the Devil ending, specifically if you do not enter mikoshi, Is the only ending where you survive past the assault on arasaka. The evidence for this is most obvious during the nomad ending, but is also in part stated by Alt, and alluded to with dialogue spoken by Johnny, and Jackie. Allow me to explain. Alt says herself, when talking to johnny, that she is not Alt cunningham, and is merely an AI that wears her memories and likeness like a mask. This can be interpreted to mean that soulkiller, and in fact all engrams, are copies of the same AI, but with different responses and mannerisms coded in, sort of like a script with pre-programmed responses, but in this case, pre-programmed weights on decision making as well, which would make alt, johnny, saburo, and jackie, at best as individual as Delamain, and at worst brendan the talking vending machine, which is why I think their sideplots are almost unavoidable, despite not being relevant to the plot. Imagine this, soulkiller downloads memories, speech patterns, and opinions, then takes a blank AI with no opinions of it's own, and transplants the opinions and memories and speech patterns into the AI. This means that given time, the AI could recognize it's independence from those memories and mannerisms, and make the choice to reject them. This is exactly what the AI alt has done. This concept can be further proven, with the comparison to Jackie, and Johnny. When jackie is converted, everything he says is just repeated dialogue from earlier in game, but then look at johnny? How much of his dialogue is recycled? "do whatever it takes (to stop em, defeat em, gut em), if I gotta kill, i'll kill, if I need your body i'll take it.". He says part of it in the apartment when you first see him, he says all of it when you get hellman at the motel, and when you're at the church for the voodoo boys. Recycled dialogue. He is stuck on a loop, because it's the only part of his personality that the AI has access to. Johnny, is not the real johnny. So what is it that "alt" says she did with all the souls in mikoshi? oh yeah, she absorbed them all into herself. she just ripped all the data from them and stripped out the AI, like reading so much code, in order to incorporate them into herself, which in theory, would grant her a better understanding of people, being an AI, but more than likely will just average out her personality to the averaging of them all. And what happens if you leave? she eats johnny too. and if you let johnny have your body, she eats you. but why would you trust her? Why would you trust Alt, especially when she says herself that she is not alt cunningham anymore, that johnny has no reason to trust her, and that she will incorporate them into herself, rather than letting them be free? Why should you ever believe that EITHER of you survives? Throughout the game, you are reminded that birds around the city are extinct. have been deliberately wiped out to prevent the spread of bird flu. It's mentioned directly in the voodooboys questline, and is unavoidable. And yet, when you're in the nomad ending, you wake up and there is a bird, which flys away. Now, this may be a glitch with the PS4 version of the game that I played, in 1.31, but the bird FREEZES IN MID AIR, Mid flight, and is in view a few feet past the dam, Not only can you zoom in on it, but when you look out over the city, it's empty. There are no cars in the distance, Not even the ones that are part of the game's skybox, the distant highway traffic is gone, which means CDPR Deliberately removed it for this scene, and there is no reason to have done that, unless it is plot relevant. Alt told you herself, that you have 6 months or so to live, so she gave you an imaginary 6 months in your overclocked VR brain while you sit in a tank of sub-zero coolant, and then just rips your mind apart and you die. Letting johnny live is no better, It's just a wish-fullfillment fantasy for him, and then he rides off into the distant unknown, and probably falls asleep and dies on that bus, because the body will still die. Every ending that involves the Alt AI, is just wish fulfilment, it's the matrix. it is euthenasia. Now, If you pay attention to the background details, there's gene therapy with nanomachines available for a few million eurodollars a month (to treat MS aka multiple sclerosis, as well as cancer, and genetic disorders), and if you pay more attention, it's far from the most expensive thing in that setting, and if you pay more attention still, The tech behind this, is in the berserk cyberware. It uses nanomachines to repair damage to your body, and presumably, brain. This exact technology that is publicly advertised to exist, would 100% treat V's medical condition of ruined DNA caused by the relic, and the only way to guarantee his/her survival to get it, Is to do the devil ending, because alt is the true villain of the game, she's basically shodan, and she's personally responsible for what happened in busan (you can find the lore ingame). And most importantly, the devil ending is critical in V being able to afford the nanomachine therapy. If you complete the devil ending and listen to the phonecalls at the end of the game, you get a call from hanako, informing you that she and her father are in need of a new bodyguard. It means in the devil ending, V Becomes the replacement to both Takemura, and Adam Smasher, but only if he/she is alive. and i'll do anything to prove it to the world, If i've gotta meme, I'll meme, If I need your channel to make a video about it, i'll take it. As a side thing, It's also possible that yorinobu might also have johnny's engram in his own head. Everything he does is pretty hellbent on trashing arasaka, and he does a better job of it than johnny ever could. hell, it might have happened ages ago, and might be why he left arasaka and had a gang. might be why he came back. Or maybe he just slotted it into his head to smuggle it out in the first place before getting it into a fancy case. just some extra food for thought.

[@MoxieRocker]

Wow. I’m gonna need a night to process this. Freaking amazing observations. I don’t think I agree with 100% of it but it definitely gives me an entirely new perspective.

[@SnakeTheHat]

I'd really want to see One Dragon's thoughts on this

[@therealquade]

@@SnakeTheHat Thanks. I really wanna see MaxDerrat's thoughts on it though

[@lethalrichard]

That’s my exact thought. Once hit with soul killer you die. They copy your memory’s and personality and put it in a chip which goes into a body. So practically a 3D video of your life. So it’s based off you but it isn’t you. But alt said that if Johnny keeps the body the body will still work. Also you get the berserk implant in both the rogue and Panam ending.

[@therealquade]

@@lethalrichard almost like giving you berserk mk 5 was a clue. but honestly, Corpo V --> devil ending as redemption --> Reject mikoshi --> become the new adam smasher but with nanomachines, that's my headcanon true ending

[@thymeconsuming620]

Really cool to see more lore on my favorite ending

[@rubensesma]

This is the ending that makes you wanna redo as a blaze of glory ending.

[@briang7030]

Johnny and Yorinubo had the same goal in the end. If we waited a day, Johnny's goals would have been realised. Just another sad twist.

[@heychrisfox]

I absolutely love The Devil ending. It was my ending in my first playthrough, because I wanted to live at all costs, and it was framed as the better option compared to a suicide mission with Rogue or a suicide mission with Panam. Now, after finishing the game a second time and getting all the endings, I love The Devil even more. All of the other endings feel so hollow. With Panam, you escape NC with all your friends, but have a few months to live. With Rogue, you either surrender your body to Johnny or get trapped in another suicide mission against the Crystal Plaza (still serving the corps), and lose all your friends to boot. Only in The Devil do you have the opportunity to live. You either live for your short time, but with no Johnny and no regrets, or you have the opportunity to be revived later. It's also shown through all the dialogue that Arasaka does seem to be genuine in wanting to take care of V. Hanako makes multiple promises that V will be taken care of; even Saboru promises to take care of her for aiding him. Hanako definitely seems deceptive in ways, but you did a huge favor to her by exposing Yorinobu's betrayal; I don't feel like she takes that deed lightly. I also really don't feel like Saboru would just say something like making sure you're taken care of in a passing manner while actually lying. Saboru always seems to be against foul play and misdirection; it's the core of his ideology, and the whole reason he's willing to go to such great lengths to stop Yorinobu. Also basically everyone on the space station seems to have your best interest at heart. The nurse is a jerk but spends basically a month with you, fixing you. And if you don't throw a tantrum, it actually works. Regardless of whether you end up with Hellman or Takemura, both seem to care about your well-being. Hellman talks frankly, and although he's a pawn for Arasaka, he seems to believe the revival is the best option; not to mention that he's also the leading expert on this whole program, so beyond just following orders, he doesn't have a lot of reasons to lie to you. Takemura can also be seen as a pawn due to his loyalty, but he definitely doesn't have reason to lie to you. He already betrayed the company and backstabbed them so many times, and he has full trust in you, so you know you're not hearing a lie from him; he also is off Saburo's assignment, and while I think he's okay with the resolution, he has even extra reason not to lie to you. Takemura seems to genuinely want you to not die, and is personally upset when you reject the offer. Even the guard seems to think the revival is a good idea; he would make the same choice in your circumstances, even going so far as to say never put full trust in anything; he's a literal third party and even he sees the logic. Of course, you should never trust corps. So it's all possibly an elaborate ruse to lock you into Mikoshi forever. But there are so many steps along the process that insist that this won't happen, all by people who tend to be trustworthy by nature or otherwise whom owe you great debts for the risks you took. And the raw ambiguity of the ending is this bittersweet melancholy that is unrivaled as an ending.

[@greenbrickbox3392]

Saboru used deception all the time and it was never against his ideology (nor was it against samurai ideology) as his use of black ops, blackmail and espionage (not just against adversaries but also Arasaka's own clients) were how Arasaka gained power as a post-WW2 corporation transitioning to a superpower megacorp. Arasaka has demonstrated numerous times that outside of the Arasaka family/inner circle they will without hesitation discard or eliminate those who are inconveniencing Arasaka in its goals to lead Japanese global domination and you are no longer even part of Arasaka so you have no real pull with them as an outsider. The devil ending shows neither Saboru or Hanako care about you, nor can Hellman or Takemura do anything for you besides offer you a deal with the devil where you are selling your soul to be Arasaka property for a chance at life (with no guarantee to even get a body to live as an Arasaka slave rather than just "living" as an engram in Arasaka controlled virtual purgatory).

[@SVS304]

That's deep and comprehensive. I didn't find any joy/strength in playing through this rather grim ending. This breakdown is much appreciated

[@YABUKIJOE2077]

Yep..

[@Yusuke_Denton]

I just completed this ending myself. (saved it for last because it's kinda shitty) Very well done. This is exactly the kind of video I'd want to put out if I had the time, to show doubters what kind of game this is. Glad people like you are around to do it for me. ;) Oh and a funny thing with that complaint on Yorinobu's computer. It's supposed to be anonymous - you can read the same message on the laptop of whoever wrote it downstairs - but on Yorinobu's computer it has the sender's computer ID at the bottom. A sadly realistic detail.

[@kangwamaster4638]

Feel like I completly misunderstood Yorinobu. Coundn't tell what he was rambaling about and just assumed he was being a spoiled child. Now I see that he was actually trying to finish what Johnny started by purging Arasaka from the inside even if he could lose everything. Johnny said that even though he blew up Arasaka Tower, he didn't see any effect. One of the responses V had was "there had to be a change somewhere" Now we see that change in the most unlikely place...and we snuffed it out. Combined with roleplaying a streetkid doing anything to survive and ending up as an engram. Just makes the whole story/expirence/memory that much better *Goddamn are there so many interesting layers to Cyberpunk. It just keeps bringing me back*

[@artaxfersarh6889]

Damn... didn't know this game was that deep

[@stellarmagic3316]

It's fucking Stupid after everything v did, Only to End being an Large SD Camera Card

[@Flambingo]

This game is so densely-packed with small, almost unnoticeable reactions to the choices you've made, as well as choices I didn't even know existed. I've really enjoyed the game, but always thought that it was shallow on narrative choice & consequence beyond your starting and ending paths. I was so wrong.

[@lelouche25]

Goro is a bro, and the only reason to side with Arasaka. That said I wish Hanako had been a corpo romance option.

[@kendal5114]

Amazing videos man, keep em up. I respect the hell out of the amount of work you must've had to put into this

[@hanamizuno0625]

Takemura calling you v-san shows that he respects v alot since he only uses that honorific with those of a higher status than him

[@uncledoctor6920]

What's kinda cool about the Devil ending is that it answers a bunch of questions that Yorinobu's actions gave you at the beginning of the game. Yorinobu was either slated to be Saburo's new meat suit from the get-go, or Saburo decided that that would be his fate for abandoning the family after he left and created the steel dragons gang. Yorinobu found out about it at some point, which was either the cause or effect of leaving. So when running away didn't work, he stole the biochip to slow down or halt progress on the tech's progress, buying time to look for another solution. When all that didn't work, he went with the last option available. Kill the man that wanted to take his body from him. Yorinobu may have already made up his mind about it before that night in Konpeki Plaza, Saburo just handed him his golden opportunity on a silver platter. To top that all off, Yorinobu would be what would cause the fracturing of Arasaka as a megacorp into smaller ones, if not all out dissolution. He's not Saburo, he cannot hold a company that bug together like Saburo could. In a weird way, he ends up being not only an imperfect "good guy", but also a sympathetic character. If only all of that was more apparent in the game, it's a great bit of writing.

[@darthzanon]

I got the feeling V became the next Smasher when he sells his soul, the company using his data to try and make the breakthrough to upload into a body unrelated to the mind they are downloading, much like how Jonny can get full control in the other endings. A believe a DLC like the Sith Lord ending of Force Unleashed 1 would have been interesting; becoming Arasaka’s new enforcer, their personal on hand demon/devil

[@jon_weetz]

Not giving Johnny a second chance is like the most heartbreaking moment 💔

[@northofself]

Yo, thank you so much for this. Great eye for detail

[@trevalyan006]

The reason Saburo ends the pending war with Militech is because he's already won. Mikoshi won't break: the USA will never take back Night City and unite again. Arasaka is all-powerful, and will finish destroying America out of spite, even before their corporate control consumes the whole world.

[@commwave5820]

This is your best video yet can't wait for the panam ending variations video

[@mrdebuged7163]

I thank you so much ❤️ I love the story and all the world building in Cyberpunk and seeing this video gave me some goosebumps. Thank you so much, arigato gozaimasu

[@greybill]

thanks for making these videos. appreciate the effort - as I could not put in the time to experience all these possible pathways.

[@Jetiix]

27:30 This is extremely worse for him than dying. He hates all meat (humans) and only ever takes the gigs that will have multiple casualties because he enjoys killing, and Hates Morgan Blackhand because he doesnt kill anyone using non lethal ammo and stuff

[@jeffplissken8996]

The Devil ending makes me believe that Hanako doesn’t die in any ending. My theory is that Yorinobu imprisoned Hanako just like in The Devil storyline, so in the Sun or the Star and uses the Arasaka attack as the perfect cover to stage Hanako’s death and take over. Unless of course, Yorinobu takes the next step and kills her himself.

[@trevalyan006]

Plausible, but Alt Cunningham wants the Arasakas dead even more so than Yorinobu does. If she took over Arasaka security Hanako was instantly dead, even if Yorinobu was planning to kill her.

[@johnroberts838]

Hi OD, Thank you for the excellent CP77 videos in 2021, looking forward to more this year, it's going to be interesting with CP. Have a Great 2022.

[@OneDragon]

Glad you enjoyed them. Have a great 2022 mate!

[@afxmnstr]

Wow - the jackie shit is chilling. Nice work.

[@raindancekidd4413]

1588 hrs in this game with a decent break along the way. Surpassed even how much I played the original version of skyrim and the SE since 2011 in under a year and that's how I began my PC gaming life, by playing and modding skyrim. The corpo devil path was my first and favorite playthrough, great video! Edit: i just checked my steam library and the only game with a higher count is Fallout 4 at 1647 and i haven't played that since 2018.

[@Skizzy461]

158 hours you mean? 1588 seems crazy high. I don't even clock numbers like that in my highest games.

[@ihackedmyself]

50:41 man, this was a depressing line. The fact that hanako has forgotten you after you were instrumental in bringing her and saburo back to power speaks volumes about how disposable V truly was to her

[@martyfisher3161]

But takemura admits a little later that hanako is the one who sent him to v.

[@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl]

@@martyfisher3161 why did he lie?

[@Mattress1996]

@@MohamedRamadan-qi4hl Because Takemura isn't as wholesome as people believe he is. He's always been Arasaka first, higher lifestyle second, anything else far below those. He's desperately trying to convince V to sell his soul to Arasaka. The contract IS shit. And to say "you sign away you rights but the law will be fixed lol engrams dont have rights" Should be red flag red flag red flag.

[@sarky816]

@@Mattress1996 This is Arasaka's manipulation. Arasaka hides everything from Takemura like from everyone else (saburo engram case etc). Takemura, under pressure from Arasaka himself, believes that the engram is a good solution, so he insists that V accept the offer. Damn.. later, he honestly offers you to go out for good food.. He really believes that Arasaka will help V. He's consumed by Arasaka, but he's a good guy.

[@bengunn9670]

But if you refuse that deal, she calls you to offer proper work. It's just her scheme to acquire your skills and knowledge for free. If you refuse, you force her to give a better offer.

[@Dawnlords]

the "san" is used on a person you consider your equal, a person that you respect... if Takemura used "kun" then he would consider V a close friend.

[@tigrispanthera5496]

😫😩☹️ i could barley sit still when he said “V-san”… think i would’ve died if he said “V-kun”

[@sh00kspeared73]

42:51 I always thought this part could also be referencing the poem "to a mouse" by Robert Burns. It observes the destruction of a mouse's home in a field and using it to contemplate how easily humans can destroy nature. A few of the stanzas (translated to plain English) say, You saw the fields laid bare and wasted, And weary winter coming fast, And cozy here, beneath the blast, You thought to dwell, Till crash! the cruel plough passed Out through your cell. That small bit heap of leaves and stubble, Has cost you many a weary nibble! Now you are turned out, for all your trouble, Without house or holding,... But little Mouse, you are not alone, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes of mice and men Go often awry... This fits perfectly into Cyberpunk, as this particular ending is about humans (Arasaka) destroying nature (a human's natural cycle of life and death). Moreover, this poem is where the title of the book Of Mice and Men comes from. Of Mice and Men is also about two best friends and ends with one having to kill the other, which parallels V and Johnny's situation.

[@cynicalmemester1694]

Why the Devil Ending is the best ending: 1. A global scale 5th corporate war that would've lead to untold deaths and destruction was averted thanks to Saburo. 2. Alt Cunningham is still behind the black wall and you don't give her more power. She is a cold apathetic demi God like AI that will kill and destroy at any costs. 3. It's the best in terms of writing and tone. Fits the genre so well and even V's journey.

[@EternalNightingale]

Still prefer the Sun Ending or Johnny taking over I wonder what CDPR is going to make the canon ending

[@ennie7287]

I agree that it fits the tone and it is a poetic dark ending. But I don’t believe that anyone in their mind would go through rejecting everyone especially the guy who saved your life and going through with this.

[@cynicalmemester1694]

@@EternalNightingale They aren't going to make a canon ending. Pawel Sasko himself stated that he doesn't like the idea of writing expansions around a single ending.

[@EternalNightingale]

@@cynicalmemester1694 hopefully cause I want more content past all the endings to see what happens to V and Johnny unless their done and concluded their story, but if any dlc comes what it’s going to be set before the events of the main story?

[@Yusuke_Denton]

4. Thanks to V the world becomes a shit-tier Altered Carbon remake. Yay!

[@jellyray1686]

thank you very much for this detailed and well made video, i appreciate the effort you put into this vid and hope to see more in the future.

[@KHaskins23]

22:04 Hanako was clearly choosing Jackie's comments. Wow, that's evil. This ending is messed up.

[@SoldMySoul45]

I noticed that right away too as things he said to you. All she did was splice up different sentences. He wasn’t even answering any of V’s questions. Bastards.

[@AaronShenghao]

The Devil ending is so much deeper than the other endings. Giving you a lot of closure on what happened. But yes, Nomad ending seems the best. Not really for you, but Yorinoibu and would be still alive instead of dead, perhaps holding on to the control.

[@YABUKIJOE2077]

That shit ain’t closure. Just shows the corpos are not to be trusted in no way shape or form

[@PandoraWolveCrow]

No you still die in next 6 months after that..... If you choose this path. The only way to not die is the devil path

[@lelouche25]

The devil Ending is really good and fits the absolute fucking scary reality that is living in a cyberpunk dystopia.

[@bibby659]

Like how johnny puts on glasses and then a duplicate spawns in and vanishes. Thing about Takamora is, he has several slip of the tongues when he talks to V in the clinic, first when you ask about Hanako, he says she had already forgotten you, but shortly there after, states that it was her doing that V is being allowed into the soul killer program and allowed to essentially become a god himself....seems strange...and Hellmen never mentions that either. only Takamura mentions that she apparently no longer cares...leading me to believe as well that V may be his replacement when he is able to have a new body. But Takamura is jealous so he says that Hanako and Saburo don't care when its clear in the one conversation, that they both very much do, for better or for worse.

[@Sorain1]

I think it's a case of Taka being desperate to get V to take the deal, and trying to play to what he thinks V's expectations are. But when called on it, he realizes he is remarkably bad at lying and deception in general, so he just does what he should have done from the get go- Tell the truth... as he knows it.

[@LBPreviews]

Found this via /r/lowsodiumcyberpunk. Finished the game twice already. Had no idea there were so many variables. Thanks for making this. Utterly fascinating.

[@QaDri93]

Yorinobu was a good guy all along? Didn’t see that coming! Well, I didn’t go for the Devil ending on my first run..so I didn’t know his motives..but I’m sure he’s happy to know I crippled Arasaka with the other ending.

[@Gunnumn]

The devil ending is the best bad endings. To find out the whole time youve been digging your grave and arasaka provided the shovels.

[@vendasiax666x8]

That Conpeki Plaza has the Emperor Tarrot on the wall, should hopefully remind you to stay clear of Arasaka and Takemura.

[@zrusit9640]

Emperor means patriarchal and power, what is so bad about it? :D

[@vendasiax666x8]

@@zrusit9640 Have you read the inscirption of "The Emperror" from CP2077. Says that The Emperor would do anything to achieve his goals.

[@zrusit9640]

@@vendasiax666x8 yes, end justifies the means, it sort of defines leaders.

[@vendasiax666x8]

@@zrusit9640 But also shows how ruthles he is. Soburo isn't called The Emperor for nothing. 😅

[@zrusit9640]

@@vendasiax666x8 well being sovereign or CEO of corporation with global reach, ruthlessness is somewhat inbuild feature :D

[@nave365]

also in the devil ending goro is lying to you about hanako forgetting about v and someone from the clinic sending for him if you say "you promised arasaka would fix me" he'll contradict himself and say that's why hanako sent him to discuss the alternative

[@tewks4458]

Thanks for showing the details in the Devil (I'll show myself out).

[@ToadimusPrime]

While the Devil ending is the default one, I'm still pretty sure Mr. Blue Eyes is still the canon ending.

[@opscontaylor8195]

We won't really know until the sequel game (Cyberpunk 2078?) or until RTG puts out the 2077 sourcebook/box for Cyberpunk Red. Though, knowing how Cyberpunk is, I'd actually bet on the Devil ending being canon.

[@dan5974]

@@opscontaylor8195 nah it’ll be don’t fear the reaper. V going down as an enemy of Arasaka and the third corpo war. Either still continuing or having been recently finished.

[@profbfc]

Devil ending is cannon with Cyberpunk 2 being in Japan as per the invitation of takamero

[@Jack_Mercer]

As buggy and false advertised as this game was, this is one of those games that sits in the back of my head, and I don't know why. My first ending I got by accident - I wasn't really sure what I was doing, I let Johnny stay and let V go, but... The calls from everyone, asking where are you, to call you back when you can, some even blaming Johnny 'cause they knew what happened, it was impactful

[@YABUKIJOE2077]

This was the worse and shadiest choice but it’s done so good. As in perfectly making this choice psychologically jarring in the space clinic. Everyone under Arasaka is cold you’re treated as an experiment. Less than nothing. Lower than an animal. And the contract deal is so eerie. It’s not far from reality. Signing your life your very soul to top-down organizations that play with lives in the grand scheme of things. This more than justifies taking the Johnny ending

[@thecornerho4472]

this ending is more believable in that precisely cause of the consequences you are dealt for dealing with the devil Id be willing to bet this is likely the canon ending we haven't seen the last of night city and arasaka. Arasaka has NOT been toppled even when the nuke was dropped in its tower.