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Near the end of the campaign, players are met with several major choices, all of which change the ending. Those who have finished their first go at the campaign may have missed something. They may want the best for their version of V but made too many mistakes along the way. Thankfully, these players can always try again and fix their mistakes. Needless to say, there are spoilers ahead, so read at your own risk!
Updated October 5, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: The recent resurgence of Cyberpunk 2077 has been a source of joy for many fans of the game who wanted to see more games appreciate its brilliance. Regardless of past controversies, the storyline and world of Cyberpunk 2077 are absolutely brilliant and make the entire experience worth it for many players. Players love going through the narrative as V and uncovering the many mysteries present in this riveting tale. Near the end of the game, Cyberpunk 2077 branches out quite a bit based on the player’s actions and what they managed to accomplish during their trek through Night City. However, players who didn’t perform certain important actions will find themselves absolutely struggling to get a satisfactory conclusion to V’s adventures in the game. Here are some mistakes that players who desperately want the best ending for their V should go for.
12 Giving Up Near The End
Nocturne Op551 is a name that has haunted many Cyberpunk 2077 players for quite some time. This serves as the gateway into the final quests of the game where V strives to break into Arasaka Tower and try and secure his future. Most players will pretty much complete most of the side content in the game before progressing with this final mission, which is one of the biggest thrill rides in the entire game.
However, when players are tasked with deciding a particular course of action to be taken, there’s actually a way for V to end the game there and then without sacrificing any lives. It’s a pretty poignant ending that becomes even more heartbreaking when players get to see the messages that V’s friends leave for him post his demise, but it’s far from the “happiest” ending in the game. Suffice it to say, players shouldn’t make this choice if they want a more satisfactory conclusion for their journey through Night City.
11 Making Poor Decisions In Critical Quests
Certain side quests involving the Aldecaldos and Johnny’s past need to be completed if players want to get access to more branching paths for their ending. While this might seem pretty straightforward, there are certain direct and indirect actions that players can take that end up ruining their chances of securing a pathway to a better ending.
For starters, players can lock themselves out from Panam’s questline if they don’t support her throughout or refuse to help her out later on. A certain quest can even be locked out if players take too much time to reach a particular area! Similarly, Johnny’s sidequests can be locked out in the same way if the player makes poor decisions that prevent these storylines from playing out as they should.
10 Skipping The Side Quests
Cyberpunk 2077 currently has four endings to pick from (as well as a secret ending) that completely change the story of V and Johnny. While there are plenty of endings to choose from, only one is available for those who avoided the side quests.
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The anti-climactic Arasaka ending is considered the weakest. Many who thoroughly enjoyed the game spent the extra hours completing the side missions they felt would bring them the best conclusion. Specifically, Panam and the Rogue Endings.
9 Ignoring Johnny Silverhand
It isn’t easy to ignore a man with such distinctive anatomy and attitude. Especially if that man is Keanu Reeves. Still, in a world of robots, cyber-gangsters, and flying vehicles, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. After the consciousness of Johnny Silverhand is installed in V’s head, Silverhand becomes his partner in crime.
While V forms a bond with Johnny, Johnny’s consciousness is slowly eating away at V’s until he takes over. One of the several endings involves getting a large reputation percentage with Johnny in order to unlock the secret ending, which can branch off into two different conclusions for the pair.
8 Killing Everything
While it may be fun to set Night City ablaze, sometimes the story calls for tact over bullets. After all, Cyberpunk 2077 is a story-rich RPG, and shooting through it may ruin the overall experience and cause players to miss something along the way.
Attention to detail goes a long way in this game filled to the brim with detail. This does not, however, mean players shouldn’t fight at all. In situations with no obvious choice, it’s sometimes better to let the shotgun do the talking.
7 Skipping Conversations
While players can still make choices without paying attention to the dialogue, the consequences become instantly more important considering the player has no idea what will happen next. Skipping conversations results in an undesirable ending for everyone.
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Taking a slow approach in conversations often rewards the player with new information and a creative way of solving V’s next problem. Even if the conversation is not integral to the story, it is almost always integral to that character. Skipping conversations can also result in the occasional wrong dialogue choice, which can cause V to lose favor with certain characters and change the outcome of the story.
6 Trying To Romance Everyone
Night City is filled with unique NPCs with their own personalities, likes, and dislikes. Naturally, players will want to romance some of these characters. While this opportunity exists for many of these NPCs, committing to a romance can have consequences on your interactions with other characters down the road.
Players can potentially lose opportunities that would otherwise be available. This is especially useful while pursuing the Rogue ending. No matter what the player does or tries, Rogue cannot fully commit to the romance.
5 Ignoring The Loot
While the stories give the player everything they need to complete the game, it’s easy to overlook. Field of View is limited on consoles, causing loot to go ignored.
Taking the time to loot the corpses or the many boxes in Night City will often yield vast and plentiful rewards (some being super valuable). Hidden Legendary items such as the Legendary Beast Mode Cyberware Mod can be found throughout Night City. Looting these items makes achieving V’s endings significantly easier. Some of the tougher ones may be beyond players without the best gear.
4 Giving Johnny Control
Throughout the campaign, Johnny discovers he isn’t truly alive. Instead, he is merely a complex code designed to act like Johnny. There are a few ways in which Johnny can take control. During the Nomad ending, V has the choice between giving Johnny control or retaining the body for himself. Retaining the body lets V run away with Panam after the Adam Smasher fight, but giving the body to Johnny results in a simple life where Johnny has another chance to live.
While that may sound heroic, Johnny has been dead for roughly 50 years. This can happen once more during the Rogue ending, where players take the role of Johnny and defeat Adam Smasher once again. Once completed, Johnny is left with a choice: give V’s body back or keep it for himself. Keeping the body results in the same ending, but giving it back to V results in legendary status comparable to a certain Netwatch Netdriver MK.5 Cyberdeck across Night City.
3 Letting Arasaka Win
One of the most accessible endings (especially for those who didn’t complete the side quests), is the Arasaka ending. This effectively gives Arasaka everything they wanted, making V’s fight largely futile. Within this ending are two different conclusions.
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The player has the choice to sign themselves over to Arasaka in exchange for their life, or decline and let themselves die back on earth. The reason this ending is distinctly unpopular is because of its lack of climax. Everything is over. V loses no matter what happens. Thankfully, this is but one ending in a handful.
2 No Preparation
Cyberpunk 2077’s secret ending is often considered the best, but also the most difficult to achieve. The reason this ranks so high among the endings is because of its radical upscaling of enemies inside Arasaka tower.
While there is generally no need to grind in Cyberpunk 2077, preparation is incredibly important. Unless gamers are playing on Easy Mode, the Arasaka guards will kill V and Johnny quickly, causing the player to revert back to the moment before making the critical decision. Players will need to make sure they’re packing the very best items and a selection of the game’s best weapons before taking this route.
1 Not Romancing Panam
It would be tough to argue that Panam isn’t among the best romance decisions in Cyberpunk 2077. For the complete and ultimate “best ending,” players will have to pursue the Nomad ending as well as a relationship with Panam.
In order to complete the relationship requirements, players will also have to follow her entire questline while adhering to specific dialogue decisions. It’s a tough route to follow, but it’s certainly a rewarding and interesting one. Sadly, though, it’s easy to miss out on.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Google Stadia.
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