Hello, and welcome to Game Spots Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven Phantom Liberty spoiler cast.
The three of us Michael High Yes, John Laski Hello, and myself
Jake have finished the game. We've done just about all of the endings,
including the brand new ending, and there is a ton to talk about and
we're gonna break it down. We're gonn talking about everything. So if I'm
happen to seen it all, yes, I'll watch this. If you listen
to game Spot after dark, you can tell we were dancing around a lot
in the most recent episode. But all bets are off. If you have
not finished Phantom Liberty, do not keep watching this. Uh, finish it,
come back watch it later. But anyway, let's start at the beginning.
I think I was gonna say, I kind of want to set up
like I think part of the reason we we want to do it because like
we don't do spoiler casts like that often, but like this was a game
where when we finished, it was like I have to talk about some of
the ship that we're blowing up each other's keeping me up at night, not
your text, but like well that too, but like the thoughts running through
my head. I think like at the end of the day, all three
of us were super impressed with the characters, and I think the characters are
kind of like the beating heart of this DLCA and they are what make all
two four five endings Like yeah, I didn't want to break it down super
impactful, like there's not really any wrong decisions you can make, but anyway
should we start what if all the decisions are wrong? Way she kind of
want to talk about like the characters like Solomon Rey, Yeah, I kind
of set them up a little bit to them up, because like I was
the thing. I love how this whole DLC is just like hooked around,
like the two of them, and like the back and forth in there,
like i'all gez and how they feel about the situation and then like Johnny kind
of in the middle as like sort of like this like a mediator, like
a mediator in between and like yeah, I mean, I mean, so
first off, Eachrisilba I think kind of killed it a really good job.
Like that's one of those things where you're always like, oh, you know,
okay, like you can bring it. Bringing a big name actor is
kind of like all right, they're trying to get get like mainstream audience is
paying attention, especially in video games. Yeah, because I feel like a
lot of actors, Yeah, a lot of actors don't quite understand what goes
into voice acting for a video game motion capture for a video game. But
Eris Elba clearly knew what he was getting into, or at least it seems
like he knew. It seemed like he understood the assignments. Yeah, Solomon
Reid is a sad fucking dude. That that dude there's I mentioned this to
y'all that Solomon Reid is kind of somewhat of a one note character. But
that's like it feels like that's the point, that's that's on purpose, and
Eachris Elba like embodies that that that type of that archetype. So well,
so like this dude who who thinks he has all the answers and puts up
puts up walls, keeps everyone at arm's length. He's stubborn. Every time
you try and push back, he's like, no, I know that I'm
right, loyal to a fault, to a false feels like he has nothing
else, just wants to fix you. Yeah, He's always like, let
help, let me fix you let me help you, and it's kind of
like, we don't want your help. And especially as you dig deeper into
his relationship with Songbird, and we're gonna we'll get into like the ending that
shows songbirds backstory. But you could tell from the front he from from from
that that from the beginning of their relationship, from like their friendship, he
was like, Oh, I'm going to be your mentor. I'm going to
show you the way I'm gonna like improve your life, trust me, join
join me with the FIA, and you kind of you kind of realize she
never really felt that the same way. Yeah, Like yeah, because when
you first hear about it, you hear about it from his perspective, and
you kind of just take get a face value of like all we're saving her.
She was like your old mentor. And then like once you start talking
to her, you realize, like she the song never felt that same way
at all. The cage Bird wanted to be freed metaphor. Yeah, yeah,
and because the song Birds the reason why you're you're in Dogtown anyway,
and then so like her, the first thing she says to you is,
Hey, I'm contacting you because I see that you have the relic, and
this is how I can reach you. I know what your deal is.
I know that you need to cure. I know you're trying to get rid
of the relic, and I have the answers, So come help me and
we'll do this together. And then I'm glad that that ended up being the
main motivation for the DLC rather than the President. Like the President was like
the opening setup. Yeah, it's like, here's a banger of an opening.
You got to save the president of the you know, New USA and
all this, And we kind of talked about the podcast of being like,
you know, you're kind of being a cop in this one a little bit
at the beginning, And I think if if the whole thing had been saved
the President, it would have been a little more like I want to fucking
yeah, I do care, and like them getting that out of the way
early and more using that as like a good hook, and then it being
much more like personal with like Songbird, and so me like that was really
smart because yeah, Roslyn Rosalin Meyers saw she's a good character and that she's
very endearing at the beginning. Yeah, Okay, you're kind of all right
for you know, you know, you know, all president who who gets
dirty and like yeah, like cool, yeah, later you're kind of like
how you dig the chip out of her neck too, and that was that
was wild. She's she's she's badass. But I think it works so well
and introducing you to her because, like you said, like the idea of
saving the president in this especially in this setting, in this cyberpunk setting where
like you're in Knight City, you're not even part of the new United States.
Uh, you kind of just don't really care about politics in that sense
in the game, So like her crash landing and getting the message from Songbird
to save to save the President, and then meeting her and going through those
scenes, I think I think you're pretty well done because the entire time you
have Songbird on comm's kind of like guiding you through it. And meanwhile,
yeah, I mean Roslyn Meyers seems like a pretty interesting character. Is yeah,
Yeah, she's a really she's a really interesting character. And like as
you see, like as you get towards the end, more and more it's
kind of like, oh, she's she's another cog in the political machine.
It just so happens that she has so much power and like I thought I
had this like cool connection with you, but then she just basically says like,
hey, listen, I was just using you for this, isn't that
which And it becomes so apparent, just like even even Salomon Reid, who's
like loyal to a fall like he just not fucking like her either, And
you can you know oh that that That's the thing about Solomon Reid is that
there's so much left unsaid. And that's what makes Read's character powerful because in
one of the endings and when in Songbirds are Route, like he's chasing you,
He's trying to find y'all. And there's a conversation that happens between Myers
and Read while you're falling through the events, and Myers is ordering him around
like, no, find them. I don't care what your personal stakes are.
You find them. You follow my orders and Reads like, yes,
yes, I'll do it for sure. And then you know, as you
go through that ending, you could tell how pained he is. And that's
like part of his stubbornness is that even when he shows it on his face
and you hear it in his voice, that you know it pains him to
be this way. He's like v giver up V. I'm doing this for
you, trust me, this is the right way to do things, and
you're like, no, this isn't. You can tell he's like struggling as
he's doing that, and I don't know if that was deliberate, but it
really came through in in Idris Elba's performance, and I think that that's one
of the many aspects to his character that like, yes, he's that type
of character, but there's so much depth in the in the performance itself.
And that's also like it builds up to that too, because every you have
a lot of intimate conversations with him throughout the story, and you can see
it on his face where he just like he's like just the sad old man.
Yeah. I think there's like that one conversation you have with him where
he was like I already died seven years ago basically, and that really clicked
for me because I was like, oh, yeah, he seems not absent,
but like he seems I don't know, just just on another plane whenever
I'm talking to him, like almost on autopilot and like a weird sort of
way. Yeah. It's yeah. The thing too is at first, I
when I when I first finished. When I finished the first route that I
did, I was thinking about like, oh, well, like his motivations
maybe weren't clear. I didn't really get a full perspective of his character.
But the more I the more I thought about it, and like I said,
like the things that are left on said are are what make it more
powerful? Because then I started to like really try to understand, like,
oh, why did he do this? Why did he do that? And
I called back to a lot of the conversations you had with him, a
lot of this stuff that he's been through and kind of what he wants out
of the rest of his life. And so you mentioned that, oh,
he died once seven years ago when he was betrayed by the n USA,
and I thought a lot about, well, why does he still dedicate his
life to the people that try to kill him that he used him as a
like the backstory is that they needed someone to take a fall for something that
happened in the United States between the n USA and something else, and then
they used him. They quote unquote killed him and fucking shot him up.
And he was like like that cinematic that released before the game, that's that
story, that's that backstory and that's so I saw it and I was like,
Wow, that was pretty watched that. Go watch that by Yeah,
it's gives a lot of interesting contexts. They don't necessarily need to understand what's
going on, but it's like interesting hearing all that in the game and then
watching it and being like, oh, that's exactly what happened. And the
thing too, Like I mean to wind it back a little bit, saw
Bird was the President used Songbird to set him up, and I think that's
well, that is why there's so much tension between Read and Songbird, like
they're still friends, and Read it always says like, Hey, I I
don't hold it against her because I understand the position she was in. She
was just following orders. He keeps trying to like push it off, like
not put the blame on her right where he's like, who was, Like,
Yeah, she's following orders. It came from the president, it came
from someone else. If it was actually her, she wouldn't have wanted to
do that. Yeah, And like I think that's such a fascinating discussion,
right because like it's very easy to like put blame on other people and like
just seeing how that is portrayed in the game I found so and the insating
Songbird herself in that situation too, where you're like, you know, because
because because you get the feeling she doesn't actually like read, so you're like,
oh, did she actually feel bad about it? Like did you know
was it personal like when she did it or like was it just like this?
You know? Oh, Like there's a lot of because she keeps her
you know, she keeps everything very tight lipped up until like pretty much at
the very end. And yeah, so you're you can never get a read
on like how she feels, and we like, yeah, like it's interesting
because like Solomon I would say, just like kind of he's very quiet and
like he just like he said he's one No, he has the one thing
he says. We're like Songbird like actually like confides in you a lot,
but the whole time you're like, how much of this is actually real?
Yeah, and left because because there's a really good scene where she like takes
you to that little h that little area in Dogtown where there's like the park,
there's there's a couch and there's a bunch of like string lights and she's
like talking very like passionately and she's like, You're the only one I can
trust in the moment, like it's you get swept up in it and you're
like yeah, like I'm with you. And then like, having played the
rest of it and going back to that scene, I was like, damn,
like how much of that was me being played by Yeah? Yeah,
she's manipulating you to the very end, the very the very end. We
get to that moment because holy shit, it's even interesting too, and you
consider how Read like you have that conversation and then you meet with Read and
and Read is like, like you can I think you can tell Read about
her plans if you want. I didn't do that either, But listening to
Read talk about her and how like she always finds herself in trouble, I
also got myself to believe Read. It's like, oh, maybe Read can
actually help her. Maybe Read's the only one who can help her and live.
Obviously it's not true, it's not going to work out that way,
but it's so compelling and like it makes that big decision so hard to make
because it is just like you're armed with like just enough knowledge of each of
these characters and you understand the situation enough where it's like I don't I don't
know to help. That was well also like he was the player. Like
that's kind of what video games do, right, It is like they put
you a character in someone else's situation. It's just like you can fix this.
You can decide the fate of these characters, and like the game kind
of asks you, like should you though, like like Songbird kind of makes
it very clear, like I have fucked up, I've made mistakes. I
like this is how I need to pay for them, or this and that,
and like you know read and by extension, V can be like no,
no, no, like we gotta do this, we got to do
that. And like one of the endings is very much kind of going counter
to what she wants. And I mean, I guess good ending. I
wouldn't even say it's good ending. The ending that leads to the new ending
is like the worst ending for Songbird too. You have you have to really
like betray what she wants to get that ending, and you know it's that's
the game's kind of asking like, hey, maybe maybe you shouldn't get in
other people's shit, and like sometimes they just have to deal with the consequences
of what they've done. Yeah, there's a there's a lot of synergy in
the themes there as it ties to the new ending as well, which I
mean, I think we'll hold off till a little bit later in our discussion.
But the one thing I wanted wanted to say about Read is that,
fuck, what is it like being loyal to a fault? Where One of
the things I thought about with him too is like, is why he's so
dedicated? And I think this comes out through the conversations he has with Alex,
like especially at the bar, at the bar that she runs in Dogtown,
so Alex is one of his fellow former operators, and then he has
to convince her to be on board for you know, saving the President.
Amazing character. Not as much time with her, but the time you do
have is is not wasted. It is very good. She is so cool,
She's like incredibly well, like great performance. Yeah, but I thought
about, like, the n USA tried to kill him, why does he
still like care? Why is he still so loyal? And the conversations with
him and Alex is like, this is the only life they've known. Was
that operating within the confines of the political structure as sleeper agents is or as
like high level operatives and agents of the federal government is. Like that's the
only life they've known, and that's the life that kind of got them out
of like poverty or terrible situations. Especially in the morning. You talk to
Alex and now she's like, you know, I was a beady performer and
I really wanted to Like she almost got duped into enlistening too, right,
Yeah, she just went to ah, I think she said what she went
to, Oh, what's the word casting? Yeah, and like it turned
out to be like front front recruitment and she got pulled into it, and
like it's almost it's almost heartbreaking when you have that conversation with her and she's
like, I still think I could be a star some day. You can
encourage her. Alex is so tragic. Yeah, oh my god. And
you get to dance with her at the jukebox and dance dancing was cheesy.
But I let the whole scene play out. I was like, oh man,
not like it's really sweet. Yeah, And so like the game never
upfront tells you or like spills it out for you, like, oh,
this is why Read is the way he is and why he still dedicates to
the people who betrayed him. But once you start to piece all the things
together that you've learned along the way, and you have a moment like if
you think about it, there's a moment in your head that it clicks,
like, Okay, I get why Read is doing this. He's still a
shitty person, but I see the paper trails of how he became who he
is totally, and that's where the depth of Solomon Reid comes from. There's
a line that he says right when you disguise yourself as the Twins, where
he's like, oh man, I really miss this. Yeah, Like that
moment was like, oh dude, Like yeah, he's he's in this for
life. Yeah, like this is all he knows. Like he can't he
can't imagine like any other life for himself. And it's like real tragic And
yeah, that's such a like a like it's easy to think of it as
a throwaway line, yeah, but it says so much about him. Yes,
and then when you when you oh my god, when you drive the
car with the into the garage and you're like, okay, I secured the
twin Holy shit. Yeah, and then you get out and both Alex and
can shoot him at that point blank, And I'm I didn't question that because
I was like, my V has been killing people. Yeah, So I
was like whatever, but I really wanted to know. I was like,
why did they do that? I did? And like VI's just like what
the VI's reaction to that? Yeah, And the voice acting was like really
convinced, really convincing. Ill he's a voice actor Sokodo. Yeah. One
thing I will say that's really crucial to understanding these characters, or at least
giving you an impression these characters is fucking Johnny. Oh. Johnny is such
a highlight in this because of the role he plays, Like, I,
first of all, I think it's super interesting that this DLC kind of digs
more into his life as a soldier. Yeah, and how like especially a
real name, Yeah, especially like him with Read in particular when they first
meet Read and Johnny's kind of having that breakdown where he's like, He's like,
they give you all the gear, but that stick come or they start
with the carrot, but that stick comes later. Yeah, And like listening
to him talk about that, and you kind of realize how like Johnny and
Read are very similar, but like they both hit this crucial point where Johnny
walked away from it, and Johnny like like, if I hadn't left,
I probably would be yet what Read is right now and You're like fuck it
like crazy, And like, I think what makes Johnny more interesting is Johnny
isn't necessarily being like fuck Read, you know, like this guy sucks because
he went that path. It was more like like Johnny understands that he's also
just as fucked up, but in a different way. And I think just
that dynamic so good. But then even just throughout the story, like well
him just whenever his like hologram would pop in, I was like, all
right, he's got some real good lines. I mean also, like I
would say, he also feels like a mirror of Songbird as well, where
like the Songbird almost represents like the rebellious side of Johnny because like he see
he's song for trying to get out and being like that was me, That's
what I did. And so I love how one when like you're talking with
Johnny about what choice you're gonna make, like it's one of the first times
where Johnny's like, fuck man, I don't know, yeh. Normally he
has a very he has an opinion and let you know, give that man
a Twitter feed. That is like the one time in the game where he
is like I actually don't know the right answer and I don't know which of
these characters, And like, I think that's why I loved it is because
like the whole DALC is about Read and Songbird, and then Johnny is like
this perfect like middle like to kind of like make you feel sympathetic for both
of them and empathetic for both of them, which is like so core because
like the reason why the multiple endings work is like you you need to feel
for both characters in both sides, because like when you finish it, you're
like it's not as clear cut as most games where you're like, yeah,
that was the right choice or like fuck that person. I was like,
there is this whole shit saw. Yeah, like it's all tragic no matter
what route, and you go down and Johnny's like the perfect lens to see
all of it exactly. Just because like also Keanu Reeves performance. I mean,
he was great obviously in the Bass game, but I feel like there's
there's something about Phantom Liberty where he almost like stepped like stepped up a little
bit more than how he already was. And I think it's the more the
moments where he opens up a little bit more, like you said, when
he starts to learn about like, oh, yeah, I wasn't the army,
I was a soldier, and like, I wasn't always this anarchist of
rocker boy. And I think one of the one of the most powerful scenes
with Johnny was in Dogtown, right outside Alex's bar, where they have that
vigil for all the people who've died in that village, all around the tree,
yeah, around the tree of the candle light and all the pictures for
the people who've died there. And then Johnny's like sitting there looking at it
and starts to tell you a little bit more about himself, and it's like,
you don't. I don't expect him to have any kind of like sympathy
for other people really, but he does show that a little bit in that
moment. I'm like, oh, fuck, Like, I've never seen Johnny
like this. Yeah, well, I think one because I really like Johnny
in the Bass game, but I almost thought he was like too polarizing and
that like a lot of times I just didn't really understand his motivations because like,
sometimes he'd say things that I'd be like, that makes sense. Sometimes
you say things that didn't make sense, and in the context of the game,
maybe it was just how it was written. I found it kind of
like inconsistent. Yes, yeah, yeah, I felt like he was just
there to like get mad at you and just tell you're a dumbass, like
regardless of what you did. And when I was playing the original, I
was like, I was like, oh, I don't think I like Johnny
because he is polarizing, he doesn't really know what he wants. But I
feel like Phantom Liberty, he also doesn't really know what he wants. But
I think like how it's written is so much more empowering successful, Like it
just works so much better understanding down to like which we'll talk about later.
But that new ending is like so goddamn heartbreaking, and like it's got some
of the best Johnny moments that like almost recontextualize his entire character throughout the Bass
game too. Yeah, we keep dancing around that that final ending, But
I do think we should talk about like the endings themselves, endings themselves for
Phantom Liberty. So let's start, Well, I was gonna say before the
endings, do do you guys? Is there any like the side or like
kind of clements just just things that we like couldn't really talk about because like
I mean, we talked about it in the podcast a little bit, but
the child athlete side quest that I haven't done that one. Now can we
spoil it for? You can spoil it for? Okay. So you get
contacted by mister Hands and he's basically like, hey, our client wants you
to like investigate this like athlete. Like uh, it's such a like a
I don't know, it's like an agency. It's like an athlete agency where
they like build up athletes to like sell to like you know, like teams
and teams and countries. And the whole pitch is like, hey, we're
we're bringing like people out of poverty to give them opportunities and like yeah,
so that there's an underground organization in Dogtown that does that. Yeah. And
so you go in there and like the outside building was like super shitty,
but like inside it's like it's like the pristine person facility. Go in there
and you see like all these people like bidding on the athletes, and you
realize they're all children. They're all children. They're like ten twelve, like
they're like kids that they're like drafting into sports leagues. Yeah, they're drafting
in sports leagues. They're like chroming them up, like yeah, it's and
you're like it is whole wild shit, and uh, I assume there's a
way to play it without killing everyone. That's not the route I went down.
I basically like because you're going in there like pretending to be someone for
like the I forget it's like the San Diego Shredders, like oh shit,
San Diego got a shout out most of the San Francisco Shockers, which is
the overwhelping yeah league that I don't think even exists anymore. I like went
to the bar and they're like, okay, like here's your cover, play
it straight, and I like, I'll get a drink because Johnny was like
we should go get a drink, and I was like, I'll follow john
I'll get a drink. And then it leads to this whole conversation with this
guy starts grilling you like, oh, like you know, who is that
that star quarterback you guys had, and it's like oh no, and then
it's like uh, you need to come with us, ma'am to the back
you get your credential. Scant fuck And then like I put my hand on
the scanner and then like it went red and I just immediately pulled my sword
out and said like gotcha. And then it was just like I thought about
reloading it, like should I try and play it? Not safe? And
then I was like, now, fuck all these people here. This ship
is fucking horrible, and I just murdered everyone. The deeper you get into
the facility, you start to see the rooms where they keep the kids and
having like all their toys and their bunk beds, and then U like,
there are chromed out kids and it's it's it's wild to see. And the
thing, the thing that makes that shit so like that hits so hard is
because the kids and their families are so convinced that this is their ticket out
of poverty. And meet one of those kids, Yeah, you have a
conversation with one of yeah, and you like immediately changing like I went from
like fuck all this to like, hey kid, it's okay, I understand
you can make it. One day. Like I was trying to be like
real like supportive, supportive to the kid even though I'm like, dude,
I'm burning all this shit down. I'm sorry. Yeah, and the ship,
Yeah, his ship was like, I don't have Like they told me,
my chances of getting drafted into a league are not very high. I'm
getting old. He's like fourteen or something. It's like, I'm getting too
old for this. I'm like, that's fucking crazy, right, And then
he was and I was like, damn, dude, I don't know what
to tell you, but it seems like your chances like are shot, Like
you're you're not gonna make it. And so the thing that also makes that
particular quest so like resonate is because you can see elements of that in the
real world as someone who follows sports very closely, like I followed like based
and football for a very long time. Basketball, and the way that like
sports analysts and teams and general managers for these teams and like scouts treat college
athletes or even high school athletes as commodities for like, oh, we're gonna
scout them, we're gonna we're gonna support them, we're gonna give them,
you know, all these different tools so they can be as successful as they
want. Because we're gonna bring them into our team. We're gonna get them
paid very then, like recruiters have look at so many different athletes through the
world, but a very very very small percentage of them actually make it.
And that's the whole that's the whole story about that that side quest and for
for our world, we just kind of like accept that that's just how the
sports world works. And then you extrapolate that to a cyberpunk future and you
see the exploitation times ten times one hundred, and you can see how you
know, cybernetic uh like like the like chroming out people and how that's like
legal in sports leagues. It's like, oh, they will. We want
to get them early because you know, we want we need to build them
up and we need to make sure they're compatible with this is and then have
a long career so we can extract money out of them. And when you
talk to the agent underground about that, she's like, she's like, I'm
saving these kids. They don't have any other joy. She justifies it to
herself. Yeah, and it's like, well, you make a fun ton
of money. Oh, the main reason why you look into is because of
tax of asion. That's The funniest part about it, that's the biggest joke
is like it's not because like someone wants to shut down. They're just like,
man, they're not. It's not paying the European unions, Like they
ain't paying their fucking taxes, man, like we need our fair share.
And then you go and then you get into it and you're like, I'm
just this is child labor violations here, like yeah, I mean yeah.
Like I think some of the weakest cyberpunk stories are ones where like you look
at it and you're just like I can't see, like how how you got
how you've gone there, or it feels too extreme. This works because the
line feels like almost non existent, where I'm just like, outside of the
age thing, this holds pretty pretty much exactly how it already is, like
like the I think the age and like the chrome stuff like is what makes
it feel extreme. But when you really think about it, you're like,
no, like the fundation of this stuff is already there and like if if
they could, if those laws did not exist, they would absolutely do that
shit today. That reminds me a lot of like the Cinnerman Quest and Sing
Game, where it was very much like one of the best that was That
was I'd say the best quest in the game, and it was just Shoogs
broke it down. But I think the reason that was so successful is what
you're saying is like you can see that line, I mean Passion of the
Christ and all of these like movies made to capitalize on like religious fervor and
stuff, and it's like, yeah, of course they would do that.
I'm sure people would be mad about it, but that would one hundred percent
happen. And if something like brain Dance existed at some point, you know,
maybe not right away, but anyway, any of the quest we want
to talk about or should we, I mean, because I did have like
the I did a couple that were pretty good, pretty funny ones like the
cop one. We're talking about it earlier, funny, uh, just because
it's like that's one of those ones where it's less serious and there's not even
much choice to make, but it's just such like a goofy yeah, like
it's just like you idiots follow them up after a night city and like one
guy's a hot dog vendor and oh yeah, yeah, yeah so dumb.
Yeah that was that was cool. That's the that's the question that Susie Hunter
gives you. Yeah, to her, I was like, oh wow,
this is okay, this is the character she iss also a good setup.
I thought it was pretty funny. It's a good setups. Hiding from the
sea is like back and you're like, who the is You're like, and
then V starts for con there Actually, yeah, this is kind of comfy,
really funny random lines that V has. I'll talk about with Jake.
The one ending were you like that, were you like comfort Solomon on the
sand? Did you get this? Yeah? Yeah, and you like like
goes down to comfort him and like touches the sand, goes oh it's fucking
hot. Yeah yeah. I was like what the fuck? Yeah, it's
like this really this really heavy moment and he was so out of nowhere that
I like just it made gave me the biggest laugh. Funny, but I
was telling you, like, to me, I saw that and I was
like, oh, I think what they're trying to say is that like Solomon
really is dead. He doesn't feel anything. Wow, that he's just kind
of like like he sat down, didn't care, was like whatever. But
like V, there's still something there that's deep, dude. But anyway,
speaking of that, we should probably okay. I just really quickly wanted to
say I loved the mentioned on the podcast, but I love the mission where
you go to like the museum with all like the dinosaur bones, just because
like that boss fight with the invisible guy in like the jungle area, I
was like, dude, this is giving me like mad like here like fighting
like the end or something like one of the bosses. I'm like yeah,
like yeah, like a little bit of revengeance, a little bit of a
snake eater kind of energy. And then also the mission with the terrorist,
I thought was that was one a really wild mission. But also like I
think in terms of just like level the level design, it was like,
wow, this is like extremely good. This is like some Days X,
like dace X at its peak in terms of like setting up patrol, setting
up different levels and layers and objectives. Oh hold on, I do have
to mention that the aguilar is how you say the name, That mission was
so so and it's such a good like piece of levity because it kind of
happens very late after you make the big choice and you're like waiting for everyone
to call you and you're dealing with the ramifications and you're like the setup is
you're you're helping decide like who's gonna take over Dogtown after you like Hanson gets
killed. I it was just so pulpy and like stupid and like the way
like Johnny gets really into it. He's like, Oh, what's agua are
gonna dude? Like he's like comment, Yeah, it's like someone like Aguilar
would take out the hustle and wait in the car and go to the guy.
You're like, god, I don't like hell yeah yeah, you like
kill his driver, like throw their body in the dumpster and then you're like
wait in the back of the car or in the car and you like put
the gun on him and convince him. And then at the end, uh,
he's like what happened to my driver? And they're like you should forget
about your driver? Yeah? Oh like that Yeah, that quest line is
like it's it's if they play it serious, but it's so no way.
That's so funny, man, Like what's the line like every time a Cuban
smokes a cigar? Uh, saguar kills someone? Yeah? Yeah yeah,
And like you get to use that line too, say like oh and when
Cuban cigar gets lit or whatever, and then and then they're like, oh
shit, yeah, everyone takes seriously like you're the baddest pass person on the
planet. Like and then you get an email from the real real one and
then she's like, so I see you. You're playing my role. We'll
see if you can actually live up to live up to the hype. And
I was like, oh, this is yeah, that's cool. It was
like, is that respect? Are you gonna come kill me? Like what
fu? Yeah? Oh man, yeah god. I think overall though,
that speaks to just how fucking amazing the side content is the Phantom Liberty.
It has a range and it's always like you're using the combat system and so
many fun ways, but the reward that you get for going through them is
always like these these different types of stories that really pay off. So that's
amazing. I think like they're just so good. It's something that they did
really well in The Witcher and something that the base Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven didn't
feel like it had. But they're just so good at giving context to like
all these little details as you play through these side gigs. I mean like
because like there's side quest, and there's gigs and like usually the side quest
even in the deals here a little bit more in depth than the gigs themselves,
but even like a lot of the gigs, I found myself like torn
between like what's the right decision? What's the wrong decision? I mean one
actually this may have been a US. But like the guy who like experienced
that power outage or whatever while wearing the b D of that one star and
then become things sees that one star and how you have to like recruit that
star, and like Johnny's kind of like, like the guy's talking, it's
like, hey, we can't afford to be here, we need to make
money. This seems like a good way to make money. And it's like,
Okay, I guess I see you there, but this is still fucked
up. And then Johnny's like Johnny's like, no, you gotta save this
guy. Come on, like no with this, and you're like, yeah,
you're right, you're right. And it's just they're just very good and
complicating the situation and digestible ways that like when you actually get to that moment
where you have to make the decision, it's like like, honestly, don't
know what to make here. Yeah, yeah, that's uh. I love
that that that that's you've got We've gotten away from the clear like, oh,
this is the good choice. You're decide with the good person, you
decide with the bad person, just like I'm going to make a decision with
the to the best of my ability based on what I know, and I
know that I don't know the entire situation, but I need to make the
decision decision right fucking now. And that's that's what I think is so subtle.
But what makes Phantom Liberty such a like an in depth experience because again,
it kind of goes back to the thing of like you don't have to
say everything, you don't have to tell the player everything, and how you
fill in the blanks as the player with your experience is just that's what makes
it powerful. So then, speaking of decisions, we'll talk about the big
one. Okay that there's a point in the game where you are basically asked
to either side with Read or side with Songbird, and it is one decision
that splits off into two very different conclusions for this DLC shockingly different. We
all yeah, shockingly different. We all chose Songbird and I think we all
had a conversation being like, oh, I bet it's just like you're still
at the airport because you go to the spaceport. You go to the spaceport,
but you're just on read side. That is not the case, not
at all. Holy shit. I mean we can start with songbirds this first
off. Dude, the spaceport. I love that. Love I did too.
Yeah, I was like that is because because it's the thing that like
they tease in the main game a lot like spaceport, space travel, going
to the Moon, and those first trailers that showed people and like even one
of the endings of the main game had you like going into space, but
then like it stops, so like like I was just like never quite fulfill
in that fantasy go to space on this one, but like adding that spaceport,
like it was such a cool little touch where going through security, going
through security, seeing people in the terminals, they give you multiple options where
it's like, you know, you could try to like sneak past, disguise
yourself, disguise yourself, you have to go the bathroom. I mean,
they do such a good job of trying to like fulfill like the spy fantasy.
You know, we haven't touched on it, but like like the party
scene or like, oh, the disguises, the part where you're trying to
like rise up the twins hambling you're playing like blackjack or whatever. Yeah,
yeah, that was brilliant, just how it was like you're constantly making bets
as you're trying to get them to talk, and I think just the tension
is really good. It's yeah, yeah, because Solomon Reid is supposed to
join you at that table, yeah, and he doesn't. And he's supposed
to. Yeah, he's supposed to be the one to like draw the attention
while you you get the draw the personalities and scan the the twins to get
their personalities. But then you're like, fuck, read isn't coming, what's
happening. I guess I gotta play Blackjack and have this conversation and make sure
that I don't blow our cover. It's oh that that that party scene was
amazing because I spent so much fucking time in photo mode because it's it is.
It's a beautiful, beautiful scene. There's all these characters you can like
walk around and talk to. Yeah, like references to like characters from the
Bass games. Yeah, Lizzie Lizzie WIZZI. There's a performances of a performance,
so you can watch and then later Alex gives you the b D of
it, Yeah, department, and you can just watch the beat because the
framing is like somebody recorded the b D there but then got caught and like
beaten up and they took his BD because they're like you're not allowed to report
this. Yeah, and then Alex like stole it, and it's like you
want to watch it? Yeah, you already just like getting in there,
like when you put on like the suit and you're underwater. Yeah, and
that's when she gives you the pistol and I was like, this is some
metal gear ass one, Like yeah, I know what you're doing and I
love it. Yeah, and then you have to like help read sneak through
by getting on the fucking railgun. And yeah, that part was cool.
That was maybe the most buggy part I had. Hopefully that stuff is not
in it's fixed when the actual game is out, but yeah, I just
do want to shout out that that party scene because yeah, that was a
moment where I felt like the game was really dialing in the thing it was
going for that political Spice Rider thriller, and and it's it's like, oh,
that's kind of I'm extra. I'm getting a drink at the bar with
read I'm trying. I'm as I got. There's there's also a moment like
right before you get to the roulette table to talk to play with the twins,
where he's like really close to you and you have a drink there and
he's like, Okay, this is what we're gonna do this, I'm breaking
down the situation. All right, now we're gonna go and he's like really
close to you, and there's I took a screen shot where he's like got
his hand on his ship, he has watch and shit, I'm just like
acting up. Yeah. Oh maybe I do want to work for the beds.
Yeah. Anyway, back to the end of anyway picking songbird, Yeah,
man, uh so, one thing I do want to point out that
I thought was kind of interesting. But I don't know if you guys experience,
but so in this safe I did Street Kid and Street Kid. As
you start in a bar in Watson where you're there's a there's a bartender named
Pepe. I think his name is Pepe. I'm pretty sure his name is
Pepe I looked it up and according to fandom, and he's like, oh,
I need I'm need help with this fix or whatever. And you do
that mission and that kind of kicks off the street kid path. But later
Pepe calls you and asks you to tail his wife because his wife has been
disappearing randomly and he thinks that she might be cheating on him. Anyway,
if you help them and you find out she's not cheating, blah blah blah
blah. When you first, I think he even mentions that she works at
the spaceport. But when you first walk into the spaceport after security, she's
standing right there. And it's after says don't let anyone notice you, and
she's like thee the hey, it's oh my god, that's not happen to
me. It was like and like you have the option to be like you've
got the wrong v or whatever, but I was like, I just gotta
play along because I hope their marriage or whatever. Oh. But that was
because like when Songbird says like make sure no one recognizes you, I was
like I wonder, like who would actually And it was like my street kid
path led to that. But also like you had to do that side quest,
which you can skip if you want. I think it was like this
specific street kids side quest. Yeah, No, I did not have that.
I had like a random guy be like, oh, hey, like
what's up, and I like, I genuinely don't think I knew, and
I was just like, fuck off, I actually don't know who you are,
but yeah, that seems really cool. I love how you get the
outfit too, like mailed in or like through security and you can put it
on. And she was like the bathroom specifically, but I just did it
in the open and she was like someone got a large She's like, see,
what the fuck. I don't know that anyone would care. I'm just
at the menu U button. Yeah, because I really was like, no,
no, no, I gotta like really play this like stealthily as I
like really tried to steal through like that sequence as much as you can until
the shit hits the fan and then the fucking uh US military shows him to
start shooting everyone. Ah fuck, that shit was fucking wild. Where So
Yeah, in the space part, you like you want to sneak your way
through and you eventually get to the point because you need so leading up to
that point, like Songbird is just she's on the verge of death. She's
just a van. Yeah, so I mean, I guess we didn't even
mentioned like the reason why Songbird is in such a dire situation is because she
operates within the Black Wall, Like she uses the Black Wall, and that's
like kind of like that deteriorates her her mental state and her body specifically,
uh Rosalind's been like making her use the black Wall, which is hell of
illegal. You're not supposed Yeah, that shit, that is, which is
why she is so existent that you you get Songbird in the first place.
Yeah, that's that's the motivation, is that, like you want to side
with a songbird because yes, you can get the cure of yourself, but
also you feel for her, which we're gonna come back to real estate and
and but like you kind of you just the like everything about this story is
so watertight, like there's reasons for everything, and you no matter what,
Like I tried to poke at it and be like, okay, what about
this thing, and that there's an answer for it, like what about this?
But like, oh, there's an answer for that. And so the
reason why the fucking US military comes in and shoots up the airport looking for
you and Songbird is because she's that the Black Wall agent and like that is
it's it's super highly illegal. It could cause like a war. Yeah,
that's the whole fun out. Like it's real bad another another net wipe or
whatever. What do they call it, the Great Net Collapse or whatever?
Yeah, yeah, like it's real. The motivations are so strong. Did
you guys fully understand what the Black Wall is because I kind of remember it
from a little bit of the base game with what's her name with with Y
Yeah, oh John All with All Yeah, because like all crossed into the
Black Wall and that just exists like a black Wall essentially from my understanding,
the Black Wall, it's like the old version of the Net that got like
so overrun by AI. Basically I like like rampant ais out of yeah,
and like people like blocked it off. Yeah, it's like it's like the
it's like the Giant Ice Wall and Game of Thrones. Right, you're like,
pretty we can't let Yeah, if if anything leaks out of it,
it's gonna it's gonna destroy it. You're not supposed to go in there either,
but because you will like go crazy yeah, you can get it fucked
up by the AI. But they're sending her in there because like you can
theoretically if you can like grab those AI and like use them, because they're
AI that have like kind of like self grown over like the decades that they've
been in there, like are really powerful and could be used for you know,
or you know, military purposes or can give you a leg up on
other countries. So like that's why they're like it's like a it's like a
weapon of mass destruction that anyone can access if they're able to break from Everyone
agrees like we should not do messes like too dangerous. Yeah, and then
you can find out the president is doing it and using like song and Songbird
is the one being used to access Black Wall. So that's that is such
a strong motivation for why Songbird wants to be free and why there's this big
fucking battle at the at the spaceport and it's like crazy, like civilians are
getting caught in the cross. You have the spaceport guards are like fighting the
military and then they're both fighting you and you're you're just like running through this.
Uh I just put on cloaking and sprinted through yet to fight. If
you happen to get in my way, I stabbed you with my sword and
kept going, yeah, yeah, that's that's that's such a such a good
set piece, and it goes on for quite a long time, and I
like that. It's like, Okay, let me engage with the gameplay systems
and some really challenging ways. And so you're supposed to because the point is
you want to send Songbird on the space Shuttle so she can get away because
the Luna has the facility that can use the stuff from the Black Wall to
like cure you guys. Essentially, like that's so you need to send her
there. Yeah, and so you have to you have to fight through and
that final that final fight. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough, but
it's the ending where you get the Black Wall powers and then you just smoke
everyone in slow motion. Yeah yeah everyone every time? Yeah, yeah exactly.
The gravity gun from half like yeah, like every time you do it
has this like really cool effect where it just like freezes for like like slows
down for like half a second while they're like heads like explodes. Yeah,
you just see their fucking bodies disintegrate from the Black Wall. Technology and for
me or for for a game that is a little bit more like rooted in
reality, like this is how they can bring in that dark magic power that
you gain. Yes, but it's and again it like it makes sense,
like, oh I can access I'm using Songbird as a proxy to use black
Wall powers to just fucking melt these these enemies cybernetics and you see them getting
like good disintegrating. It is like it's so empowering, and I'm like,
this is fucking wild as just like a scripted scene that just because he makes
you feel infinitely powerful, and then that's when they dropped the bombshell. Yeah,
it's such a perfect like build up, build up, high to your
power, your with Songbird. You're like, girl, we're in this together,
we're doing it. And then she reveals she was lying to you the
whole fucking time. There's one cure, you're not gonna get it. So
I found that to be incredibly brilliant because the entire time I was all in,
Yeah, I was like I am helping Songbirds, like I don't care
what stands in mid die. I don't care if I have to shoot read,
which is ultimately what you get continued with. But then after she tells
you that right before you can front read it, and then I was just
like, oh fuck, I thought I had this figured out. And I
even was like, all right, I'm with you read she burned me.
No, no, we you know, okay, But like it legitimately made
me be like fuck man, Like why wouldn't you be like fuck you?
Like you can have that reaction as v like it's it's like, oh Mike,
it's like you fucking lied to me, Like holy it's it's God,
It's that's the thing that like muddies that, like, oh, I thought
I was doing like the unequivocally good ending, even though it's like it's still
kind of tragic and it's tough, but it's like I'm doing the right thing.
And then just literally the minute before you're going to like do the final
thing, she tells you that, and like fuck, I also love that
that reveal is only in that ending. They don't actually reveal that in the
other ending yes at all, which I thought was interesting that like, because
it only really works as like a dramatic beat with you saw siding with Songbirds
specifically, and like again, just like you went through all the ship with
her, and that's when they dropped that bombshell, because yeah, man,
like I was like I believed you and you and then the whole time she's
double standard talking about like all these people are you know, Reads manipulating to
me? He's been lying to me. I can't trust anyone v or the
only one I can trust, I believe you. And then she reveals and
naw, I was actually manipulating you the whole time, and you were like
what the fuck? Shit? Like I think what I even like more about
that ending too, like to lead into the the final ending, So like
if you do give some songbird up to read and then wait for read is
like read is like I will call you in a week, And I was
like will you though, yeah, and like I was like kind of nervous.
I was like I've been double crossed so many times throughout this DLC,
Like why would I believe that he would come back for me? Does like
already double cross read once when I said I'd help Songbird, Like I don't
think he would, Like if I were him, I'd be like okay,
yeah, fuck off. And Dan Knight sit doesn't actually tell you this.
He calls you that's what leads into the into the new ending. That's interesting
that he waits a week because if you do the other ending, depending on
what you do, if you kill Songbird and the other ending, he'll call
you in like a day or two, and then if you save song for
a week. But it is definitely some time. I slept many nights.
But if you if you save song Bird, he calls you like a media
get you got access to the new ending immediately. It's interesting how like the
mechanically, like the way he feels about you, like it takes for him
to get back to you. Yeah, that's interesting. That is such a
small touch that says so much. I love that part of me. When
I was doing it and I was like, I was like, is he
actually because I I just I think part of it was I just kept sleeping
and then I'd wake up and walk around my apartment a little bit. And
if he didn't call it sleep and I think I actually had to like walk
out of the apartment and walking and to activate it called me sooner. So
I think it took longer than it would have, but it still took a
while. And like he still helps you and like like you have these good
conversations with Johnny, like after you meet with him the first time, and
Johnny's just like, this guy's gonna hang himself. And I was like,
what the fuck, Johnny, And Johnny's just like Johnny's just like he's got
and left, like like every his entire existence has been supporting the n USA
and and now like they burned him on Songbird, they burned him on this
like his ideals are shattering, like like this man has nothing left to live
for it, and like, of course, in Johnny fashion, he just
says it as it is. He's like, yeah, like his feet are
going to be dangling above his deskets. Rice, dude, I thought it
was really good because it was just like shit, like yeah, like I
did kind of break this guy, like I'm part of the this guy's collapse
to some extent. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So but like put putting
song burd on the on the actual rocket landing I haven't seen yet, Okay,
it's good one. I like that they kind of give you the level
of like you as v get to pick sort of like your feelings and motivations
on it, because you can put her on the rocket and be like I
still believe in you girl, or you could be like man like, fuck
you, fuck you dude, thing whatever, you know what, fuck it
like I've been here this long, like and and like that moment of like
her going up and like talking with Johnny before like the rocket goes up,
and then the after scene like it's it feels the most like punk of the
endings to me, where it's sort of this like I don't know, it's
a big like middle finger to everyone else involved of like just you know what,
like we fucking did it, like we made it, and like Johnny,
it's the ending where I think Johnny's maybe the most like feels good about
it, where he's like you're watching the rocket going and Johnny's like, you
know what, she fucking did it, man like, And it feels like
a big moment for Johnny of like because because he kind of talks about how,
you know, he had all these ambitions and dreams and they were cut
short and it that's kind of the theme of cyberpunk is like no one really
ever like makes it out of night City, like they always just kind of
die. And it's like, you know, Songbird kind of sucked and she
manipulated you, but you know what, somebody fucking made it. Somebody somebody
made it, and like that's kind of the vibe of that ending. Yeah,
it's like you don't necessarily feel good to play that. Yeah, it's
good. The scene with john as he's like you're just sitting in the in
the port and watching the rocket go up, and Johnny's just like, damn,
that's crazy, and uh like, oh, Johnny's like opening up.
He's just sharing a little bit of feeling something about it, and yeah,
that's it's a really it's a really good ending. But I was just like,
the one more thing, the wildest shit, or not the wildest shit,
but like one of the wild things. I'll bout that route specifically,
it's fucking shooting solemn and read in the shooting read in the head. That
was like I got chills, dude, and the music and like the it's
like he comes in like right at the end, it's I think it's raining
even raining got the ray tracing on it. But yeah, it's because you
you talk to him, talk to him, talk to him, try and
talk him down, and your only option left is either to give up songbird
or draw your gun. Yeah, and I'm like you draw your guns slow
motion, and I'm like, oh fuck, am I doing this at my
dose? And I shoot him and he's just laying dead in the rain.
I'm like, I just shot you, dre Selba, and you're like,
oh, it's a nice gun. Oh shit, Tier five plus let's go
h yeah. And then and then kind of like what you were saying Jake
about how on the other ending, he's like, I I read he's gonna
hang himself. And this one, Johnny's kind of like, let's be real,
that was probably the best outcome for Ready, Like was him kind of
going down thinking he was doing the right thing, like dying in the line
of duty. Like, yeah, that's probably what read really wanted. When
you think about it, Like, Johnny's probably right, and you're like it's
like he's dead, but like, yeah, like seeing the other endings,
I'm like, you're kind of right, Like this kind of was maybe like
the best way he could have gone out, like feeling like he was doing
what was right and not becoming like a husk of a man. Yeah,
Like john Like, yeah, that's just that's just one of the routes too.
Let's talk about the second route, because holy shit, and alien Isolation
up in Alien Isolation. God like the the even like the way it like
the robot slithers through like the vents and comes out. I was like,
okay, up, I assume you all I have played it, Like the
build up to that is what's important too, because the Max tax stuff was
cool too. Oh yeah yeah, the Max like that. That's that's that
that routes big battle scene is that you fight, have you have to?
Like, oh shit, I never encountered Max Tach. I encountered them a
couple of times, just like die in like the open world. It's a
cool way for them to like integrate that new mechanic from the police system into
the main game. Also, sorry, going way way back. Uh,
I was so bummed about Alex getting Oh she gets idiately too, and it's
kind of cool throat slit if you help, uh Songbird, she just smokes
Kurt Hanson, Oh you bad, you're just watching from the far bunch like
breaks his neck and you're like hell yeah yeah. Then after that she just
kind of disappears. Yeah that's one disappointed she'll text you oh yeah yeah,
Like okay, I missed that that ending. So it was after I gave
up Songbird to read, Like while I was waiting for read, I'd got
a text from her that it was just I don't remember exactly bad it was
from Like when I tried to check it, it was like this number is
not available, but like the gist of it was like you really fucked up.
Yeah, but yeah, like it kind of leaves it unclear of like
what happened to her, like you know, did she get her you know,
uh, the ending she wanted where she just got to go her retirement,
that her retirement, Like I hope she did, but like you don't
get like clarity on that, And that's like the consequence of betraying her.
Yeah, I guess she did because she she didn't succeed. You took it,
took Songbird. Oh yeah, I guess you could give it back,
so maybe she does. Yeah yeah. But then I was like, man,
so maybe I'll get to see more of her in the other ending and
then nope, she died. She immediately gets killed, and I was like
fuck yeah, text us and you're like I hate this ending. Yeah,
it's like you only made the first decision. You're like, I this so
yeah, when you make that decision to up like not oh yeah, to
say, to install the ice to capture a songbird. Yeah, and the
way she fights back and says, oh, oh you're betraying me, fuck
you. Then it just goes full black Wall mode. Yes, and then
you that's when you I got like the jump scare of her like in your
face, with her red eyes and she's like, oh my god, the
black Wall is taking her over. And the whole thing about that about that
route is you can't really tell if it's Songbird herself or the Black Wall taking
over her. Yes, And I think that ending does a really good job
of like showing you more of Songbird's character, like with all that's the whole
facts, and like, I think it's almost even better that you only see
that if you betray song rather than if you have right, because I think
the decisions might be easier, I guess. And that other route, had
you known that Reid was basically manipulating her, Yeah, manipulating her is not
the right word, but you know, like in Savior com I mean,
did you get into it? Like the ending choice of that route is like
do you let her die or not? Essentially okay, And like I think
them showing her her backstory and how like tragic. It is kind of like
gives you like a yeah, maybe did you kill her? I did.
I did kill her the first time because it felt like the right thing to
do, and then I was like, let her die. Let her different.
Immediately was like, oh fuck. The whole reason I did this is
so that I could get the final ending ending and I can't do that.
So I had to reload it, and you can. You can still get
the new ending. No no, not if you let her die, you
still get them. You still get the objective, Like Read will call you.
No, no, no, no, no, he called me to
talk to me like I went to because when I gave her body, I
talked to the president and it was like President said, yeah, we're not
giving you shit. Yeah yeah. The President was like night City, No
yeah, okay, okay, okay. I was like, okay, I've
locked myself out of this. Yeah okay. But like so the when you
when you side with Read and you're trying to capture Songbird, songbirdss fuck this
shit, I'm escaping and then she gets captured in my max tack because she's
categorized as a cyber psycho. Yeah, so then now the whole Read.
The whole thing with Read is like, Okay, we're going to intercept the
Max attack the Saver. You have that big max tech fight, which is
like hard. I died like twice. Yeah, it's a hard fight.
And it's cool because you get to like do a bunch of pre planning.
If you want where you can be like, all right, do we want
minds here? Do we want this? Do we want to like throw smoke?
But like that'll cut off the visibility, which like place do you want
to set up? Do you want to put turrets? And I was like
ooh, like and it was cool because like I specifically set up a thing
based around my sword build. I was like, okay, like I did
I want to I want to have Yeah, I was like, I want
mine smokes. I want to like be able to rush in. Like it
was I really like that. Like that is like they're kind of fiddling around
with ideas, which is kind of the theme of this ending is like and
both endings really it's just like they're constantly experimenting with new like team play mechanics.
They do them like once or twice and then don't come back to them.
But like that's like makes them those moments more memorable. Yeah, it's
more memorable. Oh we did this one thing, then we moved on.
Yeah, you're just like, oh, remember when we did that that was
crazy and then immediately did a different thing. Yeah, it's like that's what
makes this fancy liberty feel so like breaking away from the formula doesn't feel formula
at all. No, see you all these do these different things. And
it's speaking of like you mentioned, doing different things. So what happens is
that Songbird ends up taking control of the max Tech truck and just fucking drives
off. You got to chase it, and she rams into a wall to
like this secret underground facility tech old Militech. Yeah, olit And it turns
out I think that was the thing that Hanson was trying to break into the
whole time. So it's like and it's like where they were doing experiments on
AI as well. So they got some like real some some fucked up ship
that you don't want let now, And that's where the the horror elements come
into play. I was really like, Okay, I'm gonna fight some people
in here whatever, Like no, there's you do not shoot a single bullet.
The rest of that, the rest of that that route. So like
after the Max Sech fights, Okay, there's no more combat, but what
there is is fucking survival or just like horror, straight up horror, alien
isolation type shit. Go into this underground facility that is uh, it's Songbird
kind of taking full control of the facility. And the thing with the robot
is that that is an extension of the Black Wall taking over for her.
So you're kind of you're you're fighting against Songbird as she's losing control of herself
because that whole facility is like controlled by her. Yeah, it's kind of
thinking about it was a good they set that up with the Chimera fight at
the beginning to the chimera like you know, she took it over and then
it lost control and you had to kill it. And I was like,
oh, this was all they were setting up the end, the very beginning.
They set this up. Oh my god, so smart. So the
thing is like, Okay, I need to get to like the core of
where Songbird actually is, but to get there you have to you have to
hack a bunch of terminals to open the doors to get there, And as
you're trying to navigate this facility, you don't have a map, but you
get a you get a manual map that you can check. You have to
check, and you don't know where you are. So in this specific moment
again see your project by doing a one off thing that and execute on it.
So well, is that I'm looking at the signage You're trying to orient
my sign Yeah, that's the entrance to the thermal control or whatever. So
that means I'm here and like mapping it out and it's like, okay,
here's where you gotta go. There. There's the entire time you have this
machine stalking this big spider robot instant kills you. You can't do anything about
it, speaking sobs voice, but it's not her ye to it's like half
though. It's like a black wall Ai, like you know, taunting you,
and like it's so you can you can slowly hear the footsteps getting louder
and louder as they go into the room because you have to go into these
rooms and you have to do they use the hacking mini game. Yea,
So well, I'm like, oh, I have to use the hacking minigame
not to get euro dollars or crafting materials to fucking open the door desperately trying
to do fuck one season in that column, and then there's so many times
where I could hear the footsteps of the robots slowly as I'm like funk where
it is fifty Also like the like black Wall vision starts to like like creep
in and spin too, because it's like you're attached with the relic. And
then I was like escape, like okay, I'll get back to the term,
will hide, use my cloak. And then you watch the robots scanning
the room and I'm like in a corner, I'm like, uh fuck.
And then you hear them exit the room and like, okay, we go
hack again. You cannot fight. It is straight aba. They even like
I like where it like busts a drill through your stomach and I'm like,
that is straight up the alien isolation annibation and I love it. You see
it fucking kill you in such a visceral way. I'm like, dog,
my heart was racing. I didn't not know if I could handle this.
I was also playing it like one am Wow. I was like the full
horror experience. Man. That is it's it seems like it can be frustrating
or gimmicky. Sure, I think it's it's but it's not. It's designing
it is. I'm sure people might feel a little weird with it, like,
especially if you're not used to it. There were moments where it felt
a little too binary, where it was like, oh, but the things
on the other side of the room and its back was turned. You tell
me, I can't rip this door open. I gotta wait for it to
leave that. Oh yeah, yeah, Like I ripped the door open and
immediately, Yeah, that was a little like that happened. I guess I
get it. But at the same time, like it didn't really explain,
Like it didn't explain that I died because I was ripping the door open.
I just figured I died because I didn't time it properly. So I did
it a couple of times and then was like realized, I'm just gonna wait
and see what this thing does. And but it's so brief that like it,
yeah, it doesn't outstay it's welcome at all exactly, and it's super
effective and like what it's trying to do, and like it definitely I think
like does a better job of showing the horrors of the black wall and outside
of it than anything in the main game any like, because like I kind
of touched the reason I asked. I was like, do you guys know
what the black Wall is? Because the main game like explains it, but
it doesn't really. I feel like it doesn't do a good job of like
showing how like destructive that it would be like had that wall broken, had
something got out from it? Yeah, maybe, Like it kind of is
like this is why maybe Songbirds should also die, like like she's too far
gone, like but also like Meyers should not have this power she cannot control.
She thinks she can control it and she can use it, she cannot.
Like this thing is like yeah untamed. Yeah, it's it's fucking horrifying.
And the cool thing like especially like for the thermal one where they're like,
oh, you can't shut what you need to shut down at this computer?
You need to find like the servers. Yeah. Yeah, so I
was like hacking things and hiding and like, oh the servers on this side
of the room. Fuck, I need to go over there and like looking
for the robot. It's like okay, throw them a hack boom, Okay,
I'm good. But once you do all that, you call you confront
Songbird as she's like fucking hug well, no, no, even before that.
The whole time you're doing it, you are you birds, like memories
are bleeding in and you're seeing them, so you're singing these little moments you
see, like when she takes the oath from Rosalind. You see when like
you know, like she stay day with you, you know, read meets
her and basically says like, hey, either you're helping us or net Watch
is cracking down on you. And then you get this like real extended moment
where you kind of like get sucked in like apartment and you can see like
her as like a kid and then like growing up and like how this like
led to her getting involved? That was That was the first moment in this
game. I like a fucking cried, Like that hits so hard for me
because like the robot is the way it's set up is that the robot finally
catches up to you and it's about to kill you. And then that's when
you you you go into like her mind basically, and it's in her Brooklyn
apartment. And I didn't realize that until you like look out the window.
I'm like, oh shit, where am I. It's like, oh,
I'm in her old apartment. I guess I could kind of tell you.
Look outside. I was like, oh, this isn't a night city.
This is her old apartment that she talked about earlier early, like, oh
I miss Brooklyn. Yeah, that's where I grew up, had so many
friends. But you know that's my past life. I can't can't go back.
I wish I could, but I can't. You see those friends,
see them like hanging out with her and like throwing her birthday party. Yeah,
birthday party. They're getting drunk and she had like with this one guy.
Yeah. Yeah, it's just like got short hair. She's like a
punk kid. And then you can inspect her her apartment. You can see
the photos on the wall. Yeah, she's listening to she's listening to Samurai.
Yeah, and that's crazy. And I was looking at the pictures on
the wall and there's that that one spot in in New York where you could
see the bridge in the background with that thing, and it's it's her and
three of her friends taking a picture there. And I'm like, this is
so this just feels so real right now. Yeah, I can identify with
songbirds, so like strongly in this moment, and you look at like the
other pictures that she has, one with her mom on vacation, and I'm
like, holy shit, dude, this is a lot right now. And
I was just like yeah, and seeing all that in contrast where like where
she is now like on the verge of like just like wow, she had
she had a pretty cool life before before allowed up into the whole like Fia
and yeah, especially because at the beginning of the game, like it kind
of sweeps you into the whole like ah, like we're doing a cool spy
thing, and like, oh, it isn't being a cool spy fun?
And then like it's just like no, it really is. It actually super
sucks, which is kind of and we'll get into the ending ending, but
I feel like almost the theme of this deal scene that ending is like maybe
maybe being a normal person is actually okay, Like like you know what I
mean, this game maybe says like maybe, yeah, especially the yeah,
it's like maybe it's all it's all right to just be a face in the
crowd. That might actually be better. Yeah, yeah, So yeah,
just that whole song Bird sequence though, like especially as like you you dig
deeper, deeper, deeper into her memories, you see the apartment itself starting
to collapse from the black wall, and you just like cornered, and she
says her memories are just face and how she losing herself, like they you
have that moment where you can like comfort her or whatever, and she was
like, she's like, thanks to me, I'm going to remember this,
like this might be all I have to remember as like as I die,
I die, and as these memories are just getting wiped and it's like,
fuck, man's heartbreaking. That shit fucked me up, dude, Like and
then you see her in the thing like you said, uh like wired up,
which as you remember you mentioned like you're like, man, I wish
I could take a screenshot of this because like the imagery of it, or
I wish I could share it. I took it, share it because it's
like the imagery of it is like it's really good, man. But yeah,
so then you have the option to save her or save her save her
hand over read or if you don't. Uh, your conversation with Reid in
the car when you're pretty very different, it's very different, and it's like
it's pissed. He's like not even pissed. He's just like disappointed and like,
yeah, it's it's he's like, I could have saved her. It's
tragic because he's still convinced. He's still convinced if I just had it should
have been me. If I just had some time with her, I could
have convinced her. And it's like, no, you didn't learn anything throughout
this whole thing. And again you as v get to you can like tell
him that you could just dridably yell at his face and be like, dude,
like fucking figure it out, Like could not do anything. What really
fucking pissed me off was when you talked to Myers and you're like, you
gave her no other option. She had to do it. And she's like
there's always an option, we choose to live, not die or whatever,
and I just like, I was just like I want to like fucking blow
up your fucking car. It was like you did this, you bitch.
Yeah, oh my god, oh that's like you you hate Myers so much
in that moment, and it's just like this, why is that this game
is making me feel like so angry? Did you take the metal? No,
keeping stupid, I took the metal cop no, but I was I
did a like, oh yeah, fuck you. I guess thanks, and
then I think it was like like thank you for your service. Yeah,
and I think I told like weird. I was like, yeah, I'm
gonna sell the ship. Yeah. Yeah, that's so funny. And he's
like, yeah, do whatever you want with it. I don't give a
shit. Do what Songbird did? Y yeahs another small detail, like it's
just like oh wow, there's just so much depth to these characters. So
we've been at it for a while, but we have we have one more
thing. If you let Songbird live, then you get it doesn't matter which
troute you take. As long as she lives, you will get a final
ending, or not a final ending, but a separate ending. You ending
ties in to the events of Phantom movie were particularly read basically facilitates a cure,
like helps bring a cure for you, but there's a catch. Yeah,
so and so instead of going to our SOCCA, you like get on
medical vehicle and you like fly away and the I mean, first off,
the scene, the scene, the conversation in the as you're like watching night
City leave and you're like, you know, oh man, before that,
yeah, even before that we're like Johnny's just like you're on the rooftop talking
to him. He's pissed because he's like, this isn't how I wanted to
go out, like just like on a table like nothing, and it's like
he's just like, I want you to fucking apologize for murdering me, and
you're like fuck, man like, and like what's interesting is having like replayed
so much of twenty seventy seven before doing this. Is like you get to
a point where Johnny is like like, hey, I I will give I
will I want you to live. I will like give up my whatever I
am so you can continue living if it comes to that. But like,
but he wants you to put up a fight for exactly he wants the arisaka
going guns blazing moment and he's like, dude, this shit's fucking weak.
Like we're just gonna go go to like the government quietly. Yeah, and
like, oh, it's just it's heartbreaks, heartbreaking. Keanu Reeves is a
really good performance there on that. Yeah, that whole sequence is like incredible
performance. And I think the thing that the second time I teared up in
this game is it when he says I can forgive you. Yeah that that
that ruined me too. Yeah, man, I didn't think you would after
all of that. But then like when he sits down and he's like,
I think I can forgive you, and then your vision fades away and like
that's the last thing he says to you. And even like before that,
he's like, you know what we like, I think you know, we
weren't so different after all, or like yeah, I can respect you,
but like, man, this this shit fucking sucks. And then yeah,
you say it's like oh Kenny from you. He's like, yeah, I
guess so. And then you wake up on the table or wake up in
the bed two years later, two years later, which they don't reveal quite
yet, Yeah, comes into the room. What I love about it is
how it it starts very like, oh, the sun is shining, like
outside looks beautiful, and you're like you see the flag and the like this
is it. This is the good ending because because there is no like quote
good and I would say the closest good ending cyberpunk has is the one where
you leave with all the caldos at the end, Like that's the one that
feels the most like v you got out, but every other ending kind of
has like this like sort of like caveat to it. And at first you
feel like this is going to be like the like quote best ending for V
and they kind of set it up that way at the beginning, like you
got out, you got you were able to do it, you didn't even
have to do violence. It's always something, though, and there's always something
And I really like, did wonder if they were going to give you that,
because I feel like it would be real. It's really easy, especially
it's like a DLC to be like we'll give you like an happy ending,
We'll give you an extra super happy ending, and like I feel like,
yeah, like it would be so easy for like to give into that like
that idea, and they so I have so much respect that they said,
no, We're going to give you the saddest of all the ending depending on
how you look at it, but overall it's it's sad hopeful, but also
fu it is so it is it is just like you feel really really like
regretful. There's an at least for me, I felt like there's like so
much regret in that decision, Like you got what you wanted, but at
what cost? What cost? Because like, yeah, Reid comes into the
room and says, hey, you finally woke up, and you're like,
oh, yeah, yes Solomon, Yeah, I guess it's good to see
you, man whatever. And then you're kind of like you're like, oh,
you seem a little different, you know. Yeah, and then he's
like in a suit and everything. He's got an office job too, and
it's like it's like he that was fast, He's already back in it.
Yeah yeah wow, V tells everyone I'll be back in like a couple of
weeks. Yeah. Yeah, that's the whole thing, like most you know.
Yeah, and then so's he's talking to you, and then you basically
say to him it's like, oh, yeah, I guess I guess I'm
healed, but like tell me, like there's gotten there's a catch, right,
And he's like, yes, there's a catch. You've been out for
two years. And also you cannot use any cyberwear any more ambatwear, like
yeah, because like you still get the like you get like the basic wire,
but like that is it like your body is just like at capacity yeah
and barely walk. Yeah. Well, I mean you've been in bed for
two years yea, yeah, but yeah, there's like we got rid of
all of your cyberware and you can never never use it ever again. And
first for a character like V, who's no matter what route you choose,
who's like set up to be the cybernetic badass. You spend so much time
like building your character with your cyberlity, that is their identity, and you
take that away so you can live. And it's kind of like maybe V
was kind of like in Songbird's position, like if you take away everything that
might take away my identity and this is all I have left, then what's
the point of living? Yeah? Yeah, like I felt that's that's somberness,
the kind of like weighing V down right as you go through this like
you and then you slowly go through this heartbreaking ending you sort of starts with
the phone calls. Yeah, where you get to call all your friends,
all your friends the anime time skip and and like the first is like I
romance Judy, So I was like, all right, I got a call
of Judy. You see the text messages where it's like hey, V,
like we should do this when you get back, Hey V, We're where
have you been? It's been four months? See what's going on? And
then you see like twenty seven miss phone calls from Judy and I was like,
oh my god, and you call her and she has moved the fuck
on and it is new haircut, new haircut. She's like, I am
in Pittsburgh now I am married. And it's like like, oh, you
could just feel the oh my god, like yeah, And that's kind of
like the gist of all the different phone calls with they do a little twist
on each one, which I like, like, PanAm, you just can't
reach it. Yeah, PanAm, straight up just not like her number is
like disconnected, like she like blocked your ass, Like, but I think
is it. Mitch does send a response being like oh no again, you're
not. At the very end of the post credit thing. Mitch sends response
to being like hey, Vy, don't don't don't call like she's he's like
I understand what happened to you, But he's like, PanAm, like it
was too much for her, like don't ye, don't call, Like Carries,
where he's like the one who's like I didn't see oh oh, Carries
is interesting because far the story I called Carry and he's like on tour,
he's like doing well, and he's like but he's like very distant from you.
So he's like he's like, oh, yo, Vie, what's up?
Like, oh, I can't believe it's crazy. We should catch up.
But he's like he keeps be like hey, I'm on a fucking phone
call, like you know, he's and and and you're like trying to talk
to him. You're like, dude, like I can't use my stick where
I can't do this, and he's like not really there, he's not really
paying attention to you. He's like what was that v Like wow, Like
he's distracted, and it's like he's like, yeah, yeah, we'll definitely
catch up, and you're like, we're not catching up. No, Like
he's he's trying to be nice, but it's not catching up. And then
and then Rivers was basically like I made a really fucked up choice while you're
gone, and everything's bad now now my life is shit. And then it's
just like, well, should I come see you? And he's like I
don't want to look you in the eyes. Yeah I've done after what I've
done, and you're like god damn. And then the only one who picks
up is then like or who is like positive and I'm like, hell yeah,
Vic always in my this brief moment of like all right, we got
Vic still, the guy who was with us at the beginning, set us
up, who believed in you. He believed in the dream. We're gonna
go to Night City and we're gonna come out with Vic out. He's a
sellout. That moment that's slow, like oh, because you're like where's Misty?
Yeah, Oh what happened to the shop? Oh yeah? And like
and then he you have that conversation with him where you're you're kind of like,
oh yeah, like data tack, that's crazy. I thought you.
I thought you were always going to be like the underground rebellious type whatever.
He's like, you know, at some point he did to grow up and
you just need to like work within the system. And I'm like bring him
alcohol and he's like yeah, and and and you can kind of like be
polite or you can kind of be like you can what the fuck? Man?
Like I think even to like back it up a little bit, like
when you arrive in Night City and you have that right and you're driving through
and like looking out the windows. Also, that conversation changed depending on if
you do the Delamain Quest, yes it does, which I really like,
you get the AI Kid or whatever you get. Yeah, I did the
AI Kid once, so I got that, which is cool. But yeah
you get a c Night City and how it's changed. But like even that
hit pretty hard because I was like, like, I've played like two hundred
hours of Cyberpunk, like did all basically all the ending, so I've request
I started multiple games, done like all the other things, and like driving
through there and seeing how much things had changed like just kind of hard.
I don't know, it's just like it's so it's real. It feels so
real, feel real, Like it feels like you know, and like you
leave your hometown for a very long time and then you come back and it's
like different, it's the same, but it's not I can't put my finger
on it, like beyond just like oh yeah this shop is different or whatever.
It's not even just that, it's also that feeling that like you were
like I ran this ship, like me and my friends we were like these
are our streets, our streets, and then you go back and it's like
and like those and you're like they're like hey, like you you were tourists
and you're like, no, no, no, I'm from here. Two
years you can know, like you could if your street kid, you'd be
like, oh, yeah, I know Padre and they're like, who gives
a fuck? Full two years you ain't nobody anymore. Yeah, And you
realize that giving up your cyberware, you are now powerless in a city that
is that runs on cyberware, and you feel, I can't believe that,
you know. I was slicing fools and I had like mansis blades and shit,
and now I'm just like, yo, I can die any minute if
I'm caught in the wrong, like the wrong street or whatever. And that's
like was dead when she got punched, Like yeah, I was like,
is this how it ends? So that would have been dark? Ye,
thankfully, that's But what I like about the ending is how as sad and
dark as it is, Misty Misty shows up and she's there to like kind
of flip the situation on its head and and be like, hey, like
it feels like your life is over, but that doesn't mean your life is
over, and like, you know, you can move on and you can
do something different and like, you know, get out of the night City
entirely can get a night say entirely, and they kind of leave it up
to you, like are you gonna take that desk job from read? Are
you gonna just you know, find an apartment here? Like you know,
but it's just like you can't be who you were. You got to be
the face in the crowd now you got to become an NPC in like City.
Like you thought you were the main character, not anymore. Yeah,
and like like, yeah, Misty is such a good character to do that
with. Also, yes, agree, and like the way she talks to
you feels so real where it's like, yeah, this is a supportive friend
who kind of understands my situation. Yeah, and kind of gives you a
positive spin and something that is so depressing. Absolutely, and then they pull
back and reveal like how sickly Yeah he looks and you're like you're head shaved
and you're looking mirror when in the hospital now, because yeah, I did
that first thing I did you can look in the mirror. I was like,
what the head say, Oh I didn't do that, So that reveal
at the end of like pulling back and I was like, oh no.
And then and then you know, Misty gets in the car and V kind
of like walks away, and depending on how you feel like it can feel
either sad or hopeful, like depending on how you used to view this situation.
Which is what I love about that ending, is it It gives you
like a role playing agency and like how would my V react to this?
What does my V do? It kind of leads it up to you,
like all right, you can now imagine what your V does with this situation
they've been given. Go write your rule thirty four, not real thirty four,
sorry the other the other one. I don't know any other rule.
No, no, no, no, no, the fuck this took a
real wild turn. Yeah, I gotta write my rule thirty four about d
no the fan pick website, I forget the name. Oh yeah yeah archive
y close, but I don't know who you ask, but yeah, we'll
say my like response, Like after that conversation with Misty and she was like
you can do whatever you want, I was like, all right, I'm
finding the all decados. I'm gonna go with PanAm like that, like even
though I try, but I mean, you know, I was like,
I was like, I'm talk to me anymore. I would have wanted to
do that, but yeah, Like then you get Mitch being like don't come,
yeah, do not come? Yeah. Yeah. Those little extras they
have the little like ending credit bits where you get yeah, the voice messages.
The one with Read in particular is like where he's just like, hey,
V, like I was serious if you want to take this job,
and he's like, you know it, don't don't think of it as like
a you know he's he's like, he's like, you're doing me a favor.
And he's like he's like I can help you, V. And he
says it again yes, And I was like, you mother, he's still
doing this. She's like, he's trying to turn me into into like so
me. He's trying to replace so me with me because he's like because he
needs someone to fix yeah, and like oh, hearing that line, maybe
be like, no, I'm not going back there. I'm not taking that
job because like read, no, I'm not doing that. Like fuck that,
Like re Read is he's he's a sick man who has a problem.
Yeah, it's that. It's like consistent and the same fucking squawed person to
the very end, the very end that is at that point, at that
point and you're like you just you know, you don't like read, but
god damn is that a good character. That is a great performance and like
song sow me also just like amazing performances across the board, and just like
everything with what you said about Johnny, it's like this is this stuff is
unforgettable. Man, this is even Like I mean, we haven't talked at
all about Kurt Hanson, but I thought he was a pretty good villain too.
Like he doesn't have a lot of screen time, but I feel like
when he does show up, it's used very well, Like when he shows
up at the party and he's like he's like, yeah, your buddies out.
I know you're I know what you're up to. I know you're in
USA, Like get out of here. But then when you have that confrontation
with him as the twins too too, Yeah, I like studied their dossier,
yeah and the answers getting the right answers, and it's like, yeah,
there was one where like I kind of messed up, but I like
I like recovered it well where I was like he was like, oh,
can we like get a contact with this person? And I was like,
oh, yeah, like we're we're like closest we're tight as you know,
I think as thieves. And he's like, oh, I heard y'all some
drama and I spun as like, oh, well, you know that's just
for like the outside stuff. But like I'm like, I was like,
you you do the same thing where you act like you hate the cops,
but then you're working with them. He was like fair play, and I
was like that the right. God, the writing in that sequence and the
way kind of like webs around the different choices that you make are like,
So I'm curious, is it possible to like true even failing like what happens?
I don't know. Well, anyway, I think we've got to end
it. Other people have to use this room. That's We've been pretty exhaustive
on this discussion. But yeah, that is our Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven Phantom
Liberty spoiler cast. Let us know what you guys think in the comments below.
Obviously we all feel very strongly about it, but if you want to
know more, make sure to read Michael's review game spot ten out of ten.
Babe happened very often, and alongside this, we have a bunch of
Cyberpunk twenty seventy seven related videos going up, including something that is big.
Yes, John Luke and I and Tamore and Lucy and a bunch of people
been working on for a very long time. In fact, by the time
you're seeing this, we've already shot it. So you know, maybe there'll
be some details out about them. Yeah, maybe there'll be some details.
I don't know how much I can say and can't say, but stay tuned
for that. Excited, very excited about it. But anyway, we'll see
you next time. Peace. Thanks