2026.02.14
That was a really long session yesterday (~10h). A lot happened, the story moved forward, but it felt more like watching than participating. A lot of things were just on rails, but at least it didn't seem so obvious in the moment.
It started with meeting Panam and 'deciding' to betray Rogue or not, which felt inevitable no matter what dialogue I chose.
The fight at the gas station was OK; I got to take the lead on how to deal with them. Getting in the driver seat and then being immediately pushed over was a metaphor.
We go on a revenge mission, which seems slightly out of character for my normally sensible V, but I allowed it (could I have skipped it if I wanted to? actually not sure, not going to look it up).
Long conversation at the bar. I just recently learned romantic partners were part of this game, and I can see conversation threads for it, but my V is too busy puking and dying right now - no time for love.
We chase the target, Panam's nomad clan gets attracted to the event, and gets their ass kicked off screen. There's nothing we can do to get there sooner, or somehow warn them. Panam's heist plan was always a bit reckless, but it seems a little odd for her to be operating in her home territory and not warn them about it. Even if it was just to warn them about the EMP. She probably knew they would just stop her, so that does make some story sense.
The fight to get the target back is good. I choose how to do it, and again I am free to stealth the whole thing by myself. Despite the constant idea to hurry before reinforcements arrive, I felt like this event was scripted and it didn't matter how long it took (seems true, took my time).
I played a mostly non-lethal approach, but at the very end there's a guard with the target. I can't knock him out, and he sees me, and hears my communications. Maybe if I had thought to pack some non-kill gear, I might have had more options. I could have just left him there, but at this desperate part of the story it doesn't seem like a good idea.
Knocking people out with your gun butt just seems ridiculously old fashioned now, let alone a century from now (in an alternate timeline). Either your victim is so chromed up it's barely a scratch, or you've caused potentially serious head trauma. Even if there's a technical knockout solution in this game, the script only allows for head smashing.
The phone call to Takemura is the worst part. You can't proceed without calling him. In front of the guard and the target, and supposedly when there's a clock running. I say my destination out loud, in front of who knows what sensors might be in the room, the guard, and the target. What if I don't even want to involve Takemura at all, let alone right now. At this point your nose is being rubbed in your own lack of control. You might as well make this a cut scene.
A long conversation with Johnny might as well have been a cut scene too. At least you have some control here. It's nice that there's the option to take your pills and make him go away. But you supposedly have been taking your pills all this time? Why are you not now?
It's nice to hear Johnny's motivations directly from the man himself. It felt like a pivotal moment in your relationship with him, and in the story overall.
Load in, and finally - a new intro screen (after the usual talk show one). With a compliment from Johnny. A welcome change to the routine.
Character screen. Reputation 60%, Metamorphosis 15%, Clock's Ticking 20%. Level 29, Street 39, $321k. Skills Headhunter 35, Engineer 14. Cyberware 106/161. Attribute points 20, Perk points 18.
Weapon1 Power Revolver 3+ Overture
Weapon2 Power Sniper Rifle 3+ SPT32 GRAD
Weapon3 Knife 3+ Knife.
Finally, the last cyberpsycho is on the map. First, my new ritual of sleep, shower, coffee; got my status effects. I like having the coffee added to the list, but the time in elevator is ~24 seconds. Way too long. Maybe I need to look into the other apartment.
Random encounter in the wastes for the NCPD. Affiliation: Wraiths - haven't heard of these yet.
Another random encounter, Wraiths vs Miltech.
I appreciate the kipple mountains. Makes sense, since even the city seems to be getting overrun with it, even in the nicer areas there's a lot of junk lying around.
Last cyberpsycho... no. Now I have to 'wait for update'. Did what I could.
All kinds of weird new jobs just keep showing up in my Journal. And Wakako wants to hire me to do a hit. My V doesn't want that kind of work; hope the story doesn't railroad me into it.
My old car, a Thorton Galena 80845, is messaging me? I thought my old car was the Hella EC-D I started with. I find it in the junkyard. Feels like an ambush - I hope so. The effect is somewhat diminished by my old car floating a foot or more over the ground. Maybe if I save and reload... no.
2026.02.15 floating car.png
Well, there was a surprise, but not what I expected. Nice to see someone wanted the old car.
I could use 4 more Technical for this conversation; I want it for cyberware anyway, might as well.
Lana was a fairly innocent encounter, almost comic relief for this game.
Where to now? Off to help Panam.
I make it a long stealth mission, taking out every last one of them without raising an alarm.
Get Saul. Nice to see acknowledgement that the place is clean, and I did it myself.
Van ride, uneventful.
Dust storm, interesting.
Abandoned farm, sad.
2026.02.15
I haven't noticed any Steam achievement notifications - surely there must be some?
That's good to see, just completed "I Am The Law" (Complete all Cyberpsycho Sightings). I don't remember seeing it in game, don't know why, because it seems like the Steam overlay is working.
I'm at only 6/57 (10%) achievements in this game. I wonder how long this game is, but I'm not going to start looking at the achievements, because spoilers.
Back with Panam and Saul. More potential romance options. I save scum a few tries, mostly out of curiosity, but it doesn't seem like a great time for V to be looking for love.
At the end, before you go to sleep, Johnny makes a reference to the pretend hotel name we are staying at. This only seems to come up in one of several conversation paths. Is that the canonical path? And why does he seem so nice (and corny) all of a sudden.
2026.02.15 Independent California Motel.png
Nice prize, Overwatch, a Tier 4 Power Sniper Rifle with silencer. Was this gift customized to my character? It's exactly the upgrade I want right now.
Johnny again, in an even more sentimental mood - but this time I like how V notices and mentions it.
It would be interesting if you could summon Johnny when you want to, instead of only him coming to you. I can see why they didn't, it would be a lot of extra writing and voicework. There is already so much voicework in this game.
2026.02.15 Shoot & Ride, Johnny.png
After all that work getting Hellman, it seems right to follow up on that next. To Takemura.
Oh wait, Regina calls, first that (after visiting apartment).
I'm glad there's an acknowledgement about collecting all cyberpsychos 100% non lethal.
The reward money and XP is OK, but I was hoping for some new knowledge, ability, or access.
2026.02.15 Regina dedication.png
The stuff is a nice addition, maybe this tier 4 Pax will come in handy.
One of the constant messages I'm getting mentions Judy - who? I'll read the in-game journal before I look online.
Going through Journal entries, read Johnny's - describes him as egomaniac and narcissist. That could explain a few things.
Back to messages. The one from Panam, where V says he just helped Judy - how would Panam know Judy? Oh, ok, he does tell her who she is. Why?
OK, now I can go see Takemura. Long long setup, some character exposition.
2026.02.16 Takemura nomad.png
My Relic fails with each story mission I do. Not a single glitch for the past who knows how many weeks in-game while I've been just chasing side jobs.
Leaving the construction site, there are loot boxes scattered about. One has a very useful upgrade for my EMP grenade. Is this random? Would this always be here? Why is so much useful equipment just sitting in odd places, unsecured?
I don't know how to get into this Arasaka building, and I don't want to start a long mission now. On the way out, another upgrade for my Char grenade. Why in this construction site? There's so much free stuff scattered everywhere, to the point of immersion breaking. Reminds me of one of the worst instances I've ever seen: Deus Ex 3 you find ammo in office drawers. Actually, in Night City that wouldn't be so surprising.
2026.02.16
The Takemura mission script seems to have paused long enough for me to save. Can I just walk away and do something else? Will Goro just hang out on the bridge indefinitely? Probably, since he was waiting in Kabuki the whole time I finished collecting psychos and tarot cards.
I can't believe Panam is calling me yet again with some urgent problem. I still get to do my apartment wakeup ritual first.
There's a fast travel station in the nomad camp? Why? The game could at least pretend, and put it some distance away.
Train mission. Easy. The story choices were the only part that required any effort.
Back to Takemura. How to get in? Going through the drainage channels, taking out various gangs down there, still no obvious way in. Memory of our recon conversation doesn't help. Various ways in were mentioned, but I don't see them. Keep looking.
This is boring, going around and around the building, through industrial sites.
Maybe I could look up a small hint...
There was a van I could hijack to drive in, but that's long since gone. There's something I can climb over, but I must have missed it. Even with stealth, there's a high likelihood of having to fight. This mission doesn't even make sense unless it's a pure stealth mission. Otherwise, if the parade floats are known to be compromised before the event, they would just fix it.
Even overlooking that, all the knocked out guards will indicate something happened.
Duh, the footbridge, one of the first obvious ways in. I walked under it a few times, forgetting I could maybe drop down onto it from the construction site (that works).
I knew I was going to feel silly for looking this up, but I more feel lazy for not just replaying the recon scene. Also, there was a cat.
This is more time consuming than difficult. I will put 5 into cool so i can unlock Ninjutsu, and sprint while crouching. Might as well drop as many Perk points as I can on new unlocks, especially since it's refundable.
I think I'm stuck in here - I may have broken into the wrong Arasaka compound. Is it too late to get that van? It still spawns!
Oh yeah, this is so much better. Takemura starts talking right away on the phone, so it must be what the mission wants.
This is great, but there are so many cameras. I really regret giving up having a cyberdeck sometimes.
Still going to spec up; could use fast crouch sprint.
Knocked out everyone in the warehouse. The last one was interesting; had to bank shot a recon grenade to get him to turn around so I could quickly sneak up on him.
After leaving, Takemura sends a picture of the cat, and a message about bakeneko being able to consume and replace a human (nice story meta).
Doesn't respond to dinner conversation.
I go back into the base to see what's left of what little area I didn't explore. No one but turrets. Worth it, found a perk shard.
Relationship with Panam continues - makes sense for this V, considering the nomad connection, and he's probably a bit of a white knight (in the criminal world).
There are clothing stores? V talks to proprietor Nova like he knew her already? I like the "Not in Wardrobe" purchase button; useful. I don't like how you can't see what you're wearing while you shop, also the merchandise is hard to evaluate based on tiny thumbnails. Actually, there is a preview button, but I still feel GTA 5 did this better (and a long time ago).
Whether I buy something or not Nova asks I'm just going to leave. And when you buy something it says looted. This part of the game is very crude.
Time to go see the only ripperdoc I know and trust. It makes sense this V would stick with who he knows. I hope I can get optical camo now.
Takemura calls to say parade will soon start. Will it wait until I show up? I bet it will.
I get my tarot read again. Is it changing, or is my understanding of it changing?
Didn't know there were all these types of Sandevistan.
2026.02.19
It makes sense that male nomad V (with criminal world lawful tendencies) would romance female nomad Panam (similar alignment). Got no problem with that path, seems to fit the story just right.
But sometimes I think of my next run, a female corpo netrunner (with sociopath tendencies). Who's she going to date? Goro?
Back to Viktor. Got $392k, and 98/179 cyber capacity.
Frontal Cortex
nothing - only Kerenzikov looks good but probably wouldn't use it
Operating System
Dynalar Sandevistan 3 -> 4+
Arms
nothing here seems useful. don't want gorilla, mantis, or monowire
Face
Kiroshi Clairvoyant Optics 3+ -> 4 -> 4+
Skeleton
Bionic Joints 3 -> 3+ -> 4 -> 4+
Universal Booster 3 -> 3+ -> 4 -> 4+
{increase Tech 12 -> 15, Tech Ability License To Chrome 0 -> 3, unlock 3rd skeleton}
Kinetic Frame 4 -> 4+
Hands
Ballistic Coprocessor X
Handle Wrap 4
{perk Ambidextrous to unlock a second hand slot}
Shock Absorber 4
Nervous System
Visual Cortex Support 4
Tyrosine Injector 4
Reflex Tuner 4
Circulatory System
Blood Pump 3 -> 4
Biomonitor 4
Clutch Padding 4
Integumentary System
Subdermal Armor 3+ -> 4
Cellular Adapter 4
Legs
Lynx Paws 3+ -> 4
Cash now at 143k, cyber at 176/179. Had to skip a few upgrades, can come back when more cyber capacity.
Time to review perks. Wait a sec...if I have Driver Update and Chipware Connoisseur I can get additional stat modifiers and choose between them.
And I could have gotten optical camo?
OK, I'm deleting my last few saves and starting over.
Back to ManualSave-370 2/16/26 11:49PM
Maybe this time I'll just get a few updates instead of maxing out. I can use cash or components, and last time I ran out of components. Maybe I can use more cash, and hold off on some upgrades.
Tech
perks: Driver Update, Chip Connoisseur
Tech 12 -> 15
perk: License to Chrome, all three levels
perk: Renaissance Punk, Ambidextrous, Built Different, Lucky Day
Cool
subtract a few perks i don't know if i'm even using
Cyberware
Frontal Cortex
Operating System
Dynalar Sandevistan 4
Arms
Face
Kiroshi Clairvoyant Optics 3+ -> 4
Skeleton
Bionic Joints 3 -> 3+
Universal Booster 3 -> 3+ -> 4 -> 4+
Nervous
Visual Cortex Support 2 -> 4
Tyrosine Injector 4
Reflex Tuner 4
Circulatory
Blood Pump 3 -> 4
Integumentary
Optical Camo 4
Subdermal Armor 3+ -> 4
Cellular Adapter
Legs
Lynx Paws 3+ -> 4
The story demands... continue with Takemura. It seems the Hellman thread is stalled until I deal with that.
First, I need to get rid of this 30 second elevator ride every time I want a cup of coffee (and my daily stat bonuses).
I can't buy an apartment from my second apartment? Back to first; there it is EZestates. Corpo Plaza, 110k.
As soon as I fast travel there, some new job lands in my phone. Overly detailed, from out of nowhere. Ignore.
11 second ride.
I can live with this.
For once, there feels like real time pressure with this float parade mission (probably not, but I'll try and get into it).
Well, that was a lot. Again, all on rails. I had some choice, a moment of mercy, but not really the rest of the time. It was like a choose-your-own-adventure, with a tiny choice somewhere in the middle, but I think most pages would be the same.
Still, a mostly entertaining chapter.
Got a message that a mission failed, load an old save.
Yeah, "I'll Fly Away", talk to Mitch. Consequence?
A funeral for Scorpion. I'm not replaying the parade for this. We'll see what comes of it. Would have been worth it for the fast and easy XP.
Feel dirty for save scumming this from the past, but I was curious.
Let that be a lesson - clean up loose ends before moving the story forward.
2026.02.20
Speaking of feeling dirty for save scumming - should I go back and try and save Goro?
I think it was pre-destined and there was nothing I could do about it. We got separated, and my area seemed isolated.
Storywise it was his time to go. Something about his honor, and failing to protect his daimyo, always meant he was going to die. It was just a matter of how and when, and he seems to have found an honorable way out, after delivering his message.
Maybe if I had escaped faster it would have changed something? It shouldn't.
I am not going to look this up. I have already seen too many spoilers, and I'm finally here playing the game, so I will just play it on my own as best as possible.
I am very glad I did not look up the Odu fight. I got killed a few times, but I kept listening to Takemura's advice, and focused on keeping my distance. Firearms barely scratched him before he regenerated, so in desperation I used my knife to parry, and surprisingly it worked. Even more surprising, it was very effective in getting his health down fast.
I've been enjoying the knife more and more, and used it to get through all the guards I couldn't mug. I might lean into knives even more.
The conversations with Johnny keep getting more interesting, even though they are highly scripted and I can't really change much. I like how he started as an existential threat and now seems more and more sincere about helping you.
2026.02.20 Johnny, mikoshi.png
I can only guess at the end of the story he gets a new body, or is allowed to die. I forget which William Gibson story, but one of the characters who is a construct requests that as his payment. It would fit what we know of Johnny's personality, and his desire to set all the other constructs 'free' (which sounds like destroying them - what's the alternative, bodies for everyone?).
Another new intro scene on game startup, nice.
I wasn't going to do the hit job, but my V is feeling disoriented, and maybe a little angry, so yeah. And maybe on the way I can change my mind, or the client's mind. Or maybe something unexpected.
Switch out Overture pistol for non lethal Liberty.
I hate missions like this. Long fake car sequence, then seemingly scripted death.
Weird situation, but Johnny approved; let's go.
As far as I'm concerned, my client 'fired' me from the contract by running ahead of the job and into a bullet. So I'm free to follow the prisoner.
At the end, the conversation with Johnny at the pizza place is the most interesting part. Don't even know if the prisoner will go through with his stunt.
Do a race, not bad.
Back to the BD case. Can I even stop this? I can't resist save scumming for answers.
Seems like there's no way to stop it at this point.
At the end, Johnny is there, but I like that he says nothing.
Got a message from Mitch, as if I went to Scorpion's funeral - but I didn't.
I've got too much stuff. Cash $244k.
sell all: lmg, smg, shotgun, assault.
I haven't looked in a mirror in a while.
2026.02.20 mirror, Stop looking, Johnny.png
How long has that little joke been waiting for me? It's an obvious but good one.
2026.02.23
Can I sell all clothes? Reading. Seems like almost all clothing is an unlock that is always in your wardrobe, with the exception of out of game bonus items, and some outfits. Most people say break it down with crafting, better than selling.
Can I sell all junk? Seems so, but again better to break it down for components (and some xp).
Can I drop all my stuff outside my stash, so I can just load up on salable items? Seems like I can't drop half my weapons. Time to start disassembling and selling.
I want to just carry the 3 weapons in my 3 slots and that's it. Don't feel like swapping. Sell almost all the weapons in my stash, including lower end non-Power iconic weapons, now have $500k. Should be enough next time go to doc.
Go to Drop Point, sell all junk for $1540 (haven't gotten rid of any since beginning).
Get rid of a bunch of food and drink too. First playthroughs of any game I pick up everything; second will be more focused.
Sometimes I feel like doing main story, right now it's cleaning up the lengthening side mission list.
Start mission about mayor. I like the small silver AV - despite the fact that, like a vampire, I am the only thing not reflected in its beautiful surface.
Racing with Claire. Let her drive us home, end up crashing into walls, car blows up, I can't get out. Guess I'm not taking that way home again.
NCPD roadside job - can't resist. Why does my optical camo activate automatically when I do a takedown? I don't think it used to do that.
Reading. It's a 'skill' that activates at level 40, and I hate it. No way to shut it off without a mod? I would not use a mod on my first run of anything, unless it was a game stopping problem. Most useful recommendation is to just keep it unequipped, which is a poor solution. I'll just deal with it, until I have to change something.
I find a flare; classifies as junk - too bad it's not usable. There's a flare in the concept art, seems like it should be more important (still no flashlight, or see in dark optical modes).
I only use fast travel now, especially with keeping up my status effects. Once I've done a mission, and effects have worn off, then I'll start wandering around, maybe even getting home that way. If there's a random mission on the way, I don't think I'm missing out on my effects much.
Continue with Panam, tank sex massacre, more Relic troubles.
I have a tent here now at the Aldecaldo camp. Includes home essentials: stash, wardrobe, even a mirror.
I can also disassemble weapon mods - good, even more clutter I can get rid of, and get more components for upgrading cyberware.
2026.02.24
I'm 105 hours in. I see some Steam achievements (9/57) I did not notice happen in-game. "Completed Panam Palmer's storyline." yesterday - well, that's kind of a spoiler. Now I can't look at achievements. Steam shouldn't be telling me there's nothing more, unless the story makes it clear.
I like how the mission to investigate the mayor's death only comes up now. If this had shown up sooner in the story, when V was nobody, it would have been bad writing. Now that V's 'street cred' is much higher, it makes more sense that he's attracting higher end clientele. Is this a direct function of the street cred score? I'm going to give this game the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes it gets heavy handed, but overall the story is at least good enough quality for a movie. Hopefully by the end it will be enough for a good or even great videogame.
I Fought the Law. Interesting mission. I wonder if it will be as consequential as it feels.
On the way out stop at ripper across the street. I have a doc, but can't hurt to look. Ripper there, Nina Kraviz, and I start a conversation about something that never happened, something about her uncle, as if I was here before.
2026.02.26
Another race with Claire. Winning makes her angry. I'll regret this save scumming, but let's try the alt. Seems like following the corpo off the track has the same ending; dies either way. But it seems like my V would at least try to talk her out of it.
Ultimately, Claire is a big deal at Afterlife, and that's a place I want to stay on the good side of.
At least Claire admits she was just using me to get her revenge.
Great - another new car.
6th Ave party, win contest easily, both final options mean saying no to Gunner - whoever that is. Receive useless Smart weapon.
River Ward texted me a request to testify. Ignored until now, now it's something else.
Try mystery at No-Tell Motel. Familiar, wasn't this a place during heist with Jackie?
It's Lizzy Wizzy! Who the f is that, never heard of em.
The Cool response is very disappointing; nickel and diming is the opposite of cool.
Send info, mission over?
Outside. Message from Panam about chip in my head conversation. My only response is a short confession - seems crazy to just send text like that out into the ether, who knows who will read it. Ignore, for now.
Text from River is still there, do I want to testify. Seems wrong for V, reply negative.
River still wants me to do some other job.
Followup from Claire.
2026.02.27 Before hitting play, another achievement occurred I didn't notice in game: max street cred.
Chase the red sports car for Ward. I don't really have a fast car for chasing; I'll try a bike. I run into things. There are 2 people in the car. Follow for how long? Try shooting tires. Eventually they stop, and get out. It's like fighting 2 cyberpsychos at once, fun challenge. I keep backing off, and try to use stopped cars for cover, regenerating as I go and hoping they can't regenerate faster.
They have so many hit points... had.
Interesting back story on the car - who was Mint?
Of course, the car is mine now.
River makes it work on the back end, of course, but he mentions being off the force for now. When did that happen.
Of course, Johnny shows up for this one.
New button, Y, problem with the CrystalCoat tech, whatever that is. New job for Claire, nice that I have a car person to call.
Not a car person myself (must remember V is), but this is fun to drive. 200mph (or is it kph?) through city traffic is like butter, didn't hit anything.
Fixing car problem, learn more about Mint and her people. Sad. Well drawn (written) characters for such little text.
Cool, the car can change colors at will. Makes sense that this exists in this world, and it's a very high end option.
Off to next job. It's far but I'm still enjoying driving. This thing is so fast I think it's messing with the draw distance. NPCs are popping into existence a little late and crudely; don't think I've seen that before.
Back to Peralez. Starting to enjoy these detective style missions.
What's Guns-N-Horses? Sounds interesting, but it's probably a throwaway gag and will never come up in the game again.
Interesting coincidence that there's a Lizzy info shard here. But maybe it's just because I happened to be doing these missions back to back.
And now a connection to Judy Alvarez. Small world. Oh, so she was the source of the referral. I appreciate that little detail. I was wondering if V got the job just because of increasing reputation.
Some of these fiction shards are fun (WYSIWG).
Interesting take on corporate influence over politicians. Literal brain influence.
On my way to the meeting with Jefferson I still had a lingering doubt not to tell him, but then the bad guys decide to lean on me, making my decision clear.
Wow. Driving at night, the neon reflecting off the wet streets, I'm starting to see where all the computer resources are going.
Now I have a Mordred. I did not realize I needed to pick up a key once I released the car. After some futility, looked it up. In my defense, I read all the files, don't remember seeing you needed a key.
That's 2 shiny new cars in one day.
2026.03.01
I started listening to the soundtrack in real life but quickly stopped myself - what if there's a spoiler title ("The Death of ...") that I can't unsee. There's so much about cyberpunk in general I want to look up, but so many things link to this game now. I must be patient. You only get to play a game for the first time once.
At ripper doc, deciding on upgrades. I have 262 of Tier 4 Item Components, and 140 Tier 5. I'm getting more and more items that break down into those higher tier components, so I should be able to spend some now.
Cyberware upgrades go from 5+ to 5++? Why break the pattern now? Why not just go to 6?
That was for armor, marginal increases. Optical Camo upgrade from 5 to 5+ seems to do nothing, skip.
Several more upgrades don't increase stats, just give a little armor, don't know if worth emptying out my components for that.
Cash at 500k+, so from now on I will just break everything down for components, except for low end components. I will continue to sell low end weapons and at least get some money coming in.
I have two cars out - can I put them away? Seems not, it's automatic. So I have to wait for it to disappear.
I try out the dodgy braindance dealer. Of course it's a trap, but I have save powers, plus I doubt I would just die doing a quest (that would be interesting for a game to include that). These scavs seem to know me, and there's even an email addressed from me to them? Or is that some other Viktor.
At least this is a more realistic take on the video game trope of depriving the player of all items.
Hmm, looks like the place where we rescued a VIP and she got medivaced out.
The locker doesn't just contain an item that is all my stuff - but every single thing that was in my inventory, individually itemized. This could be a good way to drop some stuff I can't transfer to my stash, but I don't think I need that right now. Take all.
I take professional pride in doing non-lethal stealth takedowns on the entire operation, all the way to the exit. Then I pick up the HMG I found on them and start over from the beginning - these guys are murderers. I use up all 200 rounds. Uncivilized weapon.
3 more downstairs. Not hostile, but they should have known better when I stepped out of the elevator. Easy.
Not that I think this whole lethal / non lethal thing makes any difference in game, it's just my role play of this run. I wish it did matter though, and the game and the story would change to suit. This reminds me of the first level in Deus Ex, and if you took the time and effort to do it non-lethal, you'd at least be rewarded with different conversation and items. There was clearly so much effort put into Cyberpunk 2077, but about this they do not care.
It would also be nice if your clothes had some impression on people. Isn't this world supposed to be about style over substance? Whole perks work around attacks done in stylish manner, but somehow your clothes - the most stylish thing about you - doesn't count?
Back to Stefan. I am unsatisfied with the options. You get your money back, and ~2k xp; that's good. Let him go or exile and threaten, he runs either away. Might as well not even let him leave the alley. Some slight variation if I draw a weapon during conversation. Moving on.
I like this little side quest of looking for old bootlegs of Samurai events. Low stakes, but good worldbuilding.
I like Johnny more and more over time, as I'm sure it was planned. For such a heavy handedly drawn character, the subtleties are shining through. The actor behind it doesn't hurt, either. I can't see any other ending other than some redemptive death.
Off to do more work for River. If this whole game turned into a NCPD detective game, I wouldn't mind.
Locked door, wants Tech 19, I have 15. Do I want to spend 5 more points just for the Edgerunner (+50 cyberware) ability? Oh, there's a way over the fence; can put off spending points, as usual.
Why is there an artificial womb in a police station.
Reading the terminal - is this a police forensic lab, or a basic research lab? It says NCPD on the door, but it's mostly scientific research in here, with some vague connections to the police. Odd writing.
Much later, on the trail of some weird cattle cult. A large minefield - so much free XP. Sometimes you don't get XP for disarming mines if you do them too fast. I must have gone up 5 levels in Engineer and I'm not even done with the mines near the turrets.
Sometimes some of the mines I've disarmed blow up anyway. Annoying.
Disable security. As I suspected, mines are disarmed. Glad I harvested most of them first.
Interesting to be inside the police caution tape, for once. This little cult investigation was simple, but interesting.
Kold Mirage. Something seemingly important, but maybe not main story.
Or not, it leads to the dead body of our old fixer, Dex Deshawn. Why now? Why here out in the dumps?
Even bigger WTF, Rache Bartmoss in a freezer!?
Taking it to Nix and rescuing him from it seems underwhelming, especially since I have no skills in it.
{ looking back on this later, I wonder if Dex's body was always just sitting there waiting for you to come back here, and the Bartmoss body just happened to be here later - but when and how would you have even known to come back here and see Dex's body }
Before I can even leave Afterlife Dex has a job for me.
Did the basic decrypt - is that enough?
I still don't fully understand the hacking mini game.
I got 16k, seems like job done.
This dating sleepover 'mission' keeps coming up. It would be OK if it ever changed. Maybe next time try different apartment.
2026.03.03
The voice acting in this game is very good, especially considering there is so much of it. Even NPCs in the street are mostly good.
Quest list is getting short, it's been a while since I advanced the main story.
Time to call Mr. Hands.
As usual when pursuing story missions, I am blacking out and coughing up blood. Doesn't happen any other time. Would be nice if it it did, even without consequence, to just to remind me of some sense of urgency.
Matilda is tough, lots of attacks, hard to evade. But on one of several reloads, she glitches out, getting stuck, letting me whittle her down. It's cheap, but I'll take it.
I reload and try again. Very tough. Take the glitch, or look it up? I'd rather just take the glitch.
Netwatch, interesting.
Can't help but reload the other path - very interesting alternative.
But my V stays loyal to the job, so we take the path of getting used by the VDB. Let's see where that goes.
Interesting where this is going, finding a way through the black wall, a coming disaster?
Reliving Johnny's memories.
Why would some old associate, Alt Cunningham, be important to this operation... oh, she's the connection to Soulkiller. Johnny's connected to everything.
Looking for Rogue in the Atlantis...
2026.03.04
I looked up Matilda, now that I'm past that, and I am once again embarrassed. The clues were given, but I dismissed them. My handler said scan her, look for weakness. I did scan her multiple times, but did not notice some energy pack on her back, and that you can remove it to greatly weaken her. To be fair - such a thing has never been introduced in game before now.
I also did not realize I could just pick up her hammer before she does.
And worst of all, I could have just snuck right by her. I didn't even try.
Next boss fight - listen for clues.
My first game crash! Flatlined, cute.
Find out what happened to Alt Cunningham (at what point did she actually write Soulkiller?). Alt being beyond the black wall seems possible if she still has some knowledge or control of Soulkiller. Still can't see what Brigitte is looking to get out of contacting her.
Story guess: I used to think Johnny's happy ending was to be erased, but now I'm thinking at the end of all this, Johnny's engram escapes beyond the black wall to reunite with Alt, where they can live in free cyberspace forever.
We finally meet Alt, but it's not really her? Just something that... is using her engram? Just like Johnny is? But at least he thinks he's still Johnny.
The plan is to copy V out to an engram, separate it from Johnny, then put it back in me? But I'll lose my soul along the way? (and that's why the blackwall AI is called soulkiller?)
And somehow I will get Alt into Mikoshi, whereas she can not get in through cyberspace.
So... what are the Voodoo Boys getting out of this? We both wanted audience with Alt. My deal is to get her into Mikoshi so she'll fix my head, but what are VDB getting? And we don't seem to be getting along, but they have to let me go because Alt said so.
Well, they decide to treat V like a rag from the start, so who cares about them.
Johnny's dog tags (or rather, a friend's). He served in the Mexico conflict, helps explain his fighting ability.
What was Hanako's offer again? I don't think we had an actual deal set up, more of just intent to help each other with our problems.
Revenge on Adam Smasher seems inevitable in this story. And I have to involve Rogue, also seems fitting.
Act 3 flashes briefly on the screen, small and light, easy to miss. And just like that, Hanaka is calling. Why is she acting like I called her... did I?
And another one - who the heck is Songbird. So, finally I am finding out what this Dogtown is.
Clearing up calls list. Still there is an unfinished conversation with Panam about my situation. Might as well finish it, secrecy doesn't seem to be so important anymore.
And now Judy, at least she's texting, not calling.
Finally, quiet. Take stock. Level 40, Street 50. The top 3 panels in the dashboard are at 90% 60% 56%, whatever that means.
Well this is heavy handed. Go to meet Hanako, the game just halts on a big neon POINT OF NO RETURN sign.
2026.03.05 Point of No Return.tiff
Why the heck would I know in this world that if I enter this place I get locked out of all other work until done with Main Jobs.
Very crude, very immersion breaking.
It would be very cheesy to load in and try it, then back out and do other stuff. But then this whole message was very cheesy.
It puts me in an awkward spot. Going to see Hanako is exactly what I should be doing straight away, but now I have to try and guess if it's better to do all other side quests first.
Right now, I just need to go home.
2026.03.05
Parts of this story seem tacked on, and I think I can see the seams.
I had been looking at Cyberpunk TTRPG materials, and it seems Johnny Silverhand goes way back to the beginning. I don't think the current story was anywhere this developed in the beginning, and has only become this over time.
In a smaller but similar way, Songbird, Dogtown, and what I assume is the Phantom Liberty DLC. No one ever mentioned Dogtown before this, but now suddenly, it's "as you know".
The story specific parts are good, and I've been enjoying them, but they often might as well just be long cut scenes. I have very few decision points, and I don't think they change much.
How much of the game can I, or should I, finish before going to see Hanako?
What level do I need to be to defeat Adam Smasher, get everyone's engrams sorted, and finish the game? Is there any game after the main story is done?
I can't look anything up now.
I think I will putter around in the sandbox for while, then continue the story. Which doesn't make sense in the game. In the game, V should go from one potential solution to the next as his Relic slowly fails and he is aware of running out of time. But that's not what I've been doing at all. I've been taking off for weeks or months, running around doing side jobs and slowly leveling up. V shouldn't have had that luxury. He should be facing the end game at a fairly low level, without much in game experience. Which is probably not good enough, but the game doesn't really tell you how much you're going to need.
Load in, new load screen vignette, new comment from Johnny.
Get rid of old inventory, purchase upgrades. Hmm, Second Heart, sounds useful.
Doing odd jobs around the map. Also doing more driving between, instead of fast travel.
Went for long walk, impressed by large amount of pedestrian traffic; feels crowded enough for a real city. Reflections continue to be amazing, but I am always missing from them.
2026.03.06
Who the heck is Doctor Paradox? This is the weakest voice acting yet in the game. Or is this supposed to be a Saw parody?
Finally a way to end this Beat on Brat job that has been sitting in my list the whole game.
I find a cat on the boardwalk, but I think I am lost. And a locked container. I've never seen something like this in the game. It's just locked. Maybe quest item I can't touch until I can.
Can't pet the cat. Can't even scan the cat. Is the cat even there?
Confused from following the trail marker; go back around, find fight.
Everybody is here tonight. Fred, Cesar, Rhino, Vik, the twins.
I get offered to throw the fight, which is exactly something this V would not do.
Right before the boss fight, Vik gives me a clue. This is also the game telling me how to handle it, so trying to pay attention to that - it's all I got.
Vik keeps telling me to keep my guard up, and I do, but I can only take a few hits and I'm done.
Internet advice: use Sandy and gorilla. Don't want gorilla. Couldn't use healing - didn't know I could use Sandevistan.
I wouldn't have asked for internet advice, but the constant reloading is boring.
I find a hint, do strong attacks only, don't parry, keep him locked up. It works!
I don't think I would have figured that one out on my own. It feels like a cheat, but having that guy take me out in 2-3 hits is hard to work around.
Also, I popped a Black Lace. Good drug, knew I was saving that for something. Where can I get more?
Next mission: Follow River. Near the trailer park, a gratuitous San Andreas reference. Gross; do better CD Projekt Red.
We're cooking food now. I hope this isn't some dating path or something. Anyway, V could use a friend, since Jackie.
Yep, there's a dating path. Maybe for some other V, but not this one; he's got someone already. I really don't see why they don't let you mention that at the dinner table, and cut this whole thing off at the pass.
Wow, that was a lot of XP for a small social event. I think got less XP for the boxing match.
Suddenly Judy. This is a nice way to step up the urgency.
The door won't open? Reload. It's OK now.
What a shit end for Evelyn Parker. So much of this story seemed to revolve around her, and it just ends like this. This is so pointless it's realistic; I commend the writing if they meant to do this.
Next, another free car. That was a little too easy. Strange, this car doesn't have my stash. Maybe next time I reload.
Now I'm getting messages from Placide?
Random gig. Why am I only getting 12xp for a takedown? Reload; same. Is the game slowing down as I level up? They seem to be able to detect me while hidden more easily too. At least the job gives 1000xp.
Next gig, takedown xp is back to 200 or so. Ah no, it's headhunter +200, level +10. Makes more sense this way, didn't pay enough attention before (this is a long time not to notice this distinction).
Interesting new sub plot, Arasaka looking for war with Miltech. Is this just Yorinobu's doing? Or a setup for the next corpo war?
I wonder if I'll ever get to the orbital cities in this game. Maybe in the sequel.
2026.03.07
I'm still not bored enough to return to the main story, but I think I can visit Dogtown.
Read the database, it's not even a District, it's a Subdistrict.
Sounds a lot like the failed mall beach entertainment complex, but taken to another degree of dangerousness. It's got a hint of Kowloon Walled City from the real world, and from the ruins of Dubai from in-game lore.
I don't like that the in game dashboard is already mentioning things I've seen in Dogtown - very sloppy - so I might as well get over there.
Trying out new Power Revolver Crash; still using Power Sniper Rifle Overwatch, and a plain ol' Knife.
Doing 7th Hell gig. Wow, lot of cool loot in the basement, even cyberware.
Do I want to +5 Tech just to open this door? What's in here... GASH grenade, that's new, but too lethal. No, rewind.
Jack Mausser has incredible awareness, more than any other character I've even seen in the game - he immediately can tell that I walk in the room, even from behind. Is it a door based trigger?
Seems so, camo makes no difference. Can't sneak up on this situation, have to talk. The game is very heavy handed about this.
Doesn't seem to matter much that I had to fight in the club. No way to finish the job stealthy without letting him go, which V's sense of justice will not allow.
Driving. Judy calls, Ev buried.
I have an idea for a work loop - when inventory full go get upgrades, then sell and break down loot as needed.
So many ripperdocs on the map, maybe I'll visit them all.
There don't seem to be any Frontal Cortex Cyberware for me. I don't have Kerenzikov. Self-Ice seems to be useless, according to consensus.
Never looked this up until now, but seems Tier 5++ is max.
While reading that, I find there used to be differences between the ripperdocs. You'd have to visit multiple to find all cyberware, but not anymore. Seems almost a shame. I guess I don't have to go on a doc tour, but I will anyway.
I don't remember seeing Militech Apogee Sandevistan, seems like a good improvement. $118k, but it would use up my remaining cyber.
I like the ripperdoc who prefers being organic, and the one who believes a solar flare will destroy all cyberware.
OK, that's everyone.
Time to go see Judy about her new plan for Ev's old workplace.
next job: Killing In The Name
Why does this job lead me to the terminal in my first apartment? Why couldn't this be done in any apartment?
Now I have to wait. Look for side jobs on map.
Doing an NCPD assignment against some Maelstrom, always fun to take these guys apart. They have a robot - can you takedown a robot? No. Can I knife headshot it? Yes. I thought I only did half of its hp in damage, but it blew up anyway.
Knife headshot on the boss in one go, nice.
Try Panam date in first apartment. Seems mostly the same. Can stand at the window, that's different. Where did this Yellow Jacket Warrior figurine come from. Also a boxing trophy, but that one I can figure out.
2026.03.09
Going to need a few hundred more Tier 5 components to finish cyber upgrades. Don't seem to need cash for anything, so just break down everything I find, convert small components up the chain into 5s.
Wanted to put a silencer on my revolver, seemed safe enough to look that up.
Can't put a silencer on revolvers; people started complaining when this was patched out. There will be iconic weapons later, but for now I need to find a Nue and stick one on.
Coughing blood in the shower is the only reminder that there's any kind of urgency.
On the way out the door, trying to decide what to do next, Judy calls, game crashes.
You know you are playing main story when the Relic is giving you trouble. Even though I opted to sleep on the sofa my status effects are still not even 15 minutes old.
Another gig, another gun store. Got a Nue with silencer. Will have to try that out later.
2026.03.10
Been thinking about whether to continue main story, or go on to DLC (I'm assuming that the new Dogtown section is where Phantom Liberty takes place).
There are two reasons why to continue with main story (go see Hanako, and get past that point of no return message):
* In game, if you're playing V straight, he should be most concerned about his failing health and imminent death, and should proceed directly to the next solution possible without delay.
* Out of game, the main story existed for a while before the DLC came out (December 2020, September 2023) so Phantom Liberty should be held apart on at least the first playthrough.
Those reasons are good enough for me to continue the story now, but just considering the negatives anway:
* The game puts up a roadblock for a main story element (Hanako) but not the DLC, as if it's OK to go do the DLC first.
* The sandbox part of the game has no urgency at all. I'm already level 40 and could probably go to 50 just on random missions. Wouldn't it be good to be maxed out for the final challenges? I can finish my cyberware, get the best weapons possible, and practice with them for the end.
* What if the game ends when the story ends? When New Vegas ends you get a slideshow, and the story freezes there, giving you a sense of finality, but you can't go back. GTA 5 lets you play on, but even though there are things you can still do, it feels meaningless at that point. Either way, it feels like story end is game end.
* I am impatient now, and just want to get it over with. I just want to know how the story ends so I can start reading about cyberpunk in general without stumbling across spoilers. This is not a flaw with the game, but with me, but it goes here.
I think I'll finish the current Judy mission, since it seems Relic affected, and maybe the Bartmoss one.
While waiting for Judy, next mission: Send In The Clowns
What was the point of that short dumb mission. Was that somebody's in-joke? What a waste.
Judy texts, still waiting. Next job: Gary the prophet? Give him generous $. Too bad it doesn't quiet him down.
I Can See Clearly Now.
nice, a low stakes mission.
Gig: Tyger and Vulture
Sifting through a computer, an ad for Doc Paradox. Was this always here, or because I'm at this point in the story now (where he is appearing in the intro).
cyberware: get Creeping Death and Vanishing Act so i can crouch sprint while camo.
Might as well throw in Shinobi Sprint
I think I have all the Cool Perks I could want. Final tier seems interesting but unnecessary.
What's left? Maybe Body, Adrenaline Rush path. and maybe Tech Edgerunner for more cyberweare
Cool and Tech are my branches. I have 22 Attribute Points, might as well commit; max 20 in each.
I stumble across a job gone wrong, right in the middle of the street.
That's cute that Panam texts be about things in the news that I happen to be involved in.
Gig: Until Death Us Do Part
I wonder if they know they are referencing Front 242? I shouldn't be surprised.
The 'killing in the name of' reference is rather on the nose; there are many Matrix references, but this one is a deeper cut (unless it's just a reference to the original phrase, which would be disappointing).
News on the tv, Peralez won. Good for him, waiting to see where that story goes.
What can I do against drones? Can I use tech to disable?
No, but having a high Tech is useful, gets me into supply areas, and good loot.
Another 1000xp, and it was interesting enough.
How many Gigs are left?
Regina Jones 2/23 (this is above the already counted cyberpsychos?)
Wakako Okada 3/8
Dino Dinovic 3/5
Dakota Smith 0/9
Sebastian Ibarra 2/11
Muamar Reyes 1/11
and non story Jobs, are currently 12.
Back home to recharge effects.
Several times now just sleeping even for 1 hour shakes some quests loose that seem to be queued up.
Break. Reload. Weirdness, intro music got stuck, wouldn't go away. Reload.
Yep, on the elevator ride down, there's Judy.
Need to kill some time.
Job: Bullets. Random cyberpsycho, fun. Even better, I finally get to meet MaxTac. I'm sure we'll meet again.
Nice conversation with the mantis blade cop.
Interested that they rode here in a rotor craft, not an AV.
Once again, I am inside the police tape.
Could I have saved the cyberpsycho? I kind of went overboard and went to 0%, but if I can stop at 1%, will MaxTac just kill him anyway?
Oops, my knife has a bleed %, I stopped but he kept going to 0.
Next try, took more time, but Maxtac showed up quickly and finished it.
I don't much care; back to original save.
Next job, in the big park under the holo koi. So much of this city i haven't seen. All these little side quests make a nice tour of the map.
Job: Imagine
I don't think the 'real' V would put random braindances on his head from strangers, but it always seems to work out.
Nice visual to look at. This game could be more immersive if you really could load up some BDs and watch them... but, a lot of them would be pretty raunchy for even this rated R game.
Now that I've thought of it, I will be forever annoyed that you can't load in at least some token BDs while you play. You can watch TV, and learn things about the game, so why not play some minor braindances?
Oh no, more boxing quests, I was hoping we were done with that.
Job: Only Pain
Cops in an alley, beating a suspect.
Save him, let him go. What was that all about? And why would I need a 10 in Reflex just to ask him that question? Now I have to reload.
If I had to pick a third attribute, Reflex makes sense. At least it increases my crit chance. And maybe I could get into blades. Even with that, that perk tree doesn't seem that appealing.
The answer says nothing, really. Might as well keep my points.
Interesting, a followup from the incident in the clothing story. I like this kind of detail, makes the world more alive.
Next job. That's interesting, NPC gets into a car bomb situation right in front of me.
Skippy. I'm surprised this hasn't come up before.
Almost makes me want to try out tech weapons.
What does this have to do with the car bomb - was that just random?
Next job, back at El Coyoto Cojo. Raymond Chandler Evening.
That's it, just break up a bar fight. Unexpected, somewhat interesting.
I was wondering if this might turn into something more, and more seedy.
I crossed over some invisible line and failed the mission before Johnny could even get through his story.
Marriage counseling complete. Only half the usual xp, but it was different.
These Jobs seem to be all quite unique and somewhat interesting. Can't stop now, going to clean up the map.
Break up diner fight, good xp, 2k.
Next job, Gun Music. Aldecaldos dealing with Scavs.
2k xp, good. Aldecaldos probably mad at me, but they should have known better than to deal with scavs.
They leave in a huff, but don't even mention all the loot on the ground. That's a lot of guns, and worth a few bucks, but they just walk away, leaving it all for me. It only exists in the game when it matters to the story.
Panam date. It would be great if they coded it so that she knew what happened with the Aldecaldos recently, but it's not happening. The banter never changes. Same Galician Pierogies.
Another meeting with Brendon.
Wait for Judy. Proceed with hare-brained plan.
The view from the roof (55 stories) is interesting. Would be even more interesting to fly in this city.
Later, in the office, too bad I can't just shoot Maiko.
New iconic katana.
I chose the path of Maiko taking over, and probably alienating Judy forever. Judy's plan never really made sense; the dollhouse wouldn't be able to go independent.
Judy took it rather well; came around fairly quickly.
Only 500xp? Well, it didn't take much.
No relic shenanigans, but Johnny had observations.
So maybe not so much part of the major story after all.
It's nice sometimes to just wander into a NCPD sponsored event. Simple and usually fun, and a little profitable.
I stumble upon a place where I did a gig not too long ago - I had cleared the place out, and now it's infested again. I think it was Tyger then, and it is now. I'm mostly curious, but loot and xp are good. They were just there; didn't seem to be any added drama. All the same notes from the previous job were still on the computers.
2026.03.13
On the map, finish the Side Jobs first. They are yellow like main quest icons, but are not difficult, and more interesting.
Save games are taking longer and longer to write.
What is this red X on the map, don't remember seeing it before.
More meditation. I don't mind this.
Judy calls. Wetsuit? I've been wondering why they put swimming in the game. Haven't swam since that car went off the road.
Break down everything, spend all components at ripper. If I want to max out everything, 5++, I'll need about 500 more tier 5 components.
Brendan again. I like how he knows things he should not know.
More meditation. Nice chicken statue.
Back to Brendan. OK, now it gets even more interesting, he's been taken.
Oh well, short but interesting story.
Back to Gary. Give another donation.
Not much left here, off to Arroyo.
Gang fights are worth it now for the loot more than the xp.
Next job - not another random braindance. My V shouldn't touch this shit, but here we go again. It's a cartoon. And a lead. Why does V know to text Muamar Reyes about it right away?
Next job, merchant in trouble. Threaten some punks - how do they know I came back from the dead? Good xp, 2k.
Aldecaldos need help. Delivery from city.
Off to meet Judy at the lake for scuba diving.
This is not what I expected. A poignant and beautiful excursion in place and memory. Exploring the shared memories technology is really interesting too. This world is not static, the tech is changing, new possibilities are coming up, even as messed up as this world is.
This time, when the Steam achievement went by, I actually saw it on screen. I guess that's it for Judy. She was interesting, I was hoping she'd be an ongoing character.
2026.03.14 photomode_14032026_002912 Judy, lake.png
So I actually don't want to see Steam achievements if they're going to be spoilers. If I hadn't seen that, I might be thinking Judy might come back and be further part of the story. Could I have made different choices, kept her here? Not going to save scum it, not going to look it up. It's done.
2026.03.14
Back to Nomad camp, and Bob's patient, OK.
Space Oddity, briefcase, painting.
Another meditation, the last? Air.
Usually when I call my bike it rolls up to me. This time I saw it materialize in the air and fall to the ground.
Follow-up with Falco (a reference?). Receive... a jacket?
First job with Dakota Smith.
Buy a Porsche convertible, because why not. Of course, it comes with a task. A Johnny impersonator. Real Johnny likes the new car.
2026.03.14 porsche johnny .tiff
Print Screen not taking screenshots... try W+PSC...
2026.03.15
Using Steelcase keyboard, print screen makes no file, but does copy to clipboard.
Win + printscreen causes visible screen darkening for a moment, makes no file, copies to clipboard.
Win + alt + print screen gets a blue box (Game Bar?) to show for a few, no file, nothing to clipboard. There is a folder (\videos\captures) with pngs; but I don't like this way.
Maybe I'll use regular print screen for curated screen caps I can set up, and win alt for things i'm capturing in the moment (timing can be an issue).
Backfill some screen shots.
Back to game. Current level is 46; looks like I can go to 60.
Going through 'morning' ritual, getting dressed - where's my scuba outfit? Not that I need it right now, but in wardrobe I notice there's nothing in pre-made outfits at all.
Why is Skippy stuck in my backpack, and can't be transferred to stash? It still has a icon on it, bang on a yellow circle, meaning it's important. Reading... I don't have the Machine Gun quest in my list. I guess I'm just stuck with it. Interesting that the smart gun feature works even if I don't have the cyberware. I'll try it out some time.
More Jobs. Oh no, not Gary again. I'm not giving him any more money.
I can ask Misty about the Zen Master. She wants to read his tarot.
Go to Beat on the Brat, yuck its that Ozob grenade face again.
Strong attacks for the win. Thank god that grenade finally went off, and I don't have to see him again.
Drive to next gig. Try to listen to radio, realize why I don't like to, and try to shut off every radio I find - it's boring, annoying, or both.
Why is NCPD giving me bounty jobs on Miltech operations in the city? You'd think Miltech would be the stronger party in this situation, or at least bribe their way out of trouble, if not use intimidate on the local cops. Maybe this is NCPD's way of fighting back against foreign encroachment.
Multiple jobs here around someone named Alvarado, and city corruption. A note says this operation was even allowed by NCPD, so how does this now generate an NCPD bounty event?
Oh well, xp and loot.
Next job, morgue. There's an Erick Alvarado down here. More bits of a mystery I don't care about.
Next gig, steal guitar. Why so easy? Just a showcase for Johnny stories? We've already had enough of those, and his flashbacks fill in more than enough.
This only serves to highlight how old Johnny's music was, and how utterly irrelevant it should be to present day culture. Just think of a band from 50 years ago that's this important today. And it's not like Samurai was the Beatles of their time, or something. Maybe more like Jimi Hendrix. OK, so there's always going to be some diehards, but I see it as being omnipresent in this world, as if it were far more recent. Unless he's being held up as the symbol of revolution, but there's not a lot of revolution in this world.
Next gig, another Valentino gang operation.
Take another rest. Back out to next gig, a hit. At least it seems somewhat justified, if she did what she did, but it may get more complicated.
A terminal, a note - the test subjects she was getting killed were nomads? Is this setup designed to get me to do the job and not feel bad about it?
On the body, one last note to assuage any regret you might still have.
Surprised there aren't more such jobs in a game like this, or at least the opportunity for V to turn them down (has only been 1 that i can remember)
Why are there so many guards on the roof? It's not like I could approach from this direction without an air vehicle. There is some good loot, but that's all.
This was an OK mission overall; I like a job where you can take out the target only.
Next mission, blackmail. I like that you can go on the yacht, especially since it has no mission value.
Finished all Dino jobs. Go collect reward - crash, reload - it's a Quadra Bulitt. Great, another car that I'll not use.
2026.03.15 Quadra Bulitt, Guns and Horses.tiff
As featured on Guns and Horses tv show. I'm more interested in that.
Visit Vik. Get upgrades. I need 255 more Tier 5 to finish upgrades.
Filling in the last few vacant spots with whatever cyberware is useful.
Get Mechatronic Core, adds a little damage to mechanicals, and some armor.
Get Newton Module, reduce cyberware cooldown per neutralization, and some armor.
Armor is at 990 now.
Sleeping one hour will get rid of a 3x drunk status effect.
A new job (yellow circle) on the map. Oh, it's Gary again. Well, it's more interesting this time. Have to prevent some Aldecaldos from beating him up. And he has a tip on a meeting. Now it's getting interesting. I'm ready for some X-Files shenanigans.
Some time later... that's it? At least V has a chance to get meta.
2026.03.15 Johnny, Open endings suck.tiff
The meeting was behind Judy's old apartment, which reminds me I have yet to visit since she gave it to me (apparently in this town 'rent' is a one-time fee, then you own it indefinitely). I find an Iconic shotgun; too bad I have no use for it. And a Power Pistol, Death and Taxes. Sadly, not better than my stock Nue with a bunch of mods.
I still don't have the diving outfit, even though it's sitting right there in a box.
I wish I could shut these TVs off. Even the radio doesn't have an off button. There's no way I'm staying here, or even coming back.
I have 17 Attribute Points and 6 Perk Points. I have enough to completely max out one more attrib tree. Reflexes would make the most sense; at least I would get plus Crit Chance. And I could start playing with Blades now instead of waiting until next play. Blades seem more like Cool, and throwing knives seem like they should be under Reflex.
I'll get Reflex to 10 right now. Keep 10 in reserve, and put any more I get into body. That way I can decide later to max Reflex or spend more on Body.
I drop 3 perks into getting Dash, and get Style Over Substance. Crouch sprinting guaranteed crits? Sounds interesting.
Next gig, take out a creep for the Mox. I try to do one better and bring him back alive - and thankfully the game acknowledges this. I like a hit where I don't actually have to get my hands dirty.
I get another text from Judy. Just a pic of her van, being on the road.
Judy's mission might be the last one that has relic / story content. It might be time to go see Hanako. There are still lots of gigs left on the map, but the only thing I would want to finish for now is all cyberware upgrades. Just need a few more components.
2026.03.19
On the way to a gig on the map, I see a small yellow circle bang while driving. It's only on the mini map, not on the main map. How many of those are out there, and can I only find them by driving around?
The gig for Ibarra, about taking out Orta - I let him go, but the text says he killed himself. Did he, or did he fake it? This does solve the dilemma of me taking money for a hit, and letting the target go.
Next gig, I do not ask what (or who) is in the trunk. V is a professional. Except when he lets his hit jobs leave town voluntarily.
Next gig, BD investigation. I remember this spot, I found it early on, and decided to leave it alone because it might be part of some future story. Here we are.
The father and son BD editors are creepy in their banality.
The story says nothing about leaving them alone, I could just kill them? I think my V is suitably disgusted, but doesn't kill non-combatants in cold blood.
Oh, I'm just handing over the BD, I'm not investigating it myself? Considering the content, probably better this way.
Back to apartment to refresh.
Next gig. Great, another hit. Personal to the fixer. Thankfully, I can take and deliver him alive. The customer even expresses his appreciation for the opportunity. I like having options.
Ripper. Filling empty slots. Circulatory, Biomonitor (auto heal below 50%). Cyberware is mostly maxed. What few upgrades are left are very minimal increases.
I can't really think of much more I'd want to add, so I don't think I'll be needing the Edgerunner perk.
Perks. Two points left, I'll take Nerves of Tungsten-Steel and Speed Junkie.
Attrib. Ten points, I think I'll hold onto it for a while, until I want a substantial upgrade in Reflex or Body.
Next gig. If enemies are going to stand against the wall near each other, don't blame me for using non-lethal.
At least I can take the target alive. Not that Regina seems to care.
Level 50. It's time.
First stop: Rogue, for Johnny. It seems crazy to hand him the wheel without some kind of backup. Claire is right there, well... she wouldn't help against her boss. Maybe Panem or Misty... or both? Oh well, I'm being railroaded as usual. I see the need for the story, but it's still an idiot ball.
Some time later, I'm sure V knew that Johnny would take some liberties, but that was quite a bender.
Need to wait a day. And there's Panam, good timing.
I'm getting to spend a lot of time with Rogue. I wonder if she's making it out of this alive.
2026.03.20 Johnny + Rogue .tiff
Some time later... I let Grayson live, but Rogue bops him in the head. Does he live? I got the auth card.
Johnny had a Porsche. Now I have it.
Why does Johnny want to go find his body? There can't be anything left but the arm.
I like how I get to try and cheer Johnny up. It is clear V is not really going on a journey, so much as Johnny is. It's easy to think that Johnny is a just a static image on his Relic, and every time he pops up he is the same, but he seems as alive as V, and undergoing real changes.
I especially like how there's no stupid quest entry to call Rogue for Johnny. You just remember to do it or you don't.
Would it be weird to show up in a Johnny outfit? The game won't notice, but it would be cool if it did.
2026.03.20 Johnny cosplay .tiff
Might as well bring the car too.
We go to the drive-in - I remember finding it long ago and wondering what it would be used for. I never guessed it would be this. Even more interesting is that V mentions he's been here before. A pleasant surprise that this is noticed by the game.
The movie date doesn't go well for Johnny. It's odd that I feel like I'm the one steering the conversation. I can choose lots of conversation points that seem more V than Johnny. Is that on purpose? Is the game trying to tell me (the player) that these two people are merging in some way?
After that event, on the way out, I notice a small thing about the drive-in theater door - it has a lock button. I don't think I've ever seen that anywhere before.
Now we're paying a visit to old bandmate Kerry. This game isn't the story of V, it's the story of Johnny.
I was always just the chauffeur.
Getting the band back together for one last gig. Another thing I never expected. And yet it's interesting. This just keeps going on and on - not that I mind - but I don't think I'm going to see Hanako tonight.
2026.03.20
I'm glad I avoided spoilers for all these years, and I can just enjoy it as it unfolds. It will look predictable later, as all the cyberpunk tropes are checked off, but for now I'm just enjoying the twists and turns I'm presented with.
I remember Adam Smasher from the beginning of the game, and he looked like an extra large terminator with a comically human head on top. Hopefully the game will telegraph his weakness, like all the other bosses so far.
2026.03.21
Find Nancy at the Totentanz; doing a story on Maelstrom. Sounds like this will be a rescue mission.
It's been so long, I kind of forgot about Royce and Brick. Interesting nightclub. When Maelstrom is not trying to kill people, they can be fun to hang around. Too bad we have to leave so soon.
Great, why do I have to choose between Henry or Denny. Obviously Henry is the shitbag here, with the cement truck and attitude, so f that guy.
Have to kill time before music gig tonight, might as well do some work gigs.
Interesting that I'm doing a gig for Ibarra, who was hired by the nomads, specifically Dakota. If she had just asked this would have been free. Last time I helped them out in a street deal she got mad; wonder how this will go when she sees me.
Oh well, she wasn't there.
Another gig, another hit job. Great. Well, maybe I can also convince her to leave town.
I don't want to say this one was asking for it, but she couldn't take a hint. Almost like a caricature of a person.
The note on her body underlines it. Even more messages on the computer; makes it bold, with a blink tag. At least none of the 'help' has to get hurt.
Next gig, shut down a black marketer attracting unwanted attention from Militech.
Some oddities - can't grab a shopkeeper, even though hostile?
Finally get target out to car - and the car is flipped over. Still can't deposit.
Starting over.
Can't talk to Rebeca, but can take her alive. It seems (from computer notes) that she was being blackmailed, and a sympathetic character, but there was no chance to talk to her. Hopefully Rogue will find a way.
Didn't see my reward from Padre at the time. I have to go back to my first apartment, and open my stash. Why not any apartment stash? How did he transfer something directly to my stash? Why not use drop points as has been established? Makes no sense.
And the prize is Seraph, a Tier 1 pistol? It's too little, too late at this point in the game. Back into the stash it goes.
It would be nice if all the trophy spots in the stash area would tell you what was what, even if it only shows in optics view. Why do I have a wall of empty iconic weapon slots anyway? It's kind of lazy if you think about it, having the spaces available ahead of time (as if by magic), instead of them just appearing as they come in.
Johnny is sitting there, waiting to talk. Has this convo just been waiting for me to return to this location? What else have I missed because I had to come to a specific place? I'm carrying this person around in my head, it shouldn't be this crude.
OK, good, I was wondering what Johnny's reunion with Alt meant to him, and it's good to hear it, but it would have been nice to be notified about this conversation somehow.
At the gig. Take the pill. Oh, so now I can see my reflection in the mirror this one time. Again, I seem to be in control, though it's Johnny's turn. I'd kind of rather the game just steer me - it would emphasize how out of control I am in this moment.
2026.03.22 mirror .tiff
The gig was actually more fun than I thought it would be. Over fast.
At least at the end, it is acknowledged that it's time to go see Hanako.
After the meeting, several ways this could go. I might still be getting funneled into one path.
OK, now down to a binary choice. Johnny's way, or mine. Of course V will choose his way. Johnny's been getting better over time, but he's still reckless and impatient.
Misty takes me to the roof, to help decide. I remember this place; it's one of the first places I ever went to.
Across the street is a giant Relic ad. Coincidence?
I call Panam to say goodbye, subsequent conversation indicates I'll be involving her. That's not what I wanted at all.
Reload, don't call Panam - the same damn option is there anyway. Of course I want to do this myself, but the game is adding a needless complication.
Asking Johnny to do it is out of the question, so it's Arasaka or Panam.
2026.03.22 ask Panam .tiff
Now that we know where to access Mikoshi (under Arasaka building, if Hanako is to be believed), and we have Alt's help, it seems getting there is the final hurdle. If I let Hanako use me to testify against her brother, what leverage do I have for her to then help me? Absolutely none. And that's if she even goes through with her plan to out her brother. I may be offered up as a sacrifice to appease her brother instead.
Trying to think as this version of V... clearly doing it myself is the only path. It's too bad the game is making me drag Panam into this.
Even though I decided Panam, I still have one last chance to call Hanako. I wanted to try working with Hanako, but there's so much that could go wrong. She did give us the site of Mikoshi, and she seems like a better future leader. If I can help her exact justice on her brother, I'll still do that.
Go downstairs to see Misty. The cat is back. I haven't seen it since the beginning.
At the Aldecaldo camp, making plans.
I want to call Alt - why do I have to get into an ice bath? Isn't a plain old cyberdeck good enough? Maybe it's a long distance call.
There's Alt. This place seems familiar. Like an area from the flashback of the Arasaka mission Johnny went on, so long ago.
So, apparently I will be going inside Mikoshi (and will need to make choices?).
Alt is going to... integrate with the prisoners inside Mikoshi? Why? Is there something special about the prisoners? If integrating with extra humans is useful, why not do that any time over the last 50 years?
Back to the real world, and a meeting. Now I have to join the Aldecaldos? Making me have more regrets about this path (but it's the only one left).
As a merc, V is losing his independence. But the story makes it clear that this was a detour in his life. He was born a nomad and was always going to be a nomad.
As the player of this game, I resent how many choices are being made for me, even as I acknowledge that the bigger and more detailed the story is, the less choices I can have.
I am curious what the other paths (Hanako, Johnny) would lead to. Even after I finish this game, I should probably not look them up, but discover it for myself in future playthroughs.
It would be kind of sad if all 3 missions quickly converge to one big end mission, with minor dialogue choices.
2026.03.22
New intro, cool.
2026.03.22 intro Afterlife .tiff
Wait - it's past tense! As if the op went off already. Is this on purpose, or just more errors in story telling. The lingering image is of Afterlife, but it's empty and there's police tape. This feels off, like I wasn't supposed to see this yet, more than some kind of careful and subtle foreshadowing.
Also, waited a while, but no comment from Johnny. Perhaps he no longer exists (at least in my head) at the time these sad images are supposed to go by.
Still in nomad camp. Stop at ripper. Finally, I notice my new tattoo. Johnny + V 4EVAH. Cute, but I think I'm going to put Shock Absorber back in that slot.
I think there's some new cyberware to be had.
Miltech Apogee Sandevistan looks nice, but its 44 cyber capacity, and I'm maxed out. Do I want to go edgerunner for this?
Looking at my character sheet, what the heck is Fuck the System talking about? Turn who in?
Talk to everyone in camp, do some recon, get in tank.
Is there no way I could have just gone here by myself and stealthed this? Was a frontal assault really necessary? It was entertaining, at least, but I feel like it had little to do with me.
Blast through main door.
Now someone on the team is cut off and needs help. Make a choice... not really. Mitch is going to go off by himself either way. So why even pretend to give me a choice?
Stealthing up from the basement, into labs. This is my specialty. While taking apart the security, I'm thinking about what's to come. There has to be a fight to the death with Adam Smasher. Sparing Takemura's understudy should pay off in some way. And someone will betray us, or be sacrificed, or both. Betting on Saul.
And what about whatever it is that the VDB wanted?
Also, if Alt is collecting people on engrams to hoover up, who's to say she won't add me to her collection?
Slotting the shard for Alt is almost a letdown.
Ominous, that Alt is helping, by taking over the drones and killing everyone in sight. Not cool, for my non-lethal stealth roleplay. I could have handled this myself.
OK, that wraps up Saul, and Adam. Oh look, another tarot. In all the excitement, I hope I haven't missed any.
I can do this.
This suddenly makes me think of when Case was trapped in an AI constructed prison.
I can't pet the cat. Either of them.
A bullet necklace?
Johnny's already there, ahead of me.
Oh, I like that, Alt doesn't mess around, doesn't wait. Already did the surgery.
That's interesting, my body is too messed up to return to?
How is it Johnny's body now? The Relic can alter body and mind physically?
So Johnny does want to go with, and become part of Alt? Rather than just disappear?
Alt mentions the option of letting Johnny have the body, and I going with her, as if we had already discussed it. Though it is an obvious option, the conversation pathing didn't show up until now.
This V would rather live 6 months as himself, than become a cyberghost forever. Johnny doesn't seem to have an obvious preference, so he can go with Alt. Or choose the void if he wants.
OK, it's good that Johnny does have an opinion; he doesn't want me to go to cyberspace, whereas he basically already lives there and is used to it. The choice is clear. This V will live and die as V, for however long is left.
At the end, Johnny doesn't seem to have much to say. Won't even look at me. If he had something to say about this choice, I would have listened. But even he recommends this path. Into the well.
Oh good, he does say goodbye, and seems to accept what we are doing.
Wake up to a bird. Very cool, if you paid attention to the lore about the loss of the birds in this area.
I wake up with nothing, except some nomad clothes. Panam is there.
Oops, I looked at the jobs list, only one job, and its a spoiler about how I'm leaving town.
Talk to Panam, conversation quickly turns to our leaving, as if it's something we decided together already. And we're never coming back?
2026.03.23 Later, Night City .tiff
On the radio, Hanako is dead. So much for justice.
Storm coming. Arrive at meeting, I see we still have the tank (how did it survive, let alone get back here).
Checking my inventory, I still have all my cyberware. I didn't lose everything.
Check my one and only journal entry again. Whose perspective is it written from? The first half seems Johnny, then starts shifting into who knows.
So, the plan is to move south with our new ill gotten gains, build a new future. Seems like a fitting final project for V.
Going home.
Roll credits.
I like the goodbye phone messages. The one from Mitch is discordant though - he's going with us, so why is he sending a shot in the dark message like all the others?
I'll always watch the full credits the first time, but it goes on and on.
This is not quite what I expected of the end. The whole thing with Johnny wrapped up very fast, and I find myself booted out of Night city without even being asked. And it turns out that V's real enemy was Night City, all along. My V left the nomads, only to go through hell and back, to learn there's no place like home.
It was easy going most of the time, but I didn't need to make it so long by grinding out tons of levels I may not have needed. Difficulty seems to scale in this game. I think I could have easily gotten here with much less effort.
I felt like I got the very special nomad edition of this story, but now I'm really wondering what this would be like for street kid or corpo. How about for a female V? There might be some interesting new dynamics with Johnny. How about a corpo one, at that? What is that V's love interests? Where is corpo V's happy ending, if not with the nomads? Does she stay in Night City?
This whole story seemed to fit the nomad storyline very well. It's a little hard to imagine a very different path. What if corpo V decides to trust Hanako instead? What if she has to, because there is no nomad help? I'm hoping they don't shoehorn that in anyway.
Half an hour later, the credits are still rolling - mostly through localizations. It's like watching the european phone book scroll by.
I also saw some achievements roll by, I can check those soon.
I never did make it to Dog Town, despite what the game suggested at the Hanko meeting, that after this story section you'll get control back. It makes nothing but sense that you don't, because you leave Night City for good.
Now it's asian localizations scrolling by.
Normally when I finish a game I get to read anything and everything I want to about the game, but without trying those alternate storypaths, I'm not so sure I can yet.
At least next time, I can get through the game much faster.
I wouldn't dive right in, but how much of a break do I need?
I never did get my hands on an AV; that's disappointing.
Never finished the tarot.
I will try to carefully read about putting together my next build, without spoiling alternate endings. Could be difficult, and could ruin alternate story surprises. But I want to get some idea of a netrunner build. It's the only other build that sounds interesting.
An hour later, a thank you message, and choice to keep playing?
2026.03.23 Thank You For Playing .tiff
Let's find out.
Some rewards: gorilla arms (why?), Aldecaldos jacket (makes sense). Judgment tarot card (that's nice - I would otherwise not be able to add it), access token to a room on the Ebunike (wasn't this for the Porsche? I have it already), and another cyberware, Miltech Berserk (was this unavail in the main game?).
I guess I can tie up some loose ends after all, like Dogtown.
2026.03.24
I guess I'm free to do whatever, then go see Hanako again, and do endgame all over again? If so, I can finish the Phantom Liberty DLC, and probably max out my character. I can also choose a different end mission, and let Johnny drive, instead of me. This would add credibility to the choice of then letting Johnny keep the body, and I go with Alt.
This way I'll get to see two more alternate endings, and most endings for Nomad V (the ones that make sense). Then I'll be free to move on to a different V.
I wonder what was with Takemura's replacement, that he asked us to spare? Maybe that only shows up in the Hanako ending. Maybe in that ending, you can save Hanako, and maybe even get rid of Yorinobu.
Looking at achievements in Steam. The World, complete main storyline, unlocked by only 36% of players!? The Star, leave Night City with the Aldecaldos, at only 16%. Something about saving the president - oh crap, a spoiler achievement - why am I doing this. Back to the game.
Sadly the intro video doesn't seem to change.
Checking old saves, the one right before rolling credits is #938, with playtime 142h.
After I decide to 'go back' to Night City, save #939, is 138h (so the endgame was 4 hours - and a lot of that was probably me stealthing around, and talking in cyberspace).
Start working on quest list.
It's quite jarring to have Johnny just pop up again like that.
2026.03.25 hippocampus .tiff
Later, in the Badlands, there's an NCPD event right on top of my quest event? Might as well take it out, make sure it's not the same event (seems to be).
I try to drop down from the roof behind a guy, but land on his head. Either he gets knocked out or dies, or this is some kind of bug - or a feature I didn't know about.
Interesting, never really spent time where the food is grown. I assume that's what all these greenhouse looking things are. Though I think I raced through here.
2026.03.25 beautiful.tiff
Where does most of the city's power come from? Should be some reactors somewhere. I know there's a solar array, but that can't be all of it.
Another quick detour for another NCPD mission.
Another weird roadside event, some Scavs fighting some Aldecaldos - never seen Aldecaldos just being somewhere outside of camp.
I would work harder to reload and try and save them, but I doubt the game acknowledges this in any way.
Hacking game. 6 entries, buffer 7. I could stumble through this on a small scale, but at this point you can't just guess.
I put a point in Forcekill Cypher, to reduce length. Didn't seem to change anything - maybe this one is fixed. Get through it, let Johnny have his way. I get the same XP either way.
Nearby NCPD event.. on the roof? Yep.
Back down below, melee vendor in a gym. Selling an iconic knife, don't think I've noticed iconic items for sale before.
Feels good to go back in my apartment, like things can be normal again.
2026.03.25
Read database entry for Dogtown. Sounds even worse than Kowloon Walled City, more like Night City squared. Maybe cubed.
First thing, I want a new bike. I'm spending more time driving around for the immersion, and I don't need reminders of the past (Jackie's) or the future (Aldecaldo).
What is the best bike? Asking internet... of course, it's the Akira bike: Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X.
2026.03.25 kusanagi.tiff
Interesting, just walking into Dogtown gives you a bit of Relic static.
Quest says look for Songbird, but I don't even remember the intro text about this - why am I here?
I like this whole border control area; feels alive.
Cool, another tarot. There are 3 empty slots marked Phantom Liberty, and one that isn't. Uh oh, what did I miss.
Big Relic attack, and here's Songbird. Well, that's an interesting setup, but for her to just splice into the Relic requires some big explanation, other than this quick handwave.
Interesting scenario she outlines, very Escape From New York. It's been so long since I've seen it, I wonder what references I will miss, other than the main one of sending in a criminal to rescue the president from a lawless city.
Songbird offers a cure. I think we know how that will turn out, but for V it must be very tempting. That's the only thing that makes sense, because otherwise why would V just dive in like this.
Oh, I had no idea there was a new perk tree coming. Now I need to gather Relic points to use them. I wonder if I can come and go from Dogtown after this is over.
Some nice new abilities to unlock, too bad they are mostly arm based, but there are a few good stealth ones.
Using the Relic as a way to communicate with me is nice for the story, but it raises the issue of who else can shoehorn into my head. I'm getting flashbacks to Deus Ex where people were jumping into my head every 5 steps.
So basically, I have a replacement Johnny during this DLC.
Callback to Bartmos in a freezer in the Badlands, like that.
Nice scripted intro to the city. That's enough for tonight.
2025.03.26
I can already see why Phantom Liberty is popular amongst fans.
Load in, listen to new intro. Disappointed that no comment from Johnny - oh yeah, he's suppressed right now. But this is the intro message on the outside.
Weapon vendor; more iconic items.
Interesting food stalls, some have permanent boost items.
Even better is the braindance vendor. I like the shards that increase skill. Kind of makes sense in this world, that this is a way to learn something. Still sad you can't just watch some regular braindances. They let you watch TV, why not make a few short BDs to add to immersion, worldbuilding, etc.
Purchase all the skill progression shards, because what else do I have to spend my money on.
2026.03.26 braindance vendor Tsuma Ga Oji Ni Yukai Saretanode.tiff
Another gun shop. No iconics, but I see what looks like a crafting spec for one. Buy it to check it out. Not iconic, but has interesting stats; I wonder what exploding bullets are about. I already have too many pistols I'm trying out. Reload.
Found the ripperdoc. OK, definitely some new cyberware for sale here.
Wow, the Nervous item, Deep-Field Visual Interface, adds +20% crit damage, and some good crit chance. I'm maxed out, so this might be worth going Edgerunner for.
Integumentary, Chitin (lots of armor) is pretty nice too.
OS, Apogee Sandevistan (time slow 85%, + crit chance and damage) would be a nice upgrade.
Face, Kiroshi Cockatrice gives Crit Chance 30% - wow.
2026.03.27
I was just saying what do I have to spend my money on, but if I got all those upgrades now it would empty my account. I think I'll just keep going, start selling some more items for cash instead of making components, and see what I can pick up along the way.
Kurt Hansen's voice actor doesn't sound so great. Sounds more like a thirty-something out of work movie/tv actor in LA and part time bartender, than a grizzled warlord ruling a city he carved out of a larger city.
I was wondering what was in the stadium - didn't expect a giant crashed cargo drone.
To the roof. Isn't it a bit late in the game for a sudden title drop?
2026.03.27 title .tiff
I like how everyone in the city is converging on the crash site to score some loot; adds to the sense of urgency and desperation.
Speaking of voice acting, I don't like V's direction here - he sounds like he cares about Songbird and the president way too much. I haven't heard V this concerned about people he actually knows. I don't blame the voice actor himself - he's really good - but whoever told him to turn it up 3 notches.
On Space Force One. Interesting how much they know about the Konpeki Incident. They've basically got it figured it out. It's properly humbling that Jackie and I are dismissed as petty thieves who just happened to be passing through.
Found some meeting notes from 06/16/2077 - is that the current (or recent) date?
Not sure what's more annoying - that the idiot ball was handed to V, forcing him to get bitch slapped by Myers, or that she leads the charge into the next fight. I supposed this was meant to be funny or amusing?
Though, in this world, where political candidates wield weapons to appeal to their constituents, there's some sense to it.
Wait - I thought Songbird was on the plane too? Where is she dialing in from; is she in orbit?
OK, so Songbird is nearby? What was she doing in Night City? Did she take the escape pod? Why isn't this being brought up? I wonder if Songbird is really an AI. I can't look this up at this stage in the game.
I thought for sure I was receiving a Relic point in the plane - where did it go?
I now also regret not getting that extra cyberware back in town.
Sometimes the enemy can see me from a great distance and immediately - not the way it usually works. Must be scripted that way, and it's heavy handed.
President mentions the army, as she was once in it? Helps explain a few things.
She also later mentions chrome. So, that at least helps explain why she's so self-suffcient.
I get to an elevator, can't call it. Destination is below.
Nice, I can take a patrol car. Makes for an easy ride to the garage.
Show and tell in the expo hall. Songbird's commentary is turning dark and cynical - is she the mole? Is she saving the president only to deliver her somewhere else?
OK, the Chimera is kind of fun. Even after it turned on us. Though it gets tiresome after a while. We really shouldn't have been able to survive that, or at least the president shouldn't have. It just went on and on.
Even worse, after all that, where's my next Relic point? This would have been a great time to drop one.
President asks me to call So Mi again - I assume she's talking about Songbird. She has yet to be called that in game, but she assumes I know who that is, and my V seems to know it too.
Why is the name of the next quest a Sisters of Mercy song title? Did they exist in this world? Though maybe it's an older reference (can't look this sort of thing up until after, and by then I'll forget).
Oops, Johnny uses phrase "S tier", which is kind of a bit oddly specific recent slang. Our world and Cyberpunk's converged decades ago, so it'd be a mighty big coincidence for that to show up here. Though... he's from 50 years ago, but the world had already converged a lot by then.
A sudden call from Mr. Hands - or Mr. Exposition - granting me permanent passage to the Dogtown front door. And yet another car I won't drive.
Weird, find an encounter with some scavs and a car with a wheel symbol floating on it. Haven't seen that before. Job fails quickly. Reload, don't even go near it, it can wait.
So now there's fast travel kiosks? And other jobs coming in? Can I just leave Madame President on ice and do whatever? Is that why I was given gate access, to make it official?
Another weird first - I find a phone on the floor. Everyone is using phones, even me, but they are not usually shown. And there's one just sitting here, and you can't interact with it. Why now?
An ancient pay phone; somebody send a pic to 2600.
Don't really have time for airdrop encounter but let's check it out. Bhargest fighting VDB. Army wins. If I go near they will go aggro on me.
Thats enough for today.
2026.03.29
Load in to the sound of gunfire. THe above encounter is playing out again - who will win this time. I see army down here, below the platform, and they are alert, but not going up to help their own.
Easy enough to pick off the survivors and check out what's in the airdrop box.
Required playing the hacking game.
Inside: a few guns, nice but nothing special. A carrying capacity increase shard - that's new to me. A little xp and cash.
The Zenith mod is nice, adds +15 crit briefly on draw.
I think I've seen Lexington Power Pistol before, but this one comes at 5++, so that's interesting.
A bit ominous that Hansen is announcing a warning about some dangerous cyberpsycho stalking the town - surely foreshadowing meant for me personally.
Another idiot ball, Reed just sneaks up on me during a cut scene. Such a cliche.
Reed is growing on me quickly.
2026.03.29 Reed.tiff
We 3 confer, and Rosalind says Song Mi was on the flight. So where and how did she disembark?
I like that V can be honest with everyone, and just say why he took the job with Songbird. And everyone accepts that.
So this is our hideout now? And now I'm going to be doing quests to find Songbird. Interesting long term take on the problem. I guess I really will be coming and going at will.
This must be serious - suddenly my wardrobe is here.
Oh, I see, Reed is taking Myers somewhere. Makes some sense.
No wonder I noticed Smart Frames when I found this place. They were inert (and kind of spoilers) when I got here.
There's a mattress, upon which you don't sleep, but meditate? While Hanson's drone cargo blimp floats around.
2026.03.29 end meditation .tiff
Fix water pump. Did that change anything? Did it make the shower work?
Take elevator to ground - a Relic point! It's about time. Taking Sensory Protocol. Vulnerability Analytics sounds cool, but I'll need 3 more points.
And a fast travel spot right outside - something every hideout needs.
Two Relic points and a tarot on the map - these are unvisited?
A message from Reed, they're on their way out.
Our new local friends have been 'taken care of'. Sounds ominous. Am I next?
Right outside, what's all this fuss, oh another drop.
Another carrying capacity shard. And some Black Lace! I've been looking for this stuff for a while. It doesn't cost much; why is it so rare.
Finally, Panam calls about something other than the usual sleepover.
I got the loot, don't need to take down the rest of the soldiers guarding the site, but it's a point of professional pride, it's non-lethal, and I need the loot for some upgrades.
Need to sell some stuff, walk to nearest mercantile area.
A cat! And it's sitting on a railing. Can't pet it.
2026.03.29 cat.tiff
Feels very favela in here, lots of makeshift welding and wiring going on. And it keeps going up.
Drug vendor. Health +5. Grab a few temporary carrying capacity boosters, just in case I overloot again.
Every vendor is worth talking to; even BD vendor has a health booster. Great source of local lore too.
I've avoided gorilla arms all this time, not even sure why. I have some in inventory, might as well try 'em on.
Another drop site. Annoying that the participants have such long sight range, going hostile fairly quickly. THe VDB win this one.
Time to start picking them off.
Just like that, another Black Lace, but it's on the body of a civilian casualty. Makes no sense. Interesting, corpse scan says Junkie, don't think I've seen that before.
You can't grab these VDB at all. Oh well, if they don't want to take a nap...
This whole site's bugged out, there's two enemies under the ground (according to scan).
2026.04.01
Newly updated intro Hansen sounds a little more serious than before.
Dogtown has some interesting views. Feels more like a Fallout town than a Cyberpunk one.
2026.04.01 tarot .tiff
I've reached 1000 saves. I like to save. A lot.
That was weird. Get on bike, screen goes black, thought it was going to crash, comes back to me on bike, but a little further down and in a different direction, and now suddenly there's a drop point nearby. I guess the game felt it had to shoehorn that into reality just at that moment.
VDB vs Scavs. There's also another one of those wheel symbols. A quest point, in the same spot?
I can go around them, up to the drop.
There's lots of stuff to sneak around on, but this one is a tough nut to crack.
EMP grenades help break up tight knots of NPC observation path.
I know I have gate access now - does it include vehicle access? Yes, though they're kind of dramatic about it. Tested both ways.
Took gig from Hands to rescue Stella's husband from Dodger. I HATE the scripted shenanigans here. V can't contain two idiots, and let's them take the lead? Idiot ball usage kills sense of agency for some cheap laughs.
Finally I can go home to my own bed (and shower... and coffee machine).
I get to my place before Panam. I can wait on couch. This is slightly new; I am greeted at my door. Unfortunately the speech is still stale. She's impressed by this place and my new beginning - but she's been here several times now, and I've been at this for a while now.
Wait - something new, I can tell her about the FIA. I'm glad this extra conversation is here, even if it doesn't really change anything
2026.04.01 pretends .tiff
A nice way of smoothing over the fact that a whole new neighborhood was inserted into the city as a DLC, and that it was always there.
Finally an update on Madame President. She's ok, time to pursue So Mi.
A drop point, at the first location I ever saw one. But this time there's no faction fight. Just local army are there. Seems like a little too much trouble, and I don't think I need it. There's still so much work left on the map, I have little doubt I"m going to hit level 60 soon.
Mission for clinic. I could have probably handled that better. Does this affect some minor reward later? Whatever.
Mission for boxer. Surprise - he can help me sneakily takedown hostiles when I do! How has that never come up before? A welcome surprise. Especially useful since the game just pretends he's not discoverable, unless I get discovered.
2026.04.02
Did I check to see if there's anything after the new Hanson intro? Count 30... nothing. How much of a gap was there between original game and DLC... almost 3 years. When listening to characters who were in both, I try to see if there's noticeable difference. I think I can detect some, but not sure. They did a good job, and it's nice that Keanu came back to make a few extra appearances in the game. I wonder if they kept it minimal on purpose.
I get a message from American Animal Defenders, speaking as if I did some work for them, and they send money. Oh, duh. Mittens was returned to Washington, and now I'm looking for the rosefinch. I'm actually as slow as the V I am playing.
Load in at the drop point I left off at. There's about a dozen army guarding. It's tedious, but you can non-lethal the whole lot. What's in today's drop: a 5+ cyberdeck, carry +2, quickhack tier 5 x20. If these drop points respawn at a reasonable rate, I can farm for infinite equipment. I already have 100s of tier 5 and near $1M cash. I think I've maxed out my purchasing needs. Now it's a matter of final configuration.
Longshore Stacks, retrieve prototype from Scavs.
Another something new, learn a code from a terminal, and V says it out loud, like he's trying to memorize it.
I find a shard, "Night City And The Painful Return To Normality", and it feels like basic information I should have received much sooner. It is more realistic this way, that information comes in disjointed like this. Also, maybe I could have encountered this sooner, but I missed it.
Johnny shows up for the meeting with the Zetatech engineer. He doesn't show up often in Dogtown, but when he does it's been extra good.
2026.04.02 johnny no offense .tiff
More shitty story telling. I took the time to clear ALL the guards, but the story tries to force some fake drama about how we need to make a hasty retreat through some janky back exit. We could just take the elevator down, and walk out of here, and I could call a car. But the game locks the door behind us, makes it unopenable. As if we, as the player, wouldn't notice? There's a lot of really shitty heavy handed writing in this game.
It is kind of cool to look down on the Stacks from up here, but I could have done that without this forced drawbridge escape.
In the end, it was nice that there was at least something I could do for the engineer.
Wow, nice XP on this mission.
The tree in the middle of the stacks is beautiful and sad. I can't believe it's still alive (or are those just fake leaves?)
2026.04.02 johnny tree .tiff
Saving a game takes longer every time. Has been this way since the beginning, but now its up to 12 seconds.
Meeting with Alex and Reed.
I probably shouldn't be able to witness their reunion conversation, but I can, so I do.
Wow, the tree really has Johnny getting introspective. I like the way his character is learning as we go along; makes him seem more alive.
A new Hansen announcement about Scavs visiting?
Cool, I see a drop land in front of me. Scripted? Not sure, it's a regular drop site I've seen before.
At the coin shaped building, sneaking in. 2700xp for disarming... a hatch?
Once again, my ally is helping with the stealth takedowns.
That's cool, you can use a camera to view Slider, he tells you to get away from him, camera cuts off.
2026.04.03
Get to Slider. Of course he knows about my dealings with Maman Brigitte - I wish he'd tell me about them, because I still have no idea what they had to do with the story, other than shoehorning the VDB into the story. Is all this voodoo stuff in the story just because William Gibson threw a little bit into his stories? Is that all it took?
Granted, it does add a nice pseudo spiritual overlay to what would otherwise be somewhat boring computer shenanigans.
What does So Mi have to do with the Blackwall, the VDB messing with it, and how did she use it to access me? Oh, it was a shortcut, a way to connect to me.
2026.04.03 Songbird Blackwall .tiff
Poor Slider, he got in over his head. Maybe he should have been more careful.
Everything is fried out here. Why was there so much feedback, and I barely caught any of it? Because Slider took the blow for me? Uh, thanks, I guess.
Now I have to crash a party to sneak in, classic old time spy style.
Call Hands, meet later.
Investigate triple skull icon on map - extra criminal activity. What to do you know, it's army, guarding some kind of hole in the ground, or tunnel.
Oh good, there's a relic point down here. Worth the trip already.
The local boss here is not marked as ungrabbable, or able to break grab, or anything like that, but I can't seem to hold him. Oh well, too bad.
Odd, it said the boss name on a guy, but it later changed to gunner.
Then, later down the tunnel, I encounter the actual named boss.
Interesting that he seems to be still alive at the end, neutralized like a cyberpsycho.
Even more interesting, there's a boat down here (oh, we're inside a boat works).
Nice loot, even though the iconic weapon is not meant for my build.
Interesting - exit leaves me outside of Dogtown, on west coast.
I now have 999+ tier 5 components (rolled over, doesn't show more than that). Money is at $108k. But I don't think I can just stop looting - the RPG instinct is too strong.
On the Relic tree, purchase Vulnerability Analytics.
Time to go home. Call for my bike, get charged by insurance for repairs. It was only $62, so whatever, but I didn't note earlier that I had called for my bike and it appeared mid air, fell to the ground, was smoking and sparking, but still ran.
I was annoyed at the bug, but I appreciate that the game has the realism to charge me for repairs.
2026.04.04
Let's get this Johnny quest over with. Need to wait til night. Find something else to do.
status:
I want that last Relic point.
I have 4 more character levels to go.
2 more Headhunter levels to go. 6 more levels of Engineer could be useful.
Still one more tarot to find in Dogtown, and one in the main game.
Went to see the boxer, but something wrong. Can't get in to restaurant. Can't talk to server outside. Talk to Johnny about the regretful way it ended, then that's it?
Did I take too long and the game finally penalized me for it, only to do it this half assed? Reload.
OK this time I can talk to the server.
Body out back. Oh well, I knew there would be some consequences to killing the boxer's boss. Seems more stupid than sad.
Drop point lands on top of a building. There's a relic station up here! Better than a drop point. Purchase Machine Learning. Done with relic skill tree.
Crashed Trauma Team ambulance up here.
Drop: iconic Power Revolver Taigan, some other minor valuables.
Some Bhargest soldier wants some help, but wants me to do drugs with them. My V was dumb enough and/or curious enough to try dodgy braindances twice now, so what the heck.
Johnny is suitably disgusted.
Woah, this a weird trip indeed. Now I'm Hansen, at the Black Sapphire. Already worth the price of admission. Interesting way to tell this little story.
Now the convoy. Crash, reload.
Great, now I got to help these bone head thieves. I'm not wasting any favors on them... unless the game is going to reward me somehow later. It might be useful to have Barghest insiders. Maybe frame Yuri? Seems like a stretch.
I really don't want to have to reload and replay all that.
I should abandon them to their stupidity, but helpful V will try framing Yuri. Good, at least I can save and walk away from this, for now.
Killed enough time, let's go see Kerry.
We blow something up, get some heat.
Two stars, just like GTA. I'm not used to seeing that up in the corner of my HUD; I usually never attract police attention. For a game about a criminal, you hardly ever mess with the law.
Disappointing escape; ended within seconds of starting. Must've bugged.
Go diner with Kerry. Really surprised Johnny didn't follow up on this one at all; nothing.
Go to Glen apartment. Play some Roach Race. Johnny is at #10, Jackie at 8. Maybe revisit this.
Go to Megabuilding H10. There's a place to put down the Chimera core; can pick it back up. I guess that's all the use it had? I forgot about it, but the way the game kept blink tagging it, I thought for sure I could trade it in later for at least a perk point.
There's a conversation option with Johnny here, but I've seen these before (about Alt, and a little about Rogue). Maybe I restored before this point, didn't come back?
I go through all the conversation options til they go dark. Walk away, Johnny reappears. I go back and there's all the same options lit up again, like I didn't just do them. This is the game's fault, not mine.
2026.04.05 Johnny Rogue Alt .tiff
Computer, EZEstates, purchase Japantown apartment. Go, start looking for building. Get an immediate job from Wakako, which seems to be at the same building? Confusing. Forget about apartment.
More jobs for Wakako; seems only fitting, she was our first fixer.
Finish all her work, rewards is an iconic katana.... Tier 1. Useless.
I guess I should have done her jobs first. Didn't really know there was an order of difficulty with fixers, but the game doesn't usually highlight such things.
2026.04.05
Oh yeah, my new apartment in Japantown, maybe now we can check it out.
It was in that same building, but on the 5th floor. When I walk in I get the new apartment intro; must be the right place.
It invites me to soak up the view; open the shutters.
What's different here. I can burn incense. Nice little animation for that.
I can play guitar, or at least several tunes - am I channeling Johnny, or did V learn this in the past? I like the ambiguity. I play all the songs, thinking Johnny might show up. He does not.
A readable item, Melatomes; read auto parts lists to fall asleep. I could maybe use that in real life.
On my computer a brief excitement at seeing new messages, but they're the same old spam. They really could have done more here. Once again, no way to buy next apartment from here, have to go back to the first.
Another Roach Race machine. Finally knocked Johnny off the top 10.
THere's no coffee machine. I don't think I'll be back.
Gig for Kerry. Ruin concert. I don't really want to, but let's get it over with.
Tickets are $92k.
Confront UsCracks. What was the plan - just wave a gun around? Finally Johnny chimes in.
I can take a pic of them, or be in it. Why not. The game puts you in an awkward spot; hard to get a good selfie (I didn't notice I could sit down until later).
2026.04.05 Kerry Johnny Snap picture.tiff
It's amusing to leave Kerry there with his new friends.
Back to Paco and Babs. Johnny shows up to shit on it, but in the quest text he approves helping them. Which is it?
That's an interesting turn - Yuri shows up by himself to fight. Easy enough.
Reading the archived conversation; looks like Yuri and Hanson knew about the theft, and had ordered Paco's execution already. There was no hope of this plan working. I guess I should have tried to help them escape.
Using the usual fighting rules of getting someone down to 1% and only one hit more, the target is down, but still seems alive. Nomad V doesn't kill people when they're down.
Yuri could have easily made this a larger ambush, but didn't. Maybe he underestimated.
Find Paco's body. He really was kind of too dumb to live - in this place, at least.
Message Babs. At least she got out.
Wow, 3k+ xp for that. Guess it was worth a few hits from some unknown inhaler.
Another gig for Hands. Mess with some VDB? No problem.
Interesting, they are gathering cyberware for experimentation and robots.
Big bot fight.
That's a nice twist - there's a Netwatch agent infiltrating VDB. But the gig comes first.
There's an old Miltech lab under Dogtown, and groups like VDB are excavating to make money reselling.
Agent Alan Noel wants me to spare Milko so he can continue his investigation. I try various paths, hoping we can both get what we want. Johnny even appears to cast shade on the corpo. Not sure if Johny is playing the angel or devil on my shoulder (he's been both), but it adds significance.
I'm not given a diplomatic option. Got to protect the client first (and my relationship with Hands).
I get Noel's dog tag and key card to his office in the hideout. Earlier I got a key to something of Slider's. Are these places here, or in the other spa that VDB are using? At this point does it even matter?
Another 3k+ xp, good.
Strange, as I'm leaving a van full of VDB reinforcements show up. A little late, boys. I just walk away.
On the way out, a new airdrop location. A little tricky to non-lethal but doable.
Airdrops must be a big part of Bhargest economy, but do they make enough money on trade? They have no obvious source of energy, food, or water.
Still haven't looked into these wheel icon encounters.
I steal the car, El Capitan calls, delivering. Spot a new Relic on map, have to come back later.
And now I'm going on a ride with Reyes. Not really, we're just getting out of the rain.
So, this is just about car theft.
A new popup for a new game mode: Vehicle Contracts. Not really interested in this right now.
As I drive around, I recognize some places where I did missions long ago. Makes me feel like I've been playing this game for a long time (getting near 200 hours).
Go see Kerry. Of course he's with new best friends, the powerpuff girls.
2026.04.05 Kerry + UsCracks .tiff
Meet on roof. Oh no, not another romanceable moment. I was wondering what's up with the private audience up here.
Level 59.
Go meet Hasan in Stacks. Ambition, an Iconic - too bad it's a tech pistol.
Back to that relic site. Not that I really need it, but it feels like a collectible at this point.
Date night in Japantown.
Conversation paths explored long ago are lit up again, much like with Johnny back at first apartment. Guess it's part of a larger apartment conversation bug.
Bored - back to the main story. Don't need to chase xp, this will probably finish it.
Meet with Hands, get blueprint. I'm glad I could mention that I was hoping for more, but it's better than the nothing I had.
Get another Hands gig on the way to meeting Reed - I'm going to assume I have a little time to kill.
The game just keeps throwing distractions at me. Now Kerry wants to meet again. I'm only doing this because it's Johnny related.
Go to Dogtown 'apartment' to rest. Whatever happened to those two guys? I still think Reed killed them rather than pay them off.
I don't think I noticed this before, in the office: a bed that I can sleep in, and a readable from Myers. To her credit, there are anonymous payments for J & T, which is nice to see if true.
No coffee. No need to come back.
Back to Lina. Be the director, get the result. Receive LOL comments from Johnny.
2026.04.05 Lina Johnny burned fan mail .tiff
2026.04.05 Lina Johnny shit right .tiff
And nearly 7k xp.
These guys got some good quickhacks, and some skill shards.
The Kerry mission was amusing enough. I saw an achievement go by, finished Kerry storyline - damn spoiler. Maybe I should look into suppressing achievement messages.
Also, level 60 now.
Hands calls for another mission, but there's no point now. There is only tweaking my config, and the story.
Speaking of story, as I walk up to the Moth to meet Reed, I start getting Relic malfunction, right on cue, as if you, the player, needs reminding why we are doing this.
Meet with Reed, have a fit, go to boiler room safehouse, listen to his tale of being betrayed.
Great, it was Songbird that was helping in the betrayal. Do these people do anything except stab each other in the back? How does anything get done in this world? These people are going to kill V the moment he's no longer useful. I don't care how sad they might seem about betrayals past, I don't think they can change their tune.
So I need to scuba in through a shit tunnel, meet Reed at the top of the building, then we dress for a fancy event. Very 007. Except maybe the shit part.
I receive an iconic Power Pistol, Her Majesty. Built in silencer, and while camo'd 'guaranteed headshot Crits'. Can't wait to try it out.
I just noticed a tarot point on the map. It's out back. THe mission can wait a moment while I consult Misty.
Looking at my remaining points, I'm thinking Body is best bet, get Adrenaline Rush and its add ons. The boost in hp would hopefully offset what I lose if I use Edgerunner and get advanced chrome. I'll have to test it and check the numbers.
Driving away from Misty's, something odd on the street makes me stop to check it out. Lots of cop cars and bikes parked in a row. They all seem to be congregating in and around Tom's Diner, mostly just hanging out or eating. I don't know what this event is, but it's kind of fun world building, even if it's a bug.
2026.04.06
The experience points have been generous in Phantom Liberty. I didn't think I'd be maxed out before its final mission. The average gig yields 1k, but I've been seeing near fours and even a seven.
I've been hoarding my points - is it time to spend? Saving my points also has helped increase difficulty a little, as Normal has been too easy. However, that fight with the Chimera was exhausting. One of the criticisms of Phantom Liberty I've seen is that they just throw tons of bullet sponges at you, and I'm not looking forward to more of that.
I've mostly made up my mind that I want Body over Reflex. Even though Reflex should make much more sense for my stealthy sniper, further points in Reflex only offer assault rifle and smg (nope) or blades (not that interested right now), or dashing (also not that interested right now). My V is all about keeping his distance, not dashing in with a katana. Maybe on my next playthrough. The only positive about Reflex for me right now would be a 5% more Crit Chance, but that's just not as good as what Body offers.
Maxing Body would give me +30 hp, shotgun and MG (no), Blunt Weapons (no), but I can get Adrenaline Rush (+35 hp, +20% regen, and Adrenaline Rush, which acts like extra health). I can also add perks like immunity to knockdown, faster movement, and some other health enhancements.
Current stats:
Cyberware 253 (out of 338), Armor 1084.
Health 441, Regen 1%, Stamina 100, Stamina Regen 107%.
The only other thing I really want more of is Headhunter. I'm at 8k out of 21k needed to get to level 60, which gets me +15% Optical Camo charge when neutralizing.
Just found a way to see my true level of components (past 999+), while crafting. Interesting how much iconic stuff you can just craft yourself.
I really haven't paid enough attention here - haven't been upgrading my weapons. But now I have plenty of Tier 5 to do the upgrades.
Oh, nice, you can upgrade Overwatch from Tier 4 to Tier 5.
That burnt up a lot of components; now I have motive to loot more.
Body upgrade 5 -> 20. Health 479.
Perks: +3 Adrenaline Rush, Calm Mind, Juggernaut, Unstoppable Force, Pain to Gain.
Health 514.
Have 6 points left, drop it in Reflex.
Visit Dogtown ripperdocs.
Compare eyes.
Have Kiroshi Clairvoyant. Highlight enemies 19m, 10x zoom,
Kiroshi Oracle, Highlight enemies 17m, cameras 35m.
Kiroshi Cockatrice, 30 cyber, Crit Chance +30%, 10x zoom. $25k. Purchased.
Crit Chance went from 11% to 44.60%
Upgrade with components for another 2% (and +3% headshot).
Upgrade again for another 3%.
Crit Chance is now at a respectable 49.60%.
Cyberware is at 275/342. Health is at 517.
Compare skeleton.
Have: Para Bellum, 20 cy, 150 armor, +13% armor. Current armor 1084.
Or: Epimorphic Skeleton, 32 cy, 186 armor, +15% health. Try it on, armor goes 1084 -> 990, health goes from 517 -> 606.
Give up 12 cy and ~100 armor for ~90 health? I think I'll stay with the armor of Para Bellum.
Armor back at 1084, health 517, cyberware 275/342.
Compare to iconic version, Rara Avis: 36 cy, +35% armor, +40 health. $211k.
Armor now 1095 (not much +), health 560, cy 291/342.
Purchase its component upgrades (also gets +6% headshot dam multiplier)
Armor now 1135, health 557, cy 291/342.
That's ~+50 armor, +40 health, at a cost of ~15 cy. Not bad. I'll take it.
Compare integumentary.
Chitin would give +192 armor, and a Health Regen Rate of +200%! And it's only $33k.
Subdermal armor is only giving 65 armor.
Current armor is 1135, health 557, health regen bonus 1%, cy 291/342.
Purchase. Armor is now 1326, cy is 327/342 and Edgerunner costs health -98. Health Regen Bonus is only 3% - i guess these are different things? Let's ask the internet... yeah, it's not good for my build, but maybe useful for some netrunners. Skip.
Baseline: Armor 1135, Health 557, Cyberware Capacity 291/342.
Compare operating system.
Currently: Dynalar Sandevistan, 18 cyber, time by 50%, +15% crit chance, +15% crit damage, duration 9 sec, cooldown 30sec.
Versus: Militech Apogee Sandevistan 44 cyber, time by 85%, +15% headshot dam, +15% crit chance, +15% crit damage, neutralize extends duration and stamina. $118k.
net improvement: slower time, better headshot damage, extensions if you neutralize.
Component upgrades move crits from 15% -> 17% -> 20%.
Armor same, Edgerunner cost health-70, Health 487.
I think I'll keep it.
Baseline: Armor 1135, Health 487, cyber 317/342 (-70 health).
Compare nervous system.
Have: Visual Cortex Support, cy 20, Crit Chance the further max +30%, +4% headshot dam.
Compare: Deep-Field Visual Interface, cy 40, Crit Chance +90% the further, +20% Crit Damage.
I don't want to lose another 70 health. I'll pass for now.
OK, I think I'm maxed. Just as well, I'm about out of Tier 5 components.
2026.04.07 Cyberware max .tiff
I spent way more time on this than it probably needed.
I'm still finding vendors I haven't visited, and getting tiny upgrade items.
Nice little story element, Panam texts me about music.
On the news, Peralez wins. Have I heard that before? Wonder what will come of it.
Wasn't really looking for a gig, but it's Hands, and it's Brazilian intelligence, so yeah.
Attacked by random junkie, get Black Lace. I think this is the second time this has happened. They can attack me anytime they want.
Take elevator up right into a drop point.
Using the new optics I find I miss being able to see enemies through walls.
2026.04.07
I can't believe I spent all of last night's sessions just working on upgrades.
Hopefully I don't regret my choices (especially the eyes), but let's go with it.
Back to the Hands gig.
The renowned sniper, Ribakov, is tough to fight with all his zipping around.
He has an iconic weapon, a Smart Submachine Gun, which makes no sense.
Who is his target, Katya Karelina. No point sparing this guy.
Ah, Katya was impersonating Bana. I like it.
Contractor gives new orders to kill SovOil officer, but I already achieved the mission target: Bana or his chip. Katya is still an interrogator, even if she didn't kill Bana herself. It's a tight squeeze, but letting her go might still be within the spirit of the contract. She has info that would be useful to the contractor's government, even if they don't feel like listening right now. Let's try it.
I get the coords to her stash. One could probably still kill her now, and still get the loot, but nomad V is too honorable.
On the way out, Steve (the agent other than Ana) doesn't want Ana to get the biomon, just wants it delivered to drop point. OK. So both sides, everyone really, just want the 'accidental' death of Bana to just go away.
Main mission.
Find tunnel. Put on diving suit. Oh, so now, after all this time, I have a flashlight? I wonder if I can use this elsewhere when I put the suit on. I thought I tried the diving suit on before but don't remember a flashlight, maybe it's contextual.
Of course the passageway gets blocked behind me.
I wonder if my gun works underwater. Can't weapon at all underwater. Good, that means no fighting, at least.
Just realized I forgot to check Katya's stash. Through the magic of saving and reloading, I find a nice wreath and some cash. It can wait til I get back. Far more interesting - I find a Relic site just up the stairs. Later. Back to the mission.
Reed is updating me on his progress into the building. If he's doing so well, why didn't we both just go that way. OK, I need to get a gate open for him.
Thought game was glitched, stuck in camera mode, but I just need to stare at a gate to open it for Reed. An odd one-off game mechanic that has never come up til now.
More stealth as I seek to clear the path for Reed. This scenario is made for a stealth character - how do the other classes deal with this?
Yet another dumb game mode that's been forced on me. I'm manning some kind of fixed position rifle.
I shoot the wrong guard, have to start over.
This time I wait carefully for Reed's mark, but before he can finish the countdown we are discovered.
This time Reed can advance, and the patrol can walk past. Not sure what went different.
Now I have to shoot a target through a wall. I picked the wrong height and alerted guards. I don't feel like doing this again. Fight through and see what happens.
I now have a new iconic sniper rifle, Rasetsu; too bad it's Tech.
So that's it - we can just move on? The whole building isn't on alert now? Makes no sense.
I don't want to look this up online, and I don't want to do it over again.
It makes no sense either way, even if it went to plan, there would still be bodies, and there should still be an alert.
At the party, start wandering. As expected there are a lot of big names here, and lots of stories to eavesdrop on. Even Hansen himself is here. Even Johnny's snide asides are dense with world and character building.
2026.04.08 corporats and politiwhores.tiff
So that's the big plan - just get here, and wait for Songbird to contact us?
And just like that, she's above us, and you can just walk up and talk to her. A bit underwhelming.
Oh, so Songbird is dying too, like me, except from Blackwall, not Relic.
Just like that, meet Hansen. And just like that, he's gone.
Interesting that Songbird can holo with me while physically walking away with Hansen.
New MacGuffin: Neural matrix. Something recovered from under the city that Hansen controls, and Songbird thinks can cure us.
More drama from Songbird. We have to impersonate some netrunners in a deal with Hansen, then steal the thing.
Watch a lightshow. Angel, dog, spider. Performer floats away. Nice little show, actually.
Meet Reed. Thinks Songbird arranged the Space Force One crash. Makes nothing but sense.
2026.04.08 traded the president's life for access.tiff
Talk to Reed about 'personality theft' of the runners.
Now I need to gamble with the netrunners, manipulating their personalities, so we can scan them, copy them. No wonder I found a text earlier about how to play roulette.
That's enough for tonight.
2026.04.08
Reed is looking more and more like a tragic figure, caught between loyalties. Much like Takemura before, his story marks him for deletion. I know I already have plot immunity, I have to survive to the next chapter. But everyone around me is expendable.
2026.04.10
Personality imprint theft.
I should read the roulette shard again.
I couldn't find it, but turns out I don't need it. The gambling encounter was easy enough. Fun visit from the Colonel as a nice bonus. He really is a businessman.
I cash out 80 chips.
Of course, Lizzy is here. Amikiri Sound Cutter. Now I'm on team LizWiz.
There's a cat.
There's Hands, who doesn't want to be seen together, warning me that they're aware somebody took out guards. Could I have avoided this with a cleaner entry? Could I have avoided Reed getting taken (somewhere) and meeting Hansen again?
One of the guests notices the contraption on my head. I can't take it off.
Johnny leads me aside to make a comment about Wendy O. Williams.
Exit, confrontation with guards about those lost. Was there a way to do this non-lethal? Was it always going to go this way?
Alyx dropped off something at my apartment in Little China.
First, Katja's stash. Get wreath, $17500, and that nearby Relic point.
It's dark down here, let's test the wet suit headlight. No.
How about the Compact Technosight With Phosphor Insert, that says flashlights are so passe? No. You only get a flashlight when the game wants you to have one.
To Chinatown apt. There's a new readable on the sofa.
"Bootleg BD From Lizzy Wizzy's Black Sapphire Show". Was this the light show that I saw?
Play braindance. Oh, I didn't realize it was Lizzy's show. And there's that thing on her head, that got stuck on my head. Of course, it's a static BD - can't pause, can't examine the environment.
Reed calls. Off to Longshore Stacks.
Meeting. Just sitting there is an iconic Power Sniper Rifle, NDI Osprey. Not stealthy enough, but I'm still taking it.
Songbird has some nastiness from over the Blackwall - what if she's been compromised by an AI in some way? Maybe not with a Relic like me, but some kind of blackmail.
The neural matrix has an old (2045) AI canned inside, that could supposedly help us?
Kidnap twins, Alex and I take their place - Alex is going to deal with Hansen while I get the goods. When it's time to get out, Alex will take out Hansen, Reed will help with our escape.
Look around hideout, various points of conversations, and some readables. Learn of criminal activity, adds some more triple skull encounters to my map.
I head out for the kidnapping job, and now Songbird wants to meet, later tonight? While we're trying to bust her out? Is this timed for this mission, or should this have triggered by walking around outside - which I haven't been doing much of lately.
OK, meeting. At least Songbird admits to betraying Myers. And V confronts her about all the people she got killed.
Songbird sure tries to paint her situation as sympathetic, does a pretty good job.
She has a counterproposal to the plan - I ditch the FIA agents, don't hand her back to NUSA, and help her escape. She'll then help me remotely.
And then she has the nerve to ask if I trust her.
The most honest response is "Wanna survive, just like you do."
I report to Reed, but he doesn't want to talk about it over the phone.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, message from that Brazilian agent, asking if Katya's dead. That contract was closed, I don't have time for this; ignore.
Next relay. Annoying kid. Seemingly immune to grenades.
At the Moth, drinking with Alex. Answer: I would still be a nomad with the Bakkers.
A chance to dance with Alex - this V is taken. Time to go.
Reed calls, says I need new chrome for the impersonation. I wonder what I'll be losing.
Another text from Songbird; more sympathy farming. She gets less trustworthy by the minute.
To the clinic, good to see Reed there, and that we can talk about So Mi.
Interesting, Reed wants to help her escape, knowing that Myers will order her death or imprisonment. Reed is more interested in this path than I was when meeting her, and yet she wanted to talk to me.
I can tell Reed that this was her plan all along, to escape NUSA justice.
Reed wants to give me an icebreaker to capture So Mi when she's vulnerable, when we're both jacked in to the mainframe. I like that you can suggest they just talk, but Reed wants to bag her first.
Face implant. Nice body horror with the surgery.
Why does Johnny think I've chosen a traitor's path? I haven't decided anything. And I didn't take an oath to NUSA or the FIA.
I like how Johnny has strong feelings about this, but if he had to decide, he wouldn't know what to do either.
New Face cyberwear, Behavioral Imprint-Synced Faceplate. It doesn't remove any old slot, just adds a new one.
The FIA guys execute the netrunners. My V's reaction should be... appalled. And increasingly concerned that this will be his fate when the FIA are done with him.
I like that the extra conversation I listened to in the car pays off here, in the form of an extra file. New job: Slider's stash.
Wow, 27k xp. Not that I have any use for it. Maybe next time do this DLC sooner.
A rare popup, the kind usually reserved for new (to me) game mechanic instruction. The list of attributes reads like something that will be on the quiz.
Deposit weapons.
They have another Chimera. Don't want to deal with another one of those.
Long conversation with Hansen. Passed.
Follow So Mi. Her plan is to turn the security system hostile. Many will die, again V does not like this.
Wow, game just says it outright - BETRAY Reed or BETRAY Songbird.
2026.04.11 BETRAY .tiff
There is no clear choice, but who would Nomad V choose? A bullet from Reed when he's captured Songbird, or risk So Mi running off without helping me? Reed is the weaker choice here. Nomad V chooses Songbird.
Alex takes out Hansen quickly (impressive), screams when she realizes we are leaving without her (I'm sure she'll get out OK).
I look around, find weapons. Mostly power weapons. I wonder if it's tailored to the player.
Fighting our way out, hit Headhunter level 60.
Before long, get my gear back.
I'm sure we will have to deal with the FIA officers again soon.
Fighting our way out through stadium. Lots of dead civilians. Starting to regret this path. Would going with Reed have caused less casualties? I see the way those FIA ice people like it's nothing - at least with Songbird there's a chance.
Just like that, we're out.
Message from Steven Santos. Who? Oh, Brazilians. Ana got fired, good. Get a bit of cash. That's it.
I've never been out to the end of this pier. It's nice. Except for someone crying, named Angie. Unusual to find an NPC with their name floating over their head. Can't talk to her. Maybe it will come up in some quest.
Reed calls, kind of angry. Now he's calling Songbird a traitor. Was his notion of helping her escape always just bullshit? Seems even more likely, now.
I keep hitting skip time, waiting for a call.
I drive back to Dogtown - what is there to see?
They let me through the gate. Screening passed. Inside, some infighting, but mostly normal.
Doing a job for Hands. Have to get to a DA in Heavy Hearts.
Find an iconic smart pistol, Crimestopper, but it's only tier 1.
Nice to see some comments from NPCs about the new lack of Hansen.
That's weird. Some army, with a bunch of readable text around them.
Ah, some citizens are rebelling, and the game wants me to know about it.
Back to Hands and the Maldonado contract. How did a mere $2k cover hiring a merc to threaten a DA? Seems like a ridiculous bargain. And then another $6k from hands. That's more likely, but still this is an oddly structured payout. And the mission is almost designed to piss you off.
Bunch of people around Hansen's building. Most people seem to miss the order he brought about. Will BHARGEST recognize me? No.
There's an announcement running about Hansen's death. It keeps repeating.
What's going on in the stadium. It's just as busy as ever, maybe more so.
Oddly, an HMG I picked up and dropped here is still here.
Weapon vendors are back. Visit Herold, there's a lot of iconic weapons for sale. Not sure if these were here before.
Other than a few random conversations, it's like nothing ever happened in the stadium.
It's a bit of a reset button, which always means your choices don't matter.
Tired of waiting for Songbird. Enough for today.
2026.04.11
I keep thinking about the decision on who to betray, and how to square it with my current roleplay. The game forces you into a very narrow binary decision. Sometimes it lets you find a third way, to please all parties, but not this time, and it bothers me.
Songbird 'hired' V for the SF1 mission, with the payment offer of Relic help. V accepted. V is a merc, and considers himself one of the best. A good merc always fulfills the contract. Preferably to the letter of the contract, but if not, at least to the spirit of it. A good merc, having been bought, stays bought, and never betrays their client or fixer.
Songbird was always the client. Reed and company came later, inserted themselves into the flow, tried to co-opt the job - but they were never the client.
NUSA and the FIA were good allies for V against Hansen, as long as their paths overlapped on rescuing Songbird. What happens afterwards is the question, further complicated because all parties have been proven to be untrustworthy. Songbird is always playing a few steps ahead, playing all sides, and doesn't care too much who gets hurt along the way. NUSA is just as bad, if not worse, in that they seem to have a betrayal fetish. They are constantly backstabbing and screwing over each other, and have no problem killing anyone who is inconvenient.
I think my Nomad V, in this situation, was letting himself get swept up in becoming an FIA officer, and was starting to trust them. Reed was saying the right things, about only wanting to save Song Mi, get her to safety, and let her work on the Relic cure. But seeing Reed and Alex execute the twins was a wakeup call. The FIA are not your friends, they are not on your side, and most important of all - they were never the client.
This is vindicated in Reed's call after the operation, where he indicates Songbird needs to be brought to justice. If he was sincere about his previous claims, he should be still willing to help her get to safety, not trying to bring her in. An imprisoned Songbird is going to be put back to work for NUSA as a weapon or lab experiment, and probably not be allowed to work on a cure for herself, or at least not me.
Now, back to waiting for Songbird's call. This is not over. And yet no matter how it goes, it can't change anything, because this is just a DLC and it can't alter the main plot. It would be cool if it could, but this game doesn't indicate such effort.
Heading for Slider's stash. A drop pod, guarded by VDB fighting Bhargest fighting Bhargest. What a fun mess, getting in on this one.
Slider's stash: Power Pistol, Iconic, named Rook. But it's Tier 1.
Look at Rook in my inventory, now it's Tier 5+.
Finally, Songbird. Sounds like shit. But sometimes V does too.
The black clinic is on the moon. Too bad I can't go with.
Time to sneak into the spaceport.
Sneaking through construction site. Why can't I not grab NPCs from behind? I find a baton. I can't attack either, so it's consistent.
We're on the roof. I may not get to the moon, but I'm hoping to see the launch.
I can't believe Myers herself would come here. Why?
Says my id was scanned on the way in - was there some other way I could have gotten in?
How did Pres get here so fast? Must have been nearby.
Myers sees Songbird as an existential threat to her and NUSA. Reed seems to have lost control of the situation. Maybe he was hoping to help Songbird, but she thinks that wouldn't have ever come true, and this seems to prove it. He couldn't go back to NUSA, and still help us escape. And it seems he really wanted to go back to NUSA.
2026.04.12 Song lyin to himself.tiff
Finally - I can save. That's a lot of lengthy scripted stuff to go through, and the guards spot you easily, causing you to have to start over multiple times.
The game wants you to take elevator down with So Mi. What if I take out all the roof guards first? About a dozen, not even that hard. Would be cool if this affected something. I throw some frag grenades in the helicopters, but nothing happens. It would be interesting if I could take them out, and it changed something. Myers stranded in NC this time wouldn't be as fun as Dogtown, but still.
Get downstairs, NUSA fighting Orbital Air.
Why the fight? NUSA can't diplomacy or bribe or intimidate their way through this?
More fighting. Stealth is not an option.
Find a side door, go up. More fighting up ahead. On a desk I see a readable, and it's purple; a first. It's actually just a money shard; disappointing.
Next level. Sure enough, there's a chopper outside the window. This could have been avoided, but the game said no.
Another room, another trap. Why does the screen sometimes go yellow and someone is laughing maniacally? Is it me? Is this one of the status effects of getting on a crit streak, maybe from cyberware?
I went into the control tower to take cover with Songbird, but got killed anyway? Reload, step into the proper first this time.
More scripted events. I was doing OK, but no, we have to dip into the Blackwall to fix it.
Finally Song comes clean about the neural matrix being one time use. It always made sense that it wasn't reusable, and I've wondered why I couldn't ask about that.
Interesting that at this late stage, you can still make a choice between Songbird and Reed. Time to go, So Mi.
Of course Reed is waiting at the very end.
He still wants to take her to DC for treason. Even if Song dies on the moon, still better than whatever Myers will do with her.
Into the pod. I wonder who got her the ticket? Her description didn't match anyone
Another self realization moment for Johnny.
Credits roll. Interesting background images, maybe even more so than the main credits. Seems to be a lot of female V in it, which is something that they should have easily accounted for.
The music feels like it has nothing to do with cyberpunk or this game.
Nice, I still have the NUSA coin; bit bloody now. Wrap up party with who else.
2026.04.12 Johnny adds bricks.tiff
Did a bunch of apartments get unlocked on the map? Why now.
2026.04.12
It was a good DLC, but I'm feeling ambivalent.
I know the whole ethos of the Cyberpunk tabletop (and now video) game is style over substance, but I wish that didn't extend to the writing. This whole DLC looks cool on the surface, but it's easy to pick apart, and it feels a little empty inside.
For example, the president comes back to Night City (all the way from DC, presumably) just to be there at the arrest of Songbird. She knows they're risking an international incident operating so close to Night City, and picking a fight with Orbital Air. Why not do the politician thing, and keep the operation at arms length, and allow for plausible deniability. Can't do that if you're there. Myers has been advertised as very smart, very politically savvy, and this violates this hard just so she can be there to throw out a few lines of dialogue for V to eavesdrop on.
How did Myers and company, with a medium size army, know to be here at just the time we're sneaking into the spaceport? Was she behind the mysterious benefactor that Songbird hinted at, that secured passage to space? That could make some sense, if the point was live capture. Still don't know why Songbird would trust that person, but that's another issue.
I know it's a hard to balance telling a story in an RPG without making the player feel like they do not have enough agency. This one was a bit too heavy on hitting story beats, even if it meant you just had to come along for the ride. At least it was a mostly entertaining story as it went along.
A new intro screen, Orbital Air. I wonder why they bothered, now that the credits have rolled. Is there going to be any more content from the DLC at all? Some news of what happened to Songbird, at least, feels necessary. That would be kind of awful if they just left that hanging, but it could be realistic.
The game did a surprisingly good job of making her sympathetic enough to care about. It had to, to justify all this effort, when at least the player surely knows it won't really change anything. What matters is that it was convincing enough for V to get drawn into this plot, with a decent chance to save himself, without having to go to Arasaka, which could easily be even more dangerous. Throw in the rescue aspect, and it's more than enough to draw V in until it's too late to extract himself.
Going to do whatever's interesting before moving on to finishing the main story (again).
Nele Spring. Regrets joining Crimson Harvest.
Johnny has some comments about terrorists, having died as one.
An opportunity to discuss Johnny's past.
2026.04.12 Johnny Arasaka Tower .tiff
Oh, he dislikes Nele because, as a terrorist, she grew a conscience, and didn't want to take it to its lethal conclusion. Hates her more than the corpos for chickening out.
Heading back - sudden call from Alex. Setting up a meet, good.
Back to client. Get in car, Biotechnica agents attempt to arrest. Well, even if I wasn't protecting the client, I'm not ending up in their prison or on their enemies list. Get out, expecting to be able to talk, but it turns into a fight. Either they are not very tough, or my character is ridiculously OP. Crit all 4 in a row, bodies are all on the way down before half my Sandy is up. This single moment felt more cinematic than almost anything I have yet experienced in the game.
Of course Johnny is disappointed at Nele not becoming a martyr.
The Biotech agents have no loot. Not that I need it, but it makes it feel more scripted, and less 'real'.
Let's go see Alex next. Mission title is "Unfinished Sympathy", another song that probably doesn't exist in this universe, but whatever. I look forward to examining where the timeline split.
Alex has been assigned to kill V. But we are talking, and drinking. That's a long list of people to drink to.
2026.04.12 Alex drink .tiff
She's willing to wait until I die of my illness in a few months.
Message from Ashlay, about the Charon Exotics car theft, that I may have had something to do with, don't remember. I try to blow it off - last thing I need is another car, but it ends up in my quest list anyway.
Meet with Hands. Didn't think I'd ever be using the facial imprint again.
Mancinella, a Power Revolver with a silencer.
Met with Jago. Bennet working with Araska? Call Hands. He doesn't seem to believe me. Meet Bennet before wake. Nice to see the game having fun with this Aguilar character.
Dogtown has new alpha.
Back to Ashlay. Oh, it's the rental car the twins used. Not even trying, and I have 17 vehicles now.
Bree Whitney, a media. Search apartment. Meet Dogtown. It's under my 'apartment' there. Didn't know there was such an industrial cavern down here. The creaking metal, the wind, it's quite eery.
An old Miltech card for an old Miltech site; fitting for the bowels of Dogtown.
I like how the old terminals look like it (colors and fonts).
A text message, maybe from So Mi. Comes with a quest, so probably. Later.
In a computer, a personal note about buying a ticket to an upcoming Silverhand solo performance (didn't know he did those).
Mainframe, some files from 2068. Miltech was doing something with the Blackwall that's expressly forbidden; scandalous. Newsworthy enough for a story.
Just like that, the suspicious neighbor shows up. With an iconic Power Revolver, Ol' Reliable. Thanks for the gift, Miltech officer.
Another iconic just sitting here, Power Pistol Riskit.
I've been looking for good pistols the whole game, and now that it hardly matters it's raining iconic power pistols.
Now I can deal with the message from probably Songbird. Go to our meeting place that reminded her of Brooklyn.
Lunar dust.
Iconic cyberware, Quantum Tuner.
A pin.
Nice, but some communication what would have been better.
I don't want to look it up, to see if there's anything left of the main story. I'll kill some more time, do some quests.
Maybe check out some of these unlocked apartments.
Badlands, Trailer Park. Oh yeah, this place, the detective. And there he is.
Not really an apartment, just somewhere I stayed.
THere's new conversation with River.
That's annoying, while talking to River, Hands calls to warn me of an assassin sent my way because of Bree. Missed some details in the crosstalk.
Have to reload and see if I can get the message by itself.
Seems like Bree sold data, Netwatch is out to scrub anyone near it.
This ought to be interesting, wonder how it will go down.
I guess this place really is an apartment, as this game calls it, because it has my wardrobe and stash. There's a shower. Not that I want to stay here even a minute.
Next apartment, Kerry Eurodyne's residence.
Trying to travel in real space only now, less fast travel. Partially for the immersion of it, partially to learn more of the geography, and also to run out the clock and see if there's anything left to do in Phantom Liberty.
Kerry is home. Feels a little weird just walking in like this, but he might not mind.
Lots of conversation options.
2026.04.12 Kerry after Samurai .tiff
I do appreciate that we can follow up with characters that we are essentially done with.
Back to scoping this place out as an apartment.
Stash, shower, wardrobe. Can't find bed. Or coffee.
Next apartment: Charter St. Oh, yeah, Judy's place.
Next place, out in the middle of the badlands. There's no fast travel near it, so I don't know what to call it.
Oh, it's the old nomad camp - what happened to the fast travel pin that was here?
I can walk right up to it, now it's here, Nomad Camp. Maybe I was zoomed out too far, and it was right under the apartment icon on the map.
Back to original Chinatown apartment, see if there's any left to buy.
There's a postcard on my door. Something about tossing that damn coin - is this from Alex?
There's a new 'put down' pedestal on the coffee table. It's for the pin from the moon.
Open EZEstates. I don't recognize Northside, 10k, purchase, new hideout unlocked.
That's all there is, just the 4 places.
Northside. Oh yeah, this place, the motel. Walk in, get that rare something new popup. But it's just another apartment (and Hygge! one at that).
Finally, something new and different on the computer. A message about the previous tenant.
This place basic, no coffee machine.
So only two places have coffee machine. Glen has a super long elevator ride, so that leaves only Corpo Plaza apartment.
A car pulls in, they shout about me being on Bree Whitney's list. The action comes to me. Scanning reveals NCPD Netrunner. Archived conversation, they already completed an assignment (Lisa) then spotted me. Who's Lisa?
Meet Panam, try a new place, Northside. No real activities here; the usual conversation and animations. Receive pierogi.
Message from Nele Springer. Oh good, it's a trap. It's been too damn quiet. Experiencing the crazy laughing yellow screen, check effects - yep, it's Edgerunner. Fun. Darn, ran out of enemies while the effect still had some time left.
Leave no survivors. I don't like assassins. Need to communicate a clear message.
2026.04.15
Mission: Every Breath You Take. Another song; at least this one has some story baggage in the form of the line, I'll be watching you.
A text from Aguilar, nice followup to that little story.
Doing a few more odd jobs. They seem to be getting easier, and better paying, as I go along. At least for the recovering stolen meds mission, Johnny shows up to commiserate with the PTSD soldier. Johnny always livens up any encounter. Once again, he makes the case for terrorism, because it's better to make a point. Keepin' the punk in cyberpunk. Poor soldier, he had other options.
Out to the desert, try some gigs out there. come across an NCPD assault in progress, haven't seen one of those in a while.
Keep going. Now a car theft mission. Been ignoring those, but this one seems interesting. Looks like a gas station, in the basement are bodies, one with Durable Bioleather Nomad Western Boots. Comes with a little quotation. Why have I never seen this (the boots, and the quote) before?
Some Marauders guarding an Archer Quartz Sidewinder, good for desert.
Deliver car.
Another Assault In Progress. Scavengers.
Heading to Dog Town, another Assault. I guess I really have been fast traveling too much, and missing things.
I walk into some scripted event outside The Rindo Hotel, Aldecaldos against... somebody. I must assist. Two carloads of scavs show up. Headshot every single one before they even fully get out of their cars, thanks to Sandevistan, of course. What would that even look like to the casual observer?
What the heck are these Aldos even doing here. It bothers me a lot that I can't speak to them at all.
Back to the north entrance of Dog Town. Seems still locked, but why? The sneaky entrance no longer works.
Drop shipment on a roof. Contains an iconic tech revolver, Laika.
And an encrypted shard.
2026.04.16
How much more time do I need to kill before I'm certain I'm done with Dogtown?
Maybe hitting whatever work is left there would help.
A gig for Hands (who else is there in this town). Some Stackers pooled their money to buy some justice. They want a dog tag as proof. You can already see where this is going. There's going to be dialogue, misunderstandings, probably a way to let someone go while still giving me the tag. I hope to be surprised.
Why can't I scan the car - it's glowing, and should be a clue.
Drive to hotel, pass Aldecados again. Swing close, and the two cars of scavs show up again. Wipe them again. Is this going to happen everytime? Good for farming, bad for story and immersion.
Back to hotel.
Find a 54News web page. It would be nice to read this in a reasonable font and size.
No wonder this level is so interesting - boss fight. After handing you an idiot ball first, as if you'd just blithely step into a room like that, to get sandbagged, especially when you're expecting to fight a cyborg heavy.
Actually, this one seems more like a mercy kill than an execution. It's almost not even ambiguous. This is a surprise.
Johnny conscience .tiff
