Things Done Changed Wrecked Me (Spoilers)

[poetic_justice_]

I was not expecting the gut punch of Things Done Changed. Bravo, CD Projekt Red. It is not often that a game makes me feel something; the last time I felt this ripped up was while playing The Last of Us in 2013. Cyperpunk 2077 has strong noire/nihilistic vibes throughout, but to see how people became shells in 2079 was brutal. Viktor sold part of his soul to become a corpo ripper doc; Reed is a stuffed suit in Langley. Johnny is deleted. Panam left V and burned the bridge to be with Mitch. Rogue tells V he WAS a legend, past tense. River turned snitch and hates himself for it to the point of giving off suicidal vibes. Judy moved on. Kerry Eurodyne resurrected his career but no longer has time for V. Hanako is dead after failing to retake Arasaka; Takemura is hiding for the rest of his life, framed for her murder. V is stripped of all his implants and becomes nothing more than a sentient NPC among the citizens of Night City. Every phone call to a former person in V's life is another nail in the coffin, another realization that V is irrelevant and powerless. He is no longer a part of their lives and unable to help anyone, including himself.

 

The cherry on top was V getting his butt kicked by two skinny thugs after exiting Viktor's Zetatech clinic. No dialogue choice was the "right" one to avoid combat, and V had no fighting ability. A shaved, weak, powerless V is humiliated by two bottom feeders. Fuck. Talk about adding insult to injury. To essentially be a combat god for close to 200 hours then lose everything except life itself was a shock. Every meaningful personal connection the player made as V disintegrated. The question becomes, "What is left? WHO is left? What future, what hope exists in this weakened, powerless state?"

 

At this point, a transformed Misty re-enters V's life. Wearing Jackie's old Valentino jacket and sporting a new haircut, Misty gives a weakened V advice that was meaningless when he was a combat god: avoid dark alleys and run from gunfire. This moment felt meta, almost like the developers were speaking through the game directly to everyday people playing the video game. Misty was an ordinary, non-combat NPC, a quest giver. She was quirky with her incense and tarot cards. She was Jackie's girlfriend and not much else. Yet in this moment, she becomes one of the most powerful characters in the entire Cyberpunk narrative. 

 

Misty is one of only two characters in the narrative who actually find happiness (the other is Judy). Even Rosalind Myers, the NUSA President, arguably the most powerful woman in the Cyberpunk universe, is never happy, despite getting what she wants (in two of the four endings). Reed isn't happy. So Mi isn't happy. V isn't happy. Alex isn't happy. Despite being the Queen of Night City, Rogue isn't happy. Mr. Hands is satisfied, but I would not call him "happy." The only two people who find happiness are the ones who decide to leave Night City before it bleeds them dry. In a way, I felt CD Projekt Red was trying to tell players, "Night City, The City of Dreams, is exciting, but don't stay. Ultimately, you will not find happiness in this artificial place. Go live your life elsewhere." 

 

I don't know of any publishers/developers who have the guts to do that: spend hours building up the player fantasy of being a more and more powerful demi-god, only to rip the fantasy away and make the protagonist completely powerless. In that powerless state, V resembles what most of us actually are: "faces in the crowd." We are not combat demi-gods, powerful fixers, or stars of the show. Like Misty, we work ordinary jobs, can't solve our problems with violence, and don't possess large amounts of cash. To the world, we are nothing more than extras. CD Projekt Red could have coddled us with more fantasy narrative about being powerful mercenaries, but instead kicked all the chicks out of the nest and said, "Learn to fly. You cannot stay in the comfortable nest anymore."

 

Many western developers/publishers like EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Microsoft, 2K, and Rockstar will never stop selling the violent demi-god fantasy. It is lucrative, they are greedy, and publishers see players as little more than sheep to be financially sheared. It was odd and refreshing to have CD Projekt Red see gamers as people, and remind gamers that spirituality is powerful too. Misty laughs about getting a job at an ancient forest in Poland as a ranger, reminding people not to feed candy to animals. She is happy, not because she is powerful, violent, or wealthy, but because she is at peace. Violence, power, wealth, and fame do not bring peace. Misty and Judy found happiness in ordinary life. 

 

If anything, Phantom Liberty was about loss and grief. I was trying to understand what "Phantom Liberty" referred to, but after Things Done Changed, I think I understand. Liberty itself is the phantom. The only people who are free are the dead Songbird, Judy, and Misty. Everyone else is enslaved to corporations or trapped working for the NUSA. Finding happiness in ordinary, non-glamorous life was ultimately more freeing than iconic weapons and better implants.

 

OTHER THOUGHTS

Reed's character is a tragic one. Johnny can see it; Reed's principles end up alienating or killing everyone close to him. The funny thing is, this insight rattles Johnny. Johnny's anti-corpo principles alienated or killed people close to him as well. Johnny even comments, "If things were different, I would have become a Reed."