this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2026
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Personally I really enjoyed the secret ending path into Temperance. But I really like Johnny, and the relationship with V, I suppose. I kind of hate the Sun ending, it feels antithetical to Vs emotional journey and while it is fitting for the genre and setting it feels like a devolution of V and just in general succumbing to Night City.
Oh, right! I did both The Sun and Temperance actually, I forgot they represented separate epilogues and just wrote based on the final gameplay section.
I agree about The Sun. though I suppose it depends on how you played the character. If someone didn't engage with all the elements about finding a purpose outside of "being a legend" and instead stuck to anger and the need to lash out at "the bad guy" (Arasaka) then I can see it fitting quite well.
I wouldn't want it as a proper ending for my V but being an NC legend never really interested me so losing that goal and switching gears towards something more personal was pretty easy.
As for Temperance... I like Johnny (by the end of the story) and I like that going this way gives him an opportunity to try again as a better person. I still prefer my V to have an option to make the best of their limited time while surrounded by their new family but I appreciate it as an option nonetheless. It definitely felt the most bittersweet and (positively) emotional out of all of these to me. It would probably be my choice if not for the "bail out with your bros" option.
Cyberpunk ending spoilers
I like the bittersweet nature of Temperance. Especially as chosen after the secret ending path, that way nobody else gets hurt, too. There is something poetic and beautiful to me of V and Johnny storming Arasaka Tower as a solitary duo, with Johnny cheering on, as contrasted to the very first scene he appears in in the opening. And I don't know, V learns to stop fighting and accept mortality, Johnny gets a second chance... I just like it.I get the appeal of the Star ending. I do. Especially if you romance Judy (Judy romance plus Sun ending is extra miserable, though). But I guess Star is a little too close to "happily ever after" for my preference in this setting. It's a nice riding into the sunset, leaving Night City literally and metaphorically for V and the player, but such a happy ending (especially with the throwing the player a bone bit about a potential cure with some technomancer) feels oddly almost inappropriately happy for the setting. Actually I think in some ways the Devil ending might be the most appropriate, especially for some Vs. I mean I hate it and it's terrible, but it's also awesome and so, so cyberpunk. And it hits some nice notes with the themes, the misery, the desperation for life, the true nature of SoulKiller, destroying the Johnny engram only to become an engram yourself, the corps always win...
But maybe I'm just a sucker for depression.
Cyberpunk spoilers
I agree with the first part but I don't really see bailing out as "happily ever after", personally. A "happily for a short time V has left", sure, but not as a fully happy ending. Is there a minuscule chance for V? Maybe. I just can't take it as anything more than wishful thinking considering even the best tech and doctors from Arasaka and NUSA have huge trouble doing anything about the construct.I don't have a source on hand but I believe Mike Pondsmith said something akin to "Cyberpunk isn’t about saving humanity, it’s about saving yourself" and that's something I really like about the Star. A small ray of good in a terrible world, after everything we've been and seen throughout the game.
I feel like taking the genre as pure doom and gloom makes it less interesting to be honest. Humans have a wonderful ability to find happiness in and make the best of the worst situations one can think of, I don't see why that shouldn't be the case in Cyberpunk. It's one of the very few ways a normal person can "triumph" over corporations and whoever else runs the world in Cyberpunk - by finding a little bit of happiness in a world constructed to suck out your soul.
Sorry if my writing is a bit incoherent on this, I need to think about it a bit more before I can put things into words right.
I do enjoy all of the endings in their own way and, as you said, work well for different kinds of V. I also think they work well as different takes on the genre:
Or something like that. Again, I'm going to need a lot more time to sort out my thoughts about this whole thing.
That's a very thoughtful reply. I would expect nothing else from you.
spoiler
I think the one thing about Star that irks me is that line about a potential cure. That is the one that makes me feel like they're just throwing a copium-bone to the players that desire it. If it was just about travelling away from the hellhole that is Night City and spending your last days with your newfound family in peace, then I would like it a lot more.Cyberpunk
I just can't take it as a serious possibility so it doesn't really bother me but I can definitely understand that. I wonder whether it was an attempt to make this ending feel more like an equal alternative to other options instead of giving up to die in peace, or if they tried to make it into a good/positive ending like you said. I'll have to look around if anyone on the team talked about it since launch, it would be interesting to get some insight on that.