Warning: Spoilers ahead for Phantom Liberty.If player choice was somethingCyberpunk 2077prided itself on before, then Phantom Liberty has made a strong point to continue that tradition.Phantom Liberty has different branching endingsthat adjust based on even the smallest choices fans make along the way. These decisions end up shaping not only numerous characters' fates, but also the fate of the mercenary protagonist V.
One of these choices that helps lock in what ending players get ends up changing the game into what feels like an entirely different genre. Particularly,Cyberpunk 2077stops feeling like an action RPG, and more like something fans would find inResident Evilor any psychological horror game. This happens when players choose to side with Solomon Reed rather than Songbird in the penultimate quest of the DLC. Ultimately, choosing Reed extends the expansion by a few quests, eventually culminating in theterrifying Somewhat Damaged quest.
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How Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s Somewhat Damaged Quest Literally Changes the Game
As the quest opens up to V entering an abandoned Cynosure facility and quickly losingcontact with Johnny Silverhand, players are already set up that something isn’t quite right. From there, it’s a quiet journey finding a way through the building until V’s vision starts glitching out, and suddenly Songbird’s voice comes through behind a door. Once the door opens, it’s revealed that So Mi is talking to Kurt about the missile launched at Myers' transport shuttle as she had done in the past. Unknowingly, her memories are being broadcast throughout the facility.
However, cryptic messages delivered by So Mi as V makes it further and further into the abandoned building seem to suggest that she’s fighting something off. It’s revealed to be that Songbird was trying to protect V from Blackwall AIs controlling her as they gain control over robots in the facility. At this point,Cyberpunk 2077may as well be a horror game, as players now have to watch Songbird’s memories play out in front of them while avoiding AI-posessed robots while trying to find and save the Netrunner.
The way the sequence of avoiding the droids begins could easily be described as a jumpscare that builds itself up as it slowly descends, then attacks, and is stopped by Songbird before they take over completely. It starts a chase sequence where the robots footsteps eerily can be heard throughout the metallic facility, and this is only the beginning. This horror section is a great climactic finale to the game, even though someCP2077Phantom Liberty players would have liked something more spy-themed.
All the while, V is still making their way through rooms showing some of Songbird’s memories. They include her getting an operation of some kind, her oath when she joined the FIA, and when she first met Reed. Each one is accompanied by the same atmosphere that would be found in a darker game, with fights betweenSongbird and her captorspunctuating what the player does to try and help the situation.
Eventually after a while of going through the Cynosure building and doing all they can to free Songbird of the Blackwall, the AI-controlled robot will get a hold of V, connecting with V’s implants and trying to slowly kill the mercenary as they and the player are teleported into Songbird’s mind. More memories of So Mi’s life before thestory ofCyberpunk 2077beganplay as the Netrunner nearly loses herself, her room fading into a mess of red digitized space until players can decide to comfort her to get her to stay alive.
With no combat at all in this section, as players instead hide from different Cynosure robots that can come from any direction and any room, the sequence may certainly make horror fans feel at home if they check out this route, rather than just experiencing more of theaction RPG gameplayCyberpunk 2077usally provides. With Songbird’s memories being scattered across the facility, showing her life and her traumas, players are given her full psychological profile before they’re allowed to decide her fate as she’s drifting in and out of the Blackwall - to kill her as she requests, or to save her with Reed’s help. Both choices change the ending of Phantom Liberty considerably.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Libertyis available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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