Highlights

• Choosing to give up Songbird to Solomon Reed in Cyberpunk 2077 is considered a bad decision as she will be used as an asset and never return from the Blackwall.
• Taking the FIA's help in Cyberpunk 2077 may promise a cure for V, but it results in a coma for 2 years and the loss of combat implants, turning V into a regular person.
• Ignoring and neglecting Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2077 means missing out on building a deep and meaningful relationship with him, as he is on a road to redemption.

Night City is filled with unique individuals and many alternate paths for V and the player to take. However, not all of these paths are good, and some can lead to the worst decisions in Cyberpunk 2077. It’s no secret that the game allows players to choose what to do and say, and some of these moments can alter the direction of Cyberpunk 2077 for a worse-off and morally gray experience.

V and the player can be downright evil, or simply make a mistake in their choices. By knowing the potential destinations of certain paths, Cyberpunk 2077 players will be able to navigate through the hardest decisions in the game and still come out on top.

Updated on October 20, 2023, by Jake Fillery: With Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty releasing for players worldwide, V is responsible for more choices than ever, and their decisions can directly impact the world and the characters within. V has the power to make people suffer, including themselves if they don’t choose the right options in Cyberpunk 2077. There are many outcomes to certain missions, actions, and dialogue trees that will make players second-guess every decision they make. Surviving Night City has always been hard, but holding the fate of characters, and those that are supposed to be near and dear to V, is quite the burden to bear. Players might end up making decisions in Cyberpunk 2077 that will change things for the worse, and provide them with emotional burdens that leave lasting impacts.

11 Giving Songbird To Solomon Reed

Solomon Reed makes it clear from the moment he meets V that he intends to honor his word and give V the help they can. However, to do that, he needs Songbird, and he needs her alive. Yet, Songbird’s fate runs in tandem with V’s, and both characters are dying. Both V and Songbird are on a ticking clock, ready to fade into nothingness as something else takes control of their consciousness. For V, that’s Johnny Silverhand. For Songbird, that’s a dangerous Blackwall Rouge AI.

Towards the end of the game, players will have a choice to make on whether they help Reed recover Songbird alive, or she either goes out on her own terms and dies. Alternatively, v can help Songbird escape to the Moon, where she will retrieve treatment to live. No matter the fate of V and Solomon Reed, giving up Songbird is debated as a bad decision, because she will be used as an FIA asset, and one that has completely lost her mind to the Blackwall, never to return.

10 Taking The FIA’s Help

On the topic of Solomon Reed and the FIA, choosing to help Reed will provide V with a promise of a cure, and the top surgeons in the world will help V with the Neural Matrix. Yet, is it worth it? The Tower ending will see V survive the Relic, but Johnny Silverhand will be killed in the process. Revenge against Arasaka never takes place, and V will be in a coma for 2 years, with the world changing around them, and those they held dear to their heart in Night City, moving on from how they thought V was dead.

By the time V wakes from their coma, they are told that they can no longer handle combat implants. This means that V can’t have any Cyberware, and their dreams of being a Night City Legend end here. V is just a regular person, another face in the crowd, effectively a nobody. V will live a long and quiet life, but is that the one they want? It’s the definition of a fresh start with consequences, as V will have no friends, no home, just nothingness but life.

9 Ignoring And Neglecting Johnny Silverhand

Johnny Silverhand may come across as a narcissist, abusive, egotistical terrorist, but if players progress through the game, they might uncover more about his character, and discover that beneath all of that, is a person who just longs for a friend. If V continues to refuse Johnny’s help, or abuse him with foul words and ignore him, then they are missing out on some of the best relationships in Cyberpunk 2077.

Johnny is on a road to redemption, and breaking into his thick skin and uncovering all of his flaws can make him a friend to V, one that would take a bullet for them, and willingly go into the Blackwall when the time comes. Johnny has nothing but V’s best interests in his heart, but only if V is willing to give him a chance. Failing to do so results in some fairly emotional moments between the two.

8 Not Burning Down The Talent Academy

The Talent Academy Gig in Phantom Liberty is one of the most sinister ones yet. Players will venture to Luxor Heights in Dogtown, where they will be tasked with the simple job of retrieving some data on Fiona Vargas’ clients. However, as players venture forth, they find out that this supposed talent academy is a place where the rich groom children, and showcase their abilities with implants to turn them into super athletes.

Taking away children from their homes, and making them suffer through implant procedures that will surely kill them in the future is a horrific image. Despite the talent academy head Fiona Vargas saying that she’s giving these children a better chance at a new life, she’s condemning them to slaughter by turning them into entertainment. The worst thing players can do is turn a blind eye to this injustice, and even Johnny wants V to burn this place to the ground, killing all those involved, and refusing to take any deal Fiona might make.

7 Letting Dante Kill Bree

Shot by Both Sides is a Side Job found in the Phantom Liberty that involves V helping an investigative journalist. V and Bree will uncover some dark Militech secrets from decades past in Dogtown, but they are stopped short by a Militech agent, Dante. Dante informs V that Bree is not all she seems, and she got her start in the journalism industry by taking jobs from big corporations and selling information.

Dante will tell V to stand aside and let him kill Bree, but in doing so, players are going to lose out on a pretty great Power Revolver by not killing Dante. However, for lore reasons, it’s a bad decision, as letting Militech keep its secrets is bad for everyone. Bree will sell the evidence from this facility to NetWatch, which may seem bad for her integrity, NetWatch is the last and only line of defense stopping the Blackwall from unleashing Rouge AIs, so the more information they have, the merrier.

6 Tell Jefferson The Truth

One of the most difficult decisions in Cyberpunk 2077 is regarding Jefferson Peralez. This upcoming mayoral candidate discovers that he and his wife have been the victims of a powerful and secret organization that alters their minds and watches their every move. In the final moments of this mission, V is forced to either tell Jefferson the truth or lie right to his face.

The decision doesn’t alter the game, other than the epilogue fate of Jefferson. If Jefferson is told the truth, he will become paranoid about everything he eats, drinks, and even his wife. By keeping Jefferson in the dark, however, he can become mayor and live a happy life, even if it’s not truly Jefferson’s personality anymore. Either way, he’s pretty damned.

5 Abandoning River Ward

The Peter Pan case in Cyberpunk 2077 is perhaps one of the most real and sensitive matters in the game. The mission chronicles River Ward and V as they embark on a detective mission to find the kidnapped and missing boys of a comatose serial killer. It’s a very engaging mission, and one that takes disturbing and dark turns throughout.

Once V and River have discovered the location of the farm that holds the missing boys, V can decline to join River, or simply abandon him at the entrance of the farm. In doing so, the boys will die, and River will be killed by one of the many landmines. Abandoning River is a tragedy in itself.

4 Ditching Takemura

The famed and dead Johnny Silverhand usually has some decent philosophical rants about the state of the world and offers up some pretty good advice throughout the game. However, Johnny can be pretty selfish too and exhibits that when Takemura is in danger from Arasaka. Johnny tells V that they should just leave him to fend for himself and run from the hotel.

If V listens to Johnny and runs for the exit, Takemura will be overrun and killed by the Arasaka agents. However, if V does not listen to Johnny and runs back up to the hotel room, they can save Takemura, and hopefully show the former Arasaka agent that they are a friend, not an asset or an enemy.

3 V’s Neighbor Barry

One of V’s neighbors in H10 Megabuilding is Barry Lewis. This NCPD officer has taken a break from fighting crime to resolve his issues. Barry has had a tough year thanks to an increase in crime. Barry is one of the few good souls in Night City, but, like everyone, good people eventually break and become victims of this corrupt city.

Players can talk to Barry and try and console him and his grief. However, if players aren’t exactly paying attention, or just ignore this side quest, Barry will take his own life in his apartment. To save Barry, players will need to find Andrew’s memorial at the Columbarium and warn Petrova and Mendez of Barry’s deteriorating mental state.

2 Joseph’s Crucifixion

Night City certainly isn’t a place for the morally correct or even the sane, and that’s clear when players meet Joseph Stephenson. Joseph is a convicted murderer and one that has found God. Instead of facing execution, Joseph decides that he needs to be crucified for his sins. It’s a tad extreme, but he reasons with V in a philosophical debate of faith and makes some interesting points.

The only problem is that Joseph’s crucifixion will be made into a Braindance, and sold to millions around the world. Turning Joseph’s sacrifice into a blockbuster is wrong on so many levels, but the wrong decision is to put doubt in Joseph’s mind. Joseph dies on the cross no matter what, so why make his suffering be for nothing?

1 The Beast In Me

When players begin The Beast In Me missions with Claire, they may just think they are engaging in a fun set of racing missions. However, they soon discover that Claire has a vendetta and is racing to fuel her revenge against Peter Sampson, the Corpo racer that got her husband killed. At the final big race, Claire makes V promise that instead of winning the race, they will focus on killing Sampson.

If players want to forever tarnish their relationship with Claire, they can ignore her and focus on winning their race. However, if players instead take part in her revenge scheme, she will soon discover that revenge has not made her feel any better. The best outcome for this mission is to initially refuse to help Claire. Then, when she confronts Sampson, V will say the right things to help Claire spare Sampson and move on from her loss.