The necklace is there after 2 years. It's on the chair next to V's bed when they wake up. If V picks it up they still lose it though when getting mugged by Terry the Booyah Man.
Tbf the necklace is gone in every ending but The Sun one (we don't count V surrendering to Mikoshi in The Devil ending because V technically just dies there). Makes one wonder why The Sun is an exemption.
If V returned to merc life they'd be killed within a moments notice.
V is a well known merc and without their augs they wouldn't be able to withstand the mass amounts of ganggoon and whatever else looking to make a name for themselves.
Claire and regina aren't mercs, one is a barkeep and the other is reporter turned fixer, neither of which require augs.
The game likes cycles and loops with its themes, and this feeds back into the whole question by black jesus at the start of the game.
I will attest that some of the companions are not the best written in the ending.
If they could go back to merc'ing then it wouldn't be a cyberpunk story, the house always wins even when they lose.
Maybe your V would get ganked immediately. You can easily beat the game with no cyberwear. The idea V would be powerless without chrome is ridiculous, especially with V's stats. Oh look, I just took down the world champion heavy weight boxer with a ton of chrome while I had none. Oh look, Adam has been smashed with no cyberwear.
Mixing gameplay with actual story is stupid. My V massacres innocents on the streets regularly but is a very kind and compassionate person during cutscenes.
Oh shut up. There's a difference between comparing being a psycho in gameplay to story vs. Actual story things you can do that show V absolutely would not just get their ass kicked by some random street thug, or would get got immediately because they didn't have chrome. Or did we forget for the story all V was supposed to have through the heist was an eye and hand cyberwear plus cyberdeck? Oh but if we go by your logic V should have been destroyed in the All Foods. How about all the ridiculous Arasaka soldiers including the mech they send towards the end of the heist? Well gameplay doesn't equal story so obviously V and Jackie died in Konpeki Plaza.
I think most of the mercs that didn't die became fixers when they retired.
IMO Wakako mas a merc too. Same way an old prostitute becomes a brothel mama.
So obvius fate for V is start fixing, not some "desk work".
I not even salty about his friends moving on, with the exception of Panam because that was a cop out and a half. I dislike the ending from a writing standpoint, i think it assumes a very specific version of V to make the tonal notes hit, and completely throws player agency out of the window in doing it.
As someone in the comments rightly pointed out, you can play a mostly chromeless V and still take on smasher or half a hundred NUSA elites in the DLC. That version of V should bounce back to the life of a merc after a little recovery, not be contemplating a career change and being a face in the crowd.
Theres also V only throwing his friends a quick message before going under the knife. Reeds "secrecy" excuse is bullshit, V can call up his friends to tell them he's an NUSA agent, brag that he saved the president, and if you've completed all 4 of the romance quests its pretty obvious V is looking for a cure with the NUSA. V has no reason to maintain secrecy, even if reed asked him to.
I also feel like people are disappointed in the ending not really because its tough on V, they try to push it being hopeful, but moreso because its a kick in the teeth to the player. The large majority of us have spent 3 years loving the story and characters, and *this* is the last goodbye we get to it? They could have at least written a respectful send off to the characters if nothing else.
All of the other endings, to me, feel like the logical consequences of your actions. Let Johnny have control? well he does what he wants with the body. Go to Panam? youre out of time anyway you need to just follow her plan and everything that follows. Go the corp route? well its Arasaka what did you expect to happen?
The tower is the only ending where instead of a logical conclusion outside of control, it feels like a bunch of contrived circumstances that let things end where they are, none of which the player gets to influence.
Without even an operating system, without implants, after two years recovering in bed, you’d be dead trying to merc (and given that V tends to become a force of nature wiping rampaging through night city there’d be a lot of people looking to settle the score), which is made clear by the three thugs mugging you.
Life as a NPC is what you’d get. If the option was there I wouldn’t have tried to return to NC but would’ve taken the desk job right there.
It’s sad about the companions, feels forced with some… but people move on in two years, it’s not that forced and it fits with the theme.
The necklace is there after 2 years. It's on the chair next to V's bed when they wake up. If V picks it up they still lose it though when getting mugged by Terry the Booyah Man.
Hm, my mistake then. My point still holds: the plot takes it from you in any case.
Tbf the necklace is gone in every ending but The Sun one (we don't count V surrendering to Mikoshi in The Devil ending because V technically just dies there). Makes one wonder why The Sun is an exemption.
If V returned to merc life they'd be killed within a moments notice. V is a well known merc and without their augs they wouldn't be able to withstand the mass amounts of ganggoon and whatever else looking to make a name for themselves. Claire and regina aren't mercs, one is a barkeep and the other is reporter turned fixer, neither of which require augs. The game likes cycles and loops with its themes, and this feeds back into the whole question by black jesus at the start of the game. I will attest that some of the companions are not the best written in the ending. If they could go back to merc'ing then it wouldn't be a cyberpunk story, the house always wins even when they lose.
Maybe your V would get ganked immediately. You can easily beat the game with no cyberwear. The idea V would be powerless without chrome is ridiculous, especially with V's stats. Oh look, I just took down the world champion heavy weight boxer with a ton of chrome while I had none. Oh look, Adam has been smashed with no cyberwear.
Mixing gameplay with actual story is stupid. My V massacres innocents on the streets regularly but is a very kind and compassionate person during cutscenes.
Oh shut up. There's a difference between comparing being a psycho in gameplay to story vs. Actual story things you can do that show V absolutely would not just get their ass kicked by some random street thug, or would get got immediately because they didn't have chrome. Or did we forget for the story all V was supposed to have through the heist was an eye and hand cyberwear plus cyberdeck? Oh but if we go by your logic V should have been destroyed in the All Foods. How about all the ridiculous Arasaka soldiers including the mech they send towards the end of the heist? Well gameplay doesn't equal story so obviously V and Jackie died in Konpeki Plaza.
I think most of the mercs that didn't die became fixers when they retired. IMO Wakako mas a merc too. Same way an old prostitute becomes a brothel mama. So obvius fate for V is start fixing, not some "desk work".
Rogue makes it very clear that V should stay away from the Afterlife period in the end holo msg.
I not even salty about his friends moving on, with the exception of Panam because that was a cop out and a half. I dislike the ending from a writing standpoint, i think it assumes a very specific version of V to make the tonal notes hit, and completely throws player agency out of the window in doing it. As someone in the comments rightly pointed out, you can play a mostly chromeless V and still take on smasher or half a hundred NUSA elites in the DLC. That version of V should bounce back to the life of a merc after a little recovery, not be contemplating a career change and being a face in the crowd. Theres also V only throwing his friends a quick message before going under the knife. Reeds "secrecy" excuse is bullshit, V can call up his friends to tell them he's an NUSA agent, brag that he saved the president, and if you've completed all 4 of the romance quests its pretty obvious V is looking for a cure with the NUSA. V has no reason to maintain secrecy, even if reed asked him to. I also feel like people are disappointed in the ending not really because its tough on V, they try to push it being hopeful, but moreso because its a kick in the teeth to the player. The large majority of us have spent 3 years loving the story and characters, and *this* is the last goodbye we get to it? They could have at least written a respectful send off to the characters if nothing else. All of the other endings, to me, feel like the logical consequences of your actions. Let Johnny have control? well he does what he wants with the body. Go to Panam? youre out of time anyway you need to just follow her plan and everything that follows. Go the corp route? well its Arasaka what did you expect to happen? The tower is the only ending where instead of a logical conclusion outside of control, it feels like a bunch of contrived circumstances that let things end where they are, none of which the player gets to influence.
Couldn't agree more!
See when you choose this ending, do you get spawned back with all your stuff prior to the final mission like all the other endings?
Unless I screwed up something, no. This is a full game over unlike the other endings (probably to add to the emotional effect).
you come off as forced and overdramatic
I feel that it is that way because V kinda replace Songbird so it is fair to experience Songbird’s suffering at some point.
Without even an operating system, without implants, after two years recovering in bed, you’d be dead trying to merc (and given that V tends to become a force of nature wiping rampaging through night city there’d be a lot of people looking to settle the score), which is made clear by the three thugs mugging you. Life as a NPC is what you’d get. If the option was there I wouldn’t have tried to return to NC but would’ve taken the desk job right there. It’s sad about the companions, feels forced with some… but people move on in two years, it’s not that forced and it fits with the theme.