Cyberpunk 2077's upcoming Phantom Liberty expansion is showing itself to be an incredibly ambitious project since its focus is not only on adding new content to the game but fixing issues prevalent in the base game. Although the game has been polished since its disastrous launch, Phantom Liberty seeks to overhaul much of Cyberpunk 2077, bringing up the question of whether it is better to wait until the expansion comes out to play the game.
One thing that has been praised since Cyberpunk 2077's launch is the relationships protagonist V forms with various people throughout the game. Several of Cyberpunk 2077's romances have garnered praise for their portrayals of bonds quickly formed in arcs that balance hopefulness and the tragedy found all too often in Night City. This can also be found in the platonic relationships V forms with others, but there is one that could particularly benefit by being expanded upon in Phantom Liberty.
Phantom Liberty Should Make V's Relationship with Johnny Count
The most important character in Cyberpunk 2077 besides V is Johnny Silverhand or rather the engram of him that is unwillingly eating away at V's mind. The relationship between the two people sharing the same body drives much of the plot as they attempt to figure out how to extract his mind from V in a way that does not kill them. Depending on how players respond to Johnny's statements, the relationship between the two can vary from bickering individuals who hate each other to something resembling an inseparable friendship.
Although any conversations between the two are well-written and flesh them out, there is only one instance where their bond significantly matters to the main story, and that only comes when a percentage meter tracks how close the two hits the max level. This opens up the game's secret ending where V raids Arasaka alone, which is a great way of showing how much the pair have bonded, but the game could have used more instances that show how previous interactions set the tone on how they communicate with each other.
Phantom Liberty provides the perfect opportunity to make this one of the improvements made to the game's story because Johnny Silverhand is notorious for distrusting anyone in a position of authority, especially from a corporation or governmental body. Since the expansion revolves around the NUSA, the concept of V being willing to work for the government provides either a natural wedge to form between the two or a bonding experience due to seeing another institution of power using its influence for exploitative purposes.
Whatever relationship V has with Johnny before going into the expansion's content could also affect how supportive or antagonistic they are. There could even be moments that either show worry about V if they are seemingly acting out of character or relief if they begin agreeing with Johnny after constant arguing before Phantom Liberty's events. If anything, having V and Johnny bicker in the expansion will be just as much of a highlight as it was in the base game, but it would be nice to see what direction that would go in depending on the player's choices.
Phantom Liberty is impacting the base game's story, as it has been confirmed the expansion will add a new ending to Cyberpunk 2077. Nothing is yet known about what this ending could be like, but something that would be nice is if it aligns with more of the hopeful outcomes with V. By further emphasizing the kind of relationship players build with Johnny in both the base game and expansion, it could further drive home the narrative's emotional intent since this new ending will only come after facing what would likely be their greatest struggle.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launches September 26, 2023, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
