Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty's worst ending broke me emotionally

Spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077’s base game and DLC expansion Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty adds a new ending to the base game, and I’m not getting over it.

All the best RPGs have multiple endings, and every time an array of options is presented to the player we need to discuss them at length to decide which is the best and which is the worst.

Check out Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty below

When I played Cyberpunk 2077 I went with the The Sun ending, giving Johnny control of V’s body for one last ride into Arasaka Tower. Then when all was said and done I had V take back control of her body as Johnny crosses the bridge into cyberspace, in what I’d consider a “good” ending.

Then when I finished Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty after siding with Reed and saving Songbird, I went back to the base game and played the new ending the DLC expansion unlocks.

It’s called The Tower and it’s one of the most melancholic endings to a game I’ve ever seen, and I wanted nothing more than it to stop.

For those who haven’t played The Tower, it’s a secret ending unlocked by ensuring you don’t side with Songbird during the events of Phantom Liberty. If you betray Songbird, spare her, and hand her over to Reed and the FIA, she’s whisked away to have her head plucked for a cure to her psychosis which can also miraculously double as a cure to V’s relic death sentence.

Upon returning to the base game you can contact Reed and ask for the FIA’s help in removing the relic, heading to Misty’s roof to await a pick-up. While waiting I was told to say goodbyes to anyone I was close to in the game, and watched as V messaged Judy and told her she’d be heading out of town for about “a month” at most.

Already off to a sombre start, V boards the aircraft and speaks to Johnny, who tells V that when he’s removed from her head he won’t be going to cyberspace or stored somewhere, he’ll be killed and have no way of coming back. He doesn’t blame you for this, just calmly tells you that it’s ok and if you could at least promise him that you won’t let anyone change who you are, even calling you his friend while doing so.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty- Credit CD Projekt Red

It was at this point I was starting to regret my decision, but little did I know that the worst was yet to come. After V is put to sleep in preparation for her operation, you awake to find that Johnny is gone and V’s been in a coma for two whole years. After a conversation with Reed you’re left in your room to check your phone, where I read message after message after message from Judy angry, worried and betrayed that one month had somehow become four, and then two years. You even have to call her to find out she’s no longer in Night City, like everyone else you knew aside from Vik and Misty, and she’d moved on with another woman whom she’d married.

The Tower ends with a weakened, lonely V returning to Night City only to see it’s no longer her city, forced to start a new life at the cost of everything she’d held dear, she doesn’t even have Johnny in her head to keep her company

What hit me hardest about this ending is there’s nothing for the player to do once you start it. There’s no infiltration of Arasaka Tower, no over-the-top battle, no duel with a larger threat. It's just you and your bad choices staring you in the face.

V finally gets what she’s wanted since the start of the game. The relic is out of her head and no longer killing her, and she can finally move on with her life, though in the space of minutes from her point of view she suddenly doesn’t have a life worth living. She can’t even resume her work as a merc as the operation and the coma have stripped her of her skills and abilities, perfectly demonstrated when a thug tries to rob you and you don’t even have the strength to punch him.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty- Credit CD Projekt Red

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty’s ending is without a doubt the worst of the bunch, and I never want to see it again. At least the base game's darker endings have a slightest shred of optimism to them, The Tower on the other hand, is just straight-up depressing.

If you’ve done every other ending for Cyberpunk 2077 base game it’s worth checking out the one Phantom Liberty adds, though I promise you, you’re not going to feel good about it.