History VideoGame / Cyberpunk2077PhantomLiberty

** [[spoiler: During "Firestarter," if V chooses to escape the stadium with Songbird, at one point you are warned not to take an elevator and instead escape through the sewers. Choosing to take the elevator reveals that Reed expected this, leading to him killing V with a single shot the moment the elevator doors open.]]

* RefusalOfTheCall: Another way to lock V out of the main quests is to refuse offers from Myers and Reed, prematurely giving up on the mission altogether. Reed then ghosts V by deleting his account, much to their annoyance.

** [[spoiler: If you capture Songbird and turn her over to the NUSA, V gets the cure they were promised, but the price they end up paying is getting Johnny deleted, ending up in a two year coma, and permanently losing their ability to use combat implants and cyberware. Sure, V got their cure and lived, but at the cost of having their relationships upended and ensuring they'll never be able to become a Night City legend]].

* CosmicHorrorStory: Only hinted at in the base game, but anything involving the Blackwall gets ''extremely'' ominous very quickly. Depending on your story path, the spy drama descends into pure horror. [[spoiler: This is all because of Project Cynosure, Militech's attempt at mastering the Blackwall AIs. One entrance happens to be beneath your own hideout, which may be why there's rumors your apartment is "haunted" and the urban legends of teams of netrunners flatlining simultaneously in there. The host of entities pursuing you inside the Cerberus robot in the Reed ending spew all sorts of ominous words that would make Bloodborne players crap their pants.]]

* DayOfTheJackboot:
** In the new ending, the Tower, [[spoiler:The Night City of 2079 is plastered with Militech recruitment propaganda, and patrolled by their police drones and mechs. With the power vacuum caused by Arasaka's retreat, Militech and the NUSA are eager to take over the even more broken and dystopic remains of the city.]]

* BackFromTheBrink: The Voodoo Boys rather than being destroyed as people assumed after the base game, at least if V killed their leadership, Phantom Liberty reveals they just relocated from outer Pacifica to Dogtown.

* DelvedTooDeep: In both a literal and metaphorical sense. [[spoiler:Project Cynosure, the underground base of doom stretching beneath Dogtown and Pacifica, is physically very deep. The only two entrances we ever see look like they were revealed by accident when an underground wall cracked. One is beneath your own hideout and has logs from a ''previous'' team of guys ten years back who tried sorting the forbidden knowledge there, only for it to get shitcanned. The metaphorical sense is that Cynosure is all about meddling with the Blackwall, the one thing everyone agrees should not be touched. Things were not going all right even in the recovery team, as the leader's log says their netrunner got glued to her chair, refusing to jack out. A janitor's log above the "main" entrance near a cistern has him going mad from the whispers he hears from below. Cynosure may have been built beneath the earth to contain any AI leaks, but now it's become an outright dungeon that rapes the minds of any who linger.]]

* PointOfDivergence: In the main game, V is presented with the choice of either working with Arasaka to remove the Relic or fight their way through Arasaka Tower to reach Mikoshi. The expansion presents [[TakeAThirdOption a third option]] with Songbird offering an alternative. [[spoiler:The nail and alternative is Cynosure, Militech's version of Soulkiller that was not only modeled after Arasaka's own version but can also ''undo its effects''. Cynosure can ultimately save V's life, and unlike with Alt and Arasaka, they have a long life ahead of them rather than a few months. The only caveat and downside to this cure is that V's neural network is so damaged they will never be able to field combat or netrunning chrome ever again.]]

* PointOfDivergence: In the main game, V is presented with the choice of either working with Arasaka to remove the Relic or fight their way through Arasaka Tower to reach Mikoshi. The expansion presents [[TakeAThirdOption a third option]] with Songbird offering an alternative. [[spoiler:The nail and alternative is Cynosure, Militech's version of Soulkiller that was not only modeled after Arasaka's own version but can also ''undo its effects''. Cynosure can ultimately save V's life, and unlike with Alt and Arasaka, they have a long life ahead of them rather than a few months. The only caveat and downside to this cure is that V's neural network is so damaged they will never able to field combat or netrunning chrome ever again.]]

** [[spoiler:Failing to rescue President Myers, whenever by delaying too long or abandoning the mission intentionally, in time ensures that Kurt Hansen succeeds in assassinating her and screwing Songbird over, and since Reed and Alex are never activated, he'll continue to rule over Dogtown unopposed.]]

** [[spoiler:Failing to rescue President Myers in time ensures that Kurt Hansen succeeds in assassinating her and screwing Songbird over, and since Reed and Alex are never activated, he'll continue to rule over Dogtown unopposed.]]

** [[spoiler:The first overlaps with PressStartToGameOver, as if you take too long to finish the opening mission to rescue President Myers, she's unceremoniously KilledOffscreen by Kurt Hansen's forces, causing Songbird to chew V out and cut off all contact.]]
** [[spoiler:The second overlaps with ScrewThisImOuttaHere, as if V does complete the mission of rescuing Myers, they'll be charged with activating FIA agent Solomon Reed and getting him back to the President. Following this, Reed will give V a chance to back out of their entanglement with the NUSA, though Myers makes it clear that V will forfeit the cure in doing so. Should V back out nonetheless, the story ends on the spot and Solomon and Myers cut off contact with V.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: Said verbatim by [[Songbird]] if you choose to spare her at the end of 'Somewhat Damaged'.

* WholePlotReference: Going into a lawless city populated by criminals to rescue the President is the plot of ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork.'' [[spoiler:The actual core plot of the game also references ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' quite a bit, with a spy game conspiracy leading to dealings with a Bond-esque supervillain in a casino hotel who ultimately ends up being a BigBadWannabe in the grand scheme of things, while the heroine turns out to be an AntiVillain who ends up crosses the main character, who they grew attached to, out of necessity rather than a desire to genuinely backstab them. Fittingly, the mission in which V and Reed sneak into said casino hotel is "You Know My Name", the movie's ExpositoryThemeTune.]]

** '''King of Pentacles:''' [[spoiler:V sides with Reed and works with him to capture So Mi so that he can relocate her to Europe to get her treatment and shield her from any NUSA reprisals for her acts of treason. Songbird doesn't take the betrayal well and unleashes her internal Blackwall AI to turn into a cyberdemon and escape. [=MaxTac=] gets involved, Reed goes back to working with the FIA, and then Songbird escapes again when V and Reed intercept [=MaxTac=], leading to a manhunt in an abandoned Cynosure AI facility - except V is the one hunted down by an unkillable monster powered by the AI in Songbird's head. V eventually finds Songbird, exhausted and burnt out from prolonged use of the Blackwall, asking V to kill her rather than be under Myers' thumb once again. V refuses, sending Songbird to cyber-hell but ensuring both the salvation of the NUSA and V.]]

** '''King of Pentacles:''' [[spoiler:V sides with Reed and the FIA and attempts to bring So Mi back to the NUSA where she will hopefully get treatment. Songbird doesn't take the betrayal well and unleashes her internal Blackwall AI to turn into a cyberdemon and escape. [=MaxTac=] gets involved, then Songbird escapes again when V and Reed intercept [=MaxTac=], leading to a manhunt in an abandoned Cynosure AI facility - except V is the one hunted down by an unkillable monster powered by the AI in Songbird's head. V eventually finds Songbird, exhausted and burnt out from prolonged use of the Blackwall, asking V to kill her rather than be under Myers' thumb once again. V refuses, sending Songbird to cyber-hell but ensuring both the salvation of the NUSA and V.]]

* StoryBranching: The story is actually quite linear up until "Firestarter", in which you're presented with the choice of either [[spoiler:siding with Songbird and helping her escape while the FIA deal with BARGHEST or side with Reed and attempt to extract Songbird. Siding with Songbird gives you the "The Killing Moon" mission where you help Songbird escape by putting her on a shuttle bound for Luna while dealing with spaceport security and eventually the NUSA black ops under Reed's command, whereas siding with Reed gives you the "Somewhat Damaged" mission where you have to deal with [=MaxTac=] and pursue Songbird all the way down to a Militech bunker. Even the endings vary depending on who you sided with: While you have the option of giving Songbird over to the NUSA in exchange for a cure in both story paths, Songbird herself will either escape to Luna in "The Killing Moon" or undergo a MercyKill in "Somewhat Damaged".]]