Heartwarming / Cyberpunk 2077

"Here lies Johnny Silverhand..."

"...The guy who saved my life."

— Johnny and V visiting Silverhand's grave, deciding what should've been written on it.

Night City may be a brutal place, but there are still plenty of heartwarming moments in Cyberpunk 2077. From the friendships and romances V can form to helping others out in their time of need.

Keep in mind: spoilers are unmarked on all Moments pages.

Main Game

• In the cinematic trailer: While V is betrayed by Dex and about to be killed by his lackey (and later T-Bug the hacker), what is shown just before V breaks free and fights back? A cut to his fellow cyberpunk Jackie, who died during the mission, his last words being "I'm sorry...". Given how hard he fights here, it's strongly implied that V considered him a good friend.
• The opening rescue mission of Act 1 has a very minor moment where, as V and Jackie are heading down the apartment hall toward the scav hideout, one of the civilian inhabitants peeks out to see what's going on. The player then gets a prompt to have V quietly urge the civvie to get back inside. V might be a merc, but they won't get innocent people involved in their business if they can help it.
• Judy Alvarez's clear, sincere devotion to Evelyn Parker, being willing to pursue shoestring leads into the maw of a scavenger hideout with you with guns blazing to get Evelyn back. In a city full of intrigue and cruelty, her genuine loyalty brings a spot of much-needed warmth.
• Paying off Viktor Vector for the cyberware upgrades he gives you at the start. The game makes it clear this is totally optional (one could just as easily go to a different Ripperdoc instead after Act 1), and Vik has no real way of suing you or calling the NCPD due to him being a back-alley Ripperdoc. The price tag is also astronomical for all new players: 21,000 Eddies. But when you do finally get the cash and pay him back, a heartwarming conversation ensues when Vik tries to refuse payment, insisting V needs it more, before V insists right back and pays the man.
• The peaceful end of "Freedom of the Press." Regina Jones, a former media reporter and current fixer in the Watson district, asks you to go rescue an old colleague of hers, Max. As you crawl through his booby-trapped studio, you hear one of his unfinished documentaries about how Militech exploited war veterans for PR, giving them premium healthcare and cyberware on camera...and then removing them once the eyes were off them and replacing them with inferior Gen. 1 products. If you make the right dialog choices, you learn Max was one of Regina's many mentees during her media days, that he feels crestfallen about her becoming a fixer and part of the corrupt machine of Night City... but that he still owes her a talk and goes willingly with you. Bonus points for this happening after Regina initially giving you the all-clear to knock him out and drag his unconscious body to her if you have to—Max is just that stubborn.
• One of the Assaults in Progress you can stumble upon in Santo Domingo is the apparent aftermath of another crew's gig, where a father hired a group of mercs to rescue his son—but not from a kidnapping. Turns out, the son was an amateur netrunner who got himself caught in the net by 6th Street, literally blocking him from logging out and holding him for ransom on cyberspace in their server farm. The mercs apparently made quick work of said gangoons and rescued the poor kid, but the leader noted that there were other victims still trapped in the server, and commented upon the idea of ransoming them off themselves for some quick eddies. The father, however, won't even entertain the idea, and orders the merc to free the others and shut the whole operation down, to which the merc leader readily agrees and does so without so much as a second thought to the ransom idea. For all the nastiness and downright moral depravity existing on the streets, it's good to see there's at least two out there who still have something resembling a moral compass. Of course, given that the mercs are still hostile to you, it's entirely possible that you may have slaughtered the mercs for their good deed and only found out after cleaning up, but the option still does exist to take them down nonlethally or, if you're particularly stealthy, retrieve the relevant datashard and complete the event without initiating combat.
• Jackie's ofrenda during the "Heroes" quest. You get to see an incredibly emotional and vulnerable side of V and the rest of the cast as they mourn Jackie's death along with getting to explore his life outside of his mercenary work. You hear heart-wrenching and sweet speeches from his former friends in the Valentinos, Vic talk about how much he's going to miss his former boxing opponent, and even decide to give a heartfelt speech yourself before you place your offering on his altar. There's the opportunity to speak to the likes of Padre who officiates the prayers and religious aspects, the bartender (especially if you were a Street Kid and started out the game there), and even try to repair the rift between Misty and Mama Welles. The real crowner is if you decide to take Jackie's customized bike—incredibly helpful since you just lost your car after the prologue and if you were a Nomad and met the tech skill requirement for the motorbike critique, you learn he did in fact take your advice and change that tailpipe. If you wait 24 hours after the ofrenda you can also obtain his customised handguns and use them in his memory.
  • During the ofrenda, if you ask Padre if he knew Jackie well, Padre replies "I remember the day his mother brought him into this world. The day his father left. The day he took you into his home. Yes, V. I knew him quite well." If you ask him if he thinks Jackie is looking down at you two from "up there", Padre will add "I believe he has met God, stood before Him. I don't know if God left the meeting happy, but I'm pretty certain Jackie did." (Despite being a fixer and something of a crime lord, Padre also gently chides V if they try to talk to him about "street business" during the ofrenda.)
  • The drink named after Jackie in Afterlife is another one, especially with Fridge Logic. He only JUST got into Afterlife, had one conversation with Claire, and died the next day. But she still added his drink to the menu, respecting his last wishes. At least when it's his best friend asking, anyway.
    • There's actually another reason why Jackie's drink is on the list, but it's also pretty heartwarming. Go to the Afterlife ASAP after the heist and a new dialogue option will come up with Claire about memorializing a friend; Choose it, and V will request that she make a drink using the recipe that Jackie gave her while he was there. She's pretty sympathetic and even offers to give you the first one free; Who knows though, maybe it'll be added to the menu someday. It's unclear what locks you out of this dialogue option.
  • The journal entry for "Heroes" even has Johnny displaying actual tenderness for once:
    I don't usually give advice, but... fuck it, here goes. Don't make the same mistake I made - say goodbye to the people you love. You know what I mean, right? Jackie Welles was your best choom, and you don't find a lot of straight-up peeps like that in NC. Best thing you can is remember them. Oh, and one more thing. If anyone asks, I didn't just say all that to you. Got it?
• In the first Johnny flashback, if Johnny chooses to part with Kerry on good terms before his final assault on Arasaka HQ in 2023...
  Johnny: [gently grabs the side of Kerry's head to pull him closer] Get over here, man. Fuck this band. [taps his chest] Not your crowd, not your noise, do your own thing.
  Kerry: Bastard. Tsh... Gonna miss you something awful.
  Johnny: See ya in the next life, friend.
• If you choose the non-lethal route of "Losing My Religion", then the brother monk gratefully thanks you for saving him, while also commenting that he pities the Maelstrom members.
  • Notably, even before this, V is audibly horrified by the client monk's unwilling cyberization and agrees to do the job of rescuing his brother for free.
• The "Beat on the Brat" side quest has a couple:
  • V finds their Glen opponent, César, in the middle of an argument with his (visibly pregnant) wife about how careless he's been with their money, to the point that all he has left to wager is their car. When V wins, you can claim said car, the money you paid to fight him, both... Or let him keep everything and ask him not to throw away what he still has, which leaves him absolutely floored. You can also follow up that choice by telling César not to throw everything away while his family needs him. If you linger a few more minutes, you might overhear this exchange between them:
  Wife: Any ideas for a name [for the baby]?
  César: How about... Something (that starts) with a "V"?^note Completely unprompted, he later sends you a picture of his kid and you have the option to congratulate him and/or chat about what you've done with his car (if you kept it).
  • If V chooses to be sportsmanlike about beating Rhino in Pacifica, they sincerely thank her for "a good, clean fight" with no tricks or funny business, calling it "a rare breath of fresh air." Rhino's little smile at hearing that is adorable.
  V: Hang in there, girl.
• "Happy Together" is mostly a tearjerker, focusing on NCPD officer Barry's trauma and feelings of impotence in the face of the corrupt power structures that rule Night City. With co-workers who either don't really understand what he's going through or would say he has "pussy genes" for letting it get to him, it's no wonder that the death of his only friend, his pet tortoise would threaten to be the final straw. But despite one of them being extremely abrasive about it, two of his fellow officers do care enough to keep checking up on him, and if you play it right and get them to understand just how serious the situation is, the more abrasive officer will open up about having to deal with issues very similar to Barry's own. As for V, they get a chance to commiserate with Barry about losing their own best friend, and assure him that he isn't alone.
  • When V discovers the tortoise's box in the columnbarium, it's Johnny who sets V straight that Barry's grief over this event is very legitimate, and that dismissing it would make V no better than the police officers who fail to recognize it.
  • Mixed with a Tear Jerker is the officer Mendez's reaction should you fail to save Barry at any point, revealing his callous comments about "pussy genes" were a misguided attempt at Tough Love and that he's heartbroken Barry took his own life.
    Mendez: Your... Your genes were fine, Barry! You were the strongest son of a bitch I knew! I-I'm so... I'm so sorry, Barry, I... I'm sorry...
• So many moments from the Panam Romance Sidequest unsurprisingly, but several highlights include:
  • In "Riders on the Storm", after hiding out in a house to wait out a sandstorm, Saul goes to bed, leaving Panam alone with V. Panam immediately rests her legs on V's lap regardless of gender, showing how after everything you both have been through, she's comfortable with you and trusts you.
    • The Unresolved Sexual Tension between Male V and Panam reaches insane levels when they flirt with each other by pretending they're in a hotel together, with Male V going out of his way to make Panam feel more comfortable as a "guest." Whether he asks her what she'd like or hint at a more physical method of relief by caressing her leg (which she will turn down, hoping to take things slow instead; fortunately, the outcome the next morning will still turn out in Male V's favor), the night concludes on a high note.
    • The flirting goes so well, even Johnny plays along!
    Johnny: On behalf of the staff at the independent California motel, I wish you all sweet dreams.
    • The next morning, before Panam leaves on her motorcycle, Male V can go up to her and ask her how she felt about the previous night. While she initially suggests avoiding the subject because talking about things isn't the way she rolls, she provides another alternative: a Big Damn Kiss. Johnny even says that were it not for the fact that you need to focus on saving your own life, he would encourage you to chase after Panam after she leaves.
  • In "With A Little Help From My Friends", if you tell her about Jackie, when the Aldecados cheer their drinks to their clan, Panam will add "To Jackie!" Virtually every player dedicated to this sidequest cites this moment as the one that made them realize they'd protect Panam at all costs.
    • Then, of course, there's her and Male V gazing up at the stars while sitting beside the fire surrounded by friends. Sweet Dreams Fuel at its sweetest, doubly so when they look at the stars again from the hood of the Basilisk in the final scene of "The Star."
• Raymond Chandler Evening is a roller coaster of a sidequest, starting out serious with Pepe, the El Coyote Cojo's bartender, lamenting that his wife is cheating and enlisting you for evidence. It turns silly when Johnny insists on a running commentary in Raymond Chandler's famous hard-boiled detective prose (with V unsuccessfully telling him to cut it out), heartbreaking when you learn that his wife had total body modifications to escape her past and that she has no idea how to tell Pepe. Provided you convince him that her genuinely loving him matters more than anything else, his wife calls to thank you, and later, Pepe messages you about their newest kid.
• The ending "Temperance" is basically this because of Johnny's Character Development since he has become wiser and more careful when living his life as V. In addition, he gained a new sidekick Steve, who he seems to care about a lot, as evidenced when he stepped up to help Steve deal with his abusive dad, and teaching him all about how music shouldn't be for himself, but for the others to understand. In addition, Johnny also now has a sense of respect for V as he is shown mourning over V's "grave" and promising that he will never waste his second chance. In the ending when V is leaving Night City, Steve says that he forgot his newly-bought guitar, in which Johnny said that he didn't forget, meaning that the guitar he bought was for Steve and that he will follow his destined path to become the person he always wanted to be.
  • Although optional, when Steve is smoking, Johnny can snatch it away from him and tell him that smoking is bad for his body and his soul, showing that Johnny is now sober and that he has abandoned his old life full of violence and that he is now someone new.
• While the 'path of least resistance' ending is sad as hell, it's at least heartwarming to see Johnny respecting V's decision to shoot themself.
  • There's also something sort of comforting about River's reaction: he gets it, having seen many fellow cops do the same thing, and isn't mad at you for your choice like most of the others are.
• Johnny may be loud, snarky, and irreverent to a fault, but even he shows respect for those who put everything on the line for an ideal they may never see come to fruition. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out shows this perfectly, with Johnny standing in what is possibly the most respectful, powerful silence in the entire game as he watches a condemned man go die, but in a way that may reach out and share his honest, true belief with countless people.
• There's a side mission called "Love Rollercoaster", in which V helps a group of people in Pacifica in fixing an abandoned rollercoaster. If you succeed, your reward is a free ride. After you get in, Johnny will appear in a seat next to you, allowing both of you to have a nice moment, and letting V forget about their worries for a few moments. Johnny will even have a wide, honest grin on his face, clearly enjoying the ride together with V.
• You can find a shard next to a bowl in V's apartment complex, with one of the residents saying that they feed the stray cat that lives here, but asks others for help. Someone caring for a stray animal in a place like Night City is sweet enough, but it gets sweeter when you find out that V can actually adopt it. When you bring it home, you can see that V made a bed for it out of a clothes basket and some old clothes. You can find Johnny kneeling next to it, clearly interested in your new pet.
• "The Devil" ending, while arguably the most bleakest of the endings available, has one. If V saved Takemura in the climax to Act 2, Arasaka will ask him to come to the Arasaka orbital medical facility in space to deliver the bad news that V's surgery came too late to them. He also walks V though the contract that presents them the only chance left to save their life. Should V deny it, he pleads with them to reconsider. They may have come from different worlds and the circumstances of it may have been tragic, but in this ending at least V and Takemura have found genuine friends in one another.
  Takemura: Visit me in Kagawa. I will show you what is real food.
• "The Star" ending is the most optimistic one already, but it gets even sweeter if the player has romanced Judy, who goes with V, her partner, to support her while she's searching for a cure. Both of them seem to look forward to the future, leaving Night City and finding a new family/community with the Aldecaldos. Even if V won't find the cure she's looking for, she will spend the last months of her life surrounded by her found family and a loving partner. It's made doubly heartwarming by Judy telling V that their new life together is the first time in her life that she's feeling genuinely happy. Earlier in that ending the Aldecados surprise V by formally inducting them as a brother/sister. Saul even lampshades that V has already been a de-facto member for a while (the path isn't available otherwise), they just needed to make it Official before riding into battle together.
• "The Sun" ending if you've romanced Kerry. V wakes up in his lavish apartment in their bed, with an option to wake Kerry up with a kiss. They seem to be enjoying a calm, domestic morning and be very much in love. Kerry also worries that V's new pills don't seem to be working, and talk about watching the Arasaka space station that will be visible in the sky this night together. Before V departs to his meeting, Kerry shows worry about V's safety and urges him to be careful. While V's fate is left unclear, he certainly has someone to return to. If we assume that he survives, he can spend his last weeks living comfortably, with all his needs tended to and a caring partner at his side.
• The one that referred the Peralezes to V for their private investigation into Mayor Rhyne's mysterious death? Judy. You can find the email correspondence on one of the computers in the Peralez penthouse/campaign HQ, and you can learn this from Judy herself if you call her after investigating Rhyne's death for them.
• The final quest of River's side mission "Following The River" is one long mission of heart warming moments. After helping River rescue his nephew V is invited to a cook out with him and his family. V helps cook, joins River and the kids for a game of VR cops and robbers, and sits down to have diner with the family. The atmosphere is happy, optimistic, and shows that River's relationship with his family has truly been restored.
• The sidequest "A Like Supreme", where Johnny reunites with most of his old band for one last gig at the Red Dirt bar, the very same bar where Samurai played their first gig. Especially the end, where Johnny gives Kerry his old guitar to keep when Kerry makes clear this was only a one time thing, and in a display of true friendship, saying he wouldn't play if Kerry isn't going to keep playing, that it wouldn't be the same without him.
  Kerry: (In clear awed disbelief) ...Are you sure...?
  Johnny: Won't play without you. Wouldn't be the same.
• Given that Johnny's and V's relationship begins on... less than good terms (with V screaming at him to get out of their head and Johnny trying to kill V), it is heartwarming to see how their relationship improves if you manage to get them on good terms.
  • If you do the Samurai quests up to the concert, Johnny can express that he regrets making V progress the relic deterioration for the concert, as it was important to him, but not more important than V.
  • When talking at Johnny's gravesite, if you ask him if he still feels like he can't breathe, Johnny can say that he sometimes wakes up thinking he's back to his old self, but feels relief when he realizes V is there after noticing "something really important" was missing. V in response can tell Johnny that sometimes they have dreams where they're him, in which they feel completely confident in who they are and how they finally fit into the world.
  • Likewise at the gravesite, he will express real regret about how he treated friends in the past, and say that at least he hasn't managed to fuck up his and V's relationship. Doubles as a Tear Jerker if you tell him that no, he fucked that up too and refuse to give him a second chance.
  • He will also say he's glad that out of all heads, it's yours he popped up in.
  • Depending on which ending you play, when V says goodbye to Johnny with a handshake, Johnny can keep holding V's hand and refuse to let go for a few moments longer.
  • After V collapses following their (in-person) talk with Hanako near the end of the game, Johnny will take over V's body to drag them to Viktor's clinic, because they're too weak to get there by themselves. As V wakes up on Viktor's operating table, he tells them that V pretty much pulled Viktor's previous patient off and demanded to be treated, and that they acted very strange and unlike themselves. V can then hear Johnny whispering to tell Viktor that it was their "guardian angel".
  • Also very much a Tear Jerker, but during the word association test in "The Devil" ending, V can respond with "Johnny" when asked about their association with "Home". (In fact, they can answer most of the questions with "Johnny".)
  • Unused voicelines in the files indicate that Johnny was supposed to call V "My prince/princess" before taking over their body in "The Sun" ending.
  • There's a subtly sweet moment in the journal entry for "Don't Lose Your Mind" (written by Johnny):
    Your buddy Delamain appears to be having some personal issues. How else do you explain his cabs standing in the middle of the road and blocking traffic? better give him a call. Besides, you're short on friends (present imaginary company excluded).
• Much like the abandoned monster-infested villages in Witcher 3, clearing out some of the Organized Crime NCPD hustles will result in the area being repopulated with civilian bustle again. Sometimes, the area in question may have a new shop available.
• Anders offers to help you get to a hospice he knows in Sweden when he gets a full look at what the Relic is doing to your system. Despite the fact you shot down his AV and knocked him out.
• Kerry Eurodyne's reconciling with Us Cracks. He is positive they're out to steal from him, and it fires him up to a near-murderous rage, but it all turns out to be a big misunderstanding, as they love him more than he could imagine despite their tunes being as different as night and day. They inject him with some much-needed energy and self-confidence and they put together a song that mixes their styles (complete with a cartoony Kerry Eurodyne to go with the cartoony Red Menace, Purple Force, and Blue Moon for the music video). It's really sweet seeing an old dog learn some new tricks, as well as some cross-generation bonding.

Phantom Liberty

• Late into the expansion, you learn that So Mi wasn't exactly forthcoming about the details of her cure. She confirms it exists, but she also states that she's suffering a condition similar to V and will die, and that her cure is single-use. While this information would be more than enough reason for V to turn on Songbird and hand her over to Myers and the NUSA, V can give up on So Mi's cure and use it on her instead. V even tells her she would have helped So Mi if she'd been more forthcoming about the details.
• If you side with So Mi through the expansion and send her to space as a Nomad, you have one special choice as your last words to her. After everything Songbird has been through, living her life under Myers' thumb, usage of the blackwall destroying her body, it's a powerful line.
  "You're free."
  V: Space is pure freedom So Mi...
• Midway through the story, you meet the mysterious Mr. Hands face-to-face. If you wait a few moments, you can overhear a conversation between Hands and his child in which the normally detached and pragmatic fixer is openly warm and loving towards them, promising to help find a lost toy the moment he's done work.
• Despite how the bleak "The Tower" ending is, Misty's farewell to V is very sweet and heartfelt, encouraging them that despite having lost everything, they can still start over. V can even agree with this sentiment themselves, aiming to either reclaim their lost glory without any chrome or implant or start over as a fixer, or decide to leave Night City in search for a new purpose in life.
  • While V being permanently cured comes at considerable cost, the fact that President Myers (by extension Militech and the NUSA) went out of her way to have them treated at all, and how Reed offers them a desk job in Langley, says much about how they live up to their word in contrast with Arasaka.
  • This mixes with a little bit of tear-jerker, but Kerry is the only romance option who's unreservedly happy to learn V is still alive during their two-year-long absence^note Judy left for Pittsburg and got married and wants to just be friends now, River's gotten involved in some shady dealings and no longer considers himself worthy of V's company, and Panam doesn't even want to talk to them and leaves it to Mitch to smooth things over. While he can't be with V immediately due to being away on tour, he promises to take V anywhere he wants when he gets back.
  • Another small silver-lining in "The Tower" is that, if you adopted Nibbles the cat, you'll see the cat hanging about in the Afterlife when Rogue calls V after learning they're back in town.
• In a heartwarming moment mixed VERY heavily with tearjerker, when you find out that Nika's brother was taken to the clinic but put down for his implants, you can try to comfort her when she goes to retrieve his body and say that you know what she is going through. Because you also lost someone who was like a brother to you. V and Jackie weren't just merely best friends, they were like brothers/siblings. They were family.

---

'"Well?"
"It's perfect - all great, Panam. We're going home."