I'm pretty sure that's deliberate design on their part. The first time through that run, it's all smoke and noise and violence, and it's still early enough in the game (unless you're playing things way out of order) that you can be forgiven being totally confused in the moment. That also feels very realistic to me, which is why it also makes sense that rescuing Takemura is optional and doesn't block progress. It's almost an easter-egg that it's POSSIBLE to save him.

Same here. I had no idea that saving Takemura was an option. I saw this video come up in my recommendations and felt really bad that I left him to die. Now, that I've finished my first play-through and watched this video, I don't feel as bad any more.

@@unclemikeyplaysI had the mod that give you the ability to double jump. So I was curious if you could go back up the hole you fail through. And there I found him, I killed the guards and escaped with him

@@unclemikeyplays "(unless you're playing things way out of order)" I feel personally attacked lol. When Takemura called me to set up Gimme Danger he said do not keep me waiting. So naturally, I completed all gigs, side quests and random encounters and came back having been already capped at level 50 for a while :P

@@neandrewthal Well,i been doing side quests in moment when takemura is busy most of time and when quest happens to be on my way too

Exactly. Plus if he fails and is still alive, then he'll feel disgraced and be furious. Which is what happens in other endings. It's even implied he commits seppuku.

good insight my brother

Yep. I did save him in my second playthrough But I noticed that the indole of each of his words was with disappointment not only with us, but with the same. He considered Saburo and Hanako honorable, but he lost them and could not do anything about it.

thats why i let him die and kill Oda. which i think arasaka dont kill him anyway for honor

I see him the same. You own him your life, and that by definition, mean something. When you go and save him, you don't own him anymore. At this point this is about kinship/friendship, and Goro's loyalty will always be with Asaka. That when, if, you get again on opposite sides.

yep, exactly. He's the type of guy to get you to come along with him to do shit that's gonna fuck up your own life, but because he's on the same "level" as you, meaning he's also being hunted by Arasaka and is a disgraced corpo-rat, you think he will actually end up helping you and taking you along with him on his rise back up to the top and save your life, but ends up immediately stabbing you in the back the second he gets back in the good graces of his overlords. It's like a guy who convinces you to rob a store with him, and because you are both poor and without hope, you agree to it thinking that even if it goes bad you will still be together and find a solution, but the minute you get caught he snitches and pins the whole thing on you and gets offered a position to be a cop because he has friends in high places. Then when your sitting in the jail cell he comes in, a free man, to try and get you to confess and make a plea deal that will have you in prison for the foreseeable future.

@@Animategrey spot on

Yep. Johnny was right: "CLINK." The sound of Arasaka's leash.

Much like many people in real life. Sticking together when times are bad and they need you. After that, it’s “adios, kuso-ama”

@@csmith7404 honestly,i don't hate people for doing that either. Ever tried saving people who are mental and refuse to be saved? it's exhausting.

people can be double-faced like that though, when they're with you it will feel like they like you and want to be friends, and maybe they even do but the moment they have a chance at something better they revert to treating you like garbage.

you can kick a rat out of the corpo but you cant kick the corpo out of the rat.

@@gaelmus592 a game can have morally ambiguous characters, I wouldn't call it an error. The ending just shows that a loyal dog will never be more than that, Takemura's a good person and he's clearly not evil but he's obedient to a fault and can't think for himself.

Which is funny, given that he seems to think himself a medical expert...

@@ohauss No, he just believes everything arasaka tells him, if they tell him your soul will be safe, his blind loyalty believes that.

@@nexusprotocol3692 Why would they discuss the effects of the chip in such detail with him?

@@ohauss bro you just raided arasaka basically solo and killed Adam Smasher while almost dead, you can be of value in the future so they want Goro to get you to sign yourself over to them

Yeah it’s interesting he said he often thinks about becoming a Nomad. Yet, if V joins Panam and becomes a nomad he gets pissy like he didn’t have the same idea

You also weren't forced to take exams nor being held prisoner at the spaceship. You just basically had brain surgery and were testing your brain functions. V can't solve the cube and bad physical exam results so obviously they can't let him out yet. If you chose not to make a tantrum, V would solve the cube and Takemura would still appear the next day. It's not the tantrum that triggers it, but the results of your performance.

Exactly

I think takemura world was crumbled too with all of this he know arasaka is peace of shit in that moment but he is afraid to do something else, he was thinking to be nomad in some moment

Lest we forget, V is one of a few people who know that Saburo possessed his son...that's a loose end worth tying when old Saburo can just have more kids and implant himself in his ideal host for eternity.

@@zymethamp6596 dude, I have two bach degrees and iq of 129 according to mensa, yet I can't do a fucking cube, what do you want from me ((

Tywin: What killed your father? Arya: Loyalty.

Reed and Takemura are a lot alike.

Idk, when in the space station and V points out about Saburo coming back in the body of his son, Takemura hesitates before giving a lame excuse of not judging them. While I do think he follows orders without much complaint, if any at all, I also think he does know the morally bad choices Arasaka makes.

@@Just-A-Gamer1524That’s true. And I think there’s a parallel with Reed and SongBird. He knows the way SongBird is used by the President is wrong, but he goes along with it.

He is extremely loyal to Saburo to the point he makes morally questionable choices but to say he would burn down a school of children without batting an eye is just plain wrong.

Yep, I only realized that on my second playthrough. But that's the only way those cutscenes make sense.

@@wilder11 Aye, the whole sequence goes by in a flash so it's not very obvious unless you stop to think about it. But you got some clues there, like the fact Takemura slaps you unconscious the first time you see him, as you're crawling out of the dump. - But then during the car chase he tosses you a healing stim. It also plays out similar to how the Corpo start does, where Arasaka waits for the agent to be out in the field before sending in the squad to "deal with them", rather than just busting them down in the office. They're very under-handed about it, and you don't know you're being set up until you're already there in the thick of it, distracted with something else and susceptible to being ambushed. Plus if they had succeeded in killing you and Takemura, they could've justified it as a cyber-psycho attack. Since you survived, they can just say Takemura betrayed the company to save your skin. And outside of it being a set-up, there's little reason to send a high ranking personal bodyguard out on a petty mission like corpse retrieval. They could've directly sent the assassin ninjas. - Or if you wanna argue Takemura was being demoted for failing to protect Saburo, he wouldn't be entrusted something as risky as evidence disposal, especially knowing he was skeptical of the whole situation. He even starts to question that poisoning wouldn't be possible and that something fishy is afoot in the penthouse, until Arasaka Jr cuts him short and goes "At-ta-ta-ta-ta..! He's dead, so I'm the boss now. I blame you. Now shoo, get from here. Before you learn too much."

Johnny saved you. Takamura probably didn't kill Dex for V...he did it for Arasaka because they wanted V for Soul KIller.

Did Goro actually save you, though? If Dex and Goro hadn't appeared, the construct would have kept repairing its new host. You would have been able to contact Del or Vik directly for help. Besides, Goro only "saves" your life so he can hand you over to Yorinobu per his assignment. And without your Del/Vik connection he would have died, so any life debt is already paid. Plus according to Hanako the SOB planted a tracker on you while you were recovering at Vik's. You owe him nothing. I only save Goro after the parade because it's a fun battle. Well, it's also fun to hear him cursing me later in a message for indirectly letting Yorinobu triumph by choosing the Panam ending. But then I'm the kind of guy who likes to make him say "Better buckle up!" outside the pachinko parlor.

He saves us because we are his only way to restore his honor, because he needs us. Yes, we can be friendly and all but in the end he wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in our heads if the Arasaka higher-ups ordered him to do it. The first rule of Nightcity is to trust no one

He saved you because he needed to save his own ass. He would have just as easily killed you

@@mysticsoul7284 No. Takemura saved V to expose the truth and take down Yorinobu. Arasaka wanted V to recover the relic, not Soul Killer which they've had ever since they used it in Alt.

Kinda cringe

I hope in DLC we will have chance to destroy them for good

I failed to save takemura because ima gonk that thought he would get out on his own. Watched my brother play through. He is literally just standing there when you come to save him. I feel bad but I didn't even know he was dead till 3 real life days later lmao. I was like. "Why hasn't this scopmuncher called me?"

I don't save Goro because he leaves a bitch message in every ending that doesn't involve working with Arasaka, which is the worst possible ending.

@@commentdouchery2838 I saved him and I was so nice but I went for the Johnny ending and buddy still talking smack even after you save him

It really fucking sucks, I think this way in real life - never had a friend "circle", and usually keep new friends at an arms length. I'd rather smoke at home and be with my girl and my games. Fuck this planet.

Bro it's a game, there's no "we" I know you are role-playing but it's so cringe lol

@@antonioc.5778 nah you're cringe. Allow people to live vicariously through stories. It literally has no effect on you. "What is a man, but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live, the tales we tell ourselves." -Words that I live by. TLDR: fork off

​@@antonioc.5778he's saying we because you control V and everyone choses different dialogue options

@@antonioc.5778ur so wrong

He even messages quotes to you

He's more of a Good Companion untill the Journey is over. Classic case of bonding through a mutual goal then it going either way when the goal is reached.

🤠 Ply any Japanese man with sake & he'll eventually be your best friend.

@@edwindrawz yes the message he sent with this emoji “^._.^” made me laugh I can’t picture a serious man using that ever and for that reason alone he deserves salvation

I have to agree. I thought of him as just another corpo rat at first. But he grew on me a bit. But when he kidnapped Hanako and shit hit the fan I didn't even wonder if I could save him. I could see his blind loyalty on display throughout the story. Honestly I think there should have been a way to save him and then say "You saved my life, I saved yours. We're even now." I kind of grew to like him, but his loyalty to the corporation meant I wouldn't risk my life for him in that scenario.

Seems fair.

Thats some wise stuff

And so you destroy Delamane? You Bastard!

@@Snipergoat1 Funnily, I almost did for that exact reason. But in the end, my (almost) unconditional love for Delamain's weird new personality prevailed.

Doing that means deactivating the Bartmoss Collective fortune teller machine. You absolute monster.

Yeah but without someone to deliver him to vik he would have died

My sentiments exactly

@@user-ot2yz7it7iProbably not caused the assassin is going for Takemura. V is already being partially fixed by the relic in dumpster.

Yeah, exactly! 😊

a good father is a benevolent tyrant. saburo, wasn't benevolent.

@@AlexanderTheGoodEnough thats a contradictory statement, a tyrant is described as cruel and oppressive or exercising power in an unreasonable and arbitrary way. that is oxford dictionary's definition. benevolent is defined as well meaning and kind. How can you be well meaning and kind while also being oppressive or cruel?

@@spaghettiupseti9990 the oxford dictionary isn't using actual political science for definitions, but refers to the associations made in common speech. A tyrant is anybody who has unilateral decision rights. Any society (a family even) has its decisions made either by one (tyrant), some (oligarchy) or all (democracy). The concept of benevolent tyrant means somebody makes decisions for you in your interest, which still qualifies as oppressive. A tyrant - conceptionally - doesn't have to be cruel, the reason why we associate them to being that in common speech is because - practically - they always are.

Technically, Saburo doesn't want to take over Yorinobu's body, he wants to put a copy of his "soul" in it. The real Saburo is still dead.

Is that possible or do you have to help him

@@TheBebe2006 nah, you can choose to save him from death and then not continue with his ending (the devil ending)

They is my view on it. Favor for a favor.

Seems fair enough for me too.

Blind loyalty

He isn't a kid. I hate the terms misplaced loyalty etc... The truth is far simpler. He accepts to do evil because he values Saburo and himself more than innocents... Therefore he is evil and does not deserve to live.

same as agent Reed is, both are dumb

Yeah, this was a very weird moral argument the video maker is trying to make. By their definitions of who is worth letting live, then V should be left for dead by basically everyone who knows them. Night City is full of users, everyone is out for themselves, some just have more honour than others.

​@Evanz111 not all to different than modern cites if you ask me

"Judy for example only uses V to exact her revenge" - Judy's cause is an actual noble one and you end up being able to develop a romantic relationship/deep friendship with her. The point Big Dan makes is that Takemura is a corporate shill from start to finish.

Honestly, I think he would honor V death as the warrior V was and then move on they aren't chooms

@@Patrickf5087 did you watch the whole video or? Option 1: you don't do what Takemura recommends and he curses you out in the holo; Option 2: he tries to coerce you into giving your soul to Arasaka; Option 3: you don't save him in the first place.

you need to save him for the secret ending ?

@@bilelcousineau715 no you don’t

@@bilelcousineau715 nah just to see him watch Arasaka fall lol the most pettiest shit to do 😂

He’s like bla bla bla burn in hell, yeah choom.. fk u too 😂

Yeah....

Exactly

... and funny thing is, Yorinobu is completely justified, considering what he knows about Saburo plans. Yorinobu knew very well what he wanted to prevent by stealing custom relic and Silverhand's engram.

@@GrimK77 I doubt the original plan was for Saburo to take his son's body. However, that changed with Saburo's murder, and how poorly Yorinobu handled the company for the time he is in charge

@@lokdog257 I don't mean take over of his body. Yorinobu was repulsed by whole idea of controlling the humanity. Game provides enough clues and info. On top of that the phonecall with Hellman that Evelyn recorded, is not subtle at all.

@@lokdog257 Yorinobu didn’t handle the company poorly. He was outright sabotaging it cuz his goal is to destroy the company and expose their and his father’s evil plans for America and the world.

probably bad writing

exactly!! i didn't care enough about takemura that i didn't even know that it was possible to go back and save him i just left, mainly because i always knew that his plan was to give you back to arasaka , that whole ride with him when he first "saved you" i thought that we were going back to arasaka because of the phone call he made , until the agents came and started shooting..

@@monotonemoe wrong, when Yorinobu found out you were alive he sent his troops to kill you and Goro because he knew there was a possibility you told Goro what happened. If you were found dead nothing would have happened. If Goro had planned to help you he would not have told Yorinobu that he had you.

Is this written anywhere in the game? This is interesting.

@@doctorroach1680 I think it’s a book? Yorinobo was actually indoctrinated by the deeds of silver hand, he planned to “become” the bomb and destroy Arasaka from the inside out. He’s not clean, but there’s a reason NetWatch is basically the only corpo unit we see not always being assholes and just doing their jobs.

He's one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. But yeah, that bit hurts. I understand it from Goro's perspective tho. His childhood was horrible beyond imagination and got saved by Arasaka. He spend his whole life in Arasaka, surrounded by people who were saved by Arasaka as well. He genuinely thinks Arasaka brings the best to the world. During the rooftop conversation he says something like "not everyone can be saved" when V points out that even tho Arasaka is all high and mighty, people are still suffering. He knows the world will always be flawed but at least thanks to corporations, there will still be millions that get a chance to live a good life, and he's blind to see the damage they do. Now he goes out to find V, for Arasaka, just to get betrayed by Yorinobu. He will save V, hoping that V is willing to help him avenge Saburo. He'll work with you, even get a bit more personal with you. Hell, on the rooftop he tells you he trusts you now! And then you go out an destroy Arasaka. Goro will never get his life back and you destroyed what he was so loyal to. He thought saving your life would save Arasaka, yet he brought doom to it. As much as it hurts, he has all the right in the world to hate V's guts. Saving V resulted in Goro losing everything, leaving him with no reason to live left. What I don't understand tho is that he gives you this dialogue in the devil ending? When you choose to not join the secure your soul program. I think that was just lazy on the Dev's side

​@@Tempehhhhwait he still gives this dialogue when you don't choose the secure your soul ending? That seems like a mistake

@@bluecloud4652 I think he was supposed to have a different reply there, but he doesn't because. Cut content. Lol. It makes no sense as why would he commit suicide in that ending, he got the job back. You also see him wear his old outfit again, even tho he's back at Arasaka. It's definitely a mistake

@@Tempehhhh that seems like a major enough mistake for them to try and fix, so it might be possible with the new dlc

@@bluecloud4652 I didn't get that message with the Devil ending at all.- Only with the ones that actually fuck him over.

And to Takemura, V giving his soul to Arasaka is not a bad thing, he has already sold his own soul to them in a way. From that perspective I don’t even think him making the offer is malicious, someone like Takemura likely legitimately believes it is the best path for V

I mean he lies to you if you chose to leave the station Hanako calls you to go back and work for her so much for the "Hanako has already forgotten about you" part. It's quite fascinating how people will turn into pretzels trying to paint Takemura as a good guy and your friend, yet one of the PL characters gets vilified for things she didn't even do. He's also the one that puts a tracker on V when they are half dead at Viktor's and never tells you this, Hanako does.... Arasaka knew all along where V was all the time and that Yorinobu killed Saburo they were just waiting for the oportunity to benefit from it.

@@pinnacleevolution1634 lol , lilbro just trying to edgy , edgerunners much ? How any of the things you said are bad ? This is a war , in a city filled with crimes and lying mtfks every square. You think this is a kindergarten where if " you wear the same shirt as me , then we are friends ! " . lilbro sure is living under a rock, good luck surviving in life with that mindset

I mean, there *is* something laudable about Takemura's absolute loyalty to Saburo Arasaka. You can't buy him off - he'd kill you for the insult. You can't intimidate him, for as long as he's physically capable of protecting his master's interests, he'll keep coming after you, with the tenacity of a hound. Even deceiving him will only work for so long, and as soon as he cottons on to the deception, he'll be back on you, and with a renewed fury to boot. For writing a tabletop rpg campaign, Goro Takemura is actually a great template for a Lawful Good antagonist, a devoted and loyal warrior in service to a dangerous and conniving lord.

Actually he does lie to you at least once, at the very end. When he's trying to sell V on the Secure Your Soul project. He first says that Hanako has already forgotten about V, and then later says that Hanako is the reason he is on the station to talk to you. Those 2 statements are pretty opposite and mutually exclusive. He can't be there on her behalf, AND her not remember who V is. And given that point shifts based on how he's trying to convince V, I'd say he is being deceitful there. I'm sure there are some other parts where he is deceptive in the game, if you deep dive his dialogue.

@@Snarkknight5 I don’t think there’s anything laudable about being a leashed dog for someone

He's a samurai following the samurai code. Watch 47 samurai and he's essentially doing the same thing as them.

to be fiar to him, Alaska is his family. Ask yourself a question. If you have to choose between your own family and a friend, who would you put as the 1st priority? I don;t think he is a dog to Arasaka. Perhaps from the outlook of it is true. However, think about it, many parents gave birth to children for labor and for the sake of having someone to take care of them when they get old. So some parents are "using' their children and their children are also some kind of "loyal dogs" to them. What's the difference? In this world, someone is always using someone for various purposes.

And there is that dialog while they are watching the Arasaka warehouse, one COULD inspire some doubt in him and he speaks about how nice it could be to live with nomads, free from all this but heis of course not able to go through with it or even talk about it more.

@@nevermind5733 that’s a good point. I think you have to be a nomad to unlock that piece of dialogue, I wonder what would happen if you were a corpo.

@@Olis4897 you do not. And you can reply that he doesn't know anything about nomad culture, even if you're not a nomad as well.

His body language at the end feels like he's a bit disillusioned, assuming thats accurate characterization.

@@nevermind5733 as he told V during that scene "you can't teach an old dog new tricks"

Exactly! The hypocrisy is staggering. All that talk about honor and V being a thief as if the atrocities he’s no doubt committed are somehow better.

@@NikkiC30 and it sucks because that rooftop conversion and all the talks throughout make it seem as if he will be a lifelong partner to V (wish he was a romance option too considering how much time you spend with him) but it is what it is.

Sorry know I repeated myself

@@Flameville no problem. Honestly I guess it depends on what path you take but I knew from the beginning nothing he wanted to do was gonna help V, I just wanted to keep my options open. I knew V wouldn’t side with the Corpos so I feel like everything V does at that point is gratitude for him saving their life, no matter the circumstances. For him to then call at the end of the game when ultimately V did him a solid of freeing him from a devil he could not free himself of infuriated me. I don’t think gratitude could be expected but did he ever understand V at all? What else did he think was gonna happen.

@@NikkiC30 he liked his cage

I think one reason why he's so distraught during the ending and even hateful towards V is different from what's apparent. Takemura cares about V. If he didn't care, he'd just forget her the corpo way. I think he grew hate because he, for himself, made a deal for Mikoshi. He trusts Arasaka blindly, unconditionally. He assumed that they would meet in Mikoshi. But V declined. Takemura considers this a denial of their friendship, which lacks honor in his mind.

Another theory is that his own deal for Mikoshi even depends on his successful sale to V. It was his option to restore his own honor with Arasaka. But he failed at that, which only leaves him one option and that's why he's been reading these poems.

@@matfax trust me his honor is restored. If you dont count the players actions (because the player always influences the world more than realistically possible) he kinda single handedly saved Arasaka.

@@zDemoGODz Japanese honor depends on completion. Either everything or nothing. It's possible that V is the final part that has to be dealt of. V is also a friend, so she has to do it willingly.

@@matfax Not just that, Japanese honor also makes his actions make more sense. Him not visiting you in the clinic? Japanese honor because he doesn't want you to be seen in your state of weakness, at a low point. Him claiming Hanako wanted to help you? A lie, he got you into the SYS program but Japanese honor dictates that when you help a friend you claim the help came from another source so that they are not indebted to you, making your relationship and friendship unequal. It's a weird thing that's hard to really pick up on and the only reason I did is because of several videos here on YT where they have Japanese ex-Yakuza and a modern Samurai who practices bushido and swordsmanship go over a bunch of cultural movies and video games and explain those things explicitly. And what's funny is that this video is just evidence of something that happened historically of people mistaking the rigid politeness and stoicism as being cold or unfriendly.

He doesn't commit seppuku in the DOFTR ending. I think part of the reason why is because that's not a betrayal. It's you doing the best action you can to save your life and he can't begrudge you for that, your not bringing anyone with you who has any motive about ruining Arasaka or doing more damage to them. And blame Mikoshi being destroyed on you? They can't, that was Alt you had nothing to do with it ;)

It's as he himself put it: "Can't teach an old dog new tricks"

@@Noneya409 I’m actually glad he isn’t. He’s old as shit

Correction: There is no life without Arasaka. Filthy pleb.

@@Noneya409 why did they remove all the best stuff from this game lol

Counter point, V defeats Adam Smasher while on deaths door. Even completely unarmed, it looks to me like they let him keep his cyberware, potentially hacked to keep dormant, but still. If V wanted, he could destroy anyone who came after him. Maybe they are planning to soulkill him anyways, but will wait until he's bedridden. Personally, I'd keep an eye over my shoulder for the rest of my life, even if Saburo owes me for "reviving" him.

@@narutony1916 Um no, V said clearly he would be no match for Takemura even without his implants, and this is Takemura with implants. Adam Smasher was strong, but not strong enough to be Saburo's bodyguard. Think about it. And V was quite weak during the cutscene already. Plus, V let them do all sorts of procedures on him. Arasaka could have trapped him on day one once they removed all his implants by tricking him into thinking it was necceasry. He was even in a space station, he would be trapped if Arasaka so will.

@@MrDosonhaiSmasher isn't Saburo's bodyguard because Saburo probably doesn't want to be followed around all day by some gaijin robot that constantly refers to everyone around him as "meat", not because Takemura is stronger.

@@Shadowtalon7 So you're gonna ignore the fact that V hesitated to take down Takemura when Johnny told him to? V even said he doubt he could take on Takemura even without his implants. But sure, Takemura is weaker than Smasher because you he looks more badass.

V wasn’t seasoned at the time of admitting that. At the end of the game u would destroy him before he hits the floor

I have a different take. When Takemura is on the run, he's not employed anymore. His sole goal is to return to Arasaka, prove his loyalty and get back to the arms of proverbial family. So he's so focused on it and since V is helping him get back, he's honest. Once he regained employment, his goal is to serve Arasaka and their interests. As a company man, he puts their interests above all else - including his. So, I believe he believes Arasaka lies OR if Hanaka told him that it's best for V to land in Mikoshi (as V couldnt tell anyone that Saburo is in Yorinobu body) - he didn't question it. He's NOT a friend because he doesn't ask questions to save V. Think about it, as soon as he realized Yorinobu might have killed Saburo (as the assassins attack them), his plan is to get back to Arasaka by any means. He interrrogated Anders Hellman, he finds so many people and so many things on his own in his pursuit to get back. But when it comes to try saving V, he doesn't ask Arasaka any questions and just blindly feeds the narrative to V. If he's a friend, he would be angry and questioning left and right - like how he behaved when he figured out Saburo was murdered.

@@krishnav5122 Saburo wasnt his friend tho. Saburo was his *savior*. Cyberpunk has a lot of themes about savior complexes in the background. Saburo saving Takemura from the slums, Johnny being anti copro to "save" Night City from Arasaka, "Alt" saving the ghosts from Mikoshi, Yorinobu trying to "save" the world from Arasaka by destroying it from the inside, hell your entire story revolves around the themes of accepting death, and being saved from it, with the Devil ending being the one where V is "saved" by being trapped in Mikoshi. By and large though, these "saviors" are never actually saviors. They each have their own intentions, and motives. Johnny fought for Militech in the Corpo Wars instilling a deep hate for Arasaka and corps in general, Alt wants more ghosts likely to boost processing and prep for whatever the hell its planning next (like taking on NetWatch), Yorinobu would cause another Corpo War taking endless lives just to take down his fathers enterprise. None of these are good people, and none of their Crusades would have good outcomes in the short term. Maybe Arasaka (company) finally falling would be good for the short term of Night City but their absence would create a power vacuum for Militech, NightCorp or Biotechnica to take over, leading to another Master at the top. Alt getting a bunch of engrams would likely lead her to further establishing Ghost World or even take down the Blackwall, the latter being enough to cause another DataKrash. We know Johnny's nuke plan led to the Night City Holocaust, so instead of freeing Night City he just hurt its infrastructure badly while doing minimal damage to Arasaka. Anyways, I say all this because those who are saved by someone with a savior complex, tend to show more gratitude and dedication. I think its reasonable to say Takemura was our friend, to some degree, but he owes his life to Saburo. Thats a debt he will not, and can not ever repay. His dedication to Saburo overshadows any kinship or friendship Takemura will ever make. He's cognitively a corpo slave, and it should be read that way from the very beginning imo

@@krishnav5122 I disagree. If anything, he's proven himself to be an honorable person. In a medieval sense of the word of course, but there nonetheless.

​@@krishnav5122we have more content from takemura, he was loyal to the bitter end

​@@justicebrown1077you were 100% right, did you play the dlc yet?

This Is a very interesting view on it, great observation brother. That moment is like a tragedy that needed to happen for Arasaka to turn a new leaf possibly

Holy shit. Never had the thought cross my mind. Might have a point.

From what I remember it’s heavily implied that Yorinobu wasn’t a bad guy and was just trying to reform the company when you confront him in Hanako’s ending

yeah in Hanako's ending he mentions something about himself being a kamikaze to take down Arasaka.

​​@@CircusofPython Not really reform, Yorinobu wants to kill Arasaka. The only reason he rejoined Arasaka was because he saw that even Johnny's nukes couldn't kill Arasaka. His conclusion was that Arasaka could only be killed by an insider. That's why he constantly poked Militech and NUSA government publicly as soon as he lead Arasaka, accusing them of killing Saburo. He was trying to start a war when Arasaka is in disarray to stack the deck against Arasaka. Unlucky for him, Militech and NUSA didn't take the bait. On top of that other changes he made while leading were intended to be bad for business and eventually kill Arasaka. Given time, Yorinobu would've succeeded. One way or another. Which is why in the Devil ending, once Saburo took Yorinobu's body, the first thing he did was to undo ALL changes made by Yorinobu, made peace with Militech, made peace with NUSA, and forged an alliance with NUSA. Yorinobu was the biggest threat Arasaka ever faced. Not Militech, not Morgan Blackhand, not Johnny Silverhand, not V. They can and did deal heavy blows to Arasaka through their separate actions. But none of them could kill deliver a killing blow. Not even V. Even after attacking Arasaka tower and destroying Mikoshi AND causing more political and financial damage to Arasaka than anyone ever had, V didn't manage to straight up kill Arasaka. It was in shambles and significantly weaker than ever, sure. But it's not dead, meaning it could eventually recover. Hanako's death might even change Yorinobu's mind, stopping him from going through with killing Arasaka. If not, V still didn't kill Arasaka. They just sped up/contributed to Yorinobu's overall plan. Yorinobu's original plans, if completed, would actually kill Arasaka. Nobody can stop it since the guy at the helm is the guy wanting to kill Arasaka. Plus, it wouldn't need the mass deaths of Arasaka employees that happen in any of V's non-sudoku ending. Sure, they would lose their jobs but they wouldn't get mass murdered by Alt and/or V.

to be fair, the surgical intervention was only possible thanks to a shackled AI, which Arasaka dont have

I disagree and believe nobody in Arasaka can be trusted except for maybe Yorinobu, because he's trying to destroy Arasaka corp from within. Goro is a brainwashed fool doing nothing without the permission of his masters. He'd betray us in a second if Saburo orderd it. I also disagree about V being the same as Goro, because he actually helps his friends during the sidequests, apart from the main mission.

@@zarenboug5410 I agree your statement. I'd say there's a pretty big gap between the two's approach towards assisting and acquiring assistance from others

I do it to get XP

Tbh ya I save him, but only really because I pity him and hope he gets the chance to free himself from mental slavery. Also it’s because of his original loyalty that V cannot trust him to open his eyes to the things Arasaka is capable of, like bringing Saburo back in Yorinobu’s body. Also as far as judging V. This is a more complex topic because V is what we make of them. The choices we make as players if the game. If we don’t help people then ya you’re right it’s hypocritical, but we have many opportunities to be loyal and generous with many characters.

@@Olis4897 doesn't he just kills himself at the end?

I'm with you. Saving Takemura is the thing I do for my own soul and morality. It speaks to my choices as a human.

That's my method. I always prefer to burn everything to the ground in my revenge then give Johnny the body.

It's fair to go either way with this. You saved him 'in theory' by shooting at the guys on the bikes, then you save him again by 'knowing' a ripper doc you can count on, then you save him yet again, by getting ahold of Del the AI cab driver, to get a way from point A to point B. Goro owes you at this point... and let's not forget that he robs us of the satisfaction of removing Dex from the equation yourself, while using you to achieve his own form of 'revenge' which is also ill-fated. I don't know, I think it can go either way and karmically you're in the clear.

So is there any ending in this game where Arasaka DOESNT win? Side with Hanako and her dad gets his sons body and is immortal, in other endings the son just stays reigning the corporation or?

@@mar.c1 Corpos always win in the end. Johnny and his team nuked Arasaka just for him to be 'revived' years later to find out the tower had been rebuilt.

They created Jackie's engram (not recovered it. Soul killer doesent download ur "soul". It creates a 70% realistic copy of you.) They created the engram for the same reason they created the johnny and the alt engram. So they could interrogate them.

The only reason I followed through with the Arasaka story was Goro. When he talked to V about signing up for Secure Your Soul, my V did because Goro said he'd be there when she woke up: When V asks if she'll see him again, he says "I believe so. Visit me in Kugawa and I will show you what real food is." Regardless of how their relationship started, by the end of the Arasaka story I genuinely think Goro came to care for V and vice versa.

Without the treatment from Vik, V surely would've flatlined chip or no chip, without goro taking V there v would've just died

@@TheBluePhantom he could have called vic to go there?

If he hadn't went to find you another Arasaka stooge would have. So yeah I think he saved your life.

@@maxpeul5944 he didn’t have the strength to until takemura gave him an airhypo

I still don't feel like suicide is definitive. He alludes to what samurais would do, but then adds he's not a samurai.

I'm not sure. I always thought that the sentence, was a little mistake made by developers due a little time they had to finish the game. ;)

@@cristinamaurras9184 I thought of it more like a figure of speech, like "an ex-girlfriend moving on from a boyfriend" sort of thing. She, of course, remembers and or knows who you are, overseas the formalities of your "treatment", etc, but she doesn't have any special feeling of gratitude or hate towards you. You're a blip in her otherwise ridiculously busy schedule. I also think that Goro DOES in fact care about V. Why not visit, during the time you're on the station? Why not call? I'm not sure why it would be hard to imagine. He was and is likely VERY busy as the current state of Arasaka, not to mention his roles within it, are likely extremely hectic and busy right now. There might be so much that we, the player, don't see about Goro's current state of life which could explain him not coming to us sooner.

V's became nothing more than the Relic to her

​@@CaidicusProductions Plus V is on a space station. Not exactly a convenient visit.

Yep, they want V to be the new and improved Adam Smasher. That's why they want V to sign paperwork that makes V their property, so they can own V like they own Smasher.

With V's engram unimportant to Arasaka and the "uniqueness" of V since the Relic Chip, chances rise for Mikoshi beeing ultimately prison forever for V-->bad deal.

Imo, the whole charade of keeping you on the station, testing you and keeping you isolated was a plan by the Hanako and maybe Saburo to make V willingly give themselves to the relic program. Maybe so they can use a V engram to replace a now defeated Adam Smasher. It's noted that in the Lizzy Wizzy quest that Arasaka can't completely rewrite a person's psych, so turning V into an engram just after saving Arasaka would make V feel betrayed and unwilling to work with them. Both Takemura and Hellman say "Hanako has forgotten you," but with Takemura's slip up, and if you reject the deal to be an engram, Hanako calls you up to offer you work, it's most likely a strategy to isolate V, to make them feel as they have no choice but to become an engram.

@@buyhighselllow9305 then why in that slip Takemura said that she agreed? If it was her idea she wouldn't have had to agree with her. Then that means the idea came from someone else. Also, how about the fact that they let you leave the station without any strings attached? Ok, they failed getting V onto their side but do you really think Arasak would let such an important piece of technology leave? They could have gotten it by force and use it for tests and experiments. The very fact that they actually let you leave disapproves the theory that it was a trap/prison.

@@ssilentmedia Sure they let you leave no strings attached, but then in the eyes of Arasaka you'll become a none issue in about 6 months so it's no lose to them. You could forcibly imprison V for experimentation but what would you discover? R&D takes time, and locking the most dangerous solo in NC isn't going to speed things up in the short 6 month window. It's just safer to let V go and die somewhere that's out of Arasakas hair. Also as I forgot to say, that Arasaka didn't know that V's body was rejecting them, non of the endings do. When Hanako agrees to let V into the relic program, it probably wasn't their plan A on securing V as an Arasaka asset, but this was a very helpful tool for them to isolate V and make them feel that this is the only option for survival. And regardless of who visits you in the devil ending, the contract will always say that you'll become the property of Hellman, the lead researcher behind the relic program and a now ally to Hanako.

​@@buyhighselllow9305 oh boy. i don't even know where to start. 1. do you really think Arasaka would have let V leave without any string attached? We are talking about the same company who said it would nuke the city of anything happened to Johnny's engram. I'm asking you again, do you really think they would let that unique piece of technology just walk out the door? 2. do you really think Arasaka couldn't get their hands on V if they wanted? yes, an alive body would have been nice for tests to see how the engram affects the body in real time but if they really wanted that, they would have kept V alive for as much as possible on the station (after feeding V lies). They wouldn't have taken V directly to the soul killer machine as soon as V agreed. But that's considering the fact they wouldn't outright kill V, use soul killer on V against V's will (like they did with Jonny) and then study the body and the engram. They don't really need V alive for that so your argument of them trying to imprison V for 6 months is nothing. 3. How can you say stuff like "Arasaka didn't know that V's body was rejecting them" when they clearly say the fact that V can't be saved because the engram modified V's body too much? They literally tell you the same the same thing. Because V's body was modified too much by the engram, V can't stay in her body and quickly finding a new body for V would also be hard 'cuz V has no relatives. I really don't understand why you would say that when it was clearly stated in both this video and the game. 4. Do you really think Arasaka wouldn't offer the same contract to EVERYONE? After all, why wouldn't they want to have powerful and influential people on their side? 5. I really don't understand your logic. you claim that Arasaka would do all these evil things just to get V because they are utterly evil and can't be trusted BUT you ignore all the other MORE evil things they could have done to get V. If Arasaka wanted V, they would have already gotten her. Truth is, Arasaka could have done much more evil things to get V, but they didn't and let V go without any string attached. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Arasaka and I agree, they are Evil as fuck but if you really think they wouldn't have taken V by force while she was out in space and they wouldn't give her the same contract as they give to everyone then my friend, I'm sorry to say this but you are really really naive.

Same for me, I would’ve saved him if I knew

Same

It’s amazing how much game this game has in it. If you jump back up to the third floor you can save him. I did that on my second play through because I also didn’t know I could save him on the first!

it isn't a big loss ultimately. Takemura is an evil man and deserves death.

Same here

Same...also since I had fallen 2 or 3 floors down, I didn't even know that you COULD get to him, much less tried to.

@@DJMarcO138 it was that paired with Johnny saying to leave him he's already dead that made me think it wasn't even an option. There really should've been an indicator there

I ended up saving him because I was just curious if the game would let me jump back up through the hole lol

Same....I saved em on the next go around.

​@@alternativeschool7431yeah for real

i agree

Well said, never thought of the ending in that way

@@alternativeschool7431 exactly

@@alternativeschool7431 Fingers is scum and I kill him every play through but you can't pretend that killing him is not going to create worse outcomes for the people that have no other ripperdoc who they can work with. It is likely that I create far more suffering then I solve when I kill him.

Exactly what I was thinking.

@@grumpyitcushmeta4riaproduc189 lol I learned the hard way

Ah yes, my preferred way to play a story driven RPG. Following a list of all the choices I have to make to optimize for achievements, then cruise controlling through the rest of the game.

@@SenorBigDong69 that’s why he said “IF” read carefully next time before you rant

@@SenorBigDong69 idk man let them play it however they want... it ain't hurting any of us that they play the game in a way that we find undesirable

And we here for it.

They may be hot takes, but they're right

@@everett818 no

Yeah for my first playthrough I'm triggering all optional dialogue, and next time I'm gonna do none of it

But what does the successful testing mean

@@xanatricebass2741 They're testing you in the scene to see if they successfully got the engram out of you. This involves various psych studies. If you react patiently instead of aggressively, you eventually solve the Rubik's cube, suggesting that their efforts to make sure your mind is healthy worked.

What I love is that the success can be interpreted two ways. The negative way is that V loves Big Brother, fully submitting to corporate control of life and prosperity in exchange for maybe getting crumbs. The good interpretation is V Interrupted, where V stops being a thieving rebel and simply works to become a better and more focused person.

@@trevalyan006 I'd argue there's also a 3rd option, V had just learned to be sneaky and mask who they really are from Corps.

Oda? It was Yurinobu.

@@majorkusanagi2406 Thanks for the correction. That's what happens when I post something while half asleep. :D

Yeah, Arasaka is Takemura's life. They picked him out of the slums and made him an actual human being in the world, gave him a full set of body modifications for his loyalty and rewarded him even further for it. I can't imagine it's easy to turn your back on the people who made you who you are, for better or worse, and Takemura- despite Yorinobu- never loses his loyalty for Arasaka and the people in it who made him who he is

It’s not home or life if they tried killing you and casting you out

Same with the crashed vita bird. If you stay you can save the pilot.

@@garwynrosser8907 You mean Malik in Human Revolution, right?

What?? Are you saying you could actually save Paul Denton?? All these years...and I had never known....😦

I never knew you could save goro until like a month ago

Same in Human Revolution. You can stay and fight to save the pilot Malik but the game gives no hint that’s an option pushing you to run

Something that makes me think that Arasaka isn't just out to imprison V is that if you decide to not sign the contract, you can actually just leave. If Arasaka really wanted V, they could just make an engram forcibly.

No, everything is exactly as he says it is there are no hidden tricks here if arasaka wanted V there's nothing that we could do to stop them. They would not be offering options or trying to trick him. They would just strap him down, suck his soul out and be done with it.

@@Mode-Selektor Exactly, there's no point in giving V the choice at all. If they want to deal with V, they could easily not treat them or just use soul killer.

True I mean they pretty much did that to Johnny so who’s to say if Arasaka really wanted that they could of done it

Yeah I agree with what people are saying here. Contrary to Big Dan's point, it's highly likely that the Arasaka offer is just as it appears, because there would be absolutely no point in offering the option of a contract or leaving if they had the secret intention of using his engram, making him a test subject, etc. - they could have just done that anyway. What would be the point of the contract/offer song and dance? There is none, unless it's genuinely what it appears to be.

Thats a very good explanation fr bro top notch😮

Yorinobu said that his father was poisoned.

@@maineman5757 Yeah, I did another playthrough recently and he did say that. I guess it just reinforces that Yorinobu does not share the same Japanese style sense of honor as Takemura. Which would make sense as Takemura represents the traditionalist view trying to preserve Arasaka and Yorinobu represents the barbarian looking to destroy it.

This is it. Don't forget Yorinobu would have off'd himself but Hanako convinced him to just take in papa's engram. Which is not much different. In the end, Yorinobu lied but his honor and duty drove him to give up his life to restore the honor and for his family.

pretty much this, V at that point is literally capable of walking in the front door of Arasaka tower, wipe the floor with an army of goons AND the best of the best they can muster - something NOONE else could do - then bit*hslap a LEGENDARY warrior killing machine Adam Smasher like a toddler all the while basically having a stroke ... true essence of "one man army" LEGEND its very much doubtful that Arasakas would fail to realize the potential of such an asset and fail to secure the loyalty and services of an individual that capable. also one thing i kinda see a problem with is that they all focus way too much on ORGANIC body ... once the consciousness is transferred to a relic it should be relatively easy to be put into a completely mechanical body - an AI driving a mech would be SO much easier to accomplish although so should be cloning a new body copy from the originals DNA, this part of story is not very well thought out because if Saburo could just take over his sons body just because "DNA compatibility" a complete body clone would be no problem... just tell V to wait in "storage" for the clone to mature (or put his Relic into a mech for the time being - basically Adam Smasher 2.0 with less psychotic tendencies and MUCH more capable)

There is a horrifying future possibility of Arasaka's latest prototype program being 'Type V' assault cyborgs. Which everyone outside the program assumes means type five, and we the audience know better. Considering just how omnidisplinary V can be, that really is horrifying to contemplate. To the tune of 'One Corp, One Type V.'

@@Sorain1 For sure there is a very high possibility that with V's relic Arasaka has the means to create the ultimate army to fight for it. I am sure they could find a way to only take the parts of V they need from the engram such as their combat experience and so on while removing all of her original memories. How effective such a soldier would be without those memories is questionable because it is part of those memories that drives V forward. However once the clone or copy of V starts getting its own memories it will obtain its own motivations.

My head canon is the they do eventually bring V back and V becomes a new Arasaka boogeyman. Fuck with saka they'll send V

And like what that Arasaka agent talking to Lizzy’s beau, they can adjust personality, clip traits, add them. And to say V is nothing makes it seem like he’s lucky to be in this program. Like Dan said. Even as a fan of Takemura, he is brainwashed and was trained by the Arasakas since he was a child. It would have been best for him to die by the hands that fed him.

Well, they have experience of chips and skulljacking and whatever. It's not unreasonable that they could extrapolate an outcome, especially with supercomputers and extremely advanced AI, plus the death V already had, and selfdiagnostics and whatever from the biochip.

The circumstances may be somewhat unique to V but if you think of it, the diagnosis isn't too different from cases of organ mismatch in modern times, when a transplanted organ isn't compatible with your body. I'm not a well-versed medical expert on this end, but it is possible that the symptom description isn't too far off from the rejection process in such a case. What makes it suspicious isn't the "how could you possibly know?", it's the "why are you telling me this?". Pragmatically, if V had no value remaining post-op, Arasaka would be better off saying "you're cured, grats, we're done, here's a shuttle back home" and then ghost V when the deadly aftereffects do occur. Them not doing so means there is a benefit to keeping V under Arasaka's control, which is self-explanatory. On that note, I do remember that if you opt to go home instead of sign up for SYS, Hanako sends a message in the end credits asking if you'd be interested in doing jobs for her. It's possible that even after saying no, Arasaka still remains interested in acquiring you.

You can’t just start a new file and save him later for that?

I just made a save file saved Takemura and then reloaded

What'ts with people and these stupid achievements? You get any money or in-game stuff for them?

@@DanSlotea makes u feel good if ur a trophy hunter or completionist

@@himmothy9316 sounds like OCD

Wow...what a grown up you are...

He hates you and kills himself at the end, so it's a wasted effort.

@@Azaghal1988 wym he kills himself?

@@SuperMurray2009 he alludes to doing so, As in his final call he talks about how Disgraced Samurais would write a poem before commiting seppuku (ritual suicide to retain honor in death). Then instead of vowing for revenge for destroying Arasaka he just tells you to go to hell. Heavily paraphrased but I hope I got most of the key points right

@@SuperMurray2009 Maybe he thinks so because he is talking about Sepukku in that ending speech? He describes what Samurais did when commiting seppuku and how they would write those death poems but since he is not a samurai he will just say "burn in hell whore" to V as his "death poem". Tbh it makes some sense that he'd do so since it's a great shame for him as Saburo's personal bodyguard to let V attack Arasaka, kill hundreds of their men and not complete the plan of bringing Saburo back to life. He is commiting seppuku like a samurai who has failed to protect his master

@@SuperMurray2009 He spoke about jisei, a death poem prior to samurai suicide insinuating he will commit seppuku. His death poem follows 'Rot in hell"

Naw, I'll would of left him to die. Fuck paying him back.

then he kills himself

You return him saving your life by saving his - and you repay him smacking you when you first asked him for help by burning Arasaka down around him. Very gratifying. Yes, I held that grudge. lol

That's what I think. "You saved my life. I saved yours. That makes us even Takemura." He kind of grew on me but when I saw his attitude towards Hanako I felt that he would always put Arasaka first. No matter whet the situation.

@@blunthonesty8633 agreed. His advice to you about bowing your head to one of greater status indicates he'll never change. Whilst I do think he gets to care about V in his own way, he is unable to change from being anything other than an Arasaka loyalist for a usurped faction.

Johnny included even though he had a change in mind he was still living through v

I would say put yourself in Goro's shoes: Arasaka saves you from a life of poverty and squalor, raises you, feeds you, teaches you, instills a sense of morals and morality, gives you purpose. You go your whole life believing they're good - then something happens to shatter that. You think it's your fault, you failed and thats why this thing happened - then you hear a ludicrous story that further insults the company you've looked to as greater than a family your entire life. Through multiple experiences and confirmations you realize that yeah, this company that saved you is really shady - they did right by you and you owe everything to them, but you sold your life to them so long ago you'd basically lose everything if you abandoned them. You could function in the larger world using what you've been taught, but it would be hollow - Arasaka isnt just employment, but stability and the comfort of acting without the full weight of responsibility which going solo brings. So long as Arasaka does it or condones it, then it's right - having been stripped of Arasaka for a time, Goro had a chance to taste his own humanity again. He met a two-bit thief who turned out to be a much bigger player than he ever realized; he saw the resilience of people struggling to get by yet still preferring that over Arasaka, he tasted horrible food that reaffirmed the quality of life Arasaka provides, and on some level he refuses to directly face he did warm up to V. There's a schism going on in Goro that I don't think gets enough attention: he's in way too deep and he knows it, he says himself that you cant teach an old dog new tricks. If he started over fresh outside Arasaka, he'd be miserable; he knows he isn't adaptable to the outside world despite his general adaptability (you can adapt to a situation knowing you don't have to stay there forever - leaving Arasaka though, he'd never know those comforts again). He'd have V, have the Nomads, maybe even be able to get back to Japan and find halfway decent food he can stomach - but it would be a life without purpose. A life where his every action is his own to suffer the consequences, where having to think and be considerate of others takes more precedence over completing the task at hand then returning to his daily duties (it's a lot easier to do a routine job you know in and out than deal with constantly changing variables, especially human variables). Goro requires routine, a standard to break himself against, a purpose, quality of life and above all else stability - life outside of Arasaka offers none of that despite his realization that Arasaka is shady. He goes with the bet he knows because, for him: that's the safe option. He can return to his daily routine, eat good food, have something to strive for, turn off his brain, and be content in being a tool - he doesn't have the courage or capacity to be anything but a tool at the end of the day because that's what he was molded to be, and he knows it. He knows it isn't right, he knows V deserves better, he knows had he the power to control the outcome: He would have honored his promises to V, but he put his trust in the company he keeps telling himself is right, good, honorable in everything it does. Takemura is blinded by his dedication and it tears him up inside every time they fail to uphold the basics he had drilled into him from early on - maybe even in the end he won't be able to enjoy his time back at Arasaka. He wants to remain friends with V despite everything because he feels guilty all the work to save his life was for nothing - he can only resign himself to what Arasaka promises him and hope that this time they actually are going to follow through (if they don't, he has years to go on believing V is ok while not actually facing them. He can take peace in knowing V at least isnt dead and he's the one who convinced them to do the engram path,so he in a way did save them despite Arasaka's failings. He, Goro, made good on his word and brought honor to the company). As far as him telling V to rot in hell in the end credits: Anything where Arasaka suffers or he's unable to regain his old life, he feels you've betrayed him. He refuses to adapt to the outside world, its unfathomable, so he'd rather just kill himself and be done with it all - you've killed him after he put his trust in you (trusting him). So understandably he's upset; its short-sighted as he has no way of understanding you didn't know his internal world (think culture shock: he has very specific codes of conduct he follows and everyone around him follows without having to think about them; there are very specific outcomes to every occasion, everyone knows them. People outside Arasaka dont have these, so they have no idea what Arasaka company people think or do - its an entirely different world with different rules, he has no idea the extent to which you don't even know what is/was at stake for him), but in his mind he's the injured party. Tl;dr: there's a lot going on internally for Takemura, but it boils down to this whole situation has opened his eyes. The Devil outcome is the only one that might allow Takemura to regain internal peace because you did become his friend, but due to numerous factors of his life up to that point: he can't survive without a stable Arasaka presence in his life. I don't think he's fake so much as his life is riding on your every move and he's terrified of what you might do if he can't convince you one way or another; he wants to be different, but he's too deep in his lifestyle and he knows death is the only way he'll ever be able to leave it.

@@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger I completely agree with your summary. It is still sad though.. I did the Nomads ending first because it is meant to be the 'best' ending. But that voicemail from Goro at the end.. I hated it. I felt guilty. So I went back and did the Devil ending as well. Both of them left a real sour taste in my mouth. I had planned on doing all the endings this week but I am just not sure I can now. I haven't been this emotionally invested in characters since Mass Effect. At least with the Paragon/Renegade system you CAN save people and change their minds to seemingly immovable points of view and save them by having them fight for YOUR cause by gaining their loyalty. Cyberpunk just feels too rigid in comparison and makes a lot of the 'loyalty' related stuff we do feel empty and hollow.

Mostly agree. But corpos in Cyberpunk often break the law. Then an anonymous donation to the police and the entire incident is forgotten by the authorities. So I doubt they'd be worried about open murder of a merc.

Arasaka doesn't need V to sign anything, they could have just taken him by force at any point after the final mission concludes. They didn't need Johnny's permission to zap him, they certainly don't need V's to do the same. They simply didn't care enough about V, because if they did, they certainly wouldn't have let him stroll out of there alive. Johnny didnt.

You think Arasaka give 2 shits about the Law 🤣🤣, they literally gave smasher the green light to destroy everything and kill Everyone he wants (woman and children included) anytime he goes on a mission, Saburo was gonna nuke night city till hanako convinced him Not to, I think they definitely couldn't care about the Law

Literally

I'd say it is out of considerate from hanako and takemura, you save them, and although they wanted to use you, they still give you the choice whether to dance along with their wicked plan or not. and as mentioned, at the ending where takemura calls you, he regrets not convince you enough to go along with corporate plan and telling you to go fxck yourself.

Ooihh man of culture!!!!

Spoken like a true corpo-rat.

A hardworking employee to one of the most corrupt organizations to exist. Yeah he’s honorable and loyal to literally evil so that’s why I now no longer save him. He doesn’t care about anything as long as Arasaka is ok in the end and that’s why he’s gotta go

Exactly, just save his life, like he saved yours. My V was not, and will never be a honorless bastard. A life for a life is a fair exchange, what he does with his life is none of my concern afterwards, but I would not betray my principles due to Gojo's poor decision making.

He isn't honorable or loyal. He follows a megacorporation like a dog because they threw him a bone when he was like 10. Would you say that German soldiers in WW2 deserve to live because they were loyal to Hitler? Nah, they were evil people too.

This message is Arasaka approved