Night City: Where Dreams Go to Die?
Released in 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 has continuously fascinated players drawn to its dystopian, science fiction world. While Night City, this fictional metropolis set somewhere in the United States, is marketed as a place where anything is possible, the reality is a lot grimmer—and you can bet it doesn’t take long for the city’s true colors to show. One player found this out for himself, after clocking more than 600 hours in the game.
The Good Deed That Went Sideways
To set the scene: our story unfolds in the Phantom Liberty DLC, which hit the shelves in 2023. This expansion introduced not only a whole new district, but also plenty of fresh quests and ways for your main character, V, to leave a mark on Night City. Without giving away every twist and turn, let’s just say one possible ending sees V being honored by the NUSA—the New United States of America—with a medal. It’s a pretty valuable bauble, worth a hefty stash of eurodollars. You could, of course, just sell it for some quick cash… or, in a somewhat rare spirit of generosity, give it to someone in need! Enter our hero, known as Broken Player.
From Kindness to Catastrophe: The YouTube Short
In a YouTube Short, Broken Player hands the medal to a homeless man, who is visibly taken aback by the random act of kindness. Feeling good about the world (as much as one can in Night City), the player watches the man walk away, clutching his newfound treasure.
And then—because this is still Cyberpunk 2077—the poor guy gets immediately run over by a car. The ultimate irony? No one really knows if this was scripted or simply the result of one of the game’s notorious glitches. Either way, it’s a classic moment of dark humor, a sharp reminder that in Night City, hope is always optional… and rarely rewarded.
CD Projekt’s Signature Cynicism
This darkly comic episode perfectly showcases the cynicism that’s become a hallmark of CD Projekt’s vision. On the surface, Night City might promise infinite opportunity, but its looming towers and corporate system make sure to keep most citizens firmly crushed. With all eyes now turning to the next title—currently running under the project name ‘Orion’ and with a release date still under wraps—fans are left wondering if the same pitch-black humor and tone will return. Probably, but not until after The Witcher 4 arrives first!
