#so many things to think about now aölskdhfads HHHH

[elvenbeard]

I finally sat down and played Reed's path in Phantom Liberty and HOLY shit. Spoilers below the cut just in case köahsdföahdsf

MAN. I was like, 95% unspoilered for everything, the only things I knew was: you gotta fight against Kurt, there is a scene in So Mi's apartment, some Cynosure fuckery, and I had seen gifs of So Mi in the core at the end (and deducted HM. she isn't looking to good, I feel like this is an ending where she dies).

But so so so many things came unexpected and got me so damn good!! I had fun fighting against Kurt, his little knife-throwing sequences (though I still wouldve loved a peaceful solution more than this XD a third path where you side with him or sth like that). I did not expect that we'd be fucking with MaxTac alsködhfasf that little bit was so fun, from setting up to having to fight them (though I also really struggled with that at first, rightfully so xDD).

The level design of the Cynosure was amaaaazing, the creepy horror vibes, the voices the jumpscares aödshfasf I loved that so much. I was not at all prepared for the Cerberus mech, that was mean af xD But so fun, gameplay-wise, so creepy, too. I ate up the lore of the place (and how insane that something like this exists under NC - and how much more similar shit must exist as well for other corporations??).

How the apartment sequence was done blew my whole mind, the transition between the bunker and the apartment, the little flashbacks, and how everything slowly crumbled and fell apart. I love that you can hug So Mi ;___; and man, I was crying so much at the end, the pain... but the only thing that felt right in that moment was killing her and giving her her freedom, and it was so raw and gentle and horrible all at the same time (also V's reaction was ;____; aaaahhh my boy).

I loved that we got a chance to shit-talk Myers XD And that, after all that in the end, Reed may finally find his freedom too and get away from the FIA for good!! I was adskhföasf so feral about his and Vince's parallels again, losing everything and being forced to start over. I loved his line that went like "thanks to you I have a choice now, something I haven't had in a long time". And man, I hope he uses his chance to get as far away from Myers and Washington and all that crap as he can, while he still can (just how that whole experience has deterred Vince from wanting to go back to Arasaka for good xD).

Overall though, I gotta say. I felt like the villain the whole time xD From betraying So Mi (still so obsessed that the options are called "Betray XYZ", not "Side with XYZ" which I've seen much more commonly in games with choices - It's a small detail but it makes such a difference in tone!!), to chasing her down all along it always felt wrong xD I'm glad at least towards the end there were some dialogue options that went away from the patronizing "we just wanna safe you" and "this is all for your best", and felt more human again.

So, for Vince's canon, if he goes through with PL from start to finish, he would rather betray Reed - and in return be betrayed by So Mi in the end aöshdajshf but yeah. Immersion and story-wise, her path felt more true to what he would do, even though I liked the outcome for Reed a lot in this. (and I guess that's really where the main difference lies in the end in all the choices, who gets to live and have their freedom in the end, and how much V is willing to sacrifice).

Also, since I went down the path of not handing So Mi over this time and not unlocking the new ending, instead I got new Mr. Blue-Eyes headcanons material O.O aksdfahsöf highly recommend looting the Cerberus mech and crafting the Cyberdeck in the "Unknown Number" related quest after the credits, in case you always wanted two more or less creepy talking constructs in your head xD