Top 10 Best Cyberpunk 2077 Moments

Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 “Cyberpunk 2077” moments.

For this list, we’re looking at the coolest experiences you’ll have in Night City. Be warned, there are story spoilers up ahead.

Let us know in the comments which one will stick in your mind for years to come.

A friendly AI who runs Night City’s premier cab company, Delamain is helpful enough that you’ll quickly warm to him – even if he does look like Dr. Manhattan. After the heist on Arasaka is over though, Delamain gets much less helpful, due to a rogue cab that will crash into V’s car, rendering it unusable for ten hours of real-world time. But this annoyance is forgivable because the side mission is just so good. You’ll be helping Delamain chase down his rogue cabs and you’ll encounter a very special cameo, with one of the AI cars bearing a distinct resemblance to one of the most notorious AIs in gaming. Unfortunately, the cake is still a lie.

The first six hours of “Cyberpunk” are spent teaching you about the world, V’s place in it, and about V’s best friend Jackie. Jackie used to be a member of the Valentinos before he quit and went his own way. Though rough around the edges, he never hides how much he cares about Misty or his mother. This all serves to make his death at the end of the prologue all the more poignant. Jackie isn’t just a step on V’s journey, though; after his death, V is asked by his mother to attend his ofrenda, a heartfelt ceremony where Jackie’s friends and family say goodbye to him. In a mess of corporations and cybernetics, this incredibly human moment stands out.

The three lifepaths in “Cyberpunk” lead to three different openings. These early missions only last for about half an hour, after which they converge into a montage that serves as your true introduction to the city. Regardless of your lifepath, you’ll meet fellow merc Jackie Welles and he’ll take you with him to see the sights. You get introduced to some of the game’s important players early on, like Misty and Viktor, as well as the city’s rich and neon-drenched nightlife. We see V and Jackie descend even deeper into the criminal underworld and rise through the ranks, culminating in V getting their own slick apartment.

Of all the corporations that control Night City, Arasaka is the one we hear about the most, with its patriarch Saburo Arasaka touted as the richest and most powerful man in the world. That’s why it’s so shocking when, mid-heist, Jackie and V witness his greedy, incompetent son Yorinobu murdering him. You’re faced not only with the horror of a son killing his own father to seize control of the Arasaka empire, but by the fact you’re definitely not going to escape with the Relic now that the NCPD is swarming the building.

You’re going to be waylaid by a roller coaster story segment from the beginning of the Arasaka heist all the way to V’s partial recovery from their injuries – but just because you’re not free to roam Night City doesn’t mean this segment is boring. And how did V get those injuries? Well, on top of being shot in the head, they also get into a high-octane car chase with Saburo Arasaka’s ex-bodyguard, Takemura. Takemura, previously believed to be V’s enemy, hands them a gun and a healing item to take down some vicious Arasaka motorcyclists in a gripping chase. These soldiers are so ruthless you’ll be wondering whether it’s even possible for you to come out of this alive.

As part of the prep for the heist, you’re going to be asked by Dexter DeShawn to get a Flathead – a robotic drone – from Maelstrom, one of the game’s main gangs defined by their addiction to extreme cyberware. You’ll be led through the All Foods factory to talk to Dum Dum in an incredibly tense scene. The problem is the guy Dex made the deal with is gone and Maelstrom wants you to pay again. Since this is early in the game, the chance you’ll have earned 10,000 eddies is low, so you’ve got to pay with a virus-ridden Militech chip or fight your way out.

You’ll be introduced to Johnny in passing and through Night City’s old, discarded vinyls before V actually meets him for themselves, but that first encounter is sure to make you panic about where the story is headed. Initially, Johnny’s engram – his digital personality construct that gets stuck inside V’s head – is extremely hostile. He tries to seize control of V, forcing them to take the vital medication to keep him quiet. It makes you wonder how you’ll ever be able to see his point of view or learn to get along with him in a moment that changes the stakes dramatically.

One of “Cyberpunk’s” trickier gameplay systems is the braindance editor. Braindances are recordings made by people with the appropriate cyberware that allow viewers to feel what they’re living through firsthand – unsurprisingly, they’re generally used for NSFW purposes. But the first time you’re introduced to the mechanic you’re searching for information to carry out the heist, bobbing and weaving through Evelyn Palmer’s covert, digitized memories. Braindances keep coming back, but you’ll never forget the first time you dive into someone else’s mind to see through their eyes. And it’s also the first time you meet Judy Alvarez, braindance editor extraordinaire and a major character.

V and 2020’s rockerboy Johnny Silverhand become inextricably linked after the game’s prologue wraps up, and the way we’re first introduced to Johnny is memorable indeed. With V near death, you get to play through this bombastic flashback showing Johnny’s last gig and how he was eventually captured and killed after detonating a nuclear bomb in Arasaka HQ. Aside from just being a phenomenal story mission that teaches you everything you need to know about Johnny and Samurai right away, it’s also just extremely fun to annihilate Arasaka goons with Johnny’s trademark gun, the Malorian Arms 3516.

One of the biggest features “Cyberpunk” has to offer is the ability to customize and upgrade your cyberware. You get a choice of some purely cosmetic attachments in the character creator, and over the course of the game, bigger and better upgrades will be available as you increase your cash flow and Street Cred. But you won’t forget your very first encounter with a ripperdoc any time soon, since it’s the only time your cyberware upgrades are fully animated for you to watch. Sit back and relax as V has wires grafted onto their hand and their eyes swapped out for newer, fancier optics.