Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.3 dropped last week, delivering a bunch of new ways to spice up your dystopian drives and more additions to possibly the most in-depth photo mode a game’s ever had. CD Projekt also added in the ability for you to dismiss the freeroam ridealong Johnny Silverhand they added in previously.
As someone who finds cyberKeanu a bit more grating at times than is socially acceptable, I was pleased. However, over the weekend a modder’s released something that might tempt me into bringing him back, if only so V can respond to being told off for crashing by sarkily calling ol’Reevsey mum.
This mod is Responsive V, and it’s the work of MisterChedda. They’ve dug into V’s voicelines, both used and unused, to give you a bunch of extra animated reactions to incidents that often happen when you’re freely roaming around Night City. You know, the likes of bumping into a pedestrian, which now might cause V to wheel around, give them the finger and also say the rude word the finger means, just to add insult to injury.
These reactions vary in intensity, and apply to everything from nicking cars, to having MaxTac or Newatch rock up, and your vehicle ending up either exploded or in the sea. I assume that last one makes you go ‘Aw shucks, what am I like?’, while every nearby NPC says ‘Who else but V?’.
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By far the most important reaction the mod adds is the ability to quick clap back at Silverhand if he’s spawned in your passenger seat, and you happen to drive in a fashion that triggers one of his six or so lines telling you to not drive so badly. All you can do in the base game is suffer in silence if the man dishes out one of these critiques, and while patch 2.3 does now let you employ the nuclear option of banishing him back into your skull for a couple of days, having a quick back-and-forth as the mod allows is a far superior solution.
It’s not a full conversation, so you don’t have to worry about being further distracted from your wheelwork by Silverhand getting into a rant about the deep philosophy involved in remembering to brake when you take a corner. It’s just a nice little jab exchange that’ll make Johnny feel a bit more like a proper passenger, rather than a moody Woody doll whose pull string gets yanked when you wreck your Aerondight.
If you fancy giving the mod a go and having V respond ‘All right, mom’ next time they hit a tree, you’ll need to make sure you’ve got the Phantom Liberty DLC, plus these requirements: ArchiveXL, Codeware, redscript, and Mod Settings. The latter allows Responsive V to have its own in-game menu where you can tweak what’ll solicit one of these extra reactions to your liking.
