I like to think of myself as someone with a steel stomach. I grew up on Romero movies and safesearch was off in my household, and I can also make it through the last ten minutes of Martyrs without collapsing. But Cyberpunk 2077‘s “They Won’t Go When I Go” quest left me feeling just a little unsettled.
The third quest after the “Sinnerman” and “There is a Light that Never Goes Out” quests, “They Won’t Go When I Go” sees you again meeting Joshua, the convict given a chance at some twisted redemption. Previously convicted of murder, earlier quests see you going along with the bereaved to try and take Joshua out before you then go to dinner with him. In “They Won’t Go When I Go”, it’s time for Joshua’s execution at a BD (braindance) studio.
Joshua has effectively been granted a day of parole by a megacorporation in exchange for his death in front of a camera, as well as some twisted measure of salvation. This footage will then be sold as a braindance, a recording that people can experience as if they were there. As for how he is to be executed, it’s a pretty on the nose Jesus angle in which Joshua is crucified for his sins.
V’s role in all of this? They can either silently watch on or nail Joshua to the cross themselves. Out of morbid curiosity, I had to go the whole hog and hoist Joshua up on that cross and reel off some gospel myself and, well, it was about as unsettling as you would imagine.
Not only can you feel Joshua’s pain every time you bring the hammer (a really cool hammer, by the way) down, but the entire scenario is just, well, it’s fucked. You have an executive in the background just smoking away and a couple of bored production assistants, as well as someone on their knees having a full religious moment. And it’s just supposed to be normal. A man getting crucified by a megacorp in front of a mostly jaded audience seems strangely routine in the world of Cyberpunk 2077.
And there’s nothing you can do to save Joshua, either. If you choose not to “help” Joshua in this quest, he is crucified regardless and you can’t convince him to change his mind, even though he appears to have doubts. That’s the saddest thing about this quest. I think, deep down, Joshua knows that this isn’t righteous, that he can never truly find penance for his terrible crime, but he has to try anyway.
While the crucifixion may not be as gruesome as Outlast 2’s memorable scene, Cyberpunk’s will stick with me for longer.
Cyberpunk 2077 is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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