When playing Cyberpunk 2077 using the Trauma Team identity, the general flow is that the player continues serving as a Trauma Team member while also seeking revenge for their close friend Jack.
But during that quest for revenge, the player gradually discovers that they've been dragged into a much larger conspiracy. The protagonist must do everything possible to avoid further trouble while also trying to save their own life.
Of course, the final outcome is not particularly optimistic.
The game has six endings, all of them bittersweet. There is no true happy ending, which further reinforces the coldness and cruelty of the cyberpunk world.
When playing with other identities—for example, the Nomad—the core of the main storyline doesn't change much.
You still build a bond with Jack, Jack still dies, you still seek revenge for him while struggling to survive, and in the end you still face the final boss, Adam Smasher, whose body has been almost entirely replaced with cyberware—followed by one of six imperfect endings.
However, because the chosen identity differs, the events encountered throughout the game also change.
For the Nomad identity, daily life revolves around surviving on the outskirts of Night City. Occasionally, you clash with corporate forces in the badlands or carry out raids to steal valuable corporate supplies.
Nomads also have a territory system. Each Nomad clan controls its own land under different leaders.
If the player becomes powerful enough in the late game, they can even unify all Nomad territories around Night City and, using Cyberpunk 2077's robust customization systems, build an entire city belonging to the Nomads—becoming a legend beyond Night City itself.
You can also choose the Street Kid identity.
This path focuses heavily on gang warfare—competing with other gangs in the city. Like the Nomads, you can eventually unify the underworld gangs of Night City.
However, being a Street Kid comes with another problem: operating in Night City inevitably means being suppressed by corporations.
Without the backing of a major corporation, a gang can't grow very far. Only with a powerful corporate sponsor can a gang truly thrive and ultimately become a Night City legend.
You can also adventure through Cyberpunk 2077 as a Cyber Hacker.
This identity follows the "old fox" route—you never appear on the front lines. Instead, you invade systems through the Net, command others remotely, and become a legend of Night City from behind the scenes.
Choosing the Braindance Producer identity allows you to make money through the Braindance system unique to the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. You uncover hidden secrets and use the private scandals of powerful figures as leverage, engaging them in battles of wits rather than firepower.
With the Mercenary identity, you can team up with AI-controlled NPCs to complete various bounty missions. David, the protagonist of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, belongs to this type of role.
If you choose the MaxTac (Anti-Terrorism Mobile Unit) identity, you become the most powerful law enforcement force in the city, fighting with everything you have to maintain order in Night City.
This identity is also the hardest to play, because the enemies and troubles you face are the most extreme the city has to offer.
You'll confront cyberpsychos capable of slaughtering hundreds, dismantle terrorist organizations, and sometimes even serve as a corporation's "black glove," helping one megacorp sabotage another. The targeted corporations won't retaliate openly—instead, they'll secretly hire elite mercenaries to hunt you down.
The MaxTac route feels very similar to Souls-like games: enemies are brutally strong, and even low-ranking thugs from minor terrorist groups can kill you if you're careless.
If you choose the Fixer identity, you become a major benefactor in the eyes of countless mercenaries.
You plan missions, act as the middleman for mercs, hitmen, and corporate enforcers, clean up their messes, and use your influence to acquire businesses throughout Night City. Gradually, you become a ruler who controls intelligence gathering, job distribution, and underground market transactions.
The final identities involve becoming a corporate drone under megacorps such as Arasaka, Kang Tao, or Militech.
Compared to the others, these roles may seem more ordinary and less exciting at first glance.
With this identity, you don't need to fight on the front lines. Instead, you claw your way up the corporate ladder, gaining access to vast resources and achieving a position of immense power—second only to the very top.
To reach that point, you can either climb honestly through hard work—which is the least promising path, since obedient employees in Night City are nothing more than expendable parts waiting to be used up—or you can be ruthless and cunning.
Only those who are devious, adaptable, and politically savvy can become valued subordinates in the eyes of powerful figures and eventually be taken into their inner circles.
Thus, the protagonist must use every means necessary to rise: hiring assassins, framing rivals, inciting conflicts—nothing is off-limits.
All of it is done to climb higher, uncover deeper secrets, survive in Night City, and ultimately deal with the problem of Johnny Silverhand living inside their head.
These are the different experiences offered by each identity in the game.
Some paths deliver fast-paced, overpowered combat. Others are punishing and difficult, like Souls-like games. Some require no combat at all, focusing instead on simulation-style management. And others, like the corporate drone, play out as text-heavy, choice-driven narrative adventures.
Cyberpunk 2077 is like a massive collection of games.
Any single identity could have been made into a standalone title. Instead, Cyberpunk 2077 compresses them all into one game, allowing players of every preference to find their own kind of fun.
Murakami Kazuo once believed he was a standard action and RPG enthusiast. He had never been particularly interested in simulation or text-based adventure games.
In the past, he always assigned those genres to his staff for review, worrying that he couldn't provide a fair evaluation.
But recently, while playing Cyberpunk 2077, he suddenly realized that simulation management and text-based adventures could be quite interesting after all.
The game's content is so rich that Murakami Kazuo spent about a full week completing his first playthrough as a Trauma Team operative. After giving the game a simple yet perfect score, he immediately dove into another identity.
With prior experience, his efficiency with later identities improved greatly, giving him time to explore less combat-heavy roles like the corporate drone and the fixer.
After playing those two identities, he came to appreciate simulation and text-adventure gameplay far more than before.
What he once found boring was likely due to uninspired art styles and dull mechanics.
In Cyberpunk 2077, however, he found these playstyles anything but dull—in fact, they were genuinely engaging.