Cyberpunk 2077 is a big game with a big map and a lot of noise in the margins, and that’s before you even account for the just-released Phantom Liberty expansion. It has a myriad of side-quests, and they frankly vary in quality; The peaks and valleys of Night City become pretty apparent the longer you spend time there. But if you want to cut through the noise and find some hidden gems read on, because we’ve compiled a collection of some of the best side-quests in the game. You might want to check these out before you head to Dogtown for Phantom Liberty.
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Johnny Silverhand’s quests (Chippin’ In, Holdin’ On, Second Conflict, A Like Supreme)
We’re leading with Johnny’s quests because they are some of the most plot-critical missions that are somehow optional. The quest chain becomes available to you at the beginning of Act 3, and lets the Samurai frontman have the keys to V’s body to tie up some loose ends left by his untimely demise. If you’re playing a V that is wholly uninterested in Johnny’s wants and views his engram as nothing more than a digital parasite, it might not make sense to follow this path. But if you’re even the least bit curious about the impact Johnny’s left on those still alive in 2077, do these quests. They’ll show you new sides of Keanu Reeves’ character, and even unlock a new ending path.
Available in: Act 3
How to acquire: Given by Johnny at the start of Act 3
Kerry Eurodyne’s quests (Rebel! Rebel!, I Don’t Wanna Hear It, Off the Leash, Boat Drinks)
Some of Cyberpunk 2077’s best writing is in the companion quests, and Kerry Eurodyne, the rocker boy and ex-right hand of Johnny in the Samurai days, is a particular standout. Kerry’s quests take a fascinating look at how art persists in a capitalist hellscape like Night City, and explore how even if you preserve yourself with expensive cybernetics, age and time come for us all. It’s just a matter of how you adapt to its passage.
That’s what makes Kerry’s quests interesting regardless of the V you’re playing, but if you’re rolling a male V, you can also enter a relationship with Kerry, which is one of the most interesting explorations of V and Johnny’s cohabitation. He’s the last companion you meet in the game so his story comes pretty late, but it’s definitely worth seeking out before you head into the endgame.
Available in: Act 3 after A Like Supreme
How to acquire: Phone call from Kerry
Judy Alvarez’s quests (Both Sides, Now, Ex-Factor, Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution, Pisces, Pyramid Song)
Judy Alvarez is one of the few unambiguously good people in Night City, and her questline, in which she attempts to fight for better working conditions for sex workers in the city, is some of Cyberpunk 2077’s best introspective work.
The final quest, “Pyramid Song,” is one of the most memorable in Cyberpunk 2077, and shows Judy wrestling with what “home” means to her when Night City has only chewed her up and spit her out. It’s a lovely conclusion to a lovely character.
Available in: Act 2 after Double Life
How to acquire: Phone call from Judy
Panam Palmer’s quests (Riders on the Storm, With a Little Help from My Friends, Queen of the Highway)
Much like the Johnny questline, Panam’s personal quest opens up a new ending in Cyberpunk 2077. But that new path is only open to you because Panam and her Nomad family opens V up to a new way of thinking. Vibing with the Aldecaldos, who have no connection to the city and are mostly just passing through, offers a perspective you don’t hear very often in Cyberpunk 2077. So much of the time you spend in Night City is with people who put the city and its values up on a pedestal, whereas Panam and her family have the perspective to see through its bullshit.
Panam’s questline is all about helping her get the nomads into a better position to leave Night City, and maybe by the time you’re done, you’re at least considering other possibilities for yourself.
Available in: Act 2 after Life During Wartime
How to acquire: Phone call from Panam
River Ward’s quests (I Fought the Law, The Hunt, Following the River)
Unlike Panam, Judy, and Kerry, River is the one companion you have to go out of your way to meet. Finding the Night City cop and helping him sort through a local mystery that weaves in and out of his family life makes for one of the most interesting breaks in Cyberpunk 2077’s usual action. Expect a little combat and chatter, but also light adventure game mechanics and some pretty horrifying Night City lore.
This questline does, however, unmask Cyberpunk 2077’s weird, inconsistent framing of cops and law enforcement, even weaponizing the ACAB saying in a particularly tacky lift that I’m not wild about. But if nothing else, these quests offer, for your inspection, a layer of the game’s inherent worldview that’s worth examining and dissecting.
Available in: Act 2 after Life During Wartime
How to acquire: Phone call from Elizabeth Peralez
Heroes
The trouble with “Heroes” is the quest can take different forms depending on what decisions you make during “The Heist” in Act 1. Choose to send Jackie’s body to his family or tell Delamain to wait for you with his body and you’ll be rewarded with one of the best segments in Cyberpunk 2077. On the other hand, if you send him to Ripperdoc Viktor Vektor you’ll experience a much worse result that is pretty bleak.
The “good” version of “Heroes” is one of the game’s best examples of how human connection can help people weather the harsh realities of Night City. The quest reflects on Jackie’s life and legacy, and lets you insert a little of your own relationship with him, too.
Available in: Act 2 after The Heist
How to acquire: Phone call from Mama Welles
Joshua Stephenson’s quests (Sinnerman, There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, They Won’t Go When I Go)
The questline known colloquially as “Sinnerman” is harrowing, but offers one of the most rewarding hypotheticals V will face in Cyberpunk 2077. It follows convicted murderer Joshua Stephenson, who has a religious awakening in prison. Here, he decides he wants to face execution by crucifixion, which will be recorded in a Braindance for millions to experience every sensation and emotion.
Joshua asks V to accompany him in his final days, and the drama that unfolds asks the player to question the prisoner’s faith, whether you’re just being inquisitive or outright antagonistic. It also presents you with opportunities to meddle and interrogate whether that’s your place, making for a fascinating philosophical debate with Joshua, Johnny, and ultimately yourself.
Available in: Act 2 after Life During Wartime
How to acquire: Phone call from Wakako Okada
Dream On
Much of Cyberpunk 2077 is spent either on the ground floor of Night City or dealing with corporations and gangs, but “Dream On” offers one of the best looks into the universe’s political systems. The quest starts with some detective work for mayoral candidate Jefferson Peralez and his wife Elizabeth, and rapidly escalates into a grand conspiracy involving political power in Night City. It goes some wild directions before reaching its conclusion, and hints at some larger forces working in the background of Night City that are fun to speculate about.
Available in: Act 2 after I Fought The Law
How to acquire: Phone call from Jefferson Peralez
Gathering Delamain’s children (Human Nature, Tune Up, Epistrophy, Don’t Lose Your Mind)
Cyberpunk 2077 has a few types of collectathon quests, but the Delamain cabs ones are probably the best. The questline starts with a simple call from Delamain, the AI that runs a self-driving cab service in Night City, as several of his cars have gone MIA around the city. Each AI-powered car you round up has a distinct personality. Some are great, like a car terrified of drive too fast that you have to carefully direct back to its home base. Some are obnoxious, like one that is literally just GLaDOS from Portal, which was a dated reference in 2020 and even more dated now. But it all culminates in a final quest that gets into some light immersive sim elements and has a pretty great decision to make at the very end.
Available in: Act 2 after Playing For Time
How to acquire: Automatically acquired in Act 2
The Ballad of Buck Ravers
Grand, big-idea quests have their place, but sometimes you just need to tuck into a small corner of Night City and learn a little more about the people on ground level. “The Ballad of Buck Ravers” is a great such quest that bolsters V and Johnny’s relationship in the context of local musicians and their fandoms. The merc and the digital copy of the rocker-turned-terrorist bond over music and reflect on the legacy Johnny still enjoys in the hearts of those who loved his music more than his explosive, anarchic antics.
Available in: Act 2 after Playing For Time
How to acquire: Talk to the busker in Japantown
Killing in the Name
Bes Isis, Samurai’s ex-keyboardist and current investigative journalist, has been working on a story for a while, but her leads are drying up. “Killing in the Name” sends V and Johnny on a wild goose chase around Night City in search of clues, digital footprints, and the source of an urban legend. Its conclusion is pretty tongue-in-cheek but illustrates how chatter on the internet can become a bigger story worth reporting on.
Available in: Act 2 after Transmission, on hold until Act 3 after A Like Supreme
How to acquire: Check your email in your apartment after Transmission, then call Bes Isis after A Like Supreme
The Beast in Me
If you can’t stand driving in Cyberpunk 2077, this quest is not for you. If you have any sensible taste in how a car should handle in a video game you probably can’t stand driving in Cyberpunk 2077, in which case “The Beast in Me” is not for you. There’s a reason I drive motorcycles exclusively in this game, and that’s because the 2.0 update did nothing to stop cars from feeling like they’re constantly hydroplaning.
All that being said, “The Beast In Me,” while comprised of a series of standard open-world street races, delivers some lovely character work after you cross the finish line. The questline follows Claire, the bartender at The Afterlife bar V frequents. She’s looking for a driver for some street races, and V has a driver’s license so they’re more than qualified to get behind the wheel and get shot at. The driving is still a pain, but some good, contemplative story beats wait in the margins.
Available in: Act 2 after Playing For Time
How to acquire: Phone call from Claire
Brendan the sentient vending machine (I Can See Clearly Now, Spray Paint, Coin Operated Boy)
In Cyberpunk 2077’s capitalist hellscape not even a vending machine can just be a vending machine. Brendan, a sentient vending machine who’s been giving food and drinks to the citizens of Night City, is also forming connections with people who swing by to grab a refreshing drink. The quest explores the inherent loneliness you can feel in a big metropolis, even one as populated as Night City. And if your V has enough Technical Ability, you may unlock some hidden understanding in the final act.
Available in: Act 2 after Playing For Time
How to acquire: Talk to Brendan in front of Megabuilding H8 in Westbrook
Violence
Do you like the pop artist Grimes? Do you want to hear her voice act in Cyberpunk 2077? Whatever your answer to either of those questions, Grimes voices android pop artist Lizzy Wizzy in “Violence” (and she also shows up again in Phantom Liberty). The diva fears her boyfriend and manager might be cheating, and wants V to look into it in secret. The quest’s conclusion ends up leading you to something far more insidious than infidelity, making for one of the prime examples of Cyberpunk 2077 saying “well that was fucked up, huh?” and just…moving on. But it also explores how artists are commodified in Night City, and the horrifying endgame corporations have in mind for people whose work they profit from.
Available in: Act 3 after the final part of Tapeworm
How to acquire: Text message from an unknown sender asking to meet at No-Tell Motel
Happy Together
During Cyberpunk 2077’s second act you’ll pass by a couple of cops trying to talk to one of your apartment neighbors. You can walk by and ignore them, or you can offer to help speak reason to Barry, a disillusioned cop who is grieving for his friend Andrew. How intently you listen to him and investigate his troubles will have a big impact on how the quest plays out, but if you put in the effort, Barry and his coworkers will be able to reconcile. It has some cute twists and a lot of heart, but it can also have a tragic ending depending on your decisions, so don’t treat it flippantly.
Available in: Act 2 after Love Like Fire
How to acquire: Talk to the cops in front of Barry’s apartment in the floor below V’s
Love Rollercoaster
You want to ride a roller coaster with Keanu Reeves? Head behind Grand Imperial Mall in Pacifica, find the kids trying to fix a roller coaster, and offer your services. It’s worth it.
Available in: Act 2 before Double Life, but the roller coaster can still be repaired and used after independently of the quest
How to acquire: Talk to the group behind Grand Imperial Mall
Zen Master (Imagine, Stairway to Heaven, Poem of the Atoms, Meetings Along the Edge)
The Zen Master is an enigmatic monk who can be found throughout Night City, and when you meet him in Reconciliation Park in Heywood, he asks if you’d like to see a special Braindance. But unlike most of the virtual reality simulations you play through in Cyberpunk, this one’s not tinged with violence or just general bad vibes. The Zen Master treats you to a meditative Braindance of tranquil environments far beyond Night City. You get a brief moment to relax before heading back into the chaos, and he shows up throughout the city, so you can enjoy his BDs in a few places. Take a breather, V. You’ve earned it.
Available in: Act 2
How to acquire: Find the Zen Master in Reconciliation Park
There you have it, 17 of our favorite Cyberpunk quests. Got some other standouts you enjoyed?
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