Cyberpunk 2077: My Date(Love?) with(for?) Judy Alvarez
As Arthur sat next to Mary and the show began, I remarked to my girlfriend who was sitting behind me on the couch that this was the second digital date I had been on with a fictional woman within the span of a week. She said that that was impressive, and quickly followed it up with a remark that she should become a woman in a videogame so that her boyfriend would take her out on a date.
I told her that was a pretty good idea, and she immediately turned into Sub-Zero and ripped my spine out through my back.
As soon as my nervous system is repaired we’re going plant shopping.
While I’ve been slowly playing through the main storyline of Red Dead Redemption 2 for my girlfriend, I’ve also been steadily working through Cyberpunk 2077. Now the reality of playing two ridiculously long open world videogames with enough collectathons and side quests to give Skyrim a headache has been a unique experience, but it’s not one that I haven’t enjoyed. I’ve loved just about every second I’ve played Cyberpunk 2077, and I’m enjoying almost everything about Red Dead Redemption 2(I hate racing missions though (also I can’t stand Herr Strauss and his loan-sharking(seriously that dude sucks))). The back and forth of playing a cyberpunk videogame and then shifting to a historical fiction set in the last days of The Old West has been an enjoyable back and forth, but there’s been a foreboding quality to playing both games because I’m aware that they end in tragedy.
Though with Cyberpunk 2077 I’ve managed to avoid that…to some degree.
At this point I have to be clear, everything in the essay that follows will include spoilers for the possible endings of Cyberpunk 2077 and, if my reader wants to finish the game for themselves, I’d advise them to stop reading. If my reader doesn’t care and is just here to read me writing about a weird crush I have on a fictional woman in a videogame, then by all means keep reading
As of this writing I’ve finished one playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077. What that means is I played the main storyline through its arc from beginning to end, and I also played several side-quests which the game refers to as jobs and gigs.
I have to be honest…I didn’t like the ending, but I’m still glad that I picked the ending that I did. And I’m glad because of a woman named Judy Alvarez.
By the end of Cyberpunk 2077, I loved the character Judy.
I don’t believe I can say with full conviction that I was in love with Judy(for reasons I’ll explore near the end of this essay), but there was an affection for her I couldn’t ignore, and a concern for her emotional well-being that impacted how I played and eventually beat Cyberpunk 2077’s main story. I can also say with confidence that it was somewhere during the side-quest Pyramid Song when I went on a date with Judy that I recognised that I had developed an emotional attachment that was more than just a crush.
When I first encountered Judy Alvarez she was just one of a number of the various non-playable characters(npcs) in Night City that I encountered. I recognised her from screenshots, publicity materials, reviews, and every-third png on Pinterest whenever I searched for “Cyberpunk” for reference images. I should note that two out of every three images of her were thirst traps, but I’ll get to the hypersexualization of her character in a bit. Likewise, I knew that Judy was a character I would encounter, and possibly even romance, because I had been watching Tim Rogers’ 10 hour video on Youtube titled Action Button Review of Cyberpunk 2077, and in one of the chapters he explores each of the romance options.
By the time I walked into Lizzie’s Bar in Watson and spotted her leaning against the bar, the number 13 tattooed prominently along her bicep along with the roses on her neck, I knew, simply, plainly, and completely that this woman was going to destroy me.
Or fix me.
The player encounters Judy after accepting a gig from Dexter Deshawn (the fat black Jesus of the Afterlife according to Jackie Welles). V has the option of meeting the client who set up the robbery in the first place and it’s during this optional side-mission that V will meet Judy Alvarez. The player learns that Judy works at the bar generating “Virtues,” these are virtual simulations of events that record a viewer’s actions and emotions while performing some task or activity, and because this is a cyberpunk game most of Judy’s Virtues are pornographic. Judy notes, during one of the first interactions with V that the technology has a tremendous potential as a form of media and could stand toe-to-toe with any work of art, but unfortunately people pay more for smut. After this Judy helps V run a Virtu to prepare for the job and then…she’s gone.
Or, more accurately, Judy will be absent for an extended period of time.
Judy won’t reappear in the game again until several hours of gameplay have transpired at which point the robbery has gone wrong, Jackie Welles is dead[LINK***], V’s been shot and brought back to life, the former rockstar Johnny Silverhand who’s consciousness was implanted onto a chip V stole and then implanted into her head has begun to appear and slowly assimilate V’s body, and the player has likely done a number of gigs and side quests including that one that lets you get a legendary weapon that’s literally a dildo club.
I was almost alarmed by how absent Judy was, and I began to wonder if I would ever see her again.
And then I got a phone call.
V’s original contact for the failed robbery of Arasaka was set-up by a woman named Evelyn Parker. V meets her for the first time at Lizzie’s bar and it’s established that she is friends with Judy (and possibly even her lover though this is left to players to interpret for themselves(you dang pervs)). Judy tells V that she’s worried because Evelyn hasn’t been around Lizzie’s bar for a while. When V arrives at Lizzie’s bar Judy informs us that Evelyn has been working as a Doll (an in-game term for sex-worker) but hasn’t been seen or heard from in days. This part of the game is a plot-beat in the main story-line so regardless of whether or not the player wants to romance Judy they’ll encounter this scene.
What follows is a lengthy and tragic series of events.
These details are important to understanding why I eventually made the decisions I made in terms of the ending. If my reader does not want (more) key plot points of Cyberpunk 2077 “spoiled” then they may want to stop reading. Likewise, if my reader is triggered by horrific events they may also consider skipping this essay and instead reading about much more uplifting videogames…like Capybara Spa.
Evelyn has been working at a sex-club called Clouds where she was attacked by the gang known as the Voodoo boys who were partly behind the botched robbery that resulted in Johnny Silverhand’s chip being implanted in V’s head. They infected Evelyn with a virus that left her immobilized but still conscious. The manager of Clouds, Oswald “Woodman” Forrest, tried apparently to keep using her for business, however when it became clear she was no longer an asset he raped her and then pawned her off to a ripper-doc charmingly named Fingers. Fingers, unable to help Evelyn, decided to sell her to the Fixer Wokako Okada who in turn sells Evelyn to a gang known as the Scavengers. Players will have likely encountered this group who are known for kidnapping citizens of Night city and often torturing them and harvesting their cybernetic enhancements for sale on the black market. When Judy and V ultimately discover Evelyn in the basement of one of the gangs’s safehouses they discover that Evelyn has been used to record multiple braindances (snuff films) subjecting her to one inhumane experience after another. The player is never given explicit detail of what Evelyn has endured, but the objects in the room provide enough context. Judy takes Evelyn to her apartment and tries to recuperate her, but when she and V return to her apartment they discover Evelyn has committed suicide in the bathtub.
Judy will eventually unlock the videos from a chip in Evelyn’s body and watch the rapes and assaults she experienced.
I noted in my essay about Jackie Welles[LINK***] that Cyberpunk 2077 is a videogame that builds a general aesthetic around hopelessness. This is not the same aesthetic reaction as sadness however. Playing Cyberpunk 2077 the player is not likely to feel an overwhelming sadness that permeates the entire gameplay, rather Cyberpunk 2077 is continually creating scenes that leave the player perceiving how hopeless most of the citizens of Night City are. As I walked V through alleyways filled with homeless and drug addicted people some of whom were twitching on the concrete while pedestrians apathetically walked by, as I walked V through obscenely beautiful hotels where corpos complained about their vacations, as I walked V through cramped markets where average people were clustering looking tired and weary all while under the glow of an obscenely sexual advertisement for soda the message was clear: the citizens of Night City are continually left hopeless by the sheer unending force of will that dominates every economic, political, and cultural center they exist in.
NPCs come and go talking of Michaelangelo, or how much they hate their chrome and want a replacement.
In this neon infused slough of despond, Judy appears, one more broken soul in Night City who seems to have found, not hope, but at least a goal that has allowed her to push through the overbearing capitalist dystopia she lives in. Judy wants The Mox (the gang that owns and operates Lizzie’s Bar) to be independent from a larger gang known as the Tyger Claws, and if the player helps Judy they will unlock the mission Pyramid Song.
Which finally brings me to the actual topic of this essay.
Pyramid Song fun fact, has nothing to do with pyramids. This was disappointing because I love pyramids and have always wanted to build one. However, the side quest Pyramid Song does possess, like the pyramids themselves, an incredible depth that’s almost shocking the first time it’s seen and experienced.
And the word depth is purposefully employed here.
Judy will invite V out to a lake-side cabin outside of Night City not too far away from a dam. This scene was striking enough because the game always configures it so that the mission will take place in the evening. This will mean when the player approaches Judy the sun will be setting, the sky becoming awash in hues or oranges, pinks, and purples. The light of the dying day reflects across the surface of the water and, for once in the chaotic noise of advertisements I’m reminded of the natural world that used to exist before this industrial metropolitan nightmare buried, or drowned, everything in noise and light.
The beauty of nature aside, the most striking element is the fact that Judy will be humming a song. It’s a little moment, but it’s enough to give Judy more humanity than just about any character in the game.
Judy will hand V some scuba-gear and tell her that the “date” will be the pair of them diving into the lake formed by the dam. This quest is, honestly, pretty fun. Most scuba-diving simulations I’ve experienced in videogames to date have often been clunky, poorly executed, or too kafkaesque in its detail to be anywhere close to the word fun. Pyramid Song however is a beautiful execution of programming and narrative design. The player follows Judy down into the depths (see I told you that word was important) of the lake and we learn that there is an entire town that was flooded shortly after the dam was built. In fact it’s Judy’s home-town from when she was a child. I follow Judy through neighborhoods, gas stations, and even the old church and each of these locations will trigger dialogue options where I learn that Judy was often ashamed for being so poor, I learn that she stole a girl’s doll not out of some sadistic urge but rather so that she could talk to this girl, and finally we enter the church where Judy remarks how she was never religious but she still felt some lingering spiritual energy to this place.
V will start to pass out due to issues with the chip in her head, the mission cuts short, and when V wakes up Judy is in the cabin by the lake making sure she’s alright. A few more dialogue options later the player has a chance to comfort Judy, and even trigger a sex scene.
I note that while sex-scenes in numerous triple-A games are often goofy and awkward, Cyberpunk 2077 does manage to, at least in this particular cut-scene, convey actual intimacy between V and Judy. The fact that this is the only time players can trigger a sex-scene with Judy also lends it an emotional resonance that’s as refreshing as it is sweet.
The last part of Pyramid Song involves V walking out to the pier where Judy is staring at the lake and it is here that the player can decide how they want to move forward. If they tell Judy last night was a pleasant distraction, then the date (and the sex) will be a “one-time thing” and Judy will no longer talk to V in the game. If the player decides it was more than that, Judy will register as V’s chosen romantic option.
And this is where Judy became terribly real.
I’ve played videogames where my character can get married or date an npc, but these relationships were about as meaningful as the armor my character wore, meaning they were at best a superficial attachment that decorated my simulation rather than letting me engage with it. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is always the first game that comes to mind. In several of my play-throughs I decided to marry an NPC. The first time my character married Ysolda from Whiterun, on another they married Aela The Huntress of the Companions, and in one playthrough my male character married Vorstag a male mercenary from the city of Markarth. Each of these relationships had the dimensional quality of printer-paper, and about the same usefulness. My silent protagonist was an empty vessel that received the occasional small gifts of food and a loving dialog box, but after that my spouse was yet another digital construct that followed me as I hunted flame atronachs and vampires.
Hopefully this is enough context for my reader to appreciate how surprised I was when Judy sent me her first text message.
Actually, she sent me three text messages. And in one of them she was drunk and flirting with V. And these weren’t G-rated texts either, V would in the middle of driving down the highway on her Kawasaki motorcycle or fighting a group of Maelstrom creeps suddenly get a text message from Judy telling her about some Braindance she was working on and how it made her think of me, and also how she felt the real thing with me would be way better. These text messages aren’t just character development however because V can regularly schedule dates with Judy in any of the apartments that can be bought throughout Night City. These dates are nowhere near as complex as Pyramid Song; often it’s just Judy resting her head in V’s lap talking to her about Lizzie’s Bar with the option to kiss Judy, take a shower together, and then go to bed.
What’s important is that the player can effectively be present emotionally with Judy in a way that isn’t dramatic. In fact it’s mundane and mimics the comfortable intimacy of an actual relationship. These small interactions steadily increase affection (just like they do real life), and as V approached the end of her story I recognised something important: I wasn’t playing the game to see what happened to V, I was playing the game to see what would happen to Judy.
At this point I began reading everything I could find on the internet about the various endings of Cyberpunk 2077, and what those endings meant for V’s relationship with Judy. Almost all the endings have an element of tragedy, and even the ending I picked titled “The Star” has a somber tone to it because it is checked with an ambiguity; it’s suggested V could survive, but not that she will survive. Still, this was the only ending where V and Judy could be together, at least for a while, and, most importantly, it was an ending where Judy wouldn’t be simply abandoned or heartbroken.
I wrote earlier in this essay that Judy is iconic in that whenever there is promotional material for Cyberpunk 2077 she’s usually the NPC that’s used. Likewise, I’m not the only person who has played Cyberpunk 2077 and come away with the notion that Judy is interesting…or attractive. A quick Google image search will result in thousands of in-game screenshots that will eventually become fan-art that will eventually become a mountain of Rule 34 pornography most of which was almost assuredly made by men.
And I want to be clear, I have no room to criticize.
I’m a man, a pansexual man, but a man nonetheless, writing about falling in love with a digital lesbian woman. There’s no way I come out on top in terms of any “moral” high ground here.
But all of this porn only furthered my concern for Judy while I was playing because, clearly, a lot of players were missing the emotional depth of this character. Judy is, as of this writing, often the face of Cyberpunk 2077 with her purple-green hair that hangs to the right side of her face, her tattoos, her make-up, her slim figure, and the fact that she’s latina (a point that my actual girlfriend who is also latina regularly points out when she wants to tease me). Cyberpunk 2077 is a videogame from a major production company and so it makes sense that she would figure so prominently in their promotional material for the game. The sales pitch for Cyberpunk 2077 is its immersive open world and its emphasis on in-game choices, and forming a romantic relationship with Judy is one interesting choice the player will make in the game.
There are three other romantic options but they don’t involve women kissing and having sex and therefore don’t have the same appeal to the male gaze. Which is another reminder that my choice was one of millions of other male players who chose Judy, partly because she was hot.
In recent years the development of technology in interactive media has allowed more opportunities for players, particularly men, to simulate romantic relationships with digital women. This in turn has led to situations where men form intense emotional attachments to npcs and there are stories of men marrying women characters from a videogame. At some point while trying to write this essay I had to ask myself the important question: was I one of those men?
I was in love with Judy, but was I really? This led to more questions.
Was it love, or was it just easy?
Was it love, or was it palatable?
Was it possible to be in love with a simulation?
I didn’t find an easy answer to any of these questions, and as I considered the impact of the side quest Pyramid Song, and it’s it long term role in shaping how I played Cyberpunk 2077, what didn’t alter was the perception that, even if what I felt wasn’t love in a romantic or intimate sense, there was a love that manifested in concern for her well being.
By the end of the game, I wasn’t picking an ending for V, I was picking an ending for Judy.
As difficult as it is to admit, by the end of this game I didn’t honestly care about what happened to Johnny or V or anyone else in Night City; I only cared about Judy Alvarez and giving her an ending that was, if not happy in the purest sense, at least one that offered her hope for the future.
I fell in love with Judy Alvarez, and the thought of doing anything to hurt her more broke my heart. It was the fullest conviction of intellectual, psychological, and emotional need. All roads in Cyberpunk lead to V’s demise, either in the literal or metaphorical sense, and while “The Star” ending does hint at the idea that V is expected to die, the tone of the post-credits sequences suggest that V is still alive, still in love with Judy, making a new life, and just existing. Judy actually appears in this sequence, recording a video for V that she’ll watch later, and tells her that for the first time in her life she feels truly happy, that she has hope for the future, and she can’t wait to see what tomorrow will bring.
I cried.
I cried for a good hour.
And when the credits were finally over I closed the game and haven't played it since.
I know there’s DLC content that’s been released(and it has Idris Elba which is pretty flipping rad gotta say), I know there’s still plenty of side-quests and gigs to play, and I know that I could try and play the other romantic options or endings. But honestly I just don’t have any desire to. Knowing that Judy was happy was emotionally fulfilling and felt like the actual happy ending to Cyberpunk 2077 more than the actual ending for V.
Judy Alvarez is a fictional woman entirely composed of computer code and pixels on a monitor. She’s also a woman I developed an incredible emotional attachment to that I can only describe as love, partly because the English language is poor, and also because it’s the only word that fits. I love Judy, and I love her personality, I love her hair, I love her desire to make art, I love her laugh, I love her desire to fight to make her world a better place, I love her for her vulnerability, I love when she gets drunk and texts me, I love that she knows when she needs to be alone to process, I love her smile, I love it when she rests her heads in my lap and tells me about her day, I love when she fights for people she cares about, and I love it when she sings and hums a song from her childhood when she thinks she’s alone.
I’m just a dude with a keyboard, a gamepad, and this stupid blog. And this love doesn’t make me special or unique. I type those words not out of my usual brand of self-depreciation, but just to emphasize that this essay is nothing in the way of a definitive statement about how human beings can form emotional attachments to works of interactive media. I also don’t want to minimize however how strong this love was. Videogames are a medium of art and have created emotional and intellectual impressions in me that are unique, and powerful. I can say honestly that I’ve never felt as strong an emotional attachment to a character in any novels or films the way I felt about Judy Alvarez.
Judy Alvarez is a beautiful human being. It doesn’t matter that she’s made out of computer code. She may be a work of art, but that doesn’t lessen the humanity that went into her creation or a player’s potential to feel something as they learn more about her.
I’ve said it over and over again in this essay, because ultimately it’s the most revealing and important statement: I love Judy Alvarez. She’s my favorite part of Cyberpunk 2077, and I made the decisions that I made in that game entirely because of her.
Joshua “Jammer” Smith
7.14.2025
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