Cyberpunk 2077‘s River Ward was not just a throwaway side character from the previous Peralez mission set. He contacts you with his own mission that you can choose to help him with. It is worth pursuing, especially if you like any buddy cop type movies.
Choosing to help set me off on a great set of missions that it’s crazy they are optional. More of these optional side missions prove to be essential for any playthrough where you want to enjoy the story.
Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward Hunt
While meeting with River Ward, he showed me a news report of a teen abductor getting pulled over by the cops and one of his victims trying to escape. The cops were not able to save the victim, but were able to put the abductor, nicknamed “Peter Pan”, into a coma.
It wasn’t related to any of River’s cases, but he let know his nephew Randy has been missing for awhile. The kid in the video had his shoes on. He revealed he has not been in a great place with his sister, so he didn’t have much additional info about the disappearance.
He asked for my help, because they kept him away from case due to his relation. We couldn’t question the so called “Peter Pan” due to him being a vegetable, so he wanted to view his dreams. To do that, it was going to require us breaking into the police station to gain access.
Breaking into the Police Station
Cyberpunk 2077’s River Ward had never been to the station where the info was, so I was there to work my criminal magic. My tech ability was not high enough to get through any easy doors, but I was able to climb in around the back and work my magic.
Once we were inside, we didn’t have to deal with anyone due to it being cleared out for a security audit. That gave me plenty of time to loot and look through all the computer messages.
In the middle of our search, we were interrupted by River’s friend on the force, Yawen Packard. She scolded us and revealed River had been suspended from the force. That made the whole “cop wanting to break into the station” thing seem less strange.
We did convince her to try to help us, but she informed us that Anthony Harris, “Peter Pan’s” real name, was not dreaming. We would have to find another way to figure out where his victims were. It was time for a new plan.
Meeting River’s Sister, Joss
With our dead end at the police station, we had no choice but to break the news to Joss, River’s sister. Their relationship was not the best, so it wasn’t the warmest welcome. It made things even worse when we broke the news of Randy being taken.
She gave us permission to search Randy’s trailer for any clues to where he could have gone. That search paid off when we found Randy’s laptop. The message history showed us that Anthony Harris manipulated Randy, who was on and off drugs.
The topper was the creepy cartoon on the laptop showing weird cows hooked up through hoses. They were being fed through one set and then milked out others.
My tech skills allowed me to go further and find the IP address of the creepy photo that Anthony Harris sent. This would be important to help narrow down the location of the where the victims were.
Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward sent that info to his friend to use the image to trigger the comatose Anthony to dream. That process was going to take until the next day, so it was off to chat with River’s family during a nice little meal.
I had a chance to learn more about their relationship and get more invested in the family’s well being before it was off to crash in Randy’s empty trailer.
Anthony Harris Braindance
The information Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward sent to Yowen paid off. She was able to send us a BD of the abductors dreams. Those creeped me out. It was a set of memories that shed light on how messed up Anthony Harris is.
That first memory showed how angry a kid he was and how he confronted a teacher that yelled at him. It ended with him seeing the teacher as a cow with a weird feed mask on. Investigating the images and sounds in the BD gave us a bit of info where he was from.
The next memory led right to a milking facility with the same creepy feed mask as the last memory. His dad was yelling at him for not balancing the hormones of the cows correctly. I was just really disturbed at how it mimicked the cartoon (which he actually had playing on a loop on a nearby TV). This gaves us a few more clues about where the farm was.
His last memory was more recent, showing the farm with the cows replaced by his victims. It gave us a look at the mines and turrets that protected the place. It ended with Harris trapping one of his victims that tried to crawl away. He had all the others in those creepy feed masks.
These memories and the IP address I tracked earlier gave us enough evidence of which farm to visit.
Edgewood Farm
Once we arrived at the farm, the turrets and mines greeted us. We knew we had the right place. My quick hacking abilities allowed me to set the mines and turrets to friendly mode, just in case some uninvited company showed up.
My skills allowed us to make it inside the barn without incident. We were able to save some of the victims, including Randy. From the beginning of the mission, I thought we would find him dead.
River Ward called in the cavalry and the Trauma Team showed up to extract the victims, while the police secured the area. River vowed to me that he was going to sneak into the hospital and kill the Anthony Harris for hurting is nephew, despite my advice not to.
He thanked me for the help before taking off with the Trauma Team. A great end to the missions, but it wasn’t the end yet.
Cyberpunk 2077 River Ward Family Dinner
As a reward for helping out the family, River and Joss invited me to family dinner. Once there, they literally wanted me to help prepare dinner. During the prep work, they let me know that Randy still had a long road to recover at the hospital, but will pull through.
With prep work done, I sat with river for a quick beer and some talk about how his parents were murdered. His story explained why he decided against exacting revenge on Anthony Harris. That was the point where the kids interrupted wanting to play a game.
The game they wanted to play was a nice cops and robbers game, but it was Augmented Reality. Putting on their toy headset superimposed the robbers into the surroundings and made the kids appear as adult cops. It was a nice touch and hint at some possible DLC fun down the road.
After a quick dinner, I followed River Ward up a water tower for a drink. If I were a female V, that is were a choice for romance would come up, but thankfully my male V made it easy to choose just sharing a drink.
There was a choice to kiss, but my character does not swing that way. I’ve heard it gets awkward if you do attempt with a male V. The parting gift was his revolver. After crashing in Randy’s trailer again, it looks like the mission thread finally came to an end.
Again, this was a totally optional set of side quests that it’s a shame many people might miss. I highly suggest you finish them in any future playthroughs.