I have played thousands of games in my lifetime. I was born with video games, molded by them. And many of these were narrative titles, with characters that etch themselves deep into one’s memory. But no other has come close to Valerie, better known as female V, in Cyberpunk 2077.
Not to shun the male VA and character, but Valerie is simply peak
Cyberpunk 2077 is an emotional rollercoaster. You play as a woman (or man) with a ticking time bomb in her head, one that is actively overtaking her mind while playing friendly all the while. Youth that should’ve been lived out in full is cut short by one mistake, the emotions of which you feel so viscerally from a first-person perspective.
Valerie, the female V, voiced by the incredibly talented Cherami Leigh, expresses this emotion on a much deeper, heartfelt level. The male variant, Vincent, is much more serious, made of tougher stuff, strong-headed and ready to face whatever comes his way. Though beaten down, he maintains this mean killer attitude, which, though awesome in its own right, does not allow the game’s underlying theme of an early death to shine.
Leigh’s interpretation of the character takes you for a true emotional ride. From laughter to suffering, she breathes out the game’s heavy themes and ideas and slowly but surely works her way up from rock bottom.
Valerie is painted as a character who is downright afraid of death and thinks of it all the time, especially since Johnny’s engram started working its way through her mind. Even if the player chooses choices that make V stand out as this fearless merc, deep down, via Leigh’s voicework, V is always expressively afraid—of death, of the future, of what might come or happen either to her or those around her.
She is much more vulnerable and emotional, allowing the player to form a much deeper and personal connection to a character that, just via her voice, expresses so much. The male V, interpreted by Gavin Drea, would, to me, be more fitting of a fixer’s role than a troubled merc’s whose life is fleeting and always on edge.
The bitter-sweetness of Valerie’s life transcends video games
By the time you reach any given ending with Valerie, she is ready to give up on life. Her voice shifts and changes in such a way that invites the player to ponder the very dangers V is facing.
Cyberpunk as a genre has always accentuated the struggle to survive, especially in the wake of corporate overreach, but Cyberpunk as a game puts us directly in the shoes of someone just about to be snuffed out. This role given to us is a transcendental one, one where we, as players, are faced with a potential future and have to look death straight on, even if from another’s perspective.
Valerie, in this case, brings to the surface all the suffering caused by the system, the chaotic mistakes of youth shaped by a hostile environment (no matter the Life Path the player chooses), and the life-threatening consequences of not knowing any better.
The struggle to survive, to live on even for a day, is something all of us face day by day. Unlike Vincent, with Valerie and Leigh we get to feel these circumstances on a higher level, get immersed in the best-crafted video game world, and face V’s fate alongside her.
And, with the bittersweetness of Cyberpunk 2077‘s endings, Edgar Allan Poe’s statement comes to mind, elevating V to the ultimate poetic plane: “The death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetical topic in the world.”
No other game, or voice actress, steers us along such a hellscape, inviting us to search deep within the world, the character, and ourselves, riding into the sunset hand-in-hand with the player and all the emotional weight she put upon them.
“Big guy with a gun” and awesome machismo will forever remain recognizable tropes, and Vincent sure has more than enough of them, but it is Valerie and her vulnerable, fearful, eye-watering but persevering nature that strikes all too close to the heart.
What about you, Destructoid? What do you think about V, male or female? Who is your favorite gaming character? Let me know below.
