I just finished my first playthrough as male V and Rivers was a pretty cool friend to have, but it seems everyone shits on him as a romance option. I'm about to play again as a female V and I know nobody can compare to Judy but is he as bad as everyone says?
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His romance is written in such a way that it’s vary awkward.
My advice is don’t listen to the toxic negativity surrounding River and just see for yourself. The hatred this character gets is utterly ridiculous. His romance wasn’t given the amount of TLC that Judy and Panam’s were given, but for what it is, from what I’ve seen from those who gave it a shot and liked it, it’s fine.
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These downvotes only prove my point so do keep them coming!
It’s simply that his romance quest line is insanely rushed.
Everyone else gets a few more missions to set up the romance and river is just like right after you find his nephew.
When I say fuck the police I dont mean literally.
I enjoy his initial quest line and the character generally, but he *objectively* has the most awkward and least organic relationship quests.
CDPR did him a bit dirty with the writing. The relationship with him feels extremely rushed. You know him for like a day and he already seems to be in love. Even if you make clear that you have no feelings from the beginning, he just ignores that and you still have to endure all the awkward flirting. It would be no problem if you could just say “I’m taken” and he would just be like “ok, sorry” and then you continue as regular buddies.
His romance is fun but horrible to go through the mission if you’re not going to romance him
down bad
Nah, he is fine… weakest link but hey, someone has to be that.
His romance feels rushed and if you reject him you get some “nice guy reactions” plus there’s awkward bits like him asking his nephews and nieces if they think he and v should date. Which is meant to show you him, being a family guy and including them in his life but comes off as trying to use the kids as an emotional crowbar.
He’s the physical definition of awkward. His story is very interesting tho.
i like his quests a lot. i like his romance as well, i do romance him usually, but i just HATE the ending and how rushed it is, for comparison, Judy’s one cooks for a while, and you can feel how slowly but strongly the emotions develop. i think what happens with River is that you sort of… share the traumatic experience that is Randy’s quest that bonds you two? i guess? overall i like his character and his quests, also his iron that he gives us. one of the best guns
Judy is pretty dumb
He’s okay, not got a problem with River he’s just a bit boring and not as well written as Judy or Panam (or even Kerry to be fair).
He’s cool. I like him. Never romanced him but he’s still really cool. His devotion to his family and justice is admirable and that covers for his slightly awkward romance path
Eh. I don’t think he’s bad at all; just bland, and that’s entirely due to the writing.
With either Judy or Panam, there are entire quest lines leading up to an eventual romance.
With Kerry? No clue, as I’ve never romanced him, but there’s an entire quest line with him, too, and I get the impression you’d probably get quite a ways down that path before romance becomes an option.
With all three of them, there’s a good deal of lead-in, an emotional connection, you see them in vulnerable moments, etc., then you romance them.
With River, it’s just; hey, help me with my nephew, then BAM! Come over for dinner. Which, sure, it makes sense from a real life perspective, and he might be an awesome romance option in that regard (assuming you swing that way), but as a character in a video game? Yeah, he got screwed (pun intended).
No, River is a great friend, the problem is writing. Relationship with him is completely rushed and seems like infatuation not something we could call love. People call him even a creep but playing as a fem V I have never felt that, he is just not good at taking hints so it’s normal but to me he will always be great
He’s a cool guy, he grows quite a bit thanks to V’s intervention, but he needs therapy to help with whatever trauma stuck to him so bad.
its his questline!! for fucksake people he has the sickest, most depraved, disturbing questline in video games for along time!!
I’m working on my first female V run – I have yet to meet River but as Male V I thought he was a good friend. For romance though, if we had to romance a cop I wish it could have been Barry or heck even Mendez. I like them a bit more aesthetically. Idk I don’t like buzz cuts lol & his eye gives me maelstrom vibes
I can’t speak for how he is as a romantic partner, but as a homie, I always thought he was a cool guy. One of the few people in night City who puts his moral, honor, and family above all else, including himself. And it’s not this shitty indoctrination kind of honor like what your see with Takemura. He does the right thing because it’s the right thing regardless of who tells him to stop. He can be a little odd, but him being such a stand up guy is odd in and of itself considering he lives in Night City–and as a cop no less. 10/10 choom.
I don’t think people are fair in their analysis of his romance. All of them are very from one moment to the next, it’s just that MAAYYBBEE the game drops fewer hints he is a romance option from the get go.
They say he’s awkward? I guess? Are they all masters of elegant flirting or something? Good for them i guess.
The writing just wasn’t as well done as to the other relationships.
Out of the options he’s also the mentally most stable person with the best intentions.
Other than that a very unpopular opinion I rank him higher than Judy but lower than Kerry or Panam.
Rivers is a good budding friendship.
I really enjoyed his story line and didn’t mind the romance. Although the sex scene made me learn some things about myself.
Nice to see Native representation in this amazing game, he was done dirty by CDPR. But my Fem V routinely gets railed on date night. Those huge arms, broad shoulders, chiseled jaw.
Nah, River is ok he just doesn’t survive the comparison to the rest of the cast.
I enjoy him as a character and his quest chain is one of the best in the game. But his relationship with V when it gets romantic starts out a bit… awkward. Like I didn’t expect it to all happen so fast
Cube of River
As a character River Ward is good but as a romance option he’s bad because as a player we barely spend any time with him like CDPR could have had him be the person who gives out the NCPD scanner missions which could have been structured like his questline missions where we have to investigate and gather evidence of the crime for each step and then turn it into him at least that way we would have spent time with him
https://preview.redd.it/4ocepysktjqc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7640c914d17560c9be1ef505d8fb8062cdcf382b
As male V I thought he was an alright down to earth detective and liked solving crimes with him but he is still kinda awkward. Wish you could romance his sister though.
Really depends.
If you’re into him, it’s a fun and cute story and he’s helpful and supportive of you as a BF.
If you’re going into his quest without looking at him as a romantic interest already, it comes off as really uncomfortable and cringe.
He’s the only character that’s pretty much useless if you don’t romance him. It’s obvious he was written in as an afterthought for straight female V so they didn’t really flesh him out as a character outside of him as V’s BF. Obviously with Kerry it was much easier to write a full story line considering his relationship to Johnny, but I’d appreciate if River was given a little more substance.
His quest can be missed pretty quick, but overal his jacket is sooo good
As just a friend, I had no issues with him whatsoever, and his dark story line was actually very intriguing to me. I never had a relationship with him though, so dunno about that aspect.
He’s fine on male V, but he is the absolute worse on female V. He’s overly flirty and you are forced to flirt back. He’ll ask you a question and both choice will lead to you rubbing his thigh and locking lips /s
Stop asking questions and stir that Jambalaya. Stir.
I played male V and was so disappointed when I couldn’t romance him :((
Ngl that photo that got patched was legendary. I literally paused the game and fell to my knees laughing when I saw it the first time
I honestly don’t understand why everyone keeps talking about River while Kerry exists. Kerry is an actually interesting and nuanced character and is deeply tied into the overarching story, Samurai and Johnny. Meanwhile, River is just an ex police officer. I don’t hate him, he is okay as a bro but come on…
His quest story is good. Hunting down Peter Pan’s hideout and all that was cool. Eerie as fuck, but incredibly well done.
His personal relationship with V is just…. Completely inhuman. Inorganic. There’s no romantic flow to it. Kerry, Panam, and Judy all get pretty good romance arcs with varying story intrigues. I’d argue that River has the most intriguing story, but I’m a sucker for cop stories. But damn that romance arc is just…. Bad. Real bad.
If you’re a Male V, he’s fine.
If you’re a Fem V who wants to fuck him, he’s probably fine.
If you’re a Fem V who doesn’t want to fuck him, he’s insufferable.