You’re driving through the neon-soaked grime of Heywood and suddenly your phone rings. It’s Elizabeth Peralez. She sounds composed, almost too composed, for someone whose life is about to get incredibly weird. This is how I Fought the Law Cyberpunk starts, and honestly, it’s the exact moment the game stops being a simple mercenary simulator and turns into a high-stakes political thriller. Most players think they’re just helping a couple of rich snobs. They couldn't be more wrong.
The Peralez storyline—starting with this specific quest—is arguably the most unsettling piece of content CD Projekt Red ever wrote. It doesn’t have the bombast of the Arasaka raid. It lacks the immediate emotional gut-punch of Jackie Welles’ fate. Instead, it offers a slow, creeping realization that in Night City, you aren't just fighting gangs or corporations. You’re fighting something invisible.
Getting the Call: How to Start I Fought the Law
Usually, this happens after you’ve dealt with the main job "Life During Wartime." You need to have a Street Cred level of at least 10, but let’s be real, if you’re this far in the game, you’ve probably already hit that by accident. Elizabeth Peralez invites you to a meeting in a sleek, armored SUV. It’s parked in a secluded spot. Very cloak-and-dagger.
When you hop in, you meet Jefferson Peralez. He’s the mayoral candidate, the "man of the people," trying to replace the recently deceased Mayor Lucius Rhyne. They don't believe the official story about Rhyne's death. The NCPD says it was heart failure. Jefferson says it was murder. He wants you to find out the truth because he can't trust the badges.
The Investigation: Not Just Another Scan-Fest
First, you’ve gotta meet River Ward. He’s your contact within the NCPD, or at least he was until he got suspended for asking too many questions. Meeting him at Chubby Buffalo’s (a classic greasy spoon) sets the tone. River is the "good cop" archetype, but in a city this broken, being a good cop is basically a death sentence for your career.
You end up at a club called Red Queen's Chess. It’s hidden. It’s dirty. It’s exactly where the city’s elite go to do things they’d never admit to in a press conference. Here is a tip: don’t just rush through the combat. If you look at the shards scattered around, you start to see the connections between the Valentinos, the police, and the mayoral office. It’s a web.
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- The Braindance: You’ll have to analyze a recording of Rhyne’s final moments.
- The Suspect: Peter Horvath. He’s a cyberpsycho, or so they say. But the footage shows something else entirely.
- The Club: Finding the secret entrance at the warehouse requires some basic scanning, but once you’re in, the atmosphere shifts. It’s oppressive.
The combat here isn't the hardest in the game, but the implications are heavy. You find out that Rhyne didn't just die of a heart attack. He was "helped" along by a spiked braindance. The city’s biggest power players are basically using high-tech porn to assassinate political rivals. It’s peak Cyberpunk.
Why the Peralez Family Matters
Most side quests in games are self-contained. You do the thing, you get the XP, you move on. I Fought the Law Cyberpunk doesn’t work like that. It’s the gateway to "Dream On," which is arguably the scariest quest in the entire RPG genre.
If you pay attention during your time with Jefferson, you notice things are... off. He mentions things he doesn't remember. His apartment layout changes. The "I Fought the Law" quest establishes him as a victim of the system, but the reality is much more sinister. We’re talking about subconscious brainwashing and memory manipulation.
I remember the first time I played this. I thought I was just solving a murder. I didn't realize I was witnessing the birth of a puppet. The game doesn't hold your hand here. It expects you to be uncomfortable. It expects you to realize that even if you "win" the quest, you haven't actually fixed anything.
The Problem With River Ward
River is your partner for this ride. He’s a bit of a polarizing character in the community. Some people love his "noir detective" vibe, while others find his personal questline a bit jarring compared to the rest of the game’s frantic energy.
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In "I Fought the Law," River represents the old guard. He believes in evidence. He believes in the law. But the quest title is a literal warning. You can fight the law, but the law in Night City is just a front for whatever AI or corporation is currently pulling the strings. Watching River realize that his department is actively working against him is a necessary bit of world-building. It validates every cynical thing Johnny Silverhand has been yelling in your ear for the last twenty hours.
Technical Hurdles and "The Glitch"
Let's talk shop for a second. This quest was notoriously buggy at launch. Sometimes River wouldn't show up at the diner. Sometimes the quest marker for the Red Queen's Chess would just vanish into the ether.
If you’re playing on the 2.0 or 2.1 patches, most of this is fixed. However, a common sticking point is the "Search the Warehouse" objective. If you can't find the secret door, look for the shipping container inside the main floor that looks a bit too clean. It’s an elevator. It’s always an elevator.
Also, if you’re playing a stealth build, this quest is a playground. You can theoretically get through the entire warehouse section without firing a single shot, which feels much more like a "detective" playthrough. If you go in guns blazing, it feels like a standard merc job. I highly recommend the quiet approach—it makes the discovery of the Red Queen's Chess feel much more impactful.
The Aftermath: What You Actually Achieve
So, you find the evidence. You tell Jefferson the truth (or a version of it). You get paid. Is that it?
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Not even close. I Fought the Law Cyberpunk is a masterclass in "The Illusion of Choice." You can tell Jefferson that Rhyne was murdered, or you can play it safe. But here’s the kicker: the outcome for the city stays largely the same. This is where the game gets philosophical. Does the truth matter if the person receiving it is already being mind-controlled by an unknown entity?
Johnny Silverhand has some of his best dialogue during this arc. He’s usually a cynical prick, but here, he’s almost... concerned? He recognizes that the forces at play—Blue-Eyed Man and the shadowy AIs—are a threat even he doesn't fully understand.
Actionable Insights for Your Playthrough
If you're about to jump into this quest, keep these points in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Don't skip the shards. Read everything you find in the Red Queen's Chess. It links the NCPD to the Animal's gang in a way that the dialogue only hints at.
- Watch the background. During your meetings with the Peralez family, look out the windows or at the balcony. Sometimes, you might see someone watching you. Specifically, a certain "Mr. Blue Eyes."
- Level up your Technical Ability. There are several doors and shortcuts in the warehouse and the club that require a decent Tech stat. It makes the "stealthy detective" vibe much easier to pull off.
- Listen to Johnny. Usually, he’s just there for flavor, but in this questline, his commentary provides the necessary context for the "hidden" lore of the game. He’s the only one who sees the bigger picture.
- Complete River's follow-up. After this quest, River will call you for "The Hunt." It’s a very different vibe—more "Silence of the Lambs"—but it finishes his character arc and cements your relationship with one of the few honest people in the city.
The beauty of this quest isn't in the rewards. It's in the realization that Night City is much darker than a simple war between "corpos" and "punks." It's a place where the very concept of free will is up for sale. When you finish "I Fought the Law," you aren't just a mercenary anymore. You're a witness to a conspiracy that makes the Corporate Wars look like a playground spat.
Go meet Elizabeth. Hear her out. But don't think for a second that you're the one in control. In Night City, the house always wins, and the "Law" is just another player at the table.
To fully grasp the implications of what you find in the Red Queen's Chess, you should immediately proceed to the quest "Dream On" once it triggers. Pay close attention to the screens and the hidden rooms in the Peralez penthouse; the physical evidence of the surveillance you uncovered during "I Fought the Law" is literally hidden behind the walls. If you have the "Reinforced Tendons" cyberware, use the verticality of the Red Queen's Chess warehouse to find vantage points that reveal enemy positions before you descend, allowing for a cleaner investigation.