Night City is a meat grinder. Everyone knows that by now. But when CD Projekt Red dropped the Phantom Liberty expansion, they didn't just give us more neon and chrome; they handed us a gritty, high-stakes espionage drama that feels more like James Bond meets Akira than a standard open-world RPG. Right at the heart of this tension is the quest Cyberpunk 2077 You Know My Name. It's a mission that defines the expansion’s identity. Honestly, it’s probably one of the most stressful, atmospheric, and technically impressive sequences the studio has ever built.
You aren't just shooting scavs anymore.
Sneaking Into the Black Sapphire
The setup is classic spy fiction. You're infiltrating the Black Sapphire, a skyscraper fortress owned by Kurt Hansen, the warlord running Dogtown. You've got Solomon Reed—played by Idris Elba, who absolutely carries the gravitas of a tired, cynical spy—whispering in your ear. The vibe is heavy. You start in the flooded, claustrophobic tunnels beneath the tower. It’s damp. It’s dark. It’s a complete 180 from the flashy streets above.
V is tasked with clearing the way for Reed. This isn't a "guns blazing" moment, at least not at first. You’re picking off snipers and recalibrating security systems. The tension comes from the silence. If you’ve played the base game, you know how loud Cyberpunk 2077 can get. Here, the lack of noise is what gets your heart rate up.
Most people mess up the sniper segment. You’re looking through a scope, identifying threats, and trying to time your shots with Reed’s movements. It’s methodical. It’s slow. For a game that often rewards clicking heads as fast as possible, forcing the player to breathe and wait is a bold design choice.
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The Party Where Everything Goes Wrong
Once you’re actually inside the gala, the game shifts genres again. Suddenly, you’re in a tuxedo or a high-end dress, mingling with the elite of the underworld. This is where Cyberpunk 2077 You Know My Name really shines as a piece of narrative design. You aren't just a mercenary; you're an infiltrator.
You meet Songbird.
Her presence is haunting. She’s literally falling apart, flickering with the blue light of the Blackwall, a digital abyss that represents the death of the internet. The conversation between V, Reed, and Songbird during this party is layered with lies. Every character has a different agenda. Reed wants to bring her home. Songbird wants to survive. You? You're just trying to keep your head from exploding due to the Relic.
Why the Roulette Scene Matters
The centerpiece of the mission is the roulette game with the twins, Aurore and Aymeric Cassel. This isn't just a minigame. It’s a personality test. You have to buy in with a massive stack of eddies and play a psychological game of cat and mouse while the wheel spins.
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- Aurore is the wild card. She’s flirtatious, sharp, and smells a rat from a mile away.
- Aymeric is the wall. He’s stoic, watching your every move for a slip-up.
- The Stakes. You aren't just playing for money; you’re playing for their identities.
If you pay attention to the dialogue, you can actually influence how they perceive you. It’s a masterclass in "show, don't tell." The game doesn't give you a meter showing "Suspicion Level." It forces you to read their faces. The facial animations in Phantom Liberty are significantly improved over the 2020 launch version of the game, and in this specific quest, they are doing a lot of the heavy lifting. You can see the micro-expressions. You can tell when Aurore is testing you.
The Brutal Reality of Being a Secret Agent
After the party, the mood shifts from "glamorous spy" to "cold-blooded killer." Without spoiling the exact outcome for those who haven't finished the DLC, let's just say the transition from the Black Sapphire to the subsequent missions is jarring. It’s meant to be.
Cyberpunk 2077 has always been about the loss of agency. In Cyberpunk 2077 You Know My Name, you feel like you're in control because you're wearing a fancy suit and winning at the casino. But the reality is that you’re a pawn. Reed is a pawn. Even Hansen, for all his bravado, is trapped by the political machinations of the NUSA and Militech.
The quest title itself is a nod to the James Bond theme "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell. It’s an intentional parallel. Bond is a blunt instrument for the state. In this mission, V becomes a blunt instrument for Rosalind Myers.
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Technical Performance and Ray Tracing
If you're playing this on a high-end PC or a PS5/Xbox Series X, the Black Sapphire is a technical showcase. The way the red emergency lights reflect off the marble floors—especially with Path Tracing enabled—is genuinely transformative. It’s one of the few areas in the game where the lighting actually impacts the gameplay feel. The shadows in the sniper nest aren't just "dark spots"; they feel like physical cover.
However, the mission isn't perfect. Some players have reported a bug where the twins won't trigger their dialogue at the roulette table, effectively soft-locking the quest. If this happens, your best bet is to load a save from before you enter the party floor. It’s a bummer, but that’s the reality of a game this complex.
How to Handle the Mission Like a Pro
If you want the "best" outcome—or at least the one that makes you feel like the slickest spy in Dogtown—keep these tips in mind:
- Scan everyone at the party. There are cameos. Some are funny, some provide extra lore about the state of the world in 2077.
- Listen to the twins. Don't just skip the dialogue. They drop hints about their past that make the moral choices later in the DLC much harder to swallow.
- The Sniper Section. Use the environmental cues. Reed will tell you exactly what to do, but if you look for the power cables and security hubs yourself, you can clear the path faster.
- Drink the wine. Or don't. Your choices in the social segments change the flavor of the conversation even if the ultimate destination is the same.
Cyberpunk 2077 You Know My Name is more than just a checkpoint in the story. It is the moment where Phantom Liberty stops being an expansion and starts being a standalone masterpiece of the genre. It captures that specific "cyberpunk" feeling: the intersection of high technology and low life, where even in a room full of billionaires, you're still just one bad move away from a bullet in the brain.
Next Steps for Your Playthrough
Once you wrap up the events following the Black Sapphire, you’re going to be faced with the "Point of No Return" for the DLC's ending. Before you proceed, make sure you've finished all of Mr. Hands' gigs in Dogtown. Completing those doesn't just give you money; it changes the political landscape of the district, which adds a lot of context to the final confrontation. Also, check your messages. The fallout from the party usually results in some interesting lore drops from the contacts you met during the gala. Go spend your winnings—if you have any left—on some new Chrome at the local Ripperdoc; you’re going to need the armor for what comes next.