Cyberpunk 2077 is a weird game because it fluctuates between high-octane action and soul-crushing quietness. You're driving a neon-lit supercar one minute, and the next, you're looking into the eyes of a serial killer's victim. The Hunt Cyberpunk 2077 is that second thing. It isn't just a side quest. It is a descent into a specific kind of digital hell that most RPGs are too scared to touch. Honestly, if you haven't played it yet, you need to prepare yourself for something that feels more like True Detective than The Matrix.
River Ward is your entry point. He’s a NCPD detective who actually gives a damn, which makes him a rare breed in Night City. He’s got this nephew, Randy. Randy is missing. It sounds like a standard "find the lost kid" trope, but CD Projekt Red twists the knife almost immediately.
Peter Pan and the Horror of The Hunt Cyberpunk 2077
The mission starts with a break-in. You and River sneak into a high-end lab to view a "Braindance," which is basically a VR recording of someone’s memories. This is where the game stops being a shooter. You aren't looking for loot or XP. You're looking for clues in the distorted, subconscious dreams of a madman named Anthony Harris. Everyone calls him Peter Pan.
It's gross. There’s no other way to put it.
Harris isn't your typical villain. He’s a product of a broken system, a victim of childhood trauma who decided to "save" other boys by kidnapping them and keeping them in a state of perpetual, drug-induced stasis. When you dive into his Braindances, the audio design shifts. Everything sounds wet and muffled. You see a schoolyard that feels wrong. You see a barn.
The barn is the key.
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Most players miss the subtle environmental storytelling here. In the first BD, you’re looking for a hidden trophy or a specific teacher's name. But look at the walls. Look at the way Harris perceives his father. It’s not just a memory; it’s a filtered hallucination. This mission uses the BD mechanic better than any other part of the game because it forces you to inhabit the mind of a monster to find his victims.
Finding Edgewood Farm Without Dying
Once you scrub through the footage, you’ll likely find yourself at Edgewood Farm. This place is a nightmare. It’s covered in landmines and automated turrets. If you rush in, you’re dead. This is the gameplay peak of The Hunt Cyberpunk 2077. You have to be methodical.
Inside the barn? It’s worse than the mines.
You find the boys. They’re hooked up to machines, being "fed" through tubes while a cartoon plays on loop. It’s a chilling commentary on how Night City treats the vulnerable. They aren't even people to Harris; they're just things to be preserved. This is where your choices actually matter. If you didn't pay attention during the BD investigation, or if you didn't find enough clues, you can actually fail to save Randy.
Think about that. A major character's family member can die because you were lazy with the fast-forward button.
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The River Ward Connection
River is a polarizing character for some, but in this mission, he’s essential. He represents the "old world" morality. He’s trying to do right in a city that rewards doing wrong. After the farm, you end up at his sister’s house. The atmosphere shifts from horror to heavy, awkward trauma.
You’ve probably noticed that Cyberpunk 2077 loves its quiet moments. The dinner with River’s family is one of them. It’s uncomfortable. It’s domestic. It feels out of place in a game about cyborgs and corporations, which is exactly why it works. You realize that while you’re out there fighting Arasaka, people like River are just trying to keep their families from falling into the cracks.
Technical Reality: Why This Mission Still Hits
Back when the game launched in 2020, people were complaining about T-posing NPCs and crashing consoles. But even then, nobody complained about the writing in "The Hunt." It’s a masterclass in pacing.
- Phase One: The Investigation. Slow, methodical, heavy on dialogue.
- Phase Two: The Braindance. Pure psychological horror. No combat. Just observation.
- Phase Three: The Raid. High stakes. One mistake and the farm explodes.
- Phase Four: The Aftermath. Emotional processing.
The mission doesn't rely on jump scares. It relies on the "uncanny valley" effect of the Braindances. The way the models move in those recordings is intentionally jerky and surreal. It mimics how we actually remember things—in fragments, with certain details exaggerated and others blurred out.
What Most People Miss in the Barn
Check the computers. Seriously.
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If you just run to Randy and flip the switch, you’re missing the depth of the horror. The emails and files on the terminal in the barn explain Harris’s descent. It details how he scouted these kids. He targeted the ones who were lonely. He used an old-school VR game called "The Hidden Land" to groom them. It’s a terrifyingly realistic depiction of how predators operate in digital spaces, even in a sci-fi future.
The game doesn't hand-hold you through this. You have to choose to read it. If you do, the mission becomes ten times darker. You realize this wasn't just a random act of violence; it was a calculated, long-term project of a broken mind.
Actionable Insights for Your Playthrough
If you're jumping back into Night City for a new playthrough, don't rush this. The Hunt Cyberpunk 2077 is best experienced when you're fully immersed.
- Level up your Technical Ability. You’ll need it to disable the turrets and mines at the farm safely. Or, use a high-tier Cyberdeck to shut them down remotely.
- Scrub every layer of the Braindance. Don't just look for the yellow highlights. Look for the "hidden" clues like the farm’s gate number or the specific chemical drums. It unlocks more dialogue options with River.
- Don't skip the dialogue at the end. Talking to River on the water tower later (in the follow-up quest "Follow the River") gives the closure this mission needs. It deals with the fallout of the trauma.
- Save Randy. If you don't find the correct farm location via the clues and instead guess, you might arrive too late. Use the "Edgewood" hint from the BD to be certain.
The real takeaway from "The Hunt" is that Cyberpunk 2077 isn't just a game about cool guns. It’s a game about the things we lose when technology outpaces our humanity. Harris used tech to steal lives. River uses it to find them. You’re just the one caught in the middle, trying to make sense of the mess.
Go back to the farm after the mission is over. It’s empty. The silence there is louder than any explosion in the game. That is how you write a quest that stays with someone for years.