Following The River is a Side Job in Cyberpunk 2077 (CP77). This walkthrough will guide you through all steps of the Following The River Side Quest.
Area: Badlands (Trailer Park)
Quest Giver: River Ward
Requirement: Completed Side Job “The Hunt“.
Reward: Potential River Ward Romance (if you are playing female body type), 1225 XP, 2755 Street Cred
Mission Info: The Peter Pan case is done and closed, so you do know you never have to see this badge again… right? OK, fine, I get it, you crawled through shit and fire together, and now you wanna kick back and celebrate your victory. But a family dinner? Fuckin’ seriously? Can’t just find a decent dive to grab a tequila or ten Smash the bottle over some corpocunt’s face? You’re getting soft, V.
Objectives:
- Head over to River
- Stir the soy meat
- Find rice in the kitchen
- Take the rice
- (Optional) Talk to Joss
- Take Rice to River
- Sit with River
- Grab the AR Game Gear
- Talk to River and the Kids
- Go to the starting position for a new round / (Optional) Let the kids win by killing fewer enemies
- Talk to River about the AR Game
- Join Joss at the table
- Follow River
- Find a way through the fence
- Climb up the tower with River
- Sit with River
- Talk to River
This is River Ward’s 3rd and last Side Job and leads to River Ward’s Romance (can only be romanced with female body type). The important choices for the romance are marked in red throughout this walkthrough.
River Ward’s Side Questline:
Starting Location: Following The River
After Side Job: The Hunt, skip time by a few in-game days until River sends you a text message called “Need Your Help Again ;)”. Reply to this message with “How about a new record?” > “Been a rollercoaster of a ride lately” > “We could knock a few back together if you want” > “See ya later”.
Then skip time and drive around until he calls you. Choose “Definitely, be glad” to accept his quest. In some cases he might call directly instead of sending a text message which is fine, too. If you decline his request by accident, it still gets added to your questlog automatically and you can track it from there, or you can call River back.
Then he wants you to meet at the Trailer Park where Joss and Randy live.
Head over to River
Once you arrive, Johnny will also make an appearance, sitting on the stairs to the right. Feel free to make the little detour to talk to him, if you like. This only leads to some extra lines of dialogue and doesn’t affect anything.
Talk to River who is stirring a pot.
Stir the soy meat
Didn’t think you’d be cooking in Cyberpunk 2077, did you? Interact with the pot and you will automatically stir it while River talks to you.
Find rice in the kitchen / Take the Rice
One ingredient is missing, the rice. Walk over to Joss’s kitchen. It’s in the shelf on the right side of the kitchen.
(Optional) Talk to Joss
You can also talk to Joss in the kitchen for some extra dialogue. If you do, she will point you towards the rice and it gets marked in yellow, makes it easier to locate.
Take Rice to River
Back to River. Put the rice in the pot.
Sit with River
River will walk with you to the garden chairs to kick back some beers. Talk to him. When he wants to talk about his dead parents you can either steer the direction in a more cheerful direction “Hmm, maybe not just now”, or go the melancholic route “Your parents – what happened?”. The quest proceeds the same either way.
Grab the AR Game Gear
The kids want to play an AR game with you. Grab the AR headset from the table near the cooking pot.
Talk to River and the Kids
Talk to the kids to get started.
Go to the starting position for a new round / (Optional) Let the kids win by killing fewer enemies
This minigame creates an AI overlay in your surroundings with some targets you can shoot. River will specifically ask to let the kids win because it’s their favorite game. For the River Ward romance it’s advisable to lose on purpose because that will get you a positive response. Just don’t shoot any targets, let the kids shoot them all.
Talk to River about the AR Game
If you let the kids win, River will thank you for playing along. This is the better option overall.
If you didn’t let the kids win, River will give a negative response, saying that you should’ve let them win.
Join Joss at the table
Either way, it’s time for dinner. Join them at the table.
Follow River
When Joss starts to ask if you’re seeing someone romantically, River will “rescue” you from her questions and asks you to come with him.
Find a way through the fence
Walk with River and climb over the fence to the water tower.
Climb up the tower with River
Climb up the ladder to the water tower, after opening the door for River.
Sit with River
River Ward Romance: After River hands you a drink, you’ll want to pick “[Kiss] To us.” if you’re playing with a female body type. This will initiate the sex scene. Then you spend the night with him. If you’re playing a male body type you still get this dialogue option, but River will block your romantic gesture and tell you he doesn’t roll that way (you’ll still get to spend the night at Randy’s house).
Talk to River
The next morning, talk to River to say goodbye. He’s in the bathroom of Randy’s house.
This finishes Following The River side quest job in Cyberpunk 2077 (CP77). This is also the last side job in River Ward’s questline and you’ll now earn 
To Protect and Serve trophy or achievement.
For all other Quest Walkthroughs, check out the complete Cyberpunk 2077 Walkthrough.
Hmmm can’t seem to get this side quest to appear. River isn’t texting or calling me after i finished The Hunt. Yes i did save Randy and yes i did say i would help him in the Kitchen with Joss. I’ve waited around a week in-game and still nothing :/
Several portions of this have changed in the latest version, especially the morning after.
There are actually a lot more dialogue choices after the bathroom scene. Wait until Joss comes in to grab River and they went to do something outside. After a while, Joss will be available to talk and new dialogue options appear.
currently playing on PS5 (Version 1.50); this mission does not unlock like previous ones. now this mission requires a thread of messages that river sends you. you need to replay to each one like you care about River even as a Male V. make sure to ask about Randy and choose a gift. then you get an invitation from river to start this quest.