I tested the waters by posting this on Reddit first and I can't say I'm surprised at how people were determined to hate even to this day. I may have gotten into Cyberpunk since last mid-January but I'm aware that River continues to have a poor reputation among players/fans both then and now.
So to take a bit of what I warned in that post: If you do not like River, that's your opinion. But please know the rule "don't like, don't read/engage" exists for a reason.
With that out of the way, I'll start by expressing that I'm still of the opinion that there should have been a few more quests (and text chains) between "The Hunt" and "Following the River". River had so much potential that was either tossed to the bin or never realized, and that sadly caused him to become a punching bag for the fandom.
But even when putting that grievance aside, I still like how V's relationship with River can culminate in the story proper.
The two start off as just working together because they shared a common goal (albeit for differing reasons), and they go their separate ways after that, expecting that to be the end of it. But they inevitably meet again, and they next time they do, it's so that V can assist him with a personal and crucial matter.
This, despite not knowing each other all that well, partly because River had no one else to turn to at the time, and partly because the little he knew of V from their interaction showed someone who's either pragmatic but not immoral (if they tell River to not push the case with Mayor Rhyne because of the potential blowback) or someone who's willing to take a risk to do what's right (if they tell him to go through with it).
It's also worth mentioning that unlike with the other love interests' questline (finding Evelyn for more information about the Relic, needing help for tracking down Hellman, helping Johnny reunite with his band), V doesn't have anything to gain in return. No money, no information, no doing favors for someone else, etc. Helping someone in need was its own reward.
It's not hard to see why River would quickly grow attached. Even with a male V, he quickly regards them as a friend for that gesture alone. Because finding someone like that is rare in a place like Night City.
Even if River got more quests, I bet he'd still be derided for falling for V too hard and too fast... yet while the other LIs get more spotlight, when looking at the timeframe of their quests, it's not like they've known V for that long either. Case in point, Panam's romance can be initiated at her third quest when the first two had her and V mainly in a "you help me with this, I help you with that" kind of situation. Yes, it takes a few more quests for them to actually do the deed, but the point is how it takes no more than a month in-game for the others to get to know V and fall deeply in love with them. And again, I already pointed out that it's not hard to see how and why River would fall for V.
And as for the moment River confesses to V at the water tower, I think he gets unfairly admonished for that. He's not forceful since if he's let down, he accepts it and won't push any further; and it's hinted that he might have taken his time in courting V had his sister not outed his crush during the dinner scene.
Yes, that was awkward and kind of embarrassing. But that's family shenanigans for you, and what was River expected to do after that? Lie and brush it off as just his family speaking nonsense and deny having any feelings for V? He's not the kind of guy to do that. The cat was already out of the bag by that point, so he may as well take his chance, and whatever the outcome may be, he's shown to accept it.
In an ideal world, they could take more time to get to know each other and take things slowly before they make their relationship official and consummate it. But Cyberpunk's world is no ideal world, Night City is no ideal place, and let's not forget that V is currently on a timer.
I'm also sure that no matter what, some would continue to find River "boring" because his romance has more of a down-to-earth, domestic vibe, what with him being moral and a family man, and it's usually the one who has the most normal-seeming romance who's often written off as one-note and bland.
But I think him being a different flavor from the other three romances is meant to be the point. Some may want a partner whose warmth is the passionate and blazing kind, while others may want a partner whose brand of warmth is more peaceful and soothing and neither is better than the other. It all comes down to a matter of preference.
And let's not forget how another reason behind his hate is because he's a cop... yet by the time he and V can become an item, he had already left the force to become a PI instead. I won't even try to go into too much detail about this because anyone who uses this reasoning definitely missed the entire point of his questline about how he quits the NCPD so that he can still help people but without worrying about any corrupt higher-ups or his hands being tied by the rules of the force.
So to conclude: there's no denying that, again, River was robbed and I will forever be heated about that. And I mourn what could have been... but I still am glad with what we've got. It doesn't stop me from loving River all the same and it definitely doesn't keep me from smiling and feeling fuzzy when my V gets to see an affectionate, earnest man underneath the aloof and hardened detective that she first sees him to be.
