Shadowrun Hong Kong - Extended Edition

The story falls flat when compared to the first two, it seems to be a bit "tired" in terms of plot and character development, but there is still a lot to love if you enjoyed the first two games.

Overall, this game is a quality entry the Shadowrun series, providing entertaining missions with turn-based combat and many minor improvements over the interface from SR:DF. Personally, I'm not a big fan of the changes to the Matrix (I'm old and slow) but after a few trips I got used to it, and the supporting tools you get if you ramp up your Decker stats more than compensate for the annoyance of having to play Red Rover. I also wish I had much more control over the development and equipment for my teammates, but that's apparently down to the core design for the entire series, and in the long run you still get a good array of skills and kit. However: Please be aware that there is a LOT of text in this game. There are endless dialogue trees with all your teammates, including digressions that seem to lead nowhere. Sure, it adds to the immersion into the game world, but much of it is arcane (Japanese history lessons from a Ghoul???) or ultimately irrelevant. Particularly annoying are the deep dives into your "past" with Duncan where you have to supply information I guess your character already knows that, again, doesn't provide anything beyond chrome. So be prepared to click thru lengthy dialogues where, in many cases, you have only one reply or one *obviously correct* reply to choose.

I think this is my favorite RPG from the last 10 years. I just left a review saying that I constantly look for something that'll fill the gap that KOTOR and Jade Empire left. This isn't quite that, but I'll be damned if it's not a whole hell of a lot of turn based fun. This game is the game that made me fall in love with tactical, turn-based games. The story is fantastic. The setting is fantastic. I don't really know what else to say. This is cyberpunk fantasy. If you like cyberpunk or fantasy, buy this. If you don't like cyberpunk or fantasy, buy this. Seriously, please play this

Pros: - Awesome atmosphere. Just so, so immersive. This alone carries the game. - Everything is very flavorful and thematic. - Cool missions, fun integration of hacking, albeit too important at times. - Companions feel real and help immersion. - Graphics hold up, music is fantastic. Cons: - Combat is straightforward but not always intuitive. - Hacking can be overbearing. - A lot of loredumps, but they're 100% just optional side-dialogue. - One of the main companions, Duncan, isn't the best written. The other ones are rad. Overall a 9/10. Really, really good. The length is perfect and succinct, so it doesn't overstay its welcome. Amazing experience.

SRHK is a very storytelling heavy game with a lot of dialogue and textual descriptions of the game world. The story and characters are fantastic, and the writing is very atmospheric. I liked that it almost felt like an interactive novel at times. Combined with the dystopian visual design, it constantly gives you the feeling that the game world is dangerous, vast and unpredicatable. Instead of an open world, you navigate mission based levels. The maps are small, linear and offer little interactivity. Optional side goals give incentive to explore thoroughly. The fights are turn based and require you to use the level environment and the different skills of your party members to your tactical advantage. Certain handicaps like a limited number of turns are sometimes added later in the game. The challenge in the early game comes mostly from figuring out which tactics to apply, since only the bare minimum of game mechanics is briefly explained. Learning by trial and error is especially necessary for the Matrix/Cyberspace parts of the game. In fact, not even all abbreviations are spelled out. The difficulty ramps up considerably in the bonus missions. Some basic roleplaying elements are present, you can invest skill points ("Karma") in your character. The equipment system is very rudimentary and only really benefits your character, not your party. Enemies can't be looted, you buy the best gear from the merchants' limited offer. Problems I encountered: the game expects you to finish quests in a certain order. You can exhaust certain dialog trees and get the best equipment way before the end of the game. At 4K screen resolution, the levels look somewhat tiny even at maximum zoom. Sometimes character models had glitches or overlay text was stacked. I encountered some weird behaviour with mission items and goals. The load times are bad even on SSD. Expect the limitations of an indie game. Overall, you get a very solid indie game experience for a fair price.