Shadowrun Returns

Awesome... this is the type of 75% hitting game that everybody loved because of it's dark and mysterious content... rock on... Automatischa...

I think that Dragonfall comparation kill Returns good... Dragonfall and Returns are really different but both really good for different reason. Dragonfall is good because it has a really deep and non-linear story-line, long and with a perfect gameplay... but many secondary cmp quests are better than the main quest (that it's good but not really original). In Dragonfall Berlin (the central hub) it's the most important place. Returns is a really good linear investigation story... it's short compared to Dragonfall but it's still really good. there is no real hub, you move throught location... it's like a good demo, when you finish it you want more of it.... but when you take it out of comparation it's still a long, creative and interesting game. If you ask me you have to play both Returns and Dragonfall... and you will remember really well the plot of Returns while you will just remember part of Dragonfall plot.

I'm reviewing the SDragonfall, it is a significant improvement, you get both anyway. The best thing about SD is writing - there is a lot of text here and it is very well written, it really pulls you into the world, makes characters interesting and believable. The story is great I was really invested emotionally in the people of Kreuzbazar - the writing really helps with that. The gameplay itself is the next best thing. There is much more variety compared to the original and different characters give you a lot of options on how to approach battles - sniping, close combat, conjuring, magic, drones etc. Sometimes the hit calculation seemed a bit unfair (70% chance to hit = 3x miss), but overall the difficulty is just right and it never happens that a single miss or a missclick would force you to restart. The atmosphere is great and if you like the Shadowrun world (I love it) you will really enjoy the game, because it really leverages the mythos - magic, shamanism, decking, megacorporations, dragons you name it it's all there. The environments are varied and interesting - cities, countryside, seweres, corporate buildings, alternate dimension (sort of :) ) as are the enemies - (meta) humans, drones, ghouls, basilisks, hellhounds... I like that the game works equally well controlled by a mouse or a touchscreen. Now for some cons: SD is relatively heavy compared to how simple the engine is - loading, overall speed, but that's not really a problem. People complain the game is linear I don't consider it a problem - this is no Baldur's Gate it's rather a series of turn-based battles in a vey interesting environment held together by an engaging story. I would welcome if besides the main and side missions there would be a random mission generator which would tie to the merc principle of shadowrunning. You only have 4 character slots for missions which limits your options a bit. Overall an awesome game. Buy it if you love turnbased combat, Shadowrun or just good stories.

It does not have to be Fallout or anything else to be a quality game. I played Dragonfall first. Faced some bugs and BS in the first hour. Got mad, wrote a 1-star review here on GOG, uninstalled. Then, when I cooled off, I gave it another try. It turned out to be an OK game (brainwashing and propaganda aside - I have an anti-virus in my system that prevents infection of this sort). Decent enough game to make me buy and play Shadowrun Returns (which I did not buy at first because of mixed reviews, and negative reviews brought up some legitimate complaints). Returns is actually a MUCH better game overall than Dragonfall. The latter takes longer to finish but it is mostly due to unnecessary text filler which contributes little or nothing to the game or the story, but you are forced to read it for fear of missing something story related. Granted, it is written well, but still, it is just filler. Returns and Dragonfall share some common problematic design decisions (inventory management SUCKS!), but eventually one kind of gets used to them. In the end, both are decent games, and, I guess, between my 1-star rating for Dragonfall and my 5-star rating for Returns the average score is somewhere between 2-3 stars... Why? Because these are NOT games. These are mind altering, brainwashing TOOLS. I wonder if the devs are just mindlessly 'going with the flow' of zombie-cyborg TV crap or they are PAID to promote human organ harvesting, trans-humanism, GMO and meta-humanism, cannibalism, human sacrifice, corruption, betrayal, selfishness and, of course, the hopelessness of average men because 'great Dragons have always ruled', the 'haves' have always subjugated the 'have-nots' with the latter always succumbing to 'whatever drug' to forget 'for a day' just how pointless and miserable their lives really are. And that's the message: ACCEPT IT. Sure, you are out for justice, but the above messages are implanted in your mind. Try to stay human. Good luck.

Great cyberpunk setting, great graphic concept (seamless mix of 2D maps and 3D characters), a nice combat system and cool RPG experience. The included campaign "Dead Man's Switch" is quite good, well-written and might take a while to finish (even though it's not huge by present day standards), but the best thing is that this system allows you and a community to create new campaigns. (most are available at Nexusmods for GOG users) I enjoyed "A Stitch in Time" quite a lot and that one is huge compared to Dead Man's Switch. If you liked this game and don't own Shadowrun Dragonfall already, get it too!