Shadowrun Returns

This game is great in many dimensions, but overall is the quality of writing. I played many anventure games and much more RPGs. I'm experienced tabletop RPG player and GM, but the story, dialogs and whole oral worldbuilding of this game left me brethless not once, nor twice... If you love noir detective stories — it's a game for you. If you love the cyberpunk setting — this is your world. If you like when even background characters have detailed stories — this is your kind of story... Don't listen to the complains of linearity — that does'nt matter if you immerse in story, and believe me — you will) And this is besides the fact game is great by itself with simple but agile battle mechanics, ability tree and very intuitive and pleasant interface. The game have its weakpoints, but they are so little, compared to game's excellencies. One of the best CRPG i played so far

Great storyline and great soundtrack

Something about this game compelled me to finish it. There's a simple sheen over its barebones mechanics, a bold slathering of character, of the Shadowrun universe, that made this weirdly fun. This game is an RPG that really is a point and click adventure game with turn based combat. The combat is fun, but it doesn't end when all enemies are dead, so I came to dread it, and the pointing and clicking is passable with the icons sometimes taking very long to come up to be clicked. The game's writing is very noir-ish, very Sin City. I liked it although the plot is rushed in its middle and not well explained. The art is well done and the art direction is top notch. Shadowrun Returns is truly a game greater than the sum of its parts. After completion, I was excited to install its sequel, the much better received Shadowrun Dragonfall, and play that game instead. So there's something to be said about this not being a completely mediocre game.

Shadowrun Returns is the first good Shadowrun game to see the light of day since Shadowrun on the SNES in 1993. For those who have no idea, Shadowrun is based off of a cyberpunk/fantasy tabletop RPG set on Earth in the year 2050-something, where magic has returned to the world and elves, dwarves, orcs, and trolls (not the 13-year-old Call of Duty player kind) exist. In Shadowrun Returns, you run through the streets of Seattle to investigate the murder of an old friend/fellow runner, uncovering a massive conspiracy along the way. Character creation options include your average warrior types, mage types, Riggers (who control drones) and Deckers (who are basically glorified computer hackers). It's a fantastic entry into the Shadowrun universe if you've never played the tabletop game, or even if you have. The combat is turn-based (sort of X-COM style), and in some areas later in the game this can get annoying as the game will force you to be in combat mode even when there are no enemies. The game is also pretty short; I think my first playthrough took about 10 hours, and that was going through and talking to everyone possible and doing every possible side job. That said there is a degree of replay value as there are a lot of different character types and trying them all out is just fun. Sure, Dragonfall and Hong Kong make better use of the game engine and the mechanics, but this is still a solid game that is definitely worth playing.

Shadowrun Returns is short. It is almost completely linear. It has a pretty simple skill system. There is one mission that is well designed with multiple approaches and a bit of good detective-type puzzles. A few missions give you some minor different approaches. Most just have you kill everything, or are entirely expository. After I finished, I felt... good. It didn't wear out its welcome. It was bug free. I found the story cliche but satisfying. Even the lack of voice-acting didn't bother me. It's like one of those movies that wouldn't even get nominated for the Golden Globe, but after you watch it, you think it wouldn't be so bad to buy the DVD. Do they still make DVDs? Anyway, if SR: Dragonfall and SR Hongkong are even better, then I say the trilogy is definitely worth your money and your time. I can't wait to play those. For now, SRR has given me a taste of what these games are like. From that one mission that was really good, I figured the game engine and the team has potential. Although the foundation is straightforward, they could build it into something complex and smart. I advice you to play this first. It is a low commitment way to get a feel for the Shadowrun trilogy universe. If you like the feel, you could dive in deeper with the next two games. If you don't, I am sure the hours you would have spent on the sequels would far outweight whatever you paid for the trilogy.