Water

It's got some fun nods to the Super Nintendo version, though doesn't really have anything to do with it, story wise. They both have well-written, engaging linear narratives. Shadowrun Returns is arguably better written, what with a greater means for interacting with NPCs than keywords. Gameplay-wise: greater focus on RPG (turned based) and less adventure gamey. There's no questioning NPCs for a specific keyword so that you can go and use it on others, for example. But there is a multitude of character creation options and skills to invest in. Combat is muuuuch more tactical: having a party of Shadowrunners is more important as you don't just become the Übermensch and do everything yourself. World-wise: a lot more constrained. Rather than just giving you a big city hub to explore, the game automatically takes you from place to place as necessary. Music: If you remember/liked the music in the SNES version, you might find yourself smiling at a few familiar melodies; the standard combat music in particular. (SNES vs. SRR) Though otherwise the soundtracks are different, with Shadowrun Returns being more subdued in general. Bottom line: If the things you most enjoyed in the SNES version were stuff like wandering around future Seattle or grinding for uber stats (there's no grinding in this one!) then you might not like it as much. If however you liked it because of the story, atmosphere, and setting, you'll probably enjoy Shadowrun Returns as well. I certainly did. It's on the short side, but the game is pretty solid.

Agreed, I've been quite happy with my "fists of fury" dwarf adept. The criticals are indeed awesome: last night I saw a 36 point critical on a late game enemy too. I started boosting dodge and am finding that it makes a noticeable difference as well. With Wired Reflexes on top of that (apparently it doesn't trigger if the attack was going to miss anyway; I just dodge the first attack that would hit), I'm virtually untouchable. Though I'll admit Wired Reflexes has some issues.... Another advantage we melee-ers have is that moving and attacking are merged into one action: if an enemy is within 1 AP of movement, it only takes the 1 AP to run up and hit them. Being clever with Line of Sight and ranged enemies means I'm often still within striking distance of them, but if they want to hit me they have to waste 1 AP moving to get a clear shot. (All that said, I'm sure guns are probably still easier: that shotgun knee shot is pretty amazing. But I like to play builds that don't seem to be the most straightforward option.)

If you're referring to nudity as it is used in something like Schindler's List, then yeah sure, the "Western fear of boobs in videogames" is a bit silly. Nudity used appropriately and tastefully is fine. But considering a lot of it is just there for titillation, it's gotten a bit tiresome. Then there's the unequal nature of it, with mostly just women getting put into ridiculous outfits. If a game wants to just hand out cheese/beefcake for everyone, that'd be fine too. At least then it'd be demonstrating a consistent internal logic.

It's when the main character in the Matrix screws up and embarrasses himself. (Sorry....) I've been really enjoying the constant updates for this project, and have yet to be disappointed. Thanks for keeping us all apprised of the situation, Rob. It is really interesting to hear things from all parts of the project.

I dunno, seems to me that hating people based on their skin color is for pretty much no reason at all too. The, "Because they're disgusting and have no hygiene," stuff is just BS that people make up to justify their hatred.

I choose... Strong Characters! I've started games that were reputed to have epic story lines and awesome worlds to explore, and yet just couldn't be bothered to finish them because I stopped caring. Planescape: Torment wasn't an amazing game because I got to play a blank slate on the epic quest to regain his mortality, it was an amazing game because I got to play a character with some very interesting backstories, accompanied by some very interesting people. Not to mention all the interesting people I met along the way. I suppose if I had to slot it into one of the above two, strong characters would fall under plot. But it's easy for a game to have an epic plot and yet still have uninteresting characters.

Yes, this. Magical ability always seems to be equal across the genders in videogames. (In fact, if anything, there's more games that tend toward showing the caster classes as women rather than men (which is a trope in itself, but I digress).) And yet, I can't think of a game that examined what that shift in the balance in power would do to the gender politics of the world. Why should sexism still be a thing in the interests of "realism" if magic has equalized the sexes? If anything, I'd think that in this society Obsidian is crafting, it'd be more that those with weak/fragmented souls who would be discriminated against (men and women). --- As for the thread topic: tropes are not inherently bad. The problem with them is mostly due to inexperienced/poor writers using them without thinking. And I'm pretty sure we can count on the writers at Obsidian to keep these kinds of things in mind. And if not, well that's why we have topics like these: to show that people feel pretty strongly about things like this.

One of the things I've always missed about unvoiced games is that they could have NPCs to refer to your PC by name. You know, rather than just "Exile", "Our Leader", or some variant of the word "you".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekVI_UoEYRc I generally don't even miss children if they're not around in videogames. If the subject of killing children is just too contentious then I'd prefer them not being in the game rather then having them invincibly wandering around. Maybe they could even just be in the "background" somehow where they can't be reached. (Maybe they just run and hide at the first sign of trouble?) Besides, has it been established that every NPC will be killable? If there's other invulnerable NPCs wandering around then invulnerable children would be a non-issue.

I would love to see another RPG where conversation is a viable way to gain experience/perks. An average RPG tends to just rely on combat for that, and I'd like to see a game where advancing doesn't mean, "bash orc skulls in to gain levels." (My ultimate dream would be to see an RPG where combat is a viable option if you want to get violent, but can be avoided entirely otherwise, if you're smart about it. However I understand what an extremely niche title that would be. ) As for abundance of text: I couldn't care less how much there is, so long as it's interesting to read. I had waaaaay more fun in the Brothel of Slaking Intellectual Lusts than in, say, Baator. (So glad that I could just have Annah sneak through to the exit.)