Shadowrun Returns

[Keyrock]

Wow, DRM and Steam sucks. I can't get an answer on if they added CEG on the Shadowrun or the Steam forums. Say what you will about Origin and Uplay, this wouldn't be an issue on those services because they at least let me play my games whenever I want.

 

I really hate lugging my desktop computer into town. I probably should have just asked for a refund, but man; it's Shadowrun.

Snag the DRM-free version from their site.

[babaganoosh13]

 

Wow, DRM and Steam sucks. I can't get an answer on if they added CEG on the Shadowrun or the Steam forums. Say what you will about Origin and Uplay, this wouldn't be an issue on those services because they at least let me play my games whenever I want.

 

I really hate lugging my desktop computer into town. I probably should have just asked for a refund, but man; it's Shadowrun.

Snag the DRM-free version from their site.

 

I can't. I was only a pre-orderer instead of a backer. I don't (legally?) have access to it, even though I pre-ordered right away when I seen 'DRM-free'.

 

EDIT X2: Actually, in my opinion, I should be able to legally access a DRM-free copy. If the stupid game is CEG-free, it would be placate me. Atleast I would be able to access it whenever I wanted. I don't give a rats behind about the stupid "features" Steam adds to games. Even if I did, it doesn't have achievements anyways.

Edited July 25, 2013 by babaganoosh13

[AGX-17]

Screen goes black when I click new game launch campaign. Yay.

Think the problem is on my end though.

Yes.

 

Only problem I've had in 5+ hours is the cop not moving after giving him the "coffee and donuts" bribe.

[Keyrock]

About 2 hours in and loving it.  This is one of those games where I'm eagerly anticipating every piece of narration, flavor text, and dialogue.  It's got that dark but sarcastic tone with a hint of film noir that doesn't take itself too seriously.

[Raithe]

Spent a large chunk of the night running through it so far. Do enjoy the atmosphere, running around with an elven adept who punches things.. It's kind of fun to punch out a troll shadowrunner. I've only had a brief bit of trouble when running into the mercs/shadowrunners at the hangar, which kept catching me in multiple crossfires.

 

I think that's my only issue, is the lack of any proper stealth. You can't do any sneaky shadowruns as such. But still, certainly enjoyable as it is.

[Wombat]

Played a bit.  I like the game play, the mild adventure book-ish riddle solving and definitely the atmospheric writing.  Actually, who needs voice-acting when just writing is good enough to stimulate our imagination?  Graphic, accompanied with similarly atmospheric music, is good enough for me - in fact, I like it capturing the theme and atmosphere of Shadowrun rather than some ugly 3D lukewarm graphics which lacks such thematic focus.  Autosave-only feature may not fit my play-style but rewind feature like in the Walking Dead allows moderate experimenting as well as the forgiving combat difficulty.

 

Nowadays, I began to think I was difficult to be pleased in terms of gaming but I guess I had been in a wrong place with wrong expectation for a decade or so:  While I'm quite happy with the recent success of narrative-focused games, most of AAA titles are just not made for me.  I guess I continue spending on Kickstarter and/or Indie games even if some projects are bound to fail.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I wish that you could save manually, stealth was possible, and that you could cast healing spells out of combat. Otherwise the game is addictive as ****.

[alanschu]

 

 

Actually, who needs voice-acting when just writing is good enough to stimulate our imagination?

 

I'd still love it if the game was voiced.  I understand why they didn't, however.

 

 

I have had 2 decker opportunities early (although one I think just bypassed a puzzle), as well as some etiquettes (that I didn't have) as well.  I like the use of character abilities going forward

[anubite]

It's a shame the ettiquette system is pretty much restricted to Shaman or Shaman-hybrids. They put a lot of work into letting you be able to get access to certai rooms based on that stuff, which is neat.

 

Agility got the short end of the stick. I've only found one story-context prompt for it. Strength, Charisma, and Intelligence are the bulk of them. Haven't encountered one with willpower so far.

 

It's a good game, not but a spectacular one, but it's good. I'm certainly satisfied with what they accomplished in a little over a year.

 

And I can't fault them for stealth. The maps aren't big enough for stealth, nor is a turn-based party stealth game exactly interesting (or easy to design). Has anyone even tried to do a Baldur's Gate stealth run? You can't really, because you need to do it solo or with a whole party of rogues... that's sort of why stealth can't work. You're only as stealthy as your weakest link.

 

I've played around with the editor. It's not as bad as SC2's editor, but it will take me a little time to get the hang of it. It looks very nice, with some decent functionality to it.

 

These are the biggest cons I can come up for it:

 

-Animations and spell effects are weak

-Dialogue trees aren't always that impactful or meaningful, but it's much better than a certain game I've thoroughly ranted about, I've encountered a few funny typos too ("Should of" instead of "should have")

-The itemization isn't that diverse (actually, I'm still confused what pistol I should be wielding on my main most of the time, the stats don't distinguish them enough for me, besides the obvious damage stat, which feels impactful)

-No open world (and the aformentioned "small level" stuff)

 

But each of these cons, aside from the first, I feel like I can just shrug my shoulders and say, "I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this game anyway." It's just a nice game. Not amazing, but I think it's good. I hope it does well, so we can see more of this in the future. 

 

The character building is very nice though. I'm a decker/street samurai hybrid, it's great they included a classless starting option. Each of the classes feel compelling too, like there isn't a "best one".

 

I have been toying with doing a Deus Ex campaign for the game, since the assets and RPG systems would be perfect for some kind of tactical Deus Ex spin-off. I think it would be fun.

 

With a few tweaks, the game's engine could also pull off a nice futuristic kind of Jagged Alliance campaign as well.

Edited July 26, 2013 by anubite

[Labadal]

 

Actually, who needs voice-acting when just writing is good enough to stimulate our imagination?

I'd still love it if the game was voiced. I understand why they didn't, however.

 

 

I have had 2 decker opportunities early (although one I think just bypassed a puzzle), as well as some etiquettes (that I didn't have) as well. I like the use of character abilities going forward

I've seen those options. My Adept has used a strength option twice in dialog as far as I can remember.

[Hurlshort]

I've pumped a few points into charisma to unlock academic and corp etiquette for my street samurai, it isn't limited to Shamans.  There are plenty of karma points to go around so far, so I don't consider it a waste.

 

I'm really enjoying the depth of the skills and playstyles.  It's a fantastic game, for sure.  

[alanschu]

 

 

It's a shame the ettiquette system is pretty much restricted to Shaman or Shaman-hybrids

 

Only if you think that someone should only put points into Charisma to gain the Shaman stuff (i.e. not me).

 

 

On something completely unrelated.... is there a secret to buying cyberware?  I seem unable to drag them over.  I have the money, still have 5 essence, but no dice.  Dosen't seem to stick :\

[Hurlshort]

Ah, the cyberware is a bit tricky.  select the item form the list, then click on the highlighted body part.  It wasn't very intuitive for me.

[alanschu]

Yeah I just found it by accident.  For that screen, you click and click.  Someone else must have implemented it compared to the other inventory stuff

 

I picked up shadowrunner etiquette along with my street etiquette too.

[alanschu]

I really like Dresden

[Lord of Lost Socks]

Ah, the cyberware is a bit tricky.  select the item form the list, then click on the highlighted body part.  It wasn't very intuitive for me.

The reason for that is probably beacause both arms are body parts, so technically when buying an arm you can choose where to put it.

[SadExchange]

I've pumped a few points into charisma to unlock academic and corp etiquette for my street samurai, it isn't limited to Shamans.  There are plenty of karma points to go around so far, so I don't consider it a waste.

 

I'm really enjoying the depth of the skills and playstyles.  It's a fantastic game, for sure.  

I would agree as well, I've been having a great time with the game so far.  it's almost like reading an interactive book that constantly gives you choices and then there's a little bit of combat splashed in from time to time to spice it up. 

[alanschu]

 

Ah, the cyberware is a bit tricky.  select the item form the list, then click on the highlighted body part.  It wasn't very intuitive for me.

The reason for that is probably beacause both arms are body parts, so technically when buying an arm you can choose where to put it.

 

 

Eh, I was still expecting to drag and drop it into the appropriate slot, however.

[Vaeliorin]

It's a shame the ettiquette system is pretty much restricted to Shaman or Shaman-hybrids. They put a lot of work into letting you be able to get access to certai rooms based on that stuff, which is neat.

As others have said, this isn't really the case.  My dwarven street samurai has an 8 Charisma (can't unlock any more etiquettes, so I won't be going any higher) and also has an 8 quickness, ranged combat, and rifles.  He absolutely destroys things with burst fire (he always gets buffed with haste so he can fire 2 bursts per turn).  Granted, I think I'm starting the final part of the campaign, so it took a while to get those stats, but it's possible.

 

Anyway, I'm really enjoying the game so far, and look forward to playing other people's campaigns, and maybe working on some of my own.  I've only had trouble at one or two points (running around in the later matrix bits requires ESP, which I didn't deploy and promptly got myself kicked out, and even got "killed" by some Black IC...yay for Doc Wagon!)  Already planning my next run with a Rigger/Decker hybrid...no guns, just drones.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Vaeliorin

[Oerwinde]

 

 

Ah, the cyberware is a bit tricky. select the item form the list, then click on the highlighted body part. It wasn't very intuitive for me.

The reason for that is probably beacause both arms are body parts, so technically when buying an arm you can choose where to put it.

 

Eh, I was still expecting to drag and drop it into the appropriate slot, however.

 

I was expecting it to work like every other store and just click the "+"

 

Anyway, I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I wish it wasn't so linear and I wish we could save properly, but hopefully thats something they can add in in a sequel if this does well. Now that they have the editor and much of the props and models built it should be cake to do a sequel, just a matter of funds. At this point I'd gladly drop another 15-20 on another kickstarter.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Oerwinde

[alanschu]

Is there a way to "exit combat" when it's clearly not hostile anymore?  It's a bit annoying to move individually when I don't see any hostiles nearby.

[Oerwinde]

Ok, hating the save system now. I went into the matrix to ID the Ripper, came out, went back in, came back out, and assumed that since I had switched scenes 4 times, that I was safe to shut down and go make dinner. Booted it up again now and I haven't even gone in the first time.

[alanschu]

Nope, hacking into the matrix isn't a level transition (it's kinda cool to go into it during combat actually).

[Humanoid]

I don't know the slightest thing about the ruleset, but I'm diving in anyway with a custom/null class. Hopefully I won't flop too badly....

[Oerwinde]

Nope, hacking into the matrix isn't a level transition (it's kinda cool to go into it during combat actually).

Didn't realize that until redoing the whole damned thing. Would be nice for them to tell you that.