Shadowrun thread

Plan on trying this out. Is returns worth it? I've heard mixed things about it and that Hong Kong is better, while a dragonfall is the best. Any particular order I should play them in?

play Dragonfall and then Hong Kong, ignore Returns

...

Thanks user. What exactly is the problem with Returns out of curiosity?

I haven't played Returns but it's supposedly shit.
Story wise the games are self-contained (aside from few small references) either way and I though Dragonfall was the better one in that regard, though Hong Kong had some fantastic characters.
Play in release order: meaning Dragonfall first and then Hong Kong, because the latter improves various gameplay mechanics so it'd probably feel a bit ass backwards to play Dragonfall for later.

Returns is basically a proof-of-concept, rather than a game proper. The story is thin at best, there's numerous little quality problems that even a cursory runtheough with an editor would've caught, and there's very little in the way of sidequests.
The second and third games are just way better.

It was more of a prototype. An inferior campaign, no real companions, interface is more optimized towards tablet users.

Most of that got fixed in Dragonfall Director's Cut and Hong Kong. Berlin and Kowloon are far more interesting settings and you get some interesting companions in the latter two games. All with their own side stories.

The Matrix is shit no matter what, though. Just keep that in mind if you wanna play a Decker.

I miss this so much.

The order doesn't really matter. But I guess Hong Kong still has a few more features than Dragonfall, so I'd recommend doing Dragonfall first.

I loved Dragonfall, definitely recommend it.

Ignore Returns. Dragonfall has slightly better overall story than Hong Kong. Companions are about the same in each one (Dragonfall and Hong Kong), but are imo slightly better in the second one. Hong Kong also has improved gameplay.

I recommend playing a decker in Dragonfall and speccing into rifles. The decker you get is very boring. The decker in Hong Kong is good, so I would recommend playing something like an adept (horribly brokenly powerful end game).

Hong Kong is a improvement. I also like the characters too.

I played a Decker in Returns but didn't get much use out of it. Also did drone control and oh boy was that OP as fuck.

is it better on the other games? I might try playing a Street Samurai since although it was OP, it wasn't very fun.

HK has lots of reading and story things so it's slower than Dragonfall but has some good improvements. Both are really good games, first one is lacking

Any recommendations for classes?

I played rigger in Dragonfall and once you get two combat drones and three moves per turn you become pretty much unstoppable.

yep, that was my experience in Returns too

the final boss was an absolute joke that only ran away while my two murder machines relentlessly chased her

Don't play a decker in Dragonfall or HK, the games give you a decker early on.

see

So fucking underused setting

My last run in Hong Kong was as Cyberware Adept. Just enough Cyberware to get claws and armored up skin, so you don't shred too much essence, then you get on a fucking murder spree together with Gaichu.

Good times.

This was taken before the final boss in Hong Kong, but prior to the expansion. Basically one shots everything, has a ton of health/armor, and can take more than 3 actions a turn if I recall right. An absolute monster.

Makes sense a furry would like this trash

Cyberware affinity also gives you some free essence to get some cool bioware without penalizing your magic. I think I went with arms, but I don't recall. Could have been legs.

Money's also tighter in HK than in Dragonfall, so you have to buy only what you need. Unlike DG where you can splurge. That build can also heal itself, which is incredibly nice.

Never played Returns.
Dragonfall was really good. I played dwarf mage and loved it. Good story and characters. On Hard it can be quite a challenge in some parts, though mage is OP in endgame and I easily beat the last boss. Some choices in the game will take you a few minutes to mull over and I like that.

Hong Kong was good, but not as good imo. Worth playing if you like DF for sure, just don't go in thinking it will be better.

I think combat in the Matrix is pointless and annoying. Just puzzles would be fine.

Also I quit the extended story dlc in Hong Kong. It wasn't interesting in the slightest. Plus I lost the fight where you can take on both groups that want to use the little girl for experiments 3 or 4 times and said fuck it.

I actually quit during that too, I even liked hong kong too.

Dragonfall >> Honk Kong > Returns

Honk Kong added nothing significant to gameplay (but improved and most balanced) and story wasnt's as good nor exciting as Dragonfall. But that being said I'd still play in chronological order. Returns ain't bad by no means but there is just sucha big gap between Returns and Dragonfall that you would never want to play Returns if you played sequels first.

How fun is a street samurai or Shaman?

If you get Cyberware in Hong Kong you really should consider the Shiawase Magnet Arm. Enemies will almost always throw grenades at you if you're anywhere close to another team member.

Haha same thing here. And I doubt that I'll ever finish it/

I actually like Hong Kong more in terms of flair. A lot of things just seem more intriguing to me in that game, despite the walls of text. Maybe I just prefer the music though.

They should make another Shadowrun shooter but it should be a third person open world action rpg. I'm tired of waiting on Cyberpunk 2077.

Well I'm glad I finished it before the extended edition was out then.

It's literally coming out next year bro.

I think Dragonfall is the better game, but Hong Kong with Racter and Gaichu as companions is an absolute blast.

Don't play Shaman. Both Shamans you get in Dragonfall and Hong Kong are really good and more than enough for your party. They're also more of a buff class.

Street Samurai is pretty fun, but get outclassed by Adepts. Still really fun if you don't want to min max.

>3rd person
hi console retard

I don't think I got the arm, just because I could tank nades with that build. That and I gave it to Duncan and usually brought him along. But yeah, it is rather good.

I played pure mage in Dragonfall for all the addiotional dialogue, like aura reading and shit but combat wasn't that great and spell animations are really meh.

Does HK also have lots of mage/shaman specific stuff or should I go purely for gameplay this time?

How is the companion writing? I want to avoid having to use the "quirky" ones.

>The Matrix is shit no matter what, though. Just keep that in mind if you wanna play a Decker.
>tfw 8~ hours into Returns as a Decker because I was stoked to get into the Matrix

fuck

Hong Kong is better than dragonfall, in every way

I like to see my cosmetic skins in action and not only in a menu.

It's not horrible but it's really really dull. They tried to mix things up in Hong Kong with time limits and forced stealth sections, but that went as shitty as you would expect.

Mages are pretty much the same. Adepts get new spells because of qui casting, but that's about it, and they get to do just about everything mages can do in terms of dialog, maybe more. If you're a melee character, you basically want to bring Isobel and Gobbet everywhere, and a choice of third character (either Duncan, Gaichu, or Racter) depending on what you need to do.

What makes you say that?

Extended edition is just an additional short separate post-game campaign (with save file importing), it doesn't take place in the middle of the main one or get in the way. I think it's decent if you simply want to see more of the same characters and some extra missions akin to ones you do in the middle of the main game. Story wise it's not that spectacular and the main dilemma is stupid: spoiler either get your and Duncan's SIN back and abandon everyone else for normie life or keep Shadowrunning and make Duncan asshurt enough to leave the team. No one's going to choose the former.

One thing I hated about both games is how you really need to have a decker or you miss money, items and information/lore on every mission. Which means you have to bring the decker or be one yourself. I hated Is0bel.

>Plan on trying this out. Is returns worth it? I've heard mixed things about it and that Hong Kong is better, while a dragonfall is the best.
Returns isn't bad, especially if you're like me and have no previous experience with Shadowrun. If nothing else, I think it's a good introduction to the setting.

Dragonfall is indeed the best.

I personally think Hong Kong is the worst. Too much reading, not enough gameplay, and I didn't particularly like the story or characters.

>Any particular order I should play them in?
Play them in release order. The later games add several quality of life improvements that you'll miss having if you try to play the older games afterwards.

I chose the former and never looked back.
Character writing goes something like this:
Racter>Gaichu=Gobbet>Is0bel>Duncan
Duncan isn't bad, he's just kind of boring. Not bad in a fight though. There are no useless companions this time around. Racter is by far the best written. Gaichu is great too, but you get him kind of late.

Corporate website.

EU Projects tab.

I actually kinda liked Returns, though everything user has said about it in this thread is also true. It really does feel more like a proof of concept for a shadowrun RPG rather than an actual game.
Dragonfall was fantastic though, and Hong Kong was pretty good too. Stoked for Hairbrained's Battletech.

I had a lot of fun as a mage in HK because of the Dragon line empowering and making your spells bounce

>How is the companion writing? I want to avoid having to use the "quirky" ones.
Then you're fucked in Hong Kong, because all of the companions are the "quirky" ones.

Most of the cast is way less quirky that DF, so no big deal.

Decker is probably the most important class in Shadowrun since you almost always need something hacked. That's just the nature of the setting. At least you can hybrid it with rigging if you get enough Karma to spend.

>spoiler
I was pissed off that there was no option to continue being a shadowrunner but tell Cheng to fuck off.

Pretty much every RPG has something like this. It's either a decker/hacker or a rogue who can pick locks. Either way, at least one party slot is automatically taken up by some kind of utility character.

I wouldn't call any of the DF companions "quirky" except for (occasionally) Blitz.

and that character is usually the most annoying one. They must do it on purpose

Indeed. It's an old RPG flaw, as old as the genre itself.

Why was she such a whore?

>tfw ran a decker troll in Hong Kong
>even possible to wield the Excalibur because of how the cyberware works, unlike in Dragonfall

...

Don't talk shit about Glory.

Well then we're just gonna have to disagree.

>bought the game on sale
>played to the part where that punk girl dies
>get to the point where you go into that hotel and get the hacker
>watch that text part of the dragon get bored of reading
>computer dies
>so reinstall win 10
>never reinstal shadow run and never played it again

why did the devs not implement edge into the games

The charitable explanation is that they try to make them interesting and entertaining because they know you're stuck with them the whole time, but the writers and the players have different ideas about what "interesting and entertaining" means.

this. the new stuff and quality of life improvements will egg you if you play Hong Kong first.

Any custom portraits for this?

>girl who literally never talks to anyone
>hard-ass soldier woman
>an aging punk rocker with a death wish
What the fuck are you talking about. You may want to look up the work quirky.

I will fuck you up, you cunt. Shut the fuck up.

>literally been fucked every way a woman can be
>not a whore
explain

Well, I can't actually blame you.

And you need Is0bel even more than the other deckers, because HK is *really* stingy with money.