I got around to finally try out Shadowrun Returns, and boy, am I conflicted...
For a little background: At first I didn't know this was a Kickstarter game, as I simply don't follow that particular scene. In fact, I have only learned of the game's existence from the review here on the Escapist.
On the other hand, I am quite familiar with the P&P Shadowrun game. I myself didn't get a chance to play it but I read one of the source-books (I don't know which edition) and I spent quite some time rummaging through the equipment catalogs just for the sheer novelty of it.
I also disliked the way P&P systems had been adopted into real time gameplay in most if not all CRPGs of the genre, so when I heard that it would have proper turn based combat with cover mechanics and hit-chances like X-COM, my interest suddenly spiked.
Still, I waited for a few weeks so that there would be a few patches out, but then I finally got around to playing it a few days ago... and I am somewhat disappointed, and I think I know the reason why: This game is made by artists. As in, it has great writing, the 2D art is great, the character portraits are actively fun to look at... but because of sub-par programming and corner-cuts, the game simply lacks the spark that would make it really good.
Now then, my problems in bullet points:
-No manual saves:
I simply don't get this. Last time I checked, it's 2013, and this is a linear but generally expansive RPG with long dialog trees... and it only uses autosaves? Personally I didn't have much problem with it, but I have heard people losing up to an hour of progress for a single unlucky critical hit at the very end of a level, and I myself had times when I had to get up from my machine from extended periods and couldn't turn off the game because the auto-save was behind me by half an hour of intense battles I sure as hell didn't want to redo.
Apparently this was a budget and/or time issue, but then I looked around and it turned out that someone apparently managed to implement manual saves using only the editor's functions, so there's that.
Also, I found it kind of funny how they only just, with ver. 1.0.4 managed to fix the savegame-bloating that was plaguing the game from day 1...
-Crappy cyberware:
Honestly, this hurts me the most. The most important thing about Shadowrun for me was the concept of switching out body parts of cybertech and customize the hell out of said tech. In this game, however, you not only doesn't get to customize your mechanical arms or legs, the selection of the ones you can use is also extremely limited and generally weak.
Then there is the issue of the Essence rounding (for the uninitiated, Essence is the value representing your spiritual integrity in the setting, the lower it gets the more you became like a machine and lose your soul, and if it were to reach zero it would mean you are practically dead). The problem is, in this game the system always rounds your remaining Essence downwards, meaning that if you start the game as Decker or a Rigger who have a datajack on the get-go, an implant that has a 0.5 essence cost, then you will only have 5 instead of the standard 6, limiting your cyberware options even further.
Also, for some reason I cannot even fathom, instead of a modifier the game applies the rounding to your character's core Essence value instead, meaning that the rounded values are lost forever.
This means cyberware, practically THE core component of Shadowrun, mostly useless except for maybe two late-game implants for a very few specific builds, which is simply inexcusable.
-Crappy equipment:
Once again, take a look at the source-books. The P&P game had hundreds of weapons, not to speak about the neat little things a creative gamer can use to wreak some havoc (loading DMSO into squirt-guns and water-balloons, anyone?). Instead we have six tiers for every weapon type that get added one after the other as you complete the main questline (railroading much?) and instead of mix-and-match armor sets we have simple "costumes". Words cannot explain how disappointed I got once I realized this.
-Rough edges:
This game is unfinished, plain and simple, and the further you go in, the more obvious this becomes. For starters, there are two skill-trees that give no special abilities or bonuses beyond simple stat-increases (even though their description says so), all weapons have the same range, limited cyberware-option, linear structure with no open world or free roaming (again, in a CRPG, which is practically the hotbed for this feature), uninspired level design, etc.
Also, as far as I have gathered, some of these issues are related to the game being developed for tablets. I got this info from some modders complaining about how the much toted editor gimps a large number of options so that the game could run on tablets, so I guess I might as well add "botched editor" to the list of issues.
That said, it is not a bad game. At least visually it is very, very appealing and the 2D artists really did a marvelous job, but even the art has its hiccups (the spell and special effects are on Baldur's Gate level, and in this case comparison to that game is decidedly not a good thing).
I would say it's worth a look if only for the relatively interesting core plot of the game and some really fun and likable characters (Mr. Kuwe, the huge, well mannered and soft-spoken troll bouncer immediately became one of my favorites in this game), but it lacks in so many aspects that I would rather call the game "Shadowrun Ultra Lite". It's okay, tasty even, but it doesn't fill you up at all and just leaves you even hungrier for the main dish that will probably never come.
Hopefully the modding community will remedy some of these issues, but still, a bit of a let-down.
For a little background: At first I didn't know this was a Kickstarter game, as I simply don't follow that particular scene. In fact, I have only learned of the game's existence from the review here on the Escapist.
On the other hand, I am quite familiar with the P&P Shadowrun game. I myself didn't get a chance to play it but I read one of the source-books (I don't know which edition) and I spent quite some time rummaging through the equipment catalogs just for the sheer novelty of it.
I also disliked the way P&P systems had been adopted into real time gameplay in most if not all CRPGs of the genre, so when I heard that it would have proper turn based combat with cover mechanics and hit-chances like X-COM, my interest suddenly spiked.
Still, I waited for a few weeks so that there would be a few patches out, but then I finally got around to playing it a few days ago... and I am somewhat disappointed, and I think I know the reason why: This game is made by artists. As in, it has great writing, the 2D art is great, the character portraits are actively fun to look at... but because of sub-par programming and corner-cuts, the game simply lacks the spark that would make it really good.
Now then, my problems in bullet points:
-No manual saves:
I simply don't get this. Last time I checked, it's 2013, and this is a linear but generally expansive RPG with long dialog trees... and it only uses autosaves? Personally I didn't have much problem with it, but I have heard people losing up to an hour of progress for a single unlucky critical hit at the very end of a level, and I myself had times when I had to get up from my machine from extended periods and couldn't turn off the game because the auto-save was behind me by half an hour of intense battles I sure as hell didn't want to redo.
Apparently this was a budget and/or time issue, but then I looked around and it turned out that someone apparently managed to implement manual saves using only the editor's functions, so there's that.
Also, I found it kind of funny how they only just, with ver. 1.0.4 managed to fix the savegame-bloating that was plaguing the game from day 1...
-Crappy cyberware:
Honestly, this hurts me the most. The most important thing about Shadowrun for me was the concept of switching out body parts of cybertech and customize the hell out of said tech. In this game, however, you not only doesn't get to customize your mechanical arms or legs, the selection of the ones you can use is also extremely limited and generally weak.
Then there is the issue of the Essence rounding (for the uninitiated, Essence is the value representing your spiritual integrity in the setting, the lower it gets the more you became like a machine and lose your soul, and if it were to reach zero it would mean you are practically dead). The problem is, in this game the system always rounds your remaining Essence downwards, meaning that if you start the game as Decker or a Rigger who have a datajack on the get-go, an implant that has a 0.5 essence cost, then you will only have 5 instead of the standard 6, limiting your cyberware options even further.
Also, for some reason I cannot even fathom, instead of a modifier the game applies the rounding to your character's core Essence value instead, meaning that the rounded values are lost forever.
This means cyberware, practically THE core component of Shadowrun, mostly useless except for maybe two late-game implants for a very few specific builds, which is simply inexcusable.
-Crappy equipment:
Once again, take a look at the source-books. The P&P game had hundreds of weapons, not to speak about the neat little things a creative gamer can use to wreak some havoc (loading DMSO into squirt-guns and water-balloons, anyone?). Instead we have six tiers for every weapon type that get added one after the other as you complete the main questline (railroading much?) and instead of mix-and-match armor sets we have simple "costumes". Words cannot explain how disappointed I got once I realized this.
-Rough edges:
This game is unfinished, plain and simple, and the further you go in, the more obvious this becomes. For starters, there are two skill-trees that give no special abilities or bonuses beyond simple stat-increases (even though their description says so), all weapons have the same range, limited cyberware-option, linear structure with no open world or free roaming (again, in a CRPG, which is practically the hotbed for this feature), uninspired level design, etc.
Also, as far as I have gathered, some of these issues are related to the game being developed for tablets. I got this info from some modders complaining about how the much toted editor gimps a large number of options so that the game could run on tablets, so I guess I might as well add "botched editor" to the list of issues.
That said, it is not a bad game. At least visually it is very, very appealing and the 2D artists really did a marvelous job, but even the art has its hiccups (the spell and special effects are on Baldur's Gate level, and in this case comparison to that game is decidedly not a good thing).
I would say it's worth a look if only for the relatively interesting core plot of the game and some really fun and likable characters (Mr. Kuwe, the huge, well mannered and soft-spoken troll bouncer immediately became one of my favorites in this game), but it lacks in so many aspects that I would rather call the game "Shadowrun Ultra Lite". It's okay, tasty even, but it doesn't fill you up at all and just leaves you even hungrier for the main dish that will probably never come.
Hopefully the modding community will remedy some of these issues, but still, a bit of a let-down.
