Shadowrun Returns. The game that started Harebrained Schemes' Shadowrun Trilogy, and yet is hands down the worst of the three. Now, this isn't to say it's a BAD game, otherwise it wouldn't have gotten a DLC so good it became it's own game, or an actual full sequel. But, it is most certainly flawed. No companions are free to take, instead costing you money to hire(including the ones required by the story to progress). Because of this, it never feels like you're actually growing with these characters, never connecting with them, so because of this, you never really care if any of them die.
Now, while some may tell you that that's the quintessential Shadowrun experience in Tabletop, it was only ever like that to help facilitate drop in play, letting people join a group for a single session before leaving and never being seen again. But this is a video game, and I've seen Tom's troll ass available for every goddamn run I've gone on in this game, so having the hireable mercs system feels like nothing more than a waste of good nuyen that could be spent on fun stuff, like cyberware, weapons, or spells.
Besides this, most of the story is a tad generic at best, and super weird and full of some of the weirdest parts of the Shadowrun lore. And, while the guys who've been playing the tabletop game for decades will know who Harlequin is, I don't know him from Tom, and at least Tom's been available to me the whole game. Good ol' dependable Tom.
Anyway, moving past these faults, the game is still quite fun(otherwise I wouldn't have finished it), with a plot that, while the majority of which you'll see coming from a mile away, the climax was definitely not what I, or most other people, expected to see, in a largely entertaining way.
However, the best piece of praise I can give Shadowrun Returns is that it allowed Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Shadowrun: Hong Kong to exist. And honestly? That's pretty good praise in my book.
Now, while some may tell you that that's the quintessential Shadowrun experience in Tabletop, it was only ever like that to help facilitate drop in play, letting people join a group for a single session before leaving and never being seen again. But this is a video game, and I've seen Tom's troll ass available for every goddamn run I've gone on in this game, so having the hireable mercs system feels like nothing more than a waste of good nuyen that could be spent on fun stuff, like cyberware, weapons, or spells.
Besides this, most of the story is a tad generic at best, and super weird and full of some of the weirdest parts of the Shadowrun lore. And, while the guys who've been playing the tabletop game for decades will know who Harlequin is, I don't know him from Tom, and at least Tom's been available to me the whole game. Good ol' dependable Tom.
Anyway, moving past these faults, the game is still quite fun(otherwise I wouldn't have finished it), with a plot that, while the majority of which you'll see coming from a mile away, the climax was definitely not what I, or most other people, expected to see, in a largely entertaining way.
However, the best piece of praise I can give Shadowrun Returns is that it allowed Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Shadowrun: Hong Kong to exist. And honestly? That's pretty good praise in my book.