Shadowrun Kickstarter

[mikemariano]

The cooldown ability? OH. The one that reduces alarm status?

 

Yeah, the red bar across the bottom of the screen slowly fills up each turn in the Matrix.  It's annoying because I never notice it getting full until it's too late.

 

And Dewar is right that ESPs come back each time you re-enter the Matrix, so you don't need to be stingy.  At the very least, they can be good decoys.

[Twig]

Well I did it! Thanks guys! Now to sneak around in a janitor uniform!

 

Matrix seems a whole lot easier now that I'm aware of how these things work, haha. I didn't end up keeping the alarm from going off (it was already too high by this point), but I did manage to kill the deckers by running away and coming back with full health, so it worked out.

[Twig]

I beat a video game!

 

That was fun. It's a fun world. I want more. Expansion comes out soon APPARENTLY, but I don't really have the moolah to be spending on it so probably won't get it for a while.

[Dewar]

You weren't in on the Kickstarter I guess? First expansion is free with that.

 

You can always hit up the user created content, I hear that it's pretty top notch.

[juv3nal]

You can always hit up the user created content, I hear that it's pretty top notch.

 

A someone who has spent a lot of time with UGC, there are a few gems, but there is also a ton of junk. And pretty much nothing that lets you make your own character is balanced properly if you want to go pure decker (there's one scenario which gives you a pre-gen decker which is ok).

[Twig]

Yes I did not back this game. Some day I might try some of the user made stuff but it's not like I'm hurting for games to play, so I'm done with Shadowrun for now!

[YoThatLimp]

Well I did it! Thanks guys! Now to sneak around in a janitor uniform!

 

Matrix seems a whole lot easier now that I'm aware of how these things work, haha. I didn't end up keeping the alarm from going off (it was already too high by this point), but I did manage to kill the deckers by running away and coming back with full health, so it worked out.

Yeah, I wish they had not forced the Matrix stuff on you. It was cool, I just didn't dig the system that much, felt a little too "gamey". here is this thing that will take your character ages to complete, here is wave after wave of enemy! 

[TheLastBaron]

Has anyone tried the DLC?  I saw that you can now save your game whenever which was the main reason I never tried the game when it first came out, so I might pick this up if it goes on sale in the summer now.

[osmosisch]

I'm really liking the DLC so far. It's a bit more free-flowing than the original and indeed lets you save wherever you want.

I'd go so far as to say that people picking the gam eup for the first time might be better off with the DLC rather than the first campaign as their first playthrough.

[sclpls]

Do you know if its standalone DLC or do you need to own the original?

[TheLastBaron]

Pretty sure it requires the main game.

[SilentBtAmazing]

I'd go so far as to say that people picking the gam eup for the first time might be better off with the DLC rather than the first campaign as their first playthrough.

As a first-time player I messed with that first campaign a little and was nonplussed. I am not super deep into it but I felt the first hour or so of the DLC was much cooler in terms of story and art direction. Also the decisions I made when talking felt like they had a lot of heft that I didn't perceive right off the bat in the first campaign although like I said I didn't play a butt ton of either.

Also yes: you def have to buy both. Ran me about $30 total with the original game on sale in Steam the other day.

[SilentBtAmazing]

I am five or six hours into this (Dragonfall) and so far I really enjoy the writing. Is the original campaign also this good?

[malkav11]

I am five or six hours into this (Dragonfall) and so far I really enjoy the writing. Is the original campaign also this good?

 

The writing? Yes, as good or pretty nearly. The structure, pacing and level design? Not as good. Though, for me at least, still perfectly acceptable.

[osmosisch]

The writing? Yes, as good or pretty nearly. The structure, pacing and level design? Not as good. Though, for me at least, still perfectly acceptable.

I'll second this.

[Reyturner]

I'm a big Shadowrun dork from the 90s. Returns gets the flavor of SR pretty well but it lacks the Ocean's Eleven style heist planning and legwork and teambuilding that was such a big part of the experience for me (granted, mileage variance is normal when talking about pen and paper games).

Does the DLC have any of that?

[osmosisch]

Yes. Not to the degree that P&P can have obviously, but you have a hub/base of operations that changes as the game progresses, you have fixed team members that each have a reasonably interesting backstory and there's at least one occasion where you can choose to do an extra preliminary run to make a plot run easier.

It's a huge improvement over the first campaign in pretty much every way except writing (where it's a small improvement).

[mikemariano]

I am playing about twenty minutes of Dragonfall each night (so the new save system comes in handy!) and have been enjoying it a lot.

 

Though it took me about a week to realize the two characters on the title screen of Dragonfall are two of my party members.  I'm very unobservant!

[SilentBtAmazing]

Yeah, I am maybe three major missions into the game and my team basically all facepalmed at the terrible decisions I was making. It really made me carefully consider each in-mission decision.

I thought I was close to the end of this game based on some Video game Hotdog podcast comments but I keep getting surprised by new wrinkles. I am currently investigating a three-story building.

I still like the story beats quite a bit but the combat is almost too hard for me. I have my whole team just run around with medkits to the degree you can customize them.

(Brought these comments over from the recently completed thread btw)

[SilentBtAmazing]

Finished, phew! I failed the final fight a couple times by quasi misunderstanding what I was supposed to do. The end section in general I actually found pretty tough and had to reload after making strategic mistakes (picking fights I didn't have to, etc).

In general I was pretty happy with this game and story. The writing seemed strong throughout and the gameplay pretty sound / fair. That said I made some bad choices that had consequences which I regretted, so I am glad to be done with it.

I can't tell how long it actually was but I would think it took me almost 15 hours?

[heybeardo]

 

I've been having a load of fun with Shadowrun Returns after getting it from a Steam sale. Can't wait to try some of the community content.

[clyde]

I bought it during the sale too and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I'm not sure how far along I am, I'd call it the beginning of the third act after Immediately after I meet Marie Louise. The way the story has turned makes me really happy that

I read Count Zero. The third act seems to be hugely referential to that book and it's exciting for me because I thought the voodoo god matrix stuff in Count Zero was really interesting. I haven't finished Neuromancer yet, playing this game is reminding me that I want to.

I imagine that they are trying to be true to the Shadowrun system, but I think the decking aspect could be far more fun and world-cohesive if they used a system more similar to Netrunner rather than magical combat with higher numbers.

I also look forward to finishing the campaign so I can check out the Steam workshop.

[Tanukitsune]

Oh man, I just realized I never read the extra material I got from the sale too, maybe that would explain why....

 

the space bugs appear out of nowhere... where they supposed to catch me off guard?

 

I realized like the combat systems, it was a bit like modern X-Com and old Fallout, which is a nice combination... I doesn't make me want to play X-Com, but I do feel like finally trying to play an old Fallout to the end.

 

Can I port my character into the new campaign? I hope so.

[mikemariano]

spoiler]the space bugs appear out of nowhere... where they supposed to catch me off guard?

 

Yes; you weren't supposed to read the short stories until after playing, so that was genuinely meant to be a surprise.

 

 

Can I port my character into the new campaign? I hope so.

 

You have to create a new character for Dragonfall.  Unless you hack it!

[clyde]

I just went on a run for some Aegis.

For a moment, I thought The game was going to turn into Viscera Cleanup Detail; I kind of wish it had a for just a moment.

On an unrelated note, I find myself enjoying the text writing in the game frequently. For instance, on the Aegis run

When you come out of the janitor closet, the description of your supervisor was of uncalled for quality.