Shadowrun Is Shadowrun Hong Kong worth it?

[Galdred]

What is with all the retards on the codex that get spasm when they see words on the screen? Oh no,the horrors of RPG having actually writing in it!

Writing that serves no purpose in a RPG is a problem. You are not here to get each character to tell you how hard is life is.
There is literally 0 actionable piece of information you get from all the NPC except the magic vendor (and this one triggers more options, but reading the words doesn't help much).

And all that could be ignored,no need to read their life story,on a replay i did just that. Also rpg writing is about telling a story,no about giving you information in spreadsheet format.

This is the definition of a book, not a RPG! RPG are about leting you create your own story.

 

[fantadomat]

What is with all the retards on the codex that get spasm when they see words on the screen? Oh no,the horrors of RPG having actually writing in it!

Writing that serves no purpose in a RPG is a problem. You are not here to get each character to tell you how hard is life is.
There is literally 0 actionable piece of information you get from all the NPC except the magic vendor (and this one triggers more options, but reading the words doesn't help much).

And all that could be ignored,no need to read their life story,on a replay i did just that. Also rpg writing is about telling a story,no about giving you information in spreadsheet format.

This is the definition of a book, not a RPG! RPG are about leting you create your own story.

Dream on. Every good RPG have a story lol. Every RPG have a beginning and an end for the story,how you make your way trough the rest of the story is up to you,but still it is not your story.

 

[Lacrymas]

The rule of thumb is that if you can't make a good story, it's better to create a straight-up dungeon romp. I doubt any RPG player won't like a merciless dungeon to go through, while the story always has the possibility of being an unjustified time waster.

 

[fantadomat]

The rule of thumb is that if you can't make a good story, it's better to create a straight-up dungeon romp. I doubt any RPG player won't like a merciless dungeon to go through, while the story always has the possibility of being an unjustified time waster.

And who is to judge if the story is good or bad? Also most RPG fans don't care about pure dungeon romp games. Didn't see dungeon rats selling millions while Mass Effect did. The reality is that mechanics in rpgs are generally the same. It is mob/enemy killed before a thousand times. I do play RPGs to get something new in my life,a story,not to replay the generic battle for thousandth time. Only autistic people play RPGs for the combat.

 

[Atchodas]

I do play RPGs to get something new in my life,

 

[Atchodas]

Didn't see dungeon rats selling millions while Mass Effect did.

Really guy ? Really... ?

wtf is this comparison of Dungeon Rats and ME ....

 

[Galdred]

What is with all the retards on the codex that get spasm when they see words on the screen? Oh no,the horrors of RPG having actually writing in it!

Writing that serves no purpose in a RPG is a problem. You are not here to get each character to tell you how hard is life is.
There is literally 0 actionable piece of information you get from all the NPC except the magic vendor (and this one triggers more options, but reading the words doesn't help much).

And all that could be ignored,no need to read their life story,on a replay i did just that. Also rpg writing is about telling a story,no about giving you information in spreadsheet format.

This is the definition of a book, not a RPG! RPG are about leting you create your own story.

Dream on. Every good RPG have a story lol. Every RPG have a beginning and an end for the story,how you make your way trough the rest of the story is up to you,but still it is not your story.

Mount and Blade is really open ended and is one of the best RPG.
That said, having some choices in the story is good enough.
The thing is, you have literally zero choice when an NPC info dumps his life, except skip/read the text.

OVerall, the Hiong Kong story itself was good, but the very long vendor infodumps didn't really add much to it, and you would still browse through hoping to get some quest/useful info out of it (and actually, as it has been pointed out, one of them really gives meaningful info!).

While playing SR Dragonfall, I never thought: this game really needs more backstory for its NPC vendors, delivered through non interactive text.

 

[Roguey]

But you had to talk to the shopkeeper a lot less than in dragonfall. The only important one was the magic one and the hacking one for a few certain missions. Which was pretty obvious by the setting. I don't get how people missed the whole magic shop thing. It is fucking obvious by the whole setting that magic shit is at hand and makes sense to talk to the chick lol,after she tells you about the yama kings it makes sense to keep on talking to her. DragonFall had a lot more talking with shopkeepers,maybe people are mixing it?

The Dragonfall NPCs didn't talk your ear off every time you visited them. You'd make your rounds, get an "Ah, no update this time" for most of them and move on.

 

[Nano]

The Dragonfall NPCs didn't talk your ear off every time you visited them. You'd make your rounds, get an "Ah, no update this time" for most of them and move on.

I don't understand why you think this is better. Characters often not having new dialogue makes them feel less human.

 

[Atchodas]

Dialogue without gameplay related purpose is just waste of development resources and players time.

 

[biggestboss]

I don't understand why you think this is better. Characters often not having new dialogue makes them feel less human.

It's been a while since I've played Hong Kong, but I think I remember the Hong Kong NPCs regurgitating the same exposition over and over again until you progressed enough to unlock the next level of exposition - like the old guys playing chess/mahjong or whatever it is talking about the same dreams and nightmares every time you click on them.

I also might be misremembering so if this is incorrect, rate accordingly.

 

[Roguey]

I don't understand why you think this is better. Characters often not having new dialogue makes them feel less human.

Better pacing.

 

[fantadomat]

Didn't see dungeon rats selling millions while Mass Effect did.

Really guy ? Really... ?

wtf is this comparison of Dungeon Rats and ME ....

One is a pure dungeon romp and the other is a storyfaggotry at its highest. The point is that people prefer stories over killing 10 waves of rats.

What is with all the retards on the codex that get spasm when they see words on the screen? Oh no,the horrors of RPG having actually writing in it!

Writing that serves no purpose in a RPG is a problem. You are not here to get each character to tell you how hard is life is.
There is literally 0 actionable piece of information you get from all the NPC except the magic vendor (and this one triggers more options, but reading the words doesn't help much).

And all that could be ignored,no need to read their life story,on a replay i did just that. Also rpg writing is about telling a story,no about giving you information in spreadsheet format.

This is the definition of a book, not a RPG! RPG are about leting you create your own story.

Dream on. Every good RPG have a story lol. Every RPG have a beginning and an end for the story,how you make your way trough the rest of the story is up to you,but still it is not your story.

Mount and Blade is really open ended and is one of the best RPG.
That said, having some choices in the story is good enough.
The thing is, you have literally zero choice when an NPC info dumps his life, except skip/read the text.

OVerall, the Hiong Kong story itself was good, but the very long vendor infodumps didn't really add much to it, and you would still browse through hoping to get some quest/useful info out of it (and actually, as it has been pointed out, one of them really gives meaningful info!).

While playing SR Dragonfall, I never thought: this game really needs more backstory for its NPC vendors, delivered through non interactive text.

It is realistic in my experience,when i shop regularly in one place the shopkeeper end up sharing his life story with you . It is true that they talked a lot,but didn't mind it. I don't see something that could be ignored as huge negative that ruined the game or a valid reason to not recommend the game.

But you had to talk to the shopkeeper a lot less than in dragonfall. The only important one was the magic one and the hacking one for a few certain missions. Which was pretty obvious by the setting. I don't get how people missed the whole magic shop thing. It is fucking obvious by the whole setting that magic shit is at hand and makes sense to talk to the chick lol,after she tells you about the yama kings it makes sense to keep on talking to her. DragonFall had a lot more talking with shopkeepers,maybe people are mixing it?

The Dragonfall NPCs didn't talk your ear off every time you visited them. You'd make your rounds, get an "Ah, no update this time" for most of them and move on.

Ahh it were around the same level really,maybe the hong kong had more words in their dialogue and that is why it felt that way.

 

[fantadomat]

I don't understand why you think this is better. Characters often not having new dialogue makes them feel less human.

Better pacing.

What do you mean? The pacing in those games is a choice of the player.

 

[Atchodas]

Your failure to realise the difference in sales between : Dungeon Rats a spin off game made by very very small studio and Mass Effect mainstream popamole game, is fucking disturbing.

 

[biggestboss]

From a design perspective, I would have structured Hong Kong dialogue thusly:

[1] Talk to NPC who immediately unloads lengthy exposition if you haven't read it yet (what already happens in Hong Kong)
[2] If you talk to him again, you get two dialogue options: "Could you tell me about <x> again?" -> return to [1], "Sorry to bother you, have a good day."

This would signal to the player that if you see [2], then the NPC has nothing new to say and you can walk away without wasting time but still allow you to reread the exposition if you are curious or wanted to brush up on something possibly important.

 

[Roguey]

What do you mean? The pacing in those games is a choice of the player.

True, but if there's text to be read, then I want to read it and so do many other people. If you find the NPC stories boring then they're easily skipped, but if you don't, you're stuck with long stretches of reading.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I don't understand why you think this is better. Characters often not having new dialogue makes them feel less human.

All well and good, but you shouldn't fix that by messing up the pacing.

 

[fantadomat]

What do you mean? The pacing in those games is a choice of the player.

True, but if there's text to be read, then I want to read it and so do many other people. If you find the NPC stories boring then they're easily skipped, but if you don't, you're stuck with long stretches of reading.

That is the point,if you like reading different stories,then you read them,if you like shooting,then you go do the missions. I don't see it as a negative for the game but something you ether like or don't. To be honest i do want to see another shadowrun game in the same engine,it is shame that it ended.

 

[Lacrymas]

What do you mean? The pacing in those games is a choice of the player.

True, but if there's text to be read, then I want to read it and so do many other people. If you find the NPC stories boring then they're easily skipped, but if you don't, you're stuck with long stretches of reading.

The bad part is that you don't know which NPCs have important info down the line. This is actually proven by Crafty, you have to talk to her to get an ending. This is the worst possible scenario tbh, lengthy dialogues that one of them eventually leads somewhere. The pacing is the least concern in this context, but it is a problem as well, you are in this stop-and-go train ride constantly and the tension doesn't ever build.

 

[DalekFlay]

I don't think the dialog was too bad except for with your companions, where it went on forever. A lot of that was optional though, and the only punishment as far as I know was maybe missing out on their loyalty missions. I'm not anal about being a completionist so losing out on the rat lady's mission didn't really bother me.

 

[Roguey]

The bad part is that you don't know which NPCs have important info down the line. This is actually proven by Crafty, you have to talk to her to get an ending. This is the worst possible scenario tbh, lengthy dialogues that one of them eventually leads somewhere.

Tough luck, accept a less-than-ideal ending then.

 

[Bohrain]

Preferred Dragonfall over Hong Kong. The script was too bloated in the latter, though I liked Racter, Gaichu and the orc girl.

 

[Terra]

I've yet to see backer NPCs done right in any KS game, though PoE stands as the pinnacle of what not to do.

 

[Roguey]

I've yet to see backer NPCs done right in any KS game, though PoE stands as the pinnacle of what not to do.

They're labeled so you can ignore them and there's a weapon that gets more powerful if you use it to kill them so