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Shadowrun Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut

OSK

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In terms of storyfagness, Returns is the best.

I think Dragonfall has it beat. The first half of Returns had a pretty good story when it was a murder investigation, but then there's a turning point where it turns into a generic save the world story. Funny enough, when the story got worse, I felt like the combat improved.
 

Ninjerk

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In terms of storyfagness, Returns is the best.

I think Dragonfall has it beat. The first half of Returns had a pretty good story when it was a murder investigation, but then there's a turning point where it turns into a generic save the world story. Funny enough, when the story got worse, I felt like the combat improved.
I had almost forgotten that shit. :argh:
 
Vatnik Wumao
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In terms of storyfagness, Returns is the best.

I think Dragonfall has it beat. The first half of Returns had a pretty good story when it was a murder investigation, but then there's a turning point where it turns into a generic save the world story. Funny enough, when the story got worse, I felt like the combat improved.
I had almost forgotten that shit. :argh:
And now it's...
bugging you? :smug:
 

ERYFKRAD

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In terms of storyfagness, Returns is the best.

I think Dragonfall has it beat. The first half of Returns had a pretty good story when it was a murder investigation, but then there's a turning point where it turns into a generic save the world story. Funny enough, when the story got worse, I felt like the combat improved.
I had almost forgotten that shit. :argh:
And now it's...
bugging you? :smug:
Going for the sucker punch I see.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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None of these games play especially great, but Dragonfall has some of the best world-building of any RPG ever. I really loved it for that. And unlike Hong Kong it's delivered fairly succinctly, I never felt like text boxes dragged on and on
 

hello friend

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I'm on an actual spaceship. No joke.
Dragonfall has the best combat, but awful cringe companions and a slightly off smelling ebul nazis harrassing poore orks narrative. It's so German. AI stuff is good, though. Returns is unplayable, soulless, and boring. Honk Kong is the least offensive to the sensibilities, but doesn't reach the same heights in terms of encounter design as Dragonfall.
 

Riel

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I was pretty enraged with Shadowrun Returns when the bug phase started, the 1st time I just stopped playing and only finished it once in a later play through.
 

Infinitum

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Pretty sure the earlier games were imported by modders? More importantly, HK has the Caldecott caper which is the best neo-shadowrun module by a long shot.
 
Glory to Ukraine
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Honestly I am glad I came into the HBS Shadowrun games with Dragonfall and only got to play the "enhanced" version of Returns/DMS just shortly before HK came out. If my first experience of the series was DMS, I would probably writte it of as complete shit.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but as someone who played all three games with a decker PC, I prefer HK above DF, becuase the matrix was much better in the third game.
 

Imrahil

Educated
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
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What I didn't like about HK Decking was the emphasis on player skills instead of character skills - timing dodging ICE, memorization (the Simon numbers game), pattern matching. Once I figured out how it worked I realized I basically didn't need a Decker. I just put a couple points on my character & beat every mini-game easily. Sure, more Decking skill could make some of it a little easier, but not enough to actually dedicate a bunch of skill points, much less a roster spot.
 

Infinitum

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Apr 30, 2016
Messages
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It's got the right idea though. Combat mechanics are interesting because they promote varied gameplay and provide non-binary outcomes. Sure beats the [skill check] cyoa gameplay most rpgs relegate their secondary systems to.
 

TheSoul

Scholar
Joined
Jun 15, 2018
Messages
155
Honk Kong had a lot more characters and events, but they didn't do much and their storylines started dragging on (Matthew and the doctor were the only citizens I liked).

Dragonfall's cast says a lot less but the dialogue stays relevant so it was more interesting when I played them back to back.

Decking in both games have problems. DF had matrix section during Aztechnology though, so I guess I'd prefer DF.

Love DF, Like HK, both games did do skill checks very well, if nothing else.
 
Vatnik Wumao
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I preferred the town NPCs and plot of DF, but HK had superior mission design and a better companion rooster imho.

Which is not to say that the companions of DF were bad, but they were quite bland in their narrative design. Dietrich in particular could've been much more memorable given that he was designed around the old punk trope, but eh.
 

fantadomat

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HK had superior mission design
:what:

HK may have had some interesting mission setups plot-wise, but the levels themselves were really boring, a huge downgrade from DF.
Nah,play them back to back and you will see that HK is superior. The only negative argument people have about is that it has too much writing. If you like good/decent writing,you will like HK more than DF. Level design is also better,so is the karma system. The game is better all around.

That said both games are really good and a must for any serious rpg fan.
 

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