Shadowrun Shadowrun Returns - Dead Man's Switch Original Campaign

[Delterius]

Its pretty mediocre.

 

[AMG]

The biggest problem is that it's way too easy.
Mechanically it's not all that different from nuXcom.

 

[Lyre Mors]

Hilarious. Is there even a game that the codex doesnt label as horrible combat? SRR combat is very enjoyable. I dont understand how you ccan call it horrible

I'm pretty lax on my criticisms of combat in RPGs in general, but the combat in this series is extremely simplistic and boring. It really is nu-Xcom, except somehow with the majority of the risk removed and with some extremely underwhelming special abilities thrown in. It makes it doubly bad that they essentially just ripped off the mechanics from another game. Extremely lazy game design.

Listen, I'm not in the habit of trying to sap fun from people who are enjoying a game regardless of whether I like it or not, but my problem with this series really stems from the fact that the Shadowrun setting deserved a much more in-depth and fleshed out treatment than this. We have a serious lack of cyber-punk RPGs on the market, and I really feel that HBS squandered a golden opportunity to not only take advantage of a wonderful setting, but bolster the interest in the genre as a whole. Putting some decent writing in does not save these games from the many problems they have. It really surprises me how alright so many codexers were with how Dragonfall turned out.

 

[Suicidal]

avoid the horrible combat at least partially..

Hilarious. Is there even a game that the codex doesnt label as horrible combat? SRR combat is very enjoyable. I dont understand how you ccan call it horrible

Perhaps "horrible" is a bit of an overstatement on my part, but I definitely don't find it enjoyable. It's really way too easy. You are given too many tools that all have unlimited uses and the AI does nothing to counteract that. You can give one of your ranged attackers 5-6 AP through buffs and have him run into the open, take a few shots at the enemy, then run back and watch them run one by one into the ambush point of your team with overwatch active and instantly die (meanwhile the enemies themselves almost never use overwatch). You can keep enemies nearly permanently stunned or otherwise unable to fight by draining their AP, or blinding/mind wiping/confusing and by the time the effects run out your spells will have no cooldown again. If any of your characters ever get damaged you have a selection of free healing spells that can instantly negate any damage. Also the battles take a long time to complete because of how slowly everything happens, and I really don't mind long battles when you are actually in constant danger of getting killed/losing which is really not the case with SR.

 

[CryptRat]

We have a serious lack of cyber-punk RPGs on the market

If you're craving for cyberpunk, you should try the recently translated Shadow Brain on NES. I can't guarantee you'll like the combat more than in Dead Man's switch, but the exploration is a lot better.

 

[almondblight]

Yes, but there's a long standing tradition of regarding it as meh that dates it back to its release day.

Because it is very "meh." The game is practically on rails it's so linear - there are a lot of levels where you enter it, go down a single path until the end, then fight final battle. Very little in the way of side content. And for a game that's basically a linear series of fights, very few of the fights are actually challenging or interesting (and I say this as someone who did their first playthrough on very hard with an adept).

The premise is interesting, and some of the elements are interesting (like Coyote's missions), but overall it's pretty weak. Even some of the user content made before the game was released (like Lost Lamb) had better design (and when you look at post-release content you get more good stuff like A Stitch in Time).

 

[Haplo]

My main problems with the OC revolved mainly around gameplay concerns. The storyline was fine enough and was not the reason I wanted to stop playing at all. It was the ridiculously simplistic gameplay, the UI that is clearly aimed at mobile devices, the complete lack of any real exploration, or freedom in general as the player. Many of these problems were improved upon for Dragonfall, but not enough to redeem that game for me either. I didn't want to feel like I was playing a simple game made for short game sessions on a tablet. I wanted to play a fucking Shadowrun adventure. In the end, I felt it was a huge waste of potential for the setting and it's extremely unfortunately that HBS holds the reigns for Shadowrun RPGs.

Also, the character models are absolutely horrendous and lack variety. For shame, HBS.

My original concern as well, but then i realized this isnt a ful fledged RPG. Its made the way it is for a reason, be it because of tablets originally, or whatever, but the important thing is that I had fun. Not every game is or has to be complex or epic to be enjoyable.

I've felt the same.

Most of the time its the simplest games that are the most fun.

Uh, how about NO?

 

[Sam Ecorners]

I recently started replaying this game, after playing it once on release, and I'm shocked at how good some of the descriptive text is:

Relative to the rest of the Barrens, Touristville is a neon-clothed oasis. At its heart is the Seamstresses Union. Housed in an old brownstone building on the corner of 'illegal' and 'opportunity,' bums huddle together, gangers strut the streets, and the occasional salaryman comes slumming.

The Union building has been retrofitted, rebuilt, and restored so many times that it's like an aging starlet wearing too much makeup in an attempt to stay young. The wild ivy growing out of the gutters adds to the effect.

As you enter, the murmur of hushed conversation washes over you. The dive bar denizens raise theirs heads, take your measure, and then go back to their business. This is the kind of place where everyone knows your name but keeps to themselves.

 

[Ninjerk]

I recently started replaying this game, after playing it once on release, and I'm shocked at how good some of the descriptive text is:

Relative to the rest of the Barrens, Touristville is a neon-clothed oasis. At its heart is the Seamstresses Union. Housed in an old brownstone building on the corner of 'illegal' and 'opportunity,' bums huddle together, gangers strut the streets, and the occasional salaryman comes slumming.

The Union building has been retrofitted, rebuilt, and restored so many times that it's like an aging starlet wearing too much makeup in an attempt to stay young. The wild ivy growing out of the gutters adds to the effect.

As you enter, the murmur of hushed conversation washes over you. The dive bar denizens raise theirs heads, take your measure, and then go back to their business. This is the kind of place where everyone knows your name but keeps to themselves.

And while reading this I'm dreading going back to the Tyranny LP RK47 is doing. Why can't Obsidian do this?

 

[RK47]

Tell me about Shadowrunners.
What do you know about Dwarves?
Do you know anything about Ogres?
Are you familiar with Elves?

 

[Ninjerk]

TELL ME ABOUT YOURUNIT BLEEP BLOOP

 

[Severian Silk]

How sophisticated is SRR system compared to Blackguards 2? I know the latter got a lot of flak around here.

 

[Severian Silk]

I just started Nightmare Harvest. I have some cash, but where do I buy spells from? I've found several other dealers, but not spells...

 

[adddeed]

Uhm where all dealers are, in the basement of the union?

 

[Severian Silk]

Not all the dealers are in the union as I said already.

I'm specifically looking for someone who sells spells.

[edit]

Nightmare Harvest is a fanmade campaign.

 

[Ninjerk]

idr fam

 

[Severian Silk]

Oh, wow, the dialogue in Nightmare Harvest is retarded! It's like a 12 yo wrote it trying to sound 'adult' (in all the wrong ways).

 

[almondblight]

Better or worse than Life on a Limb?

 

[Darth Roxor]

i remember trying nightmare harvest

the first thing that happened was a 1v1 fistfight with some random dude on the street

after that auspicious introduction i decided not to investigate further

 

[ERYFKRAD]

i remember trying nightmare harvest

the first thing that happened was a 1v1 fistfight with some random dude on the street

after that auspicious introduction i decided not to investigate further

Man it's just Grom: Terror in Tibet's ending in reverse.

 

[SCO]

It's a real pity there are so few shadowrun story mods, but that's to be expected from the limited audience and fragmentation of the fanbase across multiple versions of the engine.

 

[SCO]

Maybe harebrained schemes would be better served by kicking modders ego in the nuts or vag and telling them in a signed 'user agreement' outright 'any mod you make is <some facsimile of open source license>' so that other people, hopefully anyone that is interested can feel free to port a mod to a new iteration of the engine even if the original author is disinterested. Although expecting gamers to self-organize even for their own benefit is like waiting for grass to grow, so maybe even then they'd need a push.

 

[Severian Silk]

I was hoping 'UGC' stood for 'open game content' or something similar, but that seems not to be the case.

Also, SRR modding forums are D E A D. Only 10 active threads in 2016.

 

[Severian Silk]

Oh, wow, the dialogue in Nightmare Harvest is retarded! It's like a 12 yo wrote it trying to sound 'adult' (in all the wrong ways).

Okay, I finished the campaign and it really is pretty good overall. The jokes are still lame tho.

 

[Falksi]

This is fucking mint. Just picked it up in the Steam sale and thriving on it.

Reckon I'm about half way through (just been to the graveyard) and, whilst it is very linear & definitely sorely lacks side-contect & some depth, it's just great atmospheric fun, with interesting combat & a fresh vibe.

Playing as a shotgun mage-shaman, although the shotgun isn't getting anywhere near as much use as it did early doors. Not touching decking, saving that for a full Decker playthrough on a harder setting next time.

Between this and Underrail I'm full of Incline this year.