Shadowrun: Dragonfall

At this point, I’m sure we’ve all been through disappointing reboots of classic series, in various entertainment mediums. Shadowrun also fell victim, with the attempt to make it the first cross-platform FPS. It quickly turned into a forgettable experience, fans having to wait until 2013, when with Kickstarter’s blessing, Shadowrun Returns saw the light of day. While having its flaws, it was a good effort, and one that showed potential for the future. Earlier this year, Dragonfall, its first expansion was released as a digital download.

There are plenty of discussions based on how developers handle their DLC nowadays. From the start, one has to mention how laudable Harebrained Schemes' approach is. Instead of sets of glasses and shiny new socks for your avatar, they plan on releasing new campaigns via DLC, doing things close to how they were done “back in the day”. Dragonfall is an entirely new campaign with few direct ties to Dead Man’s Switch. The action has been moved to Berlin, however, very little has changed visually. While far from being identical to Seattle, you’ll definitely have a sensation of déjà-vu while playing Dragonfall.

Dragonfall relies on the same mix of real time exploration and turn based combat as its predecessor did. The Physical Adept tree has been reworked in response to fans feeling the class was a bit underpowered. Those looking to solve issues through dialogue rather than combat should also rejoice. If Shadowrun Returns had special dialogue, mostly based on charisma and decking, Dragonfall expands upon it. Playing a shaman no longer means you’ll have the upper hand in conversations. The other skills play a much bigger role this time around, all for good measure. A remark based on an NPC’s physiognomy is bound to be made by a character of the same race or knowledge in that particular field, rather than someone who has a charming smile. The class system has mostly remained the same. You choose an archetype in the beginning of the game, but afterwards you can branch out in as many directions as you want. Hybrid classes are a possibility and, to a certain extent, encouraged. Branch too much, however, and you’ll end up having no real strengths.

The combat system’s been enriched with a decent selection of new weapons and spells. A tactical approach is required, especially if you’re running a caster class that’s perhaps more fragile. In Dragonfall you have to be a bit more careful about your team’s positioning. Cover is your best friend more often than not, but don’t expect it to save you all the time. The combat requires you to react to an AI that does a decent job in most cases. The selection of spells and powers is wide enough for all tastes. You’ve your single target damage spells, your area of effect spells. You can be a drone-controlling rigger or summon spirits. Or should you want to, you can play as a muscular troll with a knack for weaponry, be it ranged or melee. The four character limit in tandem with the high number of classes adds to the game’s replayability potential as you’ll get to experience a limited amount of team compositions in one playthrough. On top of that, you can only customize your main character’s skills and it’s not excluded to want to try out a different class after you’ve gone through the story once. The percentage based system will put you in a couple of outrageous situations when you’re right next to an enemy, shotgun drawn, 99% chance to hit and you end up missing somehow. But, you could say they’re a reminder of the fact that shadowrunning will eventually get you in trouble.

The biggest step forward in Dragonfall is by far in its writing. Knowing how much it relies on the story, Harebrained Schemes has paid more attention to the small bits. Facial expressions are described in the tiniest of detail now. The lore introduced seems to be in larger quantity. The story is carefully planned, throwing you into the action from the very beginning, thus gripping you while constantly surprising you with unexpected findings that keep you invested until the very end. You’ll find a healthy dose of mystery and social commentary. Your companions, instead of being simple hirelings, have a biowareian air to them, being much closer to fully fleshed characters with backstories, personalities and desires than their counterparts in the previous title. They take care of themselves when it comes to preparing for missions, always having their signature equipment at the ready, leaving you the possibility to upgrade or add items to their inventories. Most encounters with NPC’s offer a bit of information about the main story or some lore on the side. And it happens to the point where you end up wanting to read other sources to find out how everything works in the world. Furthermore, there’s a lot to read on, as Shadowrun is a melding of fantasy and sci-fi/cyberpunk that emanates gallons of personality and uniqueness.

Dragonfall fails to properly present events that have a great impact on the world itself. Through its exceptional writing it creates, a hefty image of how much personal interest and the desire for power, regardless of collateral damage done are the main forces that run it all. Unlike its predecessor, Dragonfall has more events of a grand magnitude. As a mild spoiler, one of the missions will have you blowing up an entire building belonging to one of the biggest corporations out there. While the game does make sure to tell you that members downed in the mission will not magically appear at your hideout, due to the limited time you have in there, the event itself is described solely through a few phrases. And sure, budget limitations are to be taken in account, however, at the end of the scene you’ll be left feeling empty because all you got for your effort is a loading screen telling you how important or large the scope of your actions were.  It’s moments like these where the player’s imagination could have used some external help, even if it came from one detailed piece of artwork, in tying the events together.

In comparison to those in Shadowrun Returns, Dragonfall’s choices face you with more situations where there’s no “good” choice to be had. However, at the end of the day some apparently major choices affect few things ingame. Even when you do something to anger your companions, they’ll let you know they don’t agree, but still follow you. Messing up a job will result in a clumsy workaround which will still have you paid because the game requires it. Sure, the client will tell you he or she never wants to work with you again, but it’s of no importance. However, one can’t discredit the game too much for this. Partially because it’s centered around you, somehow linking these things together. It’s consistent in this particular area, as if the choices were made to only affect you offscreen, and in truth, that’s one way of telling a story. However, again, it’s because you get invested so much in it that you acknowledge the fact that it’s an improvement over Returns, yet somehow still leaves you wishing it offered more.

As stated before, Dragonfall is an obvious upgrade to what Returns is. From reworking the Combat Adept to adding a small skill tree, to all the other mentioned improvements, Harebrained Schemes listened to feedback and have done a lot in creating a better experience. While I complained about, perhaps, more things than one would expect given the score, I cannot lie. Finishing Dragonfall left me wanting more, wishing it was more than it actually was, but also left me quite satisfied of the way it all came to pass. At the moment, you can buy it as an expansion to Shadowrun Returns, but rumor has it a standalone version will be coming out in August, so you may want to hold out until then. Regardless, missing out on Dragonfall would be an unfortunate choice if you’re into RPGs.

MateÈ™ Bogdan Robert, NoobFeed
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