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I’m almost done with Shadowrun Returns - all that’s left is the grand finale. Looks like my breaks for Unbeatable didn’t affect my progress as much as I thought they would.

I’m still surprised by the balance between dialogue (or non-combat gameplay in general) and combat - the former is the more interesting part of the game for me so the current state of things is right up my alley. Not that combat is bad, I actually enjoy it way more than I thought I would, but talking with characters is something I always look forward to the most. This is even more highlighted here as I also love the feeling of community in the “Seamstresses Union”, the main hub of the game - there’s not much to do there nor is there a huge amount of interaction with characters but what’s there is enough to make the place feel like home away from home. It’s great.

Writing is pretty engaging for the most part. There were a few less interesting parts but they didn’t really affect my enjoyment though I can’t say I’m a fan of the last minute swerve into the “gotta save the world” narrative. It’s “fine” but I would simply prefer the game to stay with the small(ish) personal stakes instead. I did end up liking pretty much all of the side characters at least (and even some of the random mercs which have no character or conversations at all).

I was worried about two things when I started this playthrough:

  • Complexity of the game - I haven’t played Shadowrun before and I don’t really play many isometric RPGs these days so I wasn’t sure how well I’ll handle it.
  • I have a bad tendency of starting games, then taking multi month breaks because I got distracted by something else. Thankfully, I managed to power through my mind goblins and finish (well, I will tonight) the game in “one go” - it’s not much but I’m proud of myself considering how big of a problem it can be.

The only issues I have with the game are the fact that some etiquette options are pretty much useless in the campaign and that for some reason game always starts on my second monitor, with a borked resolution. Both issues are a bit annoying but they not game breaking so whatever. Other than that nothing stood out in other negative ways.

All in all, I had a great time and can only hope most of my remaining backlog will be just as entertaining. Time to search for another pick.

Edit: Just finished the game. Final section was my least favourite part of the playthrough - it wasn’t terrible, just kinda “meh” compared to the rest of the game. Still liked the game overall and will be happy to play the other two I have.

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