Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Review

INTRO. It's time to review Shadowrun Hong Kong. In this review I will not expose the game mechanics per se because these have already been extensively illustrated in the review of Shadowrun Dragonfall: https://gmicyt.wixsite.com/website/home/copy-of-shadowrun-dragonfall-review Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong are like 3 brothers, very similar to each other and in many situations, even identical. What changes in principle is the plot and the approach on how the quests were developped . Returns was more focused on the main plot, relegating an extremely restricted space to secondary quests.. On the contrary Dragonfall gave more space to the companions quests and to the secondary ones, giving the player a more understandable and more empathetic scenario. Berlin, although not recognizable, is credible in Dragonfall regading the setting of Shadowrun (the paper version) which is fully faithfull. Dragonfall also offers a well-written story and memorable companions. At this point with Shadowrun Hong Kong, released one year after Dragonfall, a veteran of the two previous titles, expects a more evolved following regarding the roleplay mechanics and the narrative.

Hong Kong, however, proves to be another attempt of an alternative development, delivering the player, the same bases as the previous yes but this time ound with a different interpretation. Follow us with our review to find out more. EXPLORATION.

The hub in Hong Kong compared to Dragonfall is not exactly the top. The distribution of the npcs in a map that is unnecessarily a labirinth and unclear, leaves the player a little lost. There are the typical weapon, cybernetics, spells, supplies dealers etc ... but unfortunately these are shamelessly placed in places a little lost and too isolated. Not only that, even the main base of the protagonist and by extension also the companions, leaves a little to be desired. It is not for the state of decay (the base is practically a completely rusty ship) but more than anything else the arrangement of the rooms which is not really convincing.

Design has problems not related to aesthetics but more to functionality. It is not known why the maps and levels of Shadowrun Hong Kong seem a bit limited (certainly better than those of Returns) to the player. Objective paths are extremely limited almost creating corridor-style levels. This is also linked to the lack of immersion not only in the city of Hong Kong but also in the levels of missions, as the interactive objects are very few and the few already inserted, only serve for quests purposes. The design flaws unfortunately do not stop there. Hong Kong has a narrative aspect that, compared with Dragonfall, makes the experience a little bit bull. Well that's because the characters don't have much to say, apart from a few particular cases. Talking to NPCs is a bit pointless as they have no interesting stories or quests to give to the player. A pity because the secondary quests (they are well done, without any doubts) are all accessible from your own personal terminal, which is nothing mora of a sort of quest dispenser that makes the immersion in the world of Shadowrun very dull.

But you can't just complain on every single faults right. Of course not. From an aesthetic point of view, Hong Kong is clearly superior to Dragonfall. Unlike the previous chapter, it really feels like being in Hong Kong. The neon lights that shine in the night and the typical music of the place and faces not familiar to us, it makes us realize that we are indeed in a city unknown to us and out of our stylistic standards. The semi-arranged language of the locals; references to the Chinese folklore, they are all here. MAIN PLOT. I would not like to reveal the Hong Kong main story but I would like to make a comparison with Dragonfall. To be clear, Dragonfall is vastly superior from this point of view. Hong Kong unfortunately fails to attempt to present a convincing, intriguing and rewarding storyline like Dragonfall. The problem is related to the characters that support the plot. Unfortunately they do not have a lively and relevant personality. When you start playing Dragonfall, the developers have done everything to make us admire our team leader Monica. A character who would technically die to give the teammates and the protagonist the pretext to look for those who are responsible for the murder. But the writers were right to make us first like Monica and then kill her, thus giving the player a justified resentment. A bit like Ned Stark in Game of Thrones but ... not with the same dose. Here in Hong Kong the plot is a bit arranged. The player is supposed to find his recently missing mentor / adoptive father. But the fact that the disappearance of our father (and there here is! Yet another case of Falloutitis) and his recorded message that is shown in the intro, does not give the player the opportunity to give him the time to get to know the character and therefore to give him a minimum possibility of becoming attached or at least giving him a reason to go looking for him. Unfortunately it is a bit cold and aseptic. The plot in a few words starts like this: Find your father. Ok, the pretext is lazy. But will the development of the storyline be great? Well it will be for a while until you discover the reasons for this kidnapping will be a bit ridiculous from a narrative prospective. In short, in comparison with Dragonfall and also of Returns, here the conspiracy theories are a little dumb.

RPG ELEMENT.

It is clear from the start that the explorative and narrative component has faults here and there, but the rpg element more or less compared to Dragonfall does not change that much. Dragonfall had the merit of having a system of consequence of the player's actions quite credible and the developers did not want to force to mutch or at least change the system. From this point of view, Hong Kong remains unchanged. There is really nothing to say about it. Perhaps reading the Dragonfall review would do the same as I would rewrite practically the same things. But what changes, and here we must open a very important topic, it is the secondary quests. And in fact the companions do not have their own memorable quests. The companions themselves are not that much and personally I find it hard even to remember their names. Apart from the nice Russian rigger and ghoul corpse eater quest, the rest of the team is not exactly the best in terms of personalities. The lack of strong companions like Glory, Eiger, Dietrich and Blitz (Shadowrun: Dragonfall), makes this last Shadowrun a dish with a bitter aftertaste. But not disgusting. Not at all.

COMBAT. It is in the combat system that Shadowrun Hong Kong shines the most. The developers have clearly focused all their efforts on making the combat system the only weak point of the previous game, the strongest element of Hong Kong. The improvements are relegated not only to a more manageable arrangement of inventory items but also to balancing and bugs that sometimes made certain Dragonfall missions frustrating. Enemies will be easier to manage thanks to a minimal and predictable level design unlike Dragonfall. The balance has improved making the decker more powerful. The fanatical hackers can finally have a decking system and a matrix that will put their patience to the test. The levels of the Matrix will be more open and there will be not only buttons to press, but also anti-virus defense systems to hack. Shadowrun Hong Kong at the end focuses everything to this in fact combat this time is very funny. You will spend hours and hours looking for a fight one after another, trying out new armors weapons and the right combination of companions.

(The decking system)

FINAL COMMENTS.

Shadowrun Hong Kong is a nice game but full of flaws. In short, a game that squeaks but after playing Returns, Dragonfall and Hong Kong the final comment for this trilogy, if you can call it that way, is that in the end it is incredibly brilliant. The developers with Shadowrun have managed to find an incredibly difficult compromise to balance. Make an isometric RPG video game based on a tabletop RPG with a fantasy-cyberpunk setting, introducing an XCOM combat system, writing it in a modern language, with a storyline worthy of a Deus EX with companions (in Dragonfall of course) so memorable that around the world you can find Glory's COSPLAYERS and with a rpg element that can compete with other games of the same genre and succeed, it's something that deserves respect. If I had in fact a hat I would raise it, if I had a glass I would make a toast, if I had a flag I would wave it and if I had a banner I would write it on HAIL SHADOWRUN.

Ok you get it..

I've never written this before in a review and I might seem unprofessional but it must be done ...

Shadowrun, you are a glorious game, you great son of a bitch!

Game is kind of good.