PixlBit

You probably already know about Shadowrun Returns, one of the more iconic successful Kickstarter projects and part of others that iniciated the crowdfunding boom that's been going on lately with video games.

Developed by Harebrained Schemes, the game is set in the universe of the tabletop game of the same name. In Returns, you get the campaign The Dead Man's Switch, which follows your player character as you investigates the murder of your old work buddy Sam Watts, who was one of the victims of a Jack the Ripper-like killer that is lurking about in Seattle. This is the only story in the game, because one of the main component Shadowrun Returns is user creation, leting players develop campaigns from scratch with users tools that come with the game.

I'm gonna say this right from the start: I'm REALLY loving this game. First things first, i'm starting to love Cyberpunk and the game not only has that, but combines it with the archetypical Fantasy, making for one of the most creative and favorite settings i've seen in a while. It just feel so unique. The Dead Man's Switch story is very nice from the 4 hours i've clocked. The writing is solid and consistent, with interesting premise as you continue through the game, excellent dialogue and a very unique cast of characters, with the addition of being written in a stylish noir narration that fits the story and setting.

Gameplay is no slouch either. The game is divided in two components, exploration and turn-based tactic combat (the latter being one of the main characteristics on the game), where in exploration you pretty much feel like a detective (a given because of the campaign) and part of the world, as you speak with many NPCs and main characters, explore your surroundings, have many ways on accesing areas depending on your characteristics (more on that later) and investigate crime scenes, all very engaging. I also very much like the combat, as you have a reasonable set of attack depending on your class and level and options on how to aproach enemies or take cover. Speaking of classes, the character costumization is very robust on this game, where no mather class, gender and race (thougn they also their own set of characteristics), you can combine create set of characteristics avaiable for your own liking and/or add anyone you want, like you can be a dwarf Decker (hacker) that also knows magic, a a Street Samurai with guns and spells, an ork with blunt weapons and ability with turrets, there's many options to your liking and a cool thing is that there are subtle changes on dialogues depending on the race and finally, there's your choice of single etiquettes (like security or gangster) that also alter your dialogues and have their own exclusive set of dialogues that take you to other options. I just love the level of detail in this game.

Soundtrack is also very good and I really like the artstyle and details on the scenery, although I do admit that the character models look pretty basic. I also haven't entered into the matrix, so I don't have an opinion on it yet, and neither with the custom mods by other players.

So yes, consider me now a fan of the game and I can't simply wait to continue on my quest through Seattle.