Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut burst from 2013's Shadowrun Returns like a blood-and-titanium phoenix. Harebrained Schemes' first Shadowrun game is an excellent turn-based tactical RPG whose strengths are offset with awkward save mechanics and limited team customization. It was followed by Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall, which replaced many of the parent game's human failings with polished chrome. The director's cut is the pinnacle of this evolutionary leg. It's hard-wired with enough features to run like a top-of-the-line pleasure rig, free of any unsightly Essence loss or dumpshock. Dragonfall - Director's Cut is a great game packed with pathos, atmosphere, heists, and intrigue.

Dragonfall takes place in magical cyberpunk Berlin, home of countless free-states, gangs, and corporate interests. Like all good Shadowrun stories, the inital run is a rabbit hole into something far more complex. In this case, a simple burglary explodes into a conspiracy wrapped in fire, scales, scientific hubris, and the worst kind of cyber-stalker. On a more personal level Dragonfall revolves around the Kreuzbasar, an autonomous neighborhood in the midst of Berlin's urban chaos. The Kreuzbasar is more than a hideout and a resting place for the central crew of shadowrunners. It's a community to build, protect, or exploit. Visiting its inhabitants and getting involved in its dramas are welcome contrasts to excursions to the outside world. The residents of the kreuz are a persistent group, who scratch the same itch as maintaining a castle in Suikoden or a Breath of Fire town. Checking in on their lives deepens the world, develops a strong sense of place, and provides ample sidequest fodder.

Since the protagonist's personality and skills are based on the player's choices, the narrative heavy lifting is mainly handled by the Kreuzbasar's core team of shadowrunners. It's beyond risky to go alone on a run, so teaming up with a crew of dangerous, flawed criminals is the way to go. Glory, a frosty medic loaded down with vintage cyberware, and Dietrich, an aging punk rock shaman, are standout voices who exemplify and complicate familiar cyberpunk themes of dehumanizing technology and rebellion. Each team member's personality shines through in the moral choices made during missions.

The core runners are supplemented with a handful of specialists who can be hired for individual runs. However, they're generally not worth it since they demand payment up front and don't have the strong advancement abilities of the core crew. After every major run, the core team of runners gains several pre-determined skills. They also gain one of two advances, each keyed toward a different facet of their build. Eiger, the troll combat specialist, has different specs as a shotgun surgeon than as a sniper, although she's a ferocious beast either way. Some advancements provide bonus gear for the core runners, which repopulates after every mission. Grenades and medkits add up over time, so securing a renewable source of consumables is a worthwhile investment.

Combat is a turn-based affair. Each character has Action Points(AP), which govern how many actions they can take. Movement, normal attacks, spells, spirit-summoning, and fancy cyberware all require AP. Complex actions like reloading a grenade launcher or casting specialized spells require multiple AP. Positioning is very important because of Dragonfall's cover system. Hiding behind the scenery provides cover, which reduces the chance to get hit. Armor, on the other hand, prevents damage. Anyone who ends a turn in the no man's land of a bare foyer had better have a backup plan. Enemies use cover wisely, encouraging the player to tactically reposition or discover other techniques for bypassing cover. Magical or technological bombardmant are possible, but it's more fun to send a remote controlled drone through the air ducts or flank with a summoned abomination.

Despite the different ways a crew of shadowrunners can be organized, the scenario design is forgiving enough to allow for experimentation. While some character builds are more universally useful than others, no team is able to do everything in a single playthrough. This abundance of options provides freedom to explore a specific path without feeling like useful resources are irretrievably lost. If a team lacks the requisite skills to do something neat, it will probably have the skills to access something else worthwhile. Harebrained Schemes should be commended for this balancing act: it's difficult to put together a terrible team, but team design still has real consequences.

Every departure from the relative safety of the Kreuzbasar is a mission. Although it would be easy to see each mission as a traditional fantasy dungeon with go-go dancers and air ducts, the mission variety is morally nuanced and shaded with surprising twists. Most of the missions involve breaking into a building and shooting some dudes, but each one is laced with enjoyable twists, both narrative and tactical. NPCs further complicate missions. The office buildings, science complexes, and city streets traversed by shadowrunners are also places of business and everyday existence. Even the stealthiest team will occasionally encounter a janitor, office romance, or quirky personality who threatens to disrupt the integrity of a mission--or provides unexpected aid if everyone plays their cards right.

The five new missions introduced in the director's cut stand out as excellent examples of what makes the game so great. Three of them are partner runs keyed to individual teammates. These sidequests draw back the curtain to explore what really makes already nuanced characters tick. Guiding your allies through their crisis points does double-duty; while they grow, their moral quandaries work as foils for defining the malleable protagonist. Because the main character can potentially take so many shapes or builds, these personal missions turn the screws and force tough decisions. Is it worth allowing evil to escape if it saves innocents? Is it worth solving a dangerous injustice if its institutional causes are unassailable? Taking sides with Berlin's factions is inevitable, and rarely consequence free.

The other two new missions are further examples of the sublime torment of decision-making. Both ask the player how far is it worth going for money-or how much money is at the tipping point. Unlike many games interested in morality and choice, Dragonfall rarely offers a good option and an evil one. Instead, it presents a bad choice and a terrible one. Everyone in Berlin has an angle, whether it's salvaging a crumbling biotech franchise or trying to escape from a web of blackmail. You can't save everyone, but your choices will change the world.

Although the writing could carry the atmosphere by itself, the graphics and sound team up to further enhance the dirty, haunting paranoia. The music is generally subdued techno, well-suited for vigilant sneaking or meeting with seedy characters. Areas have enough background elements to look lived-in and decayed, but still house sparks of life and individuality. Berlin's neighborhoods display a variety of architecture and themes; its residents are similarly diverse in their portraits and designs. Living in the world of Dragonfall wouldn't be especially pleasant, but it's believable.

Games like Dragonfall don’t come about too often. For those of us who’ve grown accustomed to B+ grade titles, we forget what it’s like to experience a top-shelf game. Dragonfall is worth any RPG fan's time unless, I don't know, they don't like cyberpunk, dragons, or exceptional tactical combat.

Duration - 26 Hours

Thoughts:

Another enjoyable installment. Be prepared to read lots of text though as nothing is voice acted. One thing that Shadowrun has is enjoyable turn-based combat. The system works very well and translates to PC in good form. The detailed system works well with lots of perks and skills. There are plenty of side-quests in this game, and they aren't all easy to discover. This makes finding and completing them extra satisfactory. Overall my time in Shadowrun was very enjoyable.

7.5/10

Loved this game. I was craving some old school Shadowrun and this game definitely didn't let me down. The options for customizing your character and personality definitely had me coming back over an dover to change my build and I have gone through game at least 3 times now and have found new ways to enjoy it every time.

Great story, very good challenge, and I keep going back for more.

Very well done, and I've bought all the other Shadowrun titles as well because of how good they play.

Fantastic story, gameplay, characters, abilities, everything is all around great. I face desk every time I miss four times with a 91% change to hit, but you know, that's RNG Jesus for you. If you like games such as Banner Saga that have novels worth of reading, you'll like this game too!

Excellent Tactical RPG with a truly expansive and realized karma system. If you want every single one of your actions/ speech choices to have an effect all the way to the very end of the story, this is your game. Enjoy.

Very fun turn-based game.
Loved the stories, you also get to make choices that impact outcomes.
Couldn't stop playing it, just had to finish it type of game.
However, I didn't find playing it again as fun as it was first time around even though there are a variety of classes to play.
I did play both the original and the sequel, both have great stories.
Looking forward to playing Shadowrun: Hong Kong.

Steam's stupid system does not allow just to "vote", you have to comment as well. This is the comment..

You know what I refuse to put up with? Game-breaking bugs that game developers refuse to fix even after the game has been out for years and the issue is well-documented. In Dragonfall one of the final, and toughest, missions in the game will simply freeze up if you try to save at any point.

Think it's just an issue with my rig? Please see comments from numerous other players in the steam forum here (minor spoiler alert): https://steamcommunity.com/app/300550/discussions/0/615085406657648560/. I'm sorry but that's totally unacceptable and completely ruined this game for me. You'd think a "director's cut" would have sorted this out by now.

Great game! Just as good as Shadowrun returns, which was one of my favorite RPGs!

Saw this cheap in humble sale so took a gamble, despite reading about unfixed issues.
Game froze on enemy turn during first mission "jacking in". Not a good start.
Partly my own fault - I always find out these things are Unity engine based after I've bought them, when I should check beforehand.
I have not had one single Unity game that didn't give me problems.
Oh wel, I'll drink one less pint to compensate throwing the money away.

Windows 10

Edit: The Humble people were nice enough to refund
Edit: Minus the portion that went to charity (edited in to discourage other Shadowrun fanbois :P from using it as an opener to start berating me about my dismissal of their beloved game.)