With the Shadowrun series of games allowing players to traverse a futuristic version of the world where magic and fairy tales coexist with technology, it makes sense for a lot of players to be immediately engrossed in stories of gangs and corporate hackers being entangled with magical artifacts and world-saving adventures.
However, with the Shadowrun Trilogy having recently received a remastered version for the consoles, it makes sense for players to want to play perhaps the best game in the franchise before the rest. Thing is, deciding which among the Shadowrun Trilogy games rises above the rest might take a bit more analysis.
Shadowrun Returns
With classic Shadowrun games making a “return” to a more modern setup with Shadowrun Returns, fans of RPGs get a certain mix of present goodness and a blast from the past. The game takes on an isometric view characteristic of classic RPGs at the time, but with a fast and loose set of RPG mechanics that enables players to get complicated gameplay out of the way in favor of getting thrust into action on the get-go.
At its core, Shadowrun Returns is a perfect introduction to the series in modern times, boasting a rather “vibrant” take on the fantasy-future world of Shadowrun Returns where Races common in fantasy intermingle with others. The art is reasonably minimalist, allowing players to peer through the veil and see remarkable details in both the real world and cyberspace. The quick campaign and access to a lot of community content, alongside a futuristic-enough AI, can make Shadowrun Returns a quick playthrough before dwelling further in the heavier sequels.
Story: Solve A Murder In Less Than A Day
The story of Shadowrun Returns takes place in an adventure called the “Dead Man’s Switch,” which is essentially the player solving the murder of his accomplice Sam Watts. This mission was sent via a message triggered by a dead man’s switch, wherein he has a reward stashed for the person to find his murderer, who turns out to be the organ-stealing Emerald City Ripper.
This detective story is a rather interesting approach to introducing players to the cyberpunk-fantasy world of Shadowrun, where there are more than enough levels taking place in the real world to investigate and in cyberspace to hack (or “deck”) for clues. Unlike more expansive stories of games such as Cyberpunk, the story itself lasts for less than 12 hours in real-time, making this a short but sweet experience.
Gameplay: Straightforward Works
Given the short story of Shadowrun Returns, it makes sense for players to experience some hiccups when it comes to the gameplay. Similar to other RPGs, it’s easy to feel confused with the game’s depth of features, such as its list of spells, weapons, and skills that could be mixed and matched depending on what players need. The game even offers a cover system that allows players to engage in firefights more efficiently, similar to a lite version of other cover-based RPGs such as X-COM.
Unfortunately, the game is indeed terribly linear despite the existence of other side quests. The game inevitably steers players back towards the path of identifying the Emerald City Ripper, which can strike the fancy of players who appreciate linear games or annoy others looking to explore more of what Emerald City has to offer.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Originally set as an expansion or a DLC for the Shadowrun Returns game, Shadowrun: Dragonfall eventually got enough expanded content to become a standalone title. Released in 2014, the game takes a similar cue from the first Shadowrun game in terms of mechanics, but this time adds content in the form of missions, more mercenaries to recruit, and a more in-depth story.
Compared to Returns, the overall experience of Shadowrun: Dragonfall is more cohesive and much more “expansive,” giving players more control over things they may be able to do to further customize their characters. Combined with a more engaging story and a compelling cast of side characters, the world of Dragonfall seems more fleshed than ever before.
Story: It’s Hunting Dragons
The story of Shadowrun: Dragonfall takes place inside the anarchic state of Berlin, where players join their colleague Monika Schafer and others in a mission to steal data inside Harfeld Mansion. Unfortunately, a mishap leads to Monika’s death, with her last words being “Firewing” - eventually leading to the realization that a dragon named Firewing may be hunting anyone involved in researching them, now including the player.
With this “time runs out” cat-and-mouse search plot, Dragonfall grabs players into a more intense adventure compared to the one-shot like Returns. Not only that, but the world opens up a bit around the midsection of the Shadowrun game, allowing players to take more contracts and finish them. Considering how the player’s comrades have more fleshed-out stories, the choices involving these characters give a more realistic take on the magically-futuristic world of Berlin.
Gameplay: Touch-Up Time
Originally serving as an expansion and not a standalone title, it makes sense for Dragonfall to play the same as Returns. However, what perhaps makes Dragonfall stand out compared to the original Shadowrun were the little tweaks to the game’s features. For instance, the interface itself is overhauled to give players faster access to commands for their Shadowrun Classes, which works well with the game’s enhanced AI - forcing players to make better use of flanking and cover mechanics.
Story-wise, new quests now expand on the backstories of the game’s characters, as well as expanding the story with more endings. More importantly, companions level up on their own, allowing players to improve their levels after every few missions.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Being a separate game in itself compared to the previous game, Shadowrun: Hong Kong is the final title in the Shadowrun Trilogy and is perhaps the most expansive of the three titles. With the game going all out for this iteration, players encounter a much longer story mode and more complex combat, encouraging a lot more versatility on the part of players.
Not changing much of its mechanics from the first two games, returnees from the two other games won’t have to relearn a lot of the gameplay in order to tinker with Hong Kong’s full potential. Likewise, newcomers can enjoy a rather simple-enough gameplay flow that will allow them to all sorts of crazy antics and shenanigans as long as their spells, skills, and weapons would allow.
Story: New Home, New Backstory
Set in 2056 inside the Hong Kong Free Enterprise Zone, players enter a cyberpunk RPG Shadowrun story where its setting is effectively controlled by various companies. This time around, players have a backstory tied to the other characters: they and their brother Duncan were adopted by someone called Raymond Black but got separated from both them after being arrested eight years prior to Hong Kong. After the player’s release, he and Duncan, who is now a part of a private police group called the Lone Star, are called upon by Raymond to meet him in mysterious circumstances.
What happens afterward is a crazy attempt at the “chosen one” narrative that puts players in the center of a plot to save the world or inevitably lead to its destruction. While the game does have a longer story and a more in-depth approach to its campaign, the lack of fleshed-out side characters does leave a bit to be desired. However, players who love their stories can definitely appreciate the way the more fleshed-out plot fits the more vibrant Hong Kong aesthetic.
Gameplay: More Depth, More Options
One of the landmark features of this Shadowrun game outside its RPG story is a level editor separate from the single-player campaign, allowing players to create their own campaigns to share with others. Outside this level editor, where Hong Kong truly shines is its depth of character customization, as well as the numerous missions that players can take to further digest the creative nuances that make Hong Kong more unique compared to the previous settings.
Although some may say Dragonfall is the more superior in terms of gameplay features, Hong Kong simply takes the cake for how it meshes simplistic RPG combat with a long-enough story to balance the number of combat encounters with immersive exploration.
The Shadowrun Trilogy Remastered Edition arrived on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PS5 on June 21, 2022.