Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut (2014 Video Game) User Reviews

Hugely improved expansion

[petra_ste · 8/10 · 12 March 2015]

Forget dragons, shady corporations and cyberpunk shamans: the biggest mystery about Shadowrun is why Dragonfall was initially marketed as a DLC, which usually implies "short and overpriced". Far from it, Dragonfall is actually an EXPANSION, longer than the original campaign (Dead Man's Switch), and a huge step forward from every point of view: plot, characters, gameplay.

Isometric RPG Dead Man's Switch (which I enjoyed overall) started as pleasantly low-key, but the final act took a turn into something fairly cheesy and fanservice-y (with famous characters nonchalantly joining your group). In Dragonfall, premise, development and twists are far more compelling. You also get a crew of interesting, well-developed party members to interact with. Setting continues to be awesome: a cyberpunk Berlin where technology and magic coexist, with elves, trolls and droids roaming the streets.

Turn-based combat is fun, varied and well-designed. While the game is still very much railroaded, the player gets a bit more freedom than in the original campaign.

If this is where Shadowrun is heading, I'm along for the ride.

This is what a modern turn-based RPG should look like

[GeraMir · 21 February 2017]

Before we begin: This game is not a simple DLC! It was marketed that way, yes, but this is a whole new campaign which is quite a bit longer (and better, if I may add) than the original Shadowrun:Returns. And furthermore: Before playing this I knew absolutely nothing about the Shadowrun universe except for the content of its predecessor. Having brought that out of the way, let's begin, shall we?

I want to start with saying that I normally value good gameplay over story, especially if its text-based story, but this game... this game, man... Right from the start I fell in love with the world and the characters. They drew me in and did not let go until the very end. The gameplay is also quite good, actually. Which is something you maybe wouldn't think of such a story-heavy RPG. Not as good as the obvious comparison, XCOM, but it gets the job done quite nicely.

I don't want to take away too much, so here is just a word of advice if you plan on playing this game: Take your time, explore every inch of this gorgeous world and let yourself get enamored with this gorgeous piece of software. And what I mean by that is: In most reviews they talked about how this game is around 12 hours long. In my first playthrough, attempting to explore everything possible, it took me 35 hours. And I still had to go through a second playthrough to get to see all there is. The level of detail and optional content in this game is just breathtaking.

I, again, highly encourage anyone who has any interested in RPGs to pick up this gem. It will be well worth your time!