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Recommendation

FredNFredN Member Posts: 49
If you like the BG games, you might be interested in the Shadowrun series of computer RPGs, set in a cyberpunk world where magic weds with super science, and has very weird babies.
.....The original Shadowrun is a bit odd. It starts off as a routine murder mystery investigation, but 2/3 of the way through it mutates into a frantic mission to save the world from extra-dimensional invaders. I mean, it works, but I just found the transition between the two goals to be a bit jarring. YMMV.
.....Shadowrun: Dragonfall. This is, IMO, the best of the series from both character development and plotline points of view. You make friends, investigate various mysteries, take courses of action that affect the outcome of various subplots, and in the final scenario ...well, let me point out that ... things aren't always as they seem. Not gonna give away any spoilers, but just let me say that if you take what appears to be the obvious course of action in the final scenario, you can literally cause the end of the world as you know it, and bring about the destruction of all of Metahumanity, Ouch!
.....Shadowrun: Hong Kong. A similar concept to the above game, with additional expanded skill trees and chatacter archetypes. Also you can mix and match. Want to be a street samurai who has a bit of magic spellcraft? You can do it, but it will be more costly for you to learn spells as opposed to a combat mage. There are also two parts to the game. The first has a specific end goal, but there is a second game with a totally separate target result, and you can choose what characters you want in your crew from the ones you worked with in the first game. Note: You cannot import characters from the first two games into this one. They take place in totally different parts of the world. Mechanically this sort of makes sense; your character from the end of Dragonfall would be ludicrously overpowered vs the enemies at the start of Shadowrun: King Kong.
.....Also, Shadowrun: Hong Kong was the first computer RPG I can across which had a 3 way battle as one of its scenarios. Again, gonna try to avoid too many spoilers, but it involves a youg girl hiring your team to escort her to a safe spot where some guardians will take over her protection. Turns out that she is a mutant with psionic abilities, and not one but TWO of the local megacorps want her. Representatives from both Megacorps show up, offering various incentives for you to hand her over ... and backed up by entire squads of heavily armed goons half a block away. As I am sure you can guess, violence is almost certain to erupt no matter what action you take. If you turn her over to one Megacorp, the other side will take umbrage and express their displeasure in a very direct fashion. Additionally, having betrayed your own client, your street rep will plummet. The third option, where you tell both Megacorp reps to get stuffed is the most fun. Everybody starts attacking anyone in sight.
.....Also, try not to kill the girl with some badly aimed AOE attack, like a grenade. Not only have you killed your client ... and thus will not get paid for the run ... but everyone else will be royally ticked off at you. Hope you can run fast!
Post edited by FredN on

Comments

  • FredNFredN Member Posts: 49
    Ugh! I can't believe I typed "King Kong" instead of "Hong Kong". Yeah, the original King Kong was a great movie, but still ... no clue what I was thinking there. Also, I want to mention that there are sequels to the above games, not from Harebrained Schemes, but form an independent game programmer who goes by the name of Cirion. They are called Cal-free in Chains, and The Caldecott Caper. Unlike the prior cames, you CAN use your characters from the first game to adventure in the second. And I can assure you that he is VERY talented. The animation, plot themes, character development and combat mechanics are every bit as good as the above three mentioned games from a orporate entity. Oh, and once you have installed them, they go into the Shadowrun Hong Kong directory, which means you have to go into that game's menues to load them.
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