► WTF Is... - Shadowrun Returns ?

[@TEFFTPATTERN]

It's May of 2020, we are in the Corona quarantine, and I just got this game from a Humble Bundle. Your videos live on into the future to help us 8 years from when they were made, and it's only the beginning, these vids will live forever, RIP buddy

[@akimbofurry2179]

You are the comment that told me he died, wikipedia was the details.... I dont know how i missed this. No wonder I have not seen anyvideos.... Well I am sad, rip

[@Demicleas]

@@akimbofurry2179 HES BEEN DEAD for like years now how did you not know? Well I guess I can't fault you since they never made a video about his death from cancer. Rip.

[@paareth]

@@Demicleas There was a memorial video on the podcast and also at Cox Con where they interviewed people who attended but its on Genna's channel.

[@everquestfan]

May 2023 Steam Sale Your curator review linked me here,Miss you TB it's good to hear your voice.

[@GoadedGoblin]

Just finished this game with zero prior knowledge of it until a week ago. I didn't know about the kickstarter, I didn't know about the previous titles and installments and versions of anything involving the Shadowrun universe. Saw it in the Steam Summer Sale under "Cyberpunk" (a genre I love) and decided to give it a shot. It's now one of my favorite games along side Fallout 3. There are certainly flaws in the game, and it's very text-heavy, but if you love reading about and being immersed in a Cyberpunk style universe, this game does a great job of it. I also picked up the DLC for it. Very happy overall.

[@archonone5164]

It's late 2020, the world's a mess and we still miss you more than ever. RIP buddy.....

[@thetreeofdoom2957]

If you're playing this game in 2020/2021 they've already fixed the checkpoint system, it autosaves better and you can manually save whenever you want (as long as it's not during a conversation/cutscene). This is the game that got me into the Shadowrun genre. You'd also be interested in the book series as well as the tabletop RPG as long as you enjoyed the story of the videogame.

[@everquestfan]

Played this tabletop as a teen before the interwebs 👍

[@taltamir]

According to the developers the savegame issues you raised are a technical limitation due to development budget and timeframe and they will be releasing a patch that would allow you to save anywhere

[@VallornDeathblade]

It's out and works like a charm especially on the new campaign.

[@myvanwycalista3387]

Vallorn Wait, so I can save wherever now?

[@VallornDeathblade]

Daniel T. Yep!

[@myvanwycalista3387]

Vallorn Great! Thanks.

[@garcemac]

Seven years later and you're still influencing my gaming choices. RIP, Mr. Bain.

[@realhamonwry8620]

Eat less paste.

[@murilocyber6186]

RIP bro....

[@chekklist6501]

I killed him. True story me and him hooked up in a hostel and made love and i had cancer but didnt tell him so he got his cancer from me

[@chekklist6501]

@Katarina Love why though?

[@J29-u8u]

​@@chekklist6501 I don't mind trolls if they're funny. But it take a lot of wit to pull a joke like this off & you definitely don't have it.

[@wrcz]

@@J29-u8u dude, have some empathy, as he said he has cancer, the tumour is pressing on his brain and it's causing him to say stupid shit. hard life for people with ass cancer

[@ravenstromdans]

A couple of points I'll make on top of TB's: Proper choices and progression thereof for your character has something of a sharp learning curve. You really need to make a good plan for what you want out of your character, or you'll find yourself doing a lot of save rewinding to correct your missteps. Some decking skill in your main character is almost a requirement, which is frustrating for players would like to have a purely physical combat or magical based character. The story IS pretty well done, if annoyingly brief and extremely linear. The recommendation comparisons he made are entirely valid, although of all of them I'd say the original two Fallout games come the closest to feeling similar to how this game plays. I would have liked to have seen the devs take a few more pages out of those games' structure (sandbox world, interesting side-quests, persistent world impact) to make this game come a bit more to life. For it's price and the community created content, which I'm just getting into myself after finally getting around to finishing the original campaign, I recommend it and I'm looking forward to seeing what the upcoming DLC will bring to the table at the end of February.

[@douwehuysmans5959]

Just hire a decker.

[@4megatiger]

i feel reminded of the original fallouts and XCOM: enemy unknown. when i play this

[@brandinrovelo8074]

Guys this game is currently Free on Humble Bundle, that's the reason I'm here, to se what the game is about.

[@TheCrusaderBin]

The only bad thing about this game, was that it was too short. I just really wanted to continue playing it. Game is 97% Neuromancer, 3% Warhammer :P Turned out pretty great.

[@Acier25997]

We miss you TB, you were a champion of consumer rights in the Video Game industry, an amazing shout-caster, and an all-around great guy.

[@azrael80304]

I wonder if syndicate wars will follow the footsteps of shadow run. Shadowrun made a shitty fps and so did syndicate, now that syndicate got its shitty FPS out the way I'm hoping they remake the original PC game with better graphics

[@CaptainBipto]

I remember playing the original Syndicate game. I do hope they revive this title similar to Shadowrun Returns.

[@DM_Dad]

Helps to have a map.

[@DarkReapersGrim1]

I like these graphics. It shows that the developers balanced their time between the game's graphics and the game's content. Usually when a game has really good graphics for its budget, that indicates to me that the game sucks because the developers spent more time on the graphics and not enough on the content. This is almost always true for games with a limited budget. Even among the high-budget games, like Final Fantasy XIII, people complained that the game sucked.

[@aoberry8814]

Miss you totalbiscuit. Got this game for free from humble bundle and I hope your having a good afterlife

[@BrownCookieBoy]

I remember the first shadowrun game, i really loved it

[@LesterRamos]

Looks like Dragonfall addresses the main issue with Shadowrun Returns, TB

[@michaelfreeman3189]

Wasn't the save feature fixed with a patch?

[@TheAsylumCat]

yep. this is an old vid.

[@bloodrunsclear]

I dug it :D We don't have nearly enough cyber-punk genre productions, and this was one of the best in a LONG while. Great characters, pretty intuitive interface. Some issues, but it's one of those things I'll admit I enjoyed enough to let them slide personally.

[@ExarPalantas]

I do like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Torment, so I'll probably check this out.

[@Fir3Dir3]

This game is pretty good imo.

[@Snoupity]

Dragonfall is insane. I literally wiped out mankind as the result of my actions culminating at the end of the campaign.

[@WilkesBarreWrestling]

HE'S DEAD STOP BEING MEAN!

[@Snoupity]

@@WilkesBarreWrestling are you ok

[@ApsUseless]

What you get for your money is not the initial story but access to plenty of other people "content" as well as quite advanced tools to make your own.

[@TheUnshippedcorpse]

among the many reasons to say "fuck cancer" this is one of the reasons, wasn't looking for a total biscuit video just wanted a review of this game and found his, dude was told (and was open to his public community about) how he very likely only had 2-3 years left in 2015 but kept making quality content regardless. just being told i lost partial use of my arm and there was nothing doctors could do about it fucked me up and made me bitter for a few years (still am sometimes). Stronger man then me.

[@Born2bwire]

Also, watching more of the playthrough, there are a lot of dialogue and action trees. With a checkpoint, it makes you think harder about what you want to say and do as you cannot easily go back and redo it if it doesn't work out like you want. In the video, he shows the option of trying to cheat the fence. That can have repercussions for you and not having the ability to quickly redo it changes how I would tackle that choice. I'd still prefer some saves, but it has subtle design ramifications.

[@Gr8rgamer]

Only $8.99 on Steam today

[@FreaKK367]

Never played the original Shadowrun, this looks pretty good though. I now know where the Dystopia mod for HL2 got their ideas from. They let you equip a Cyberdeck to jack in and hack into cameras, turrets, doors, and fight others in the matrix, all in an FPS environment. Never seen anything like it until this really. Love me some cyber punk style.

[@ThatFrench]

the original one is a pen and paper rpg, really awesome one :D

[@Hellbane224]

ThatFrench I played the one on the Sega. It was pretty awesome.

[@StonieTark]

Damn man, i miss you.

[@Githpsion]

Came over here cuz of the podcast. Really like the art style and mechanics.

[@planescaped]

Man, TB would've loved Disco Elysium.

[@CompositeAwe]

(i'm sure there's a way to just grab it from your steam acct w/o opening SRR. this is how i did it, though:) open SRR -> New Game-> Find More Stories-> Steam Workshop. u just subscribe & the user campaign will appear beneath Dead Man's Switch in the campaign section in SRR. u don't actually download it though so u have to be online to access it from Steam (i think). when i checked earlier today there were 3 user made campaigns so far.

[@daedalus6433]

Rest in peace, chap.

[@ubmastering]

The trilogy by Robert N. Charrette is a must read for shadow run. Based in Seattle and is the quiescent Shadowrun storyline. 1 Never Deal With A Dragon 2 Choose Your Enemies Carefully 3 Find Your Own Truth

[@TheChrisglasgow]

Got this game for free still havnt played it yet.

[@stasisbal]

Perhaps the most exciting thing about this game (and the other CRPGs in the works) is we can have a tier of story based games with depth that don't need to have voice over. I like good voice over but for budget and time reasons it has its weaknesses. The level of variety and flavor text-only can bring is wonderful.

[@wizeturtle]

this game is going to butcher the original game

[@skeith804]

No more than the online FPS did.

[@wizeturtle]

agreed

[@neverrelax6756]

Skeith804 Ah man I completely forgot about that FPS, that was an horrible horrible experience...

[@DenzaMan]

Never Relax come on, it wasn't that bad. I've never played the original Shadowrun [TRPG or game] but the FPS was a pretty good title. A nice mix of tech and magical abilities, like the glider and the tree of life. The races provided an interesting touch. If the Halo 3 beta didn't come out the same week it probably would have been successful.

[@wizeturtle]

i did like but there was slight flaws like the katana was a bit op

[@Slyguy846]

Expeditions: Conquistador, it's a strategy RPG which was released recently, it's writing, and occassionally it's combat, could be a little better, but it legitimately feels like a classic, character-focused, non-linear CRPG.

[@scRaTcHvsWU]

I just feel the need to remind you ppl that this video is not a rewiev, it's a preview. The part of game where TotalBiscuit is on the end of this video is not even 1/4 of the game. The section he uses to 'show us' the combat is one of the first fighting missions and it is the first time ever you can even jack in the matrix. This is STARTGAME, he's reviewing. In later phases, there's much more (and also much more difficult) combat sections.

[@mintygold]

Hey a fun fact: the BTL chip in the BTL zombies stands for Better Than Life, which is a reference to Red Dwarf and the Red Dwarf books.

[@SNVKEHVNT]

So far DMS kept me quite entertained and looking forward to seeing the content that will be released via community and developer. The story was great and I loved how it developed into something entirely different from how one would have anticipated. Admittedly, SR:R was the title I was least excited for out of the Kickstarter CRPG. However, It is a great start to the (hopefully) successful revival of the CRPG genre. Hopefully,Wasteland 2 isn't delayed for too long.

[@MrNajie]

I agree with TB about the save feature being needed. Those people that will save to make the best choices will now just have a strategy guide open to make sure they make the right decisions the first time.

[@denewst01]

Good game, but primarily the goal is IMO the use of the editor to make your own stuff - the initial campaign is more of a really good demo of what can be done with the engine & solid writing.

[@FantasticHermitCrab]

I think one of the ideas behind the strange save system is that your dialogue-related choices and so forth are going to have more weight as you can't just save and reload if you accidentally say anything wrong. It would make some sense, seeing as it is a story-heavy game.

[@FantasticHermitCrab]

That would likely work, but it would still make room for saving right before important dialogues or events and just reload and reverse one's mistakes. But that's always possible when saving exists in a game. But it would seem as if they want to prevent the player from being able to do that completely, but maybe they could make 2 different gamemodes; one with a traditional saving system and one with their own save system and having you choose one of the 2 at the beginning, explaining them both.

[@malphigian]

Warren Spector for sure, not only knew of the Shadowrun RPG, but played it. He worked at TSR in R&D in the 80s, he absolutely played a high profile RPG at the time like Shadowrun. You should be a little less 100% sure if things.

[@Darkest209]

TB. HBS is having a contest at GEN CON 2013 called Hack-O-THON. They let 16 players make there own game with the editor. Then put the game online and later on that weekend judge them for the best game. While the editor is not the easiest, it should be a lot of fun. I say this, because I'm going to Gencon this year and I'm looking forward to this contest. Maybe with a little luck, you'll get to play my add ons.

[@SparkleFalter]

That I think is more likely to happen in user-made mods which by the time you get to, you should be well versed. The core campaign seems to be on rails more, so you're extremely unlikely to face something you can't take on if you hired the right runners or didn't just ignore a combat skill completely. I'd still prefer a save anytime even if it was a single file, but I think your worries are unlikely to occur here.

[@videogamemagick8572]

I've been planning on getting into the pen and paper Shadowrun for quite a bit as it seems great but i wanted to try the game first to get a feel and i can't wait!

[@Daudgrim]

Which game is that? Can't think of any "expeditions" games atm. Google search revealed lots of different stuff.

[@VemorrFrantik]

I have yet to read Neuromancer, but I feel that cyberpunk was a relatively big thing in the 80's, so it could be based on pretty much anything, or inspired by many. Many of the cyberpunk books seem to have very similar stories and/or backgrounds.

[@Precursor99]

I play the pen and paper rpg of shadowrun and the great thing is that every time we do another story we can shift arround the storyto combat ratio as we like and i think that the user created content can do that as well

[@jas16899]

I wanted to see a review of this game, so I typed in your name and it's awesome you have one up already.

[@templarthade]

Thanks for reviewing this one, TB. You helped me decide I really did want to pick it up. :)

[@StingingV]

It's honestly more of an XCOM style strategy game than an RPG, to my mind. Mostly due to structure, the mission-based aspect from a base where you upgrade. Looking forward to seeing if mods are more open. Love it either way.

[@MrFivefivefivesix]

This seems like my kind of thing, the lack of a map is fine by me, I can draw my own like I used to back in the old-school days. Keeping a notebook of everything and learning the mechanics is just fun for me; I still do it in Dark Souls even though there's tonnes of wikis out there that already have that information.

[@kierankowalski2921]

Got to remember that the core campaign they provide is really just a sample of what can be done with the editor - and that whole campaign can be edited itself. You can change character models, weapons, text, encounters, everything.

[@Gudamangipo]

Just to clarify for people who won't know the book is called "Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep." by Philip K Dick ( just as a point for people too look it up if they are interested) Also you can pick up a collection of Dick's stories called Counterfeit Unrealities.

[@harro123]

In the kickstarter video, one of the developer's selling points was "going old school" like the old SNES and Genesis games which were of course text based narratives.

[@RachniThane]

The game allows you to oddly rewind to earlier points in the game and play from there (good if you messed up or want to try different things)

[@Diarmuhnd]

Thanks for your vid TotalBiscuit. I was an avid ShadowRun player for many years, playing the pnp game with a large group of friends for nearly a decade. I was curious if my old character could be recreated here; doesnt look like it.. well not yet at least. I was a violent, socialy mal-adjusted killer with nearly no essence left due to all of my cyberware/bioware/nanotech implants; wageing a one man war versus the Universal Brotherhood & a few of the more 'criminal' corps out there. Oh well. lol

[@Cortaal]

Considering Shadowrun is a pen and paper style game like DnD, I think it is quite well done from what the review showed us. You have to remember that with games like this, you have to play them almost imagining as if there was a gamemaster before you so a lot of conversation is to be expected. Also, Deckers are insanely fun in pen and paper, I hope that whoever made the game does them justice

[@peteross9433]

LOL love how you pick and choose. Voice acting was great in MOTN and Trine as well as in Dust. And in Witcher 2, the voice acting was far from terrible, it was pretty spot on and made the game more engrossing. Awesomenauts hired KZbinrs to help with the voice acting, nobody said they could not have done the same for Shadowrun. Just because you didnt like Witcher 2 voice acting doesnt change fact it was there and that a large portion of the player base loved it.

[@simeonyves5940]

Exactly, and i feel they got that classic "top Down RPG" feel down pat. and indeed, its a better genre for indipendants, as you don't need to worry about up close textures or voice overs. plus well, i really like this sort of game. got hooked about 8 years ago when a friend introduced me to Baldurs Gate, then it just spiraled from there all the way to classic "table top" RPG. so i think its great to see this kind of game being made again, and selling quite well!

[@Weaver_Games]

Deckers in the new version of shadowrun can basically hack into any environmental objects that are elctronic as everything is connected to the matrix. Does this game allow that flexibility if you have the right programs? Can I explode a coffee machine next to someone for instance to burn them?

[@djnorth2020]

I often need to play in short sessions, so a different save system would be good. You can apparently rewind to do things differently.. So I do not see a reason for such a long in between save points.

[@HillbillyArchmage]

Regarding turns in the Matrix vs those in the real world: the idea in the PnP was that, since VR interactions take place at the speed of thought, multiple virtual turns would take place for every regular turn. I wonder if reflex cyberware can grant you more than two actions per turn (as in the tabletop), or if something like that only affects initiative order... Reflex boosts were one of the highest-cost, highest-return options in Shadowrun. Hard to imagine street samurai otherwise.

[@reroshaggy]

Been waiting for a redemptive Shadowrun game since the previous one, this looks good. Some of the things people are complaining about (mechanics wise) are indicative of older games of its ilk. Buying it but atm more excited for the new Cyberpunk game coming.

[@darkoni12398]

The sheer amount of dialogue reminds me of when bioware made good rpg's...instead of boiling every response to nice/evil/sarcastic. Pointless flavor texts is a benefit to rpg's and i hate that they have been "streamlined" out

[@Rezorrand]

I've been playing this for quite some time now and have to say I agree pretty much spot on with total biscuit. It looks nice, the story and dialogue are really well written and as the combat is quite good too the annoying save system and linearity are quite minor. Especially that there are editors around that allow people to make their own adventures (with proper loot systems, random encounters etc.) They were restricted by small funds and I believe they did an excellent job for the money raised

[@aniforprez]

glad to see a kickstarted game actually do what was promised WELL. they promised a 2d isometric character and story driven rpg, they gave us a goddamned BEAUTIFUL 2d isometric character and story driven rpg

[@Hathsin]

This was an excellent video. Everything I needed to hear to learn what I was planning to buy. Cheers.

[@peteross9433]

Also you might want to note that most of the budget went into the face expression of characters and emotions engine of the game rather than on the actual voice acting since they had to hire actors and used motion cap for most of it in order to recreate actual movements of people faces.

[@AlexBaldwinFTW]

Dumb question; do you download other people's stories thru the Steam Workshop, or do I have to use a proprietary site?

[@AstralFrost]

Funny thing about these games is that you have to be willing to read endless text, and that's a massive portion of what you do. I'm somewhere in the middle on that, but I bought this game because I think I need to give that old school CRPG style a good shot.

[@RandomGameLand]

Really? Seems odd I dont make games but how hard is it to make a save system. In any case after they get money from the sales did they say if they would put it in an update, cuz that would be nice.

[@jful]

I think it's basically like the concept of 'fumbling' which exists in many tabletop RPG's and games too. It also happens in real life, you may have heard the saying "s**t happens" ;)

[@Battleweasels]

Cyberpunk is already back! In addition to this, there's also Cyberpunk 2077 on its way by the people who made the Witcher, Sattelite Reign avaliable for kickstarter (which is a lot like syndicate) and there's a Shadowrun MMO in development too if that's your sort of thing.

[@Kordanor]

Yep, but that's part of the problem. Basically you have two difficulties: The Game Setting of "Difficulty" and the Amount of Pause you press. If you play on easy and avoid to press pause alltogether you might still have hard fights. You can however shift the hard difficulty a lot by pressing pause a lot. So basically the equasion is "SuccessInFight = Difficulty - YourSkill - FrequencyOfPressingPause". And I don't like the frequency in this equasion. I prefer to focus on my tactical skills.

[@TheOldPianoRoll]

As a huge Shadowrun fan, I love this game so far. I lived and breathed the Sega version when I was younger. The SNES version was a damn fine game. I have a decent collection of Shadowrun novels. And this game does not disappoint. I still think the Sega version sets the bar, but I like this a lot.

[@MrDustinRT]

Love this game. I've always been looking for this type of RPG play as well as the fps shadowrun. I love them both.

[@Pajoncek]

those were full priced titles that had budgets at least 10times as big as this game had. I am actually pretty impressed with how it turned out. Really good game.

[@JF95]

Really, I would say it came down to a question of what they could cut and what they needed to keep and they likely decided that a checkpoint system would take less time to code (or was perhaps already in place) and they decided that this would be good enough to allow them to ship a working product. I would have preferred a manual save, but if it meant they didn't have to compromise on another area that I would have perhaps cared more about then I'm fine with that.

[@JohnLask]

im buying this bad boy just for the sheer awesomeness of oldschoolness and raw film noir vibe

[@antonarap]

The fact this is not baldurs gate does not mean it is bad. Shadowrun is a CASUAL title that offers a deep, story driven experience. I like the no save design choice. It sets up some really tense moments. Really enjoying it at the moment.

[@Dasheeznit69]

I was very surprised to hear this was a turn based RPG game, considering the Shadowrun I've played is a Xbox 360 Class Based First Person Shooter. This games looks very similar to the old Fallout games which unfortunately isn't my type of game, so I will not be picking this up. Thanks for the video TB!

[@AndrewWatson1992]

First of all the game looks great, a fully fleshed out story line with plenty to read and discover. I've been waiting for this type of game for over a decade now. If people are interested in the more apocalyptic style of game play such as that found in the old fallout or wasteland games, Interplay the people behind those original games, ran a very successful kickstarter for Wasteland 2. You can still pledge and "buy" a digital copy for release at Inxile's website for Wasteland 2.

[@SamGears]

It's nice to see the reaction of someone new to Shadowrun lore and history.

[@avatarofthomas]

MY opinion on the checkpoints is that the devs wanted to give it an authentic pen and paper rpg feel. Being that it's turn based, you aren't pressured to make a decision *quickly*, but you ARE forced to think through exactly how you want to proceed and live with the consequences, good or bad!

[@the_berzi]

The battle into the matrix or whatever its called reminds me of the netrunner from Cyberpunk 2020. That's surely one thing easier to render in a videogame than in a regular pen and paper rpg.

[@Imeran]

The music reminds me a lot of EvE Online's. It's a good sign to me, because it feels "authentic" to the sci-fi/cyberpunk theme.

[@Peregrine1989]

Different types of lost. He means the ability to wander around, and find random things, where as maps allow you to find where you need to go.

[@RandomGameLand]

I cant see any situation where checkpoints aren't there to extend the game, surely you could just put a proper save system instead right? I guess in games that have both the checkpoints would be there in case you forget to save but that seems to be about it.

[@MRJayeye]

I wish it played like the genesis version more, that one was my favorite out of the two.Oh well, cant wait to play it tonight!

[@aruss1]

I'm sold. Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and Fallout 1 & 2 are some of my favorite games. This looks great.

[@deathshadow69]

I completely understand what you're getting at; I loved 3rd edition. I do think that 4th ed is much easier for people to learn. It would be hard, I think, to really make a 2nd or 3rd ed. computer game. Imagine all of the weird rules that the computer would have to emulate.

[@LoomisPC]

2 hrs. I wonder if steam has already pre-dowloaded that stuff... and if not, how much longer will it download?

[@derUnglaublicheNils]

Where is the Touchscreen? The innovation? When you rip your fingers on the screen and you tear the landscape apart with your physical hands, it just feels amazing, man. It feels amazing.

[@peteross9433]

yes i do. Because it helps with the immersion and helps you be more interested in the lore and the world itself thats just my opinion of course. I just feel taken out of the game after too long of reading texts. I play Age of Wonders where text is present, but the diff is it is not central to the gameplay. You can play the game fine by skipping the text windows. Not the case here because that's the focus of what the devs wanted to do.

[@xreturnwthhonorx]

Been playing for 2 days straight now, and I'm just as excited as when I first turned it on. The game Probably doesn't appeal to the younger generation, but for me being an older gamer I couldn't be anymore happier. Plus I can't wait for all the user generated mods and matrix runs the community will be putting out on the workshop soon.