Shadowrun Trilogy Review (PlayStation 5)
Our Shadowrun Trilogy Review comprises of the 3 cult tactical RPG games taking place in a dystopian cyberpunk future in which magic has re-awakened, bringing back to life creatures of high fantasy. Initially created as a tabletop RPG over 30 years ago, this one-of-a-kind setting has gained a huge cult following during the past three decades.
Shadowrun Trilogy Review Pros:
- Decent graphics.
- Three games in one.
- You get both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions.
- The download size for each game
- Shadowrun Returns – 774MB
- Shadowrun Hong Kong – 1.12GB
- Shadowrun Dragonfall – 872.4MB
- 3 difficulties in each game – Easy, normal, and hard.
- Dystopian RPG gameplay.
- Very atmospheric.
- Text speed – slowest to fastest.
- Cursor speed slider.
- In-game tutorial prompts option.
- Camera mode – Free, locked, auto, and console.
- Projection mode – perspective or orthographic.
- 4K support.
- Audio commentary is available in some of the games.
- Character creator with male/female, race (human/elf/dwarf/ork/troll), archetype (Street Samurai/mage/decker/shaman/rigger/physical adept/none), portrait, adjust hair and beard style along with colour. Setup initial stats,name/lastname and street name.
- Karma is earned like exp and is used to put into your state fields which are – body, quickness, strength, intelligence, willpower, and charisma.
- Fast loading times.
- Excellent soundtracks.
- Turn-based combat.
- Combat including movement is all governed by action points.
- Enemies will have a hitting percentage and if they have any effects in play like buffs or hiding in cover.
- Damage numbers will pop up on the screen.
- On-screen prompts to make the combat and general gameplay easy to learn and understand.
- Multiple choice interactions dictate the story, relationships, and more.
- Save and load when you want.
- Shadowrun Hong Kong has the main base game and the additional bonus campaign. You can select which one to play.
- All the games don’t have to be played in any order as they are not sequential.
- Etiquette changes how you deal with social situations and they are – corporate, security, gang, socialite, Shadowrunner, and academic. This is in Shadowrun Hong Kong and Dragonfall.
- Shadowrun Dragonfall is the director’s cut.
- Can end your turn on command.
- Camera control is the ability to move it around and zoom in and out.
- Dragonfall gameplay is a lot more engaging with more interaction opportunities and loot drops.
- Plays really well with the controller.
- Has a tabletop feel to it.
- Feels like you are playing the original games but with the modern tips and tricks.
Shadowrun Trilogy Review Cons:
- Minimal graphic settings.
- Shane all the games are not joined with the same character and setting up a new character every game is just a pain.
- You can see the advancement of the series making the earlier games a lot clunkier than the new ones.
- Doesn’t make it clear what order the games are actually set in.
- Can’t rebind the controls.
- Apart from 4K and loading times, it’s the same games from the gameplay perspective.
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Shadowrun Trilogy:
Developer: Paradox Interactive
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Store Links –
- Graphics - 7/107/10
- Sound - 8/108/10
- Accessibility - 7/107/10
- Length - 8/108/10
- Fun Factor - 8/108/10
Summary
I have only a brief association with the Shadowrun series as at the time I met them, they were (in my mind at least) very text-heavy games that require a lot of concentration and game time and at that particular time in my life, I had far more going on. Back to today and whilst you could argue time is still a huge requirement for these games, I would say that yes it does but they have made these games a lot more approachable. Being able to save when you want, have the controls all work well coupled with on-screen icons making it streamlined make it a lot easier to binge. Shadowrun is a terrific game series that does the dystopian world well, the earlier games are rough only in their archaic systems and mechanics at play. The newer ones definitely play a lot better, visual wise there is very little between them but the gameplay is the key here. Overall this is the definitive collection of the series and whilst the early games are clunky, the later ones highlight why this series holds such a strong following.
