Shadowrun Shadowrun: Hong Kong - Extended Edition

[Perkel]

3rd fucking game and i still didn't even finish first one... dropped it after 5 minutes...

On other hand when i will start to play and i will like it i will have 3 games to play b2b ...

 

[eXalted]

The Matrix is the very worst thing about the game for me. It was tolerable in the previous Shadowrun games, but now it is actively offensive.

I'm not even in the middle of the game yet but is the Matrix ahead the same as the beginning - running from the cones of flying "cameras" and memorization minigame?

Tell me no...

 

[Alfons]

Probably going to need to take a totem of some kind.

You probably want to do that with any char anyway.

Probably not going to bother . Every time I start a new game I start thinking about the busywork that I have to do for the next 10-30 minutes and get bored. Fucking around with cheat engine showed that different builds aren't that interesting anyway, especially when you consider the fact that you will spend at least an hour or two skipping through dialogue.

 

[Ninjerk]

I'm not even in the middle of the game yet but is the Matrix ahead the same as the beginning - running from the cones of flying "cameras" and memorization minigame?

Tell me no...

I force every gate/whateveritscalled I encounter.

 

[JarlFrank]

I'm not even in the middle of the game yet but is the Matrix ahead the same as the beginning - running from the cones of flying "cameras" and memorization minigame?

Tell me no...

Yes. New Matrix is shit.

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Anyone try a melee character without the martial defense spell? I can't figure out how to go about it without the PC being critted for 20-30 every other turn.

I did, I only take martial defense somewhat in middle of the game for one run, never use it before and after. I didn't even use any totem.

Investing in Body early is needed, so is quickness and dodge. On Hard, 4 body I recommend on early game, having good armor also helps a bit. Invest in Quickness and Dodge a bit (2 should be enough in early game, I ended up with 4 + 1 from alphaware in the endgame). I suggest at least having 2 in conjuration for Haste. It helps a lot. Use drugs, especially in big fight (the one that add 1 str every time being hit is nice)

Playing melee in early to middle game is actually less of badass mofo kicking everything and actually needs careful use of cover. Move in cover towards your enemy, hit once (and flush em out of cover), let your range guys/gals finish the enemy, move to next enemy and so on. Later in the game with good Body, Quickness, and Dodge (Haste also helps), you can start punching enemy at your leisure.

 

[eXalted]

I force every gate/whateveritscalled I encounter.

Hmm, I guess doing this and after that logging out will do the trick.

Yes. New Matrix is shit.

Too bad, because it looks a lot more prettier.

 

[Ninjerk]

Hmm, I guess doing this and after that logging out will do the trick.


Too bad, because it looks a lot more prettier.

Yeah, setting off the trace alarm in the Matrix appears to have little to no effect on meatspace.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

Hmm, I guess doing this and after that logging out will do the trick.

It will keep the alarm status if you come back to the matrix, and I believe you can't just unjack in the middle of combat.

It still seems like it was vastly underused compared to the other games, there's really no point in making the PC a decker, while it was a huge asset previously.

 

[ArchAngel]

I object! HBS also deserves its own subforum if Larian does.

 

[Bubbles]

I object! HBS also deserves its own subforum if Larian does.

I am 100% in favour of this.

 

[Copper]

Just ignore stealth mode, don't bother fighting any trackers that detect you, force the blocker ice, and when the alarm goes off, fight all the ICE that teleports on top of you along with your summoned ESPs, which is at least a semi-involved fight. Afterwards you can run around at your leisure, directly attack the blocker ICE, which dies in two hits, and there's only a few stragglers in some of the rooms.

Probably not a good move on the last Matrix segment in the Prosperity tower run - there's actually enough ICE there to seriously mess up most deckers, and getting full trace would take too long as well.

 

[Volrath]

So did this game end up shit or what?

 

[Bubbles]

So did this game end up shit or what?

Consensus is that it's great, but not as good as Dead Man's Switch.

 

[Duellist_D]

EH? It might not be as good as DF DC, but it sure as hell is a lot better than DMS.

 

[ArchAngel]

Consensus is that it's great, but not as good as Dead Man's Switch.

I think you mean not as good as Dragonfall

 

[Ninjerk]

I think you mean not as good as Dragonfall

You clearly don't know Bubbles

 

[JarlFrank]

It's better than DMS and about on par/slightly less good than Dragonfall.

 

[Darkzone]

As far as I remember, Is0bel is meant to be Somalian, her family were refugees and when they arrived in Hong Kong they were moved to the Walled City because it was a dense, low-income housing centre designed for people in their situation. That's not 'black character for the sake of black character', it's a character that has a reason to be there and that illuminates something about the Shadowrun world and Hong Kong. That's the difference between writing diverse characters and pushing an SJW agenda. Diversity is good; it leads to a more interesting breadth of character in RPGs and forces writers to move outside of the same old tropes. It only becomes a problem when character writing is subordinated to the need of the writer to show just how progressive they are.
I do agree that the MC should've been a Hong Kong native, but mainly because I feel it undermined the sense of place in Hong Kong by making you a non-native.

Is0bel is just for the sake of being a black person in this game, because her blackness has nothing to tell about the environment of Hong Kong, that she faces. She faces no cultural friction and no racial problems. There is nothing that explains the near environment of Hong Kong and the people living there, that has something to do with her skin color. Nor does here skin color tell the story of a strange in a strange land. And therefore there is no narrative mean in her blackness, it is just for the sake of diversity of races. Fuck even using Somalia for her origin is just plain stupid. She could have been from India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka, where there are also people with very dark skin. The reason for her being there, is just pulled out of the ass.
Her personal attributes are: species(dwarf), race(negroid), gender(female), age(juvenile), job(decker).
Why not dont they use the following attributes constellation? species(dwarf), race(asian), gender(female), age(young adult), job(decker).
Why do they have not created characters, like:
A asian troll/ork female muay thai buddhist addept in her 30ies from Thailand, that tells us something about the fraud and blackmail in the thai box business and how she came to be a shadowruner.
Or korean christian human female decker in her late 40ies that speaks about the cultural differences between chinese and koreans and her facing the resulting problems.
How about an old chinese asian human male taoist mage, that tells us something about the awakening of the new age and the new night of taoism and the resulting changes on the chinese main land. Or how the three teachings resolve in the new age.
How about young adult female orc shaman from indonesia that describes her home and her fleeing from the persecution made by muslims against metahumans and non muslims?

The problem with the MC is that the main audience for this game are north americans, and so is also how they build up the characters and yes this undermines the place. It should be like: One night in Bangkok and the tough guys tumble. In that case Hong Kong, but no.. you have two americans shaking up the Hong Kong shadowrun community. (one cop and one out of the clink) Cultural marxist are mostly culturally uneducated, they do not perceive the different facets of a culture, and especially not that of a multi layered cultures like that of china and asia. They create just ungainly characters in an ungainly environment.

The only characters i like in SH:HK are Maximum Law, Reliable Matthew, Miau Xu and Gaichu.

 

[Alfons]

Yeah, setting off the trace alarm in the Matrix appears to have little to no effect on meatspace.

Spoiler

The data retrieval mission, the one where you get the lazor rifle has a jack in point on the first level. If you get max trace there the alarm is triggered.

 

[gestalt11]

I'm not even in the middle of the game yet but is the Matrix ahead the same as the beginning - running from the cones of flying "cameras" and memorization minigame?

Tell me no...

What is wrong with people? You realize you can just kill everything in the Matrix, including the gates, if you want right? I can understand not liking the mini game, but people act like they have to do it. You don't. Or is this just more drama queen hyperbole?

 

[eXalted]

Now when you said that, it occurred to me.... I've never tried fighting in the Matrix.

 

[Ludo Lense]

Finally finished and started the review on Expositionrun: Fragant Harbor aka

Spoiler

Forehammering: Yes I get it the Walled city feeds on people and it sends bad dreams.

They didn't fix anything about Dragonfall and managed to make a whole lot worse. Also the pacing is not atrocious but it really needed to be cut down and edited. If you choose the Whampoan Elder mission first you could have the combat in the first hour followed by 3-4 hours of just exposition.

And to hell with the people who say you can just ignore the citizens of the Hub. You get karma points if you talk to them all the way through and unlock the best ending.

Also the atmosphere isn't very...chinese I guess. I think this is a case of snake eating its own tail since the generic cyberpunk imagery is inspired by asian urban centers and I know Shadowrun is heavily globalized but meh, I was expecting more.

It makes me so sad that the music is so forgettable . I was expecting a Synapse level track dammit .

 

[Lhynn]

Finally finished and started the review on Expositionrun: Fragant Harbor aka Forehammering:

Spoiler

Yes I get it the Walled city feeds on people and it sends bad dreams.

They didn't fix anything about Dragonfall and managed to make a whole lot worse. Also the pacing is not atrocious but it really needed to be cut down and edited. If you choose the Whampoan Elder mission first you could have the combat in the first hour followed by 3-4 hours of just exposition.

And to hell with the people who say you can just ignore the people in the Hub. You get karma points if you talk to them all the way through and unlock the best ending.

Also the atmosphere isn't very...chinese I guess. I think this is a case of snake eating its own tail since the generic cyberpunk imagery is inspired by asian urban centers and I know Shadowrun is heavily globalized but meh, I was expecting more.

It makes me so sad that the music is so forgettable . I was expecting a Synapse level track dammit .

Use fucking spoiler, not matter how obvious it is.

 

[Ludo Lense]

Use fucking spoiler, not matter how obvious it is.

Fair enough though it is like hour one generic stuff.