For someone who has a tough time getting into RPGs since all of them want to be 100+ hour epics that devour your life, this was a fantastic alternative, delivering all you'd want from an RPG like a fascinating world to immerse yourself in, great characters to get to know, lots of interesting choices to make, but all condensed into a short-n-sweet 20-30 hour experience.

There are a lot of aspects to love, such as the cool Shadowrun universe, freeform nature of jobs where you pick which ones to do in order to reach your long-term goals, loads of alternative routes and solutions to missions based on your build and crew, and the way you grow to love your companions and help them out in their own personal quests.

But one aspect I loved above all else was the streamlining of inventory/party management: while you are still given a small semblance of control over your companions growth, they largely handle themselves, meaning you only ever need to worry about managing your own build and equipment, thereby reducing the amount of downtime between missions that would halt your flow. This also has the knock-on effect of reducing stress over item usage: since they bring and refill their items every mission, you may as well use them without fear!

I'll admit that the game might not make the best first impression: the graphics, while stylish, can be a bit dull and unexciting particularly for aspects like combat effects, and the game can feel a bit stiff and awkward at times to control, requiring a delicate, patient touch. But once I started this, I just couldn't stop till I reached the end, so give it a go if you're someone like me who wants an RPG like the old days: ones that are all killer, no filler!

Loved this. I slept on the SR series for years, picked this up mostly for research, and found a lot of unexpectedly interesting design and narrative decisions. It's hard to pick one thing that SR:DF does unusually well, but the ambience, systems, narrative, writing, art never fall below 'very good' and they work together harmoniously. And of course it's really faithful to the original IP if you were there for that in the early TRPG days, so if you're here for nostalgia, fill yer boots.

Really sad when it finished - glad I have SRHK to go on to.