Overall grade: B-

Enjoyable? Yes
Recommended? Yes
Replayability: Med-Low (will most likely revisit sometime in the future, but will definitely play Hong Kong before that)

+isometric, turn based, mystery RPG in a cyberpunk-magic style
+atmospheric and immersive - I’m absolutely into the gritty, dystopian, electric/grunge vibe
++level and environment design
+engaging story - does a nice job of detailing the shadowrun universe at its current state and it’s immediate issues, remaining consistent throughout
+supporting characters have their backstories and some personal missions too, with Glory’s being the best imo
+large majority of missions are also very good, mainly for their plots (including mission briefings/details, progressions, and eventual moral dilemmas and whatnot)
+tactical and satisfying combat imo
+character customization - extensive build options, leveling and attributes; weapon, cyberwear and armor options.
Being able to change/upgrade my team’s loadout (weapons, spells) and seeing how they perform on the field felt rewarding as well
+tons of text/dialogue options that affect how missions unravel and resolve; multiple endings

+/-Dialogue was distinctly “ordinary” 95% of the game. Makes complete sense, presuming it’s mimicking speech in the Berlin Flux state and that of a shadowrunner, but can feel a bit too simplistic. For being such a text-heavy game, I was hoping for a bit more “spice”
+/-very little narration, relies almost entirely on dialogue

This is not a knock—it’s very easily digestible and serviceable, of course, but also not entirely memorable in this regard (there wasn’t one quote or conversation that really stuck with me). Still, it’s interesting enough as a whole

Minor gripes:
-some etiquette options felt like a complete waste. I was only able to actively use them once or twice and witnessed a ton of missed opportunities for not choosing other options
-“karma” points are set in stone once applied, so there’s no room to correct a “bad” build
-Interface, inventory management and a few qol updates are missing
-I stumbled upon the ability to change my team’s gear only on the final mission. This system is unconventional and differs from the way you replace gear on your main character. This should have been mentioned somewhere within the tutorial
-RNG - I wish there was a more detailed breakdown to see what’s determining your hits/misses while on the field (combat log, maybe?). I’m sure the enemy’s skills have a ton to do with it (as well as your own), and If there was a place to view this, it’s not made clear.

Steam Deck compatibility: ✅ Runs smoothly
Controls: trackpads/joysticks for mouse/curser movements and any other button of choice (RT trigger or A) for LT click
Native resolution, widescreen ✔️
~7hrs at full battery
I used 30fps and lowered TDP and GPU for longer battery life as I played this away from home and didn’t want to worry about charging often
Offline play ✔️

A great improvement from returns in terms of stary, gameplay and actual companions. I love glory and deitrich.

let us take a game where the weakest aspect by far is the combat, and expand upon it by making the combat in the sequel exactly the same, then upping the enemy count by 4x as much without making any changes to speed things up or make it less tedious. don't let the player ever restock and never give him any clue how long a mission is going to be until well after he's run out of every medpack and grenade he bought and is only halfway through. someone made a serious mistake designing this game and it is making me hate it a lot.