Shadowrun Returns

Good game.

It can be a little dense jumping in without much knowledge of Shadowrun or tabletop systems of the era it's based on, but there's fun to be had here. It can feel a little slow paced but the writing is decent. If Cyberpunk high fantasy with Orcs, Elves, magic and Netrunning type content sounds up your alley: there's not really many other games that will have the same flavor. Once you understand the systems, mechanically it's fine. Nothing really remarkable. The setting is definitely what kept my attention as someone who's play basically every other cRPG along the lines of Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment... Etc.

a very good adaption of the table top RPG.

Returns is a barebones experience compared to its successors Dragonfall and Hong Kong: linear, straightforward, very light on role-playing. That said, it's a decent Shadowrun story, and it's succinct enough to not overstay its welcome. I spent a few evening on it in 2025 and was entertained.

Playing through it three times in a span of 10 years, I'd say the game is worth a playthrough. Noir-cyberpunk story, with enough mystery to keep you interested and solid combat. Further installments are better, but this one worth the look still.

I purchased this expecting Baldur's Gate with guns. I was very wrong.

It is turn based and linear; you go out on missions, then return to your home to level up, re-supply, pick up side missions, and progress the story.

At first I was disappointed, but the story and atmosphere sucked me in.

Their are 5 races (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Orc, and Troll) and 6 classes (Samurai, Mage, Decker, Rigger, Shaman, Physical Adept) but racial limits on attributes and skills are disappointingly limited. There's no point in making a troll as anything other than a Samurai or Physical Adept, for example, as their racial limits would prevent any other class' skills rising above 6 points (out of 15)

The games also have fan-made campaigns available in the Steam community

If you're looking specifically for cyberpunk games then it's a must have; if you want anything else it's hit and miss.

cyberpunk before cyberpunk

Turn based tactical goodness in a Cyberpunk meets magic setting.

Great game that I would love to get more into and finish the really cool story. But If you, like me, die a little inside when you realise you have to do a bunch of reading in a video game, Then maybe give this one a miss.

The game has potential. I forgot how much I liked it and hate it at the same time. The %of hitting and missing is way off. It's incredibly common to miss with a 99% change to hit. One battle I missed 3x in a row. Anything below 70% is almost a guaranteed miss. The fact the the hired runners have no armor is absurd. They are almost useless in a fight. The game is unbalanced at best.

Was meh upon release, is totally outdated and dull in 2025.

Overall grade: C ++

Enjoyable? Yes
Recommended? If you don’t mind text heavy games (more lore sounds good to me!)
Replayability: Low

++mystery/detective-ish, 3/4 isometric turn based RPG in a cyberpunk-magic style
+story, lore, [most] characters and dialogue are written well enough to capture attention
+character customization, stats, leveling and progression
+immersive world
++quick save option

+/-dialogue heavy - someone who is looking for action packed gameplay may be turned off by this. I found most of it very enjoyable though, almost like picking up a good book
+/-linear, simple and short (when compared to other RPGs)—not a bad thing at all imo. It didn’t drag on and you don’t have to invest endless hours into it 👍🏽
+/-dialogue responses won’t change the outcome of the story (only affecting minor things like the tone of conversations, rarely grants access to additional areas and rarely affects outcomes of situations), so dialogue choices are more for the player’s perception—You create the role and play it (or not)—the story will unfold as it’s intended to

-the latter 1/4 of gameplay was not my cup of tea, particularly having to use a special weapon to eliminate certain enemies—plus, it moves more into a fantasy setting (caves, giant creatures, etc. ) and loses a lot of the electric/grunge vibe that was so alluring early/mid game (and it has a lot less mystery :/). If not for this, I would have easily rated it a grade or two higher
-supporting characters come just as fast as they go. It’s tough to care for any of these chummers when they’re only there for a minute
-only one bug encountered: combat mode sometimes continues even after all enemies are eliminated causing you and your team to take turns moving using action points vs moving around freely. It can be to your advantage though since you can reload, heal, reset cooldowns etc.

Steam Deck compatibility: ✅
Over 8 hours at full battery
Runs smooth, no crashes
Controls: Mainly using L and R trackpads/joysticks for camera and curser movements and any other button of choice (RT trigger) for LT click
Native resolution ✔️
Offline play ✔️

Good Game

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great

great game

Almost all enemies target _you_ almost exclusively, even when it makes no sense. If you die, it's instant mission failure... See a problem here?

Great game. Dungeons and Dragons meets Cyberpunk.

Surprisingly, in 2025, a game from 2013 looks and plays quite well, good job!

Really enjoyed this cyberpunk CRPG in the Shadowrun setting. The next game in their trilogy (Dragonfall) is a major improvement in all respects, but this was a fun introduction. A real shame what happened to the people working at the development studio.

Very good game. I have to say though, sometimes the cycling of the turns confuse me since I am used to individual characters having a turn instead of a team base. But good overall. Sam you are a bastard, I love you. Dresden is probably my favorite and I got a Job! I feel like the game is too short or too long sometimes. Play it, it is definitely an experience

Very Recommended!

gamebreaking bug about 2 hours into the game, not worth it

Beautiful little RPG that kinda feels like a visual novel and is perfect for role playing. The RPG-mechanics aren't too deep and on normal difficulty I had to reload like three times so don't expect a challenge. It's all about the narrative and the athmosphere. The story has everything you would expect from a classical cyberpunk story and keeps you interested in what happens next. With around 15 hours it has the perfect lenght for a fun adventure in the world of shadowrun.

A pretty good introduction to the Shadowrun universe if a bit shallow for an RPG, by which I mean there are some things you can pick that have no use in the game. A great bonus is the campaign maker, its pretty easy to make your own campaign or download fan made ones, worth the play.

SR:R is showing its age. It's shorter than its sequels, more shallow than its sequels, and most importantly, more buggy than its sequels. And by buggy, I mean the blindsiding, gamebreaking kind.

The story is still pretty great, if you can deal with all of this. Not at all an essential game to have in your library, so all this considered, it's a soft thumbs-down.

I forgot to write a review at the I finished this game, but here's one now. This is rather short, but the campaign is succinct. The combat system is fun- i like the icebreaking especially. The companions need a bit development, however.

Overall, not bad, but also not great. A solid 7/10, maybe?

A 21st century classic tactical RPG.

Games easy, scratches that turn based itch with maybe a few gameplay annoyances. overall a 10-15 hour game worth if on sale and if you like shadowrun

Pretty basic and linear, but good enough for one time play and introduction to Shadowrun worldbuilding

If you miss Shadowrun, this will fill the hole.

The best in the series imo.

Not great.

Style is decent but the story is short and linear, maps are small, and there are an awful lot of load screens.

Combat is bland and revolves around chance-to-hit. Character skills theoretically "improve" the chance and damage but since it doesn't show the numbers... maybe it helps?

Any appreciation I had for the game was killed by the final corridor slog: Having to re-kill all the bugs with the horrible special weapons was awful. Miss, hit, miss, reload... kill it again... Never again.

After playing Baldur's Gate 3 I was looking for a CRPG to play and came across Shadowrun. The game is user friendly enough to learn the mechanics and it's a fun story to follow. This is a good game for those looking to get into CRPGs and the cyberpunk environment makes it fun. Definitely check this game out.

Shadowrun Returns is an okay, but solid, introduction to the shadowrun series. The world is interesting and there is a solid foundation here for an RPG. However, there isn't much meat here at all. The one story that comes with the game is pretty barebones, has almost zero replayability, and is incredibly linear. The introduction is solid, the hook is interesting, but it doesn't hook you for very long. The best part about this game is that it is short, because quite frankly, if it were any longer it would have majorly outstayed its welcome. There isn't any real looting, character building is a good system but not fleshed out, there are some interesting companions if you even want to call them that, but overall it was just a fine game. Would I recommend this? Sure, if you're super into CRPGs and want to try out one of the older classics. If you are not already into the genre, this is NOT the place to start. I would recommend this on a DEEP sale at best.

“Shadowrun Returns” features a compelling story and lovely 2D/3D visuals. The missions are rewarding, and unlike in Shadowrun: Dragonfall, you will get more than enough karma to max a few of your skills. However, there’s no voice work, and the game is quite short. Two playthroughs lasted less than twenty hours. (6/10)

While the gameplay was excellent, and the combat system was interesting i cannot for the life of me reccomend this game to others for several reasons.

1. it is short too short, the campaign is like 8 hours long, and has little replay value unless you want to make a new character for a different playstyle. i also have a big problem with having a beautiful map that i only get to explore for like 5 minutes before im stuck in the bar talking to a meth dealer in a trench coat for the chance to taste the sweet sweet outside air. also the fact that i cannot new game plus my character frustrates me to no end.

2. while the setting had amazing potential (think cyberpunk with spells and shit). I think this game failed to live up to its full potential with writing and lack of content. I know i can supplment the content through mods but is shouldnt have to do that. its like as if the dessert was the main course.

3. The writing. My god did the writing suck. It some fat black lesbian weeb who browses tumbler all day wrote the story for the game. Before you accuse me of being racist, she literally has a self insert character you meet 30 minutes into the story. Every time a character added a random japanese word like "omae" or boku while speaking english i wanted to wash my eyes with bleach and curse god for giving humanity the ability to put their thoughts into words. I am certain this weeb author has never talked to a japanese person in their life and should never do so lest her stench drive them away.

also i hate the fact your dialogue options forces you to be walmart deadpool. It doesnt matter what dialogue choices you make in the beginning you will become walmart deadpool whether you like it or not.

despite my gripes with the main campaign i sense ENORMOUS potential with modding. Dont like the main story? write your own. Dont like the map? build it yourself. But the fact that this main campaign was so godamn dogshit frusterates me to no end.

so overall the combination of poor writing, no open map, and weebness so cringe it breaks any sense of immersion you might have i cannot reccomend this game, unless you want to create your own levels and play it yourself.

I'm almost through a replay of Shadowrun Returns after completing it about a decade ago. I remembered it fondly. I've just come back to it after completing Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and I am *not* disappointed. The storytelling... the interface... it's compelling, dark and fun and exquisitely entertaining.

Shadowrun returns. Solid isometric fun.

A cool short CRPG which will be a refresher for a lot of people playing other 100+ hours fantasy CRPG games. The characters were very well written and the game is a really good entry point in the Shadowrun universe...

Good story

Short experience. It all escalates to some HUGE shit in a matter of days lmao.

The plot is lowkey insane.

You go from a supposed easy good paying gig to insanity. Some good shitty humour here and there but unfortunately little replayability, at least for me.


The one soundtrack that comes back in Dragonfall? Damned good it is.

Having played after Shadowrun Dragonfall, you can really see how much they have improved with the later installements, on most fronts. This is not a bad game, pretty cool, but by itself, seen separately from the other games in the series I would not give it more than a 6,5 on a 10 scale. But it ties well into the whole and introduces some characters and worldbuilding that is further built upon later. That icludes gameplay though, although overal style? They have had it nailed from the begin with this game and kept it relatively consistent without much change.

Solid. If I played this one first though? I am afraid I would not have chosen to explore the other games.

Quest lines and tactics are great.

New to this but I like it.

One of the first and coolest crpg, I've ever played. Great story, awesome character designs, and combat is fun! If fantasy cyberpunk is your cup of tea, then this is right up your alley. Replayable in so many ways!

Cons: combat can be frustrating for first time crpg players, may take a few tries in some quests...

GO PLAY!

Cheers!

This game has kept its charm over time. It is shorter and more brief than its sequels but completely enjoyable non-the-less. Especially if you prefer to play lone wolf style.

A fun nostalgic cyberpunk game. Perfect for when you want the vibes of Shadowrun, without the buckets of d6's.

A turn-based tactical RPG, that is a great way to jump into the Shadowrun universe.

A fine crpg with a somewhat linear story. Well worth it despite that

short, but very interesting introduction to the shadowrun universe and to the C-RPG subgenre as a whole. if you don't have the time. just skip this one and play the next one in the thrillogy. but, if you love a cyberpunk universe and just wants more of Shadowrun, or if you're trying to get a hold of the turn based tactical combat, this is the place for it.

7/10