For some reason I slept on Hong Kong for a while, which is odd considering I loved Dragonfall and thought it showed growth in leaps and bounds from Harebrained Scheme's initial effort with Shadowrun Returns.
I really wish I hadn't. I'm enjoying this one nearly as much as I did Dragonfall.
There are some minor differences, but most of what I described in my Dragonfall review remains the same here. I'm a big fan of story-driven RPGs, I love good characterization (though who doesn't), and I'm a massive fan of good tactical RPGs (I count Final Fantasy Tactics among one of my top-5 favorite games of all-time). This is another solid entry in the series with more good writing, great art design, a fantastic score, and deep turn-based tactical combat. If you liked Dragonfall, then buy this game. You'll love it. And if you haven't played Dragonfall, feel free to give them both a shot.
For the rest of the review I'll talk about some minor differences between this and Dragonfall and how the two games stack up.
First, and perhaps most notable: The Matrix has been greatly expanded upon. It's no longer just a separate tactical combat portion mostly mirroring combat in the normal game. It now features a stealth aspect and more puzzle-solving. The visual aspect of the Matrix has also been greatly augmented. It has more of its own feel now, something I didn't realize the series needed until I played this game. Rather than just the regular game with lots of translucent blue, it now exhibits some incredibly foreign feeling background visuals along with odd lighting and blocky, jutting architecture. The dev team clearly put some time into rounding out decking, which I appreciated because I typically play a weaponless Decker/Rigger player character. There's an added stealth element which I'm not a huge fan of as it promotes too much of a trial-and-error, save scumming style of play since it's simply too expensive to go all-out as a Decker and always roll in with your own ESPs and programs. And once you've alerted the system too much, it's simply too difficult to always fight unless you're spending your Karma and money on nothing but Decking points and gear. I spent lots of time saving before the Matrix, quicksaving during runs, reloading when I got caught and continuously trying to get through fighting only where I needed to. If I went through and just played it as-is, I would always end up getting caught too frequently, leading to system-wide alarm, and then getting my face stomped in by enemy Deckers and IC. I literally didn't succeed once in these situations, and that's with spending the vast majority of my earnings just on Decking gear. In my experience it's simply not possible to get through the Decking sections successfully without save scumming, and that's a huge problem indicating that the balance is off. The movement is too imprecise to really nail the stealth sequences (which leads to a lot of frustration) and once you set off the alarm, the response is almost always too difficult to simply fight through unless you're loaded up with programs and ESPs. That leads to you being forced either to save scum or simply failing and getting knocked out of the Matrix. You have to be insanely lucky to succeed otherwise. It all boils down to the fact that the Matrix sections rely too much on a stealth element that is too imprecise to be relied upon. So I'm not wholly on board with the Matrix redesign as my frustrations with this game almost always occurred there, but I do like that they're making an attempt to flesh it out a bit more, as there's a lot of potential there.
Thankfully the "meatspace" combat doesn't reflect the imbalance of the Matrix gameplay. It's challenging without feeling cheap, and unlike Matrix combat it's approachable from many different strategies. Great tactical gameplay.
As far as the general non-combat gameplay is concerned, I have to issue a warning here: There's a lot of text here, and a lot of reading. This game is a classic cRPG at heart, and if you're not ready to read through tons of dialogue then you probably won't like this game. The way I play (speaking with everyone and constantly exploring every nook and cranny) led to about a 90% to 10% split between dialogue/exploration and combat. That means I spent about 90% of the game walking around and talking to people. It's that extreme.
There are some minor differences, but most of what I described in my Dragonfall review remains the same here. I'm a big fan of story-driven RPGs, I love good characterization (though who doesn't), and I'm a massive fan of good tactical RPGs (I count Final Fantasy Tactics among one of my top-5 favorite games of all-time). This is another solid entry in the series with more good writing, great art design, a fantastic score, and deep turn-based tactical combat. If you liked Dragonfall, then buy this game. You'll love it. And if you haven't played Dragonfall, feel free to give them both a shot.
For the rest of the review I'll talk about some minor differences between this and Dragonfall and how the two games stack up.
Thankfully the "meatspace" combat doesn't reflect the imbalance of the Matrix gameplay. It's challenging without feeling cheap, and unlike Matrix combat it's approachable from many different strategies. Great tactical gameplay.
As far as the general non-combat gameplay is concerned, I have to issue a warning here: There's a lot of text here, and a lot of reading. This game is a classic cRPG at heart, and if you're not ready to read through tons of dialogue then you probably won't like this game. The way I play (speaking with everyone and constantly exploring every nook and cranny) led to about a 90% to 10% split between dialogue/exploration and combat. That means I spent about 90% of the game walking around and talking to people. It's that extreme.
Seriously, these characters are fantastic. Some of the NPCs in the main hub area are so likeable. Shoutout in particular to Ten-Armed Ambrose who runs the cybergear shop. But the entire game is chock full of well-written, interesting character -- Just like Dragonfall was.
One thing that is notably better is Jon Everist's score. Anyone familiar with my reviews know that I'm a big fan of good OSTs in games, and Everist has noticeably stepped up his game from Dragonfall, which had a great score in its own right. The tracks here are less obtrusive; they're more ambient in general and do more to craft the feel of the game's world while at the same time adding touches of traditional Chinese music. Combat themes and the more fast-paced pieces are electrifying as well. I'm incredibly excited at the direction the Indie scene is taking game scores. Jon Everist, Austin Wintory, Darren Korb, etc. These are all great talents that are adding massive value to small-budget games. I can't wait to see more of what they craft in the future.
If I have one complaint about the game it's probably regarding the interface. Clicking action nodes to talk with people or examine something in the environment is sometimes problematic. The nodes disappear, or they register a misclick when you're clearly clicking on them. The karma interface is improved from Dragonfall but the overall interface still leaves a lot to be desired. Why can't I see drone HP? Why can't I see my Decker's HP while he's in the Matrix? Don't show me a health bar, that's not exact enough. It doesn't do anything to help educate me so I can make decisions on what my next moves are. Just small things like that. A minor complaint, really, but still enough to comment on.
If you like tactical RPGs like the old Tactics Ogre series, Disgaea, or the XCOM revival, then this game should be an instant purchase for you. It's fantastic. However if you find those types of games to be too slow I'd stay away from this one unless you're in the mood to grind through gameplay you dislike just to experience an immersive story filled with genuine, interesting characters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Playtime: 64 hours
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