In the Shadowrun universe fantasy meets technology and the result is pretty good.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall is the expansion to Shadowrun: Returns. And for the most part they share the same core mechanics, with Dragonfall having a few improvements to UI, party management, and overall level design. So if you didn't like Returns, than you are not going to like Dragonfall either. On the other hand, if you only kind of enjoy Returns, or thought it was below average than you'll enjoy Dragonfall due to its improvements.
Dragonfall has a lot of the same things going for it that Returns had too. The story is a compelling tale of revenge with numerous subplots and character development. All of which is told through a lot of reading. The characters in your group and in the game's world have their own goals, personalities, and abilities. All of which makes them feel more realistic and relatable. Lastly specialization matters in the game since there are numerous options in the game's environment and dialogue that can only be access by a character proficient in a certain skill or talent. And while some might look negatively on this as limiting gameplay, I found it to be a positive since it made character development feel like it matter beyond just picking combat skills.
Dragonfall has a few things going against it, most of which were also in Returns. The game's camera has an isometric view that cannot be rotated, which limits what the user can see and how levels are design. And while this fits into their desire art style, that art style is kind of bad. There isn't a lot of detail being displayed, and most objects/npcs are unremarkable. This also affects the next problem which is the production value for the game. There is a lot of reading, and I mean a lot, like a hundred of pages of text. And for most of the game this is fine, but where I take exception to it is during important scenes like the ending. The lack of voice overs, and cut scenes during these important story segments makes the game feel cheap, and the scenes lack effectiveness. It is the lack of effort on this mechanic that irritates me, I mean Fallout 2 (which came out in 1998) had cut-scenes, which were just a slide show with a voice over. So it wouldn't be difficult for them to do something similar if they wanted to. Lastly, I encounter a rather nasty bug in the game that I feel the need to pointed out, since it is seems to be common, and it is major. Near the end of the game, at numerous occasions, I lost the ability to move or command my characters. And as you can guess, this was game breaking. The only recover I found was to reload a manual save file. I don't think having an issue like this is acceptable, especially in a title that has been out for a while.
Like I said at the top, Dragonfall isn't going to change your opinion on the Shadowrun series if you had a negative view of it before. But if you liked it or had mixed feelings about it than it might. It takes what worked in Returns and does them better.
