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  • Locked thread
Tiggum
Oct 24, 2007

Your life and your quest end here.


It's been ages since I played it the first time, but I'm pretty sure I just killed Jessica as quickly as possible because that just feels like the obvious thing to do to me. Always try to take out the boss as quickly as possible, because there's just a chance that it ends the fight right away.

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I dont know
Aug 9, 2003

That Guy here...

Kanfy posted:

If I were someone completely unfamiliar with these games I'd probably think "They did this better in the later games" is some kind of a running gag with how many times it's been said, but they really did improve on nearly every aspect. It's actually quite impressive.

But yeah, the final dungeon overall is not great and practically reeks of a rush job. It's almost certainly my least favorite part in the entire series, though I do still like Returns as a game. At least it can only get better from here!

One thing I really have to give Hairbrain Schemes credit for is listening to their audience and working with the feedback. The Berlin Campaign (later renamed Dragonfall) was originally supposed to be a short 2-4 hour bonus campaign for backers. Then based on feedback they ended up expanding it to a full sequel that that the base game should have been.

Polaron
Oct 13, 2010

The Oncoming Storm
That's it?! :psyduck:

AnEndcat
Mar 21, 2013

I thought, for whatever reason she was totally invulnerable until you killed the pillars. I don't want to think of how much time I could've saved. DMS!

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Polaron posted:

That's it?! :psyduck:

There's a denouement and everything but yeah you shoot the shaman a bunch.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



You don't even have to fight the two bug warriors to escort Jessica out, they just politely move out of the way?

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

wiegieman posted:

There's a denouement and everything but yeah you shoot the shaman a bunch.

Or to put it in SR vernacular
"Geek the mage!"

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

Xander77 posted:

You don't even have to fight the two bug warriors to escort Jessica out, they just politely move out of the way?

Correct, it's a fade to black regardless of which choice you make. You don't actually get to kill her or watch her get eaten either, she just goes "oh nooo" instead of "okay".

E:

Also I just want to mention that one update away from the end of this whole thing, I've now come to realize I could've used the official editor to easily look through conversations and their variables instead of relying on saving and reloading. Professional LPing to the end, folks.

Kanfy fucked around with this message at 12:24 on Nov 27, 2017

Groetgaffel
Oct 30, 2011

Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Kanfy posted:

E:

Also I just want to mention that one update away from the end of this whole thing, I've now come to realize I could've used the official editor to easily look through conversations and their variables instead of relying on saving and reloading. Professional LPing to the end, folks.
That will be a great help when you do the next one. :v:

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.
This revelation has also allowed me to find a bunch of cut content, including what seems to be an alternate tutorial mission where you and your crew (which consists of a Street Samurai called Switchblade and the mage New Sally) meet Sam for the first time during a run at the docks. I've put it together the best I could figure, in case people are interested:

quote:


[A figure moves to a pile of crates and starts looking them over. Middle-aged. Male. Human. He vibes civilian - no big iron or magical fetishes visible - but it's late and he's suspicious. He sees your crew, registers he’s in dangerous company but smiles a big smile anyway.]

Hey there! You having an after-work drink? I could use one. I could always use one.

Don't move. Identify yourself.

Null sweat. Don’t go ballistic on me! Metaphorically or otherwise!

[He points to himself.]

Sam. Sam Watts. I’m just picking up a little shipment that fell off a truck. Looks like those rear end-wipe longshoreman left the crates spread out across the whole drat dock. Serves me right for not tipping them, I guess. Now come on - who are you guys?

Little late to be picking up shipments isn’t it?

I’m kind of a night person. You still haven’t answered my question, chummer - but I’ll forgive you in exchange for a drink.


There's presumably a fade to black here where Sam walks to the makeshift bar that was visible in the tutorial mission.

quote:


[He fishes out a beer our from behind the bar, pops the cap with his teeth, tips his head back, and downs the whole bottle - his eyes on you the whole time.]

You’re welcome for the drink. What’s in the crates you’re collecting?

[He flashes another grin.] Nope. I’ve done all the sharing I’m going to. Your turn.

We are meeting an associate here. Business.

[His commlink rings.] Hang on. It's my driver.

[He answers it.] Yeah? No, I haven't found the crates yet. What? Hmmm, not good... probably because of my new friends here... I would appreciate it if you'd wait for this thing to play out... Yeah, give you a call later.

Who's waiting for what to play out?

So, I got a guy waiting for me in the truck outside. He says 8 Lone Star troops just jumped out of a Renraku transport. Says one of ‘em paid the dockmaster to lock the gates behind them. Time for my new drinking buddies to come clean. What did I just walk into?

drat it! The frigging Fixer sold us out to Renraku!

You need to choose your fixers more carefully. And based on our budding friendship, I’m guessing you probably need to choose your friends more carefully, too. [He winks.]

Ten of them versus three of you, huh? Why do I always get chosen by the losing team?

Aren’t there four of us... buddy?

Don’t let my little night errand fool you, I am a creature of drunken leisure - not a man of action. But self-preservation is a terrific motivator. Got a rod for me?

Seems you could make a choice here, to either give him "Dowd's pistol" or not.

Not until I see them shooting at you too.

So I guess it’s still eight against three. At least for the moment. Here they come!

There are also some mid-combat conversations, where you can again choose whether or not to give him the pistol.

quote:


You change your mind about giving me something to shoot with yet?

Nope. Just keep your head down!

Ok, I'll just be here cowering.


quote:


I’m feeling pretty left out here. C'mon! Gimme a drat gun so I can defend myself!

Just cool your jets - we’re doing fine without ya!

Remember, it’s not just YOUR funeral.


quote:


drat it, let me help! Give me something to shoot with!

Just pick up something to throw at them!

Holy cats, I forgot! I’ve got a grenade in my backpack! And the crates I was picking up have hand-grenades and med-kits in them.

Sam Watts for President! Where are they?

The longshoreman scattered the crates around this area. One of us is going to have to go find the crates and see what’s inside each one.


The next one also seems to be an in-battle conversation.

quote:


[He weighs a grenade his hand.] I’ve got a hell of a throwing arm - threw a lot of rocks through windows as a kid.

Another wasted youth.

Of course! I wanted to be a baseball player but I fell in with the wrong crowd.

So you were a street kid?

Nope! Had a cushy childhood in an arcology until pops died and the money dried up. Now I hang out with fine people like you.

So if you’re a registered citizen and all, what are you doing in the drek with the likes of us?

I found something in the shadows that’s missing in the bright lights and sanitized walls of Corp life. Soul. Or maybe that’s just my excuse for drinking my way through life in the company of fine fellows like you.

Got any family left?

Got a mom who still tries to pull me out of the gutter, but it’s kinda hard when she’s wallowing right next to me. I got a sister somewhere in Cali, too. But I’d say at this point my buddies at the bar are my real family. You?

A choice here lets you pick whether your character does or doesn't have family.

Nope, just the runners I trust to not stab me in the back.

Well, you can count me among ‘em. I can use all the friends I can get.

That's all there is in the files, though there probably would've been some different end conversation too.

Kanfy fucked around with this message at 13:24 on Nov 27, 2017

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.
Also someone on reddit summarized the cut content pretty well:

Alarantalara posted:

I've been looking through the data for Dead Man's Switch and it looks like a lot of the content that was originally planned got left in and orphaned. This is my current reconstruction of the original story based on what I could find.

The flashback three years ago features a different cast of characters and is not a flashback but happens before being hired. In addition to Sangoma, there are characters named Switchblade (a street samurai) and New Sally. Sam is not originally on the team and New Larry doesn't exist. Three out of four of yourself, Switchblade, Sangoma, and New Sally are waiting for the fixer at the docks after losing Dowd on the run. Wandering around you find the gates to be locked and meet Sam Watts, who is doing an unrelated run smuggling weapons and medical supplies. He warns you of 8 (or maybe 10, both numbers are mentioned) Renraku guards and after you give him Dowd's pistol, he aids you in fighting off the corp, with some help from the smuggled supplies.

It looks possible that there was some additional content around the start of the search for Coyote, since Seamstress/Pike Place are chapters 4 and 5 but behave as one now. The existing conversations in both places are split between additional unseen scenes.

From there, it looks to be basically the same until Mercy Mental Hospital (but with some mention of Telestrian prior to this). At the hospital, you meet Valerie Telestrian, whose name attracts interest in Telestrian industries. On returning to the Seamstresses Union, you contact/are contacted by Baron Samedi, who also has an interest in them. Together, you arrange a run on the office for information about your respective interests (Marie-Louise/Sam Watts, not to get FAB). In the process, the Baron is killed by Black IC and asks you to contact Marie-Louise Telestrian with what you've learned. You meet her downstairs (in her home?). Marie-Louise decides to go with Lynne to the UB for protection from James.

I'm unsure how the lab run fits into this plot. It seems possible that the map was for something else and was finished enough to be repurposed. If the lab run was present, it happens just before meeting Marie-Louise.

At this point, the funeral is scheduled in the original order, but the next run implies it either replaced something else or didn't lead directly to the UB. At any rate, after it or something else, you are hired by a fixer/Johnson in a junkyard to make another run on a Telestrian lab, in which you take advantage of Garlic Synthsoy cakes, a Telestrian Lab Coat and a Telestrian Lab ID to accomplish the mission.

There are then two missions with unknown content, which eventually lead to the first raid on the Universal Brotherhood. Given that you know Marie-Louise is there, it would be interesting to know if you were trying to rescue her or find out what happened to Sam as currently happens. The bugs remain unkillable, and so because the lab making the anti-bug weapon was destroyed (by you?), you are sent by Telestrian to retrieve the only remaining sample from where the Cutters have stashed it. With the aid of drones and turrets, after fighting many ghouls (were they originally to appear here and so the funeral allowed them to be reused?), the "bug juice" is retrieved. With the juice in hand, you return to Telestrian's offices(?) to plan the final assault, which likely is as before.

The Baron being killed off explains the way he just vanishes from the game after the Telestrian run, and the dialogue choice to tell Marie-Louise that Telestrian got to him even though no such thing happened.

painedforever
Sep 12, 2017

Quem Deus Vult Perdere, Prius Dementat.
There was, according to Steam, also a pre-order/supporter bonus. You could have your pick of custom-built avatars / characters, and some guy in the Seamstress Guild who would tell you stories.

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.

painedforever posted:

There was, according to Steam, also a pre-order/supporter bonus. You could have your pick of custom-built avatars / characters, and some guy in the Seamstress Guild who would tell you stories.

Yeah, it's the ghost of Jordan Weisman you can talk with about what inspired him to create Shadowrun and other such fourth wall breaking stuff. He also gives you some grenades and maybe other miscellaneous items.

Groetgaffel posted:

That will be a great help when you do the next one. :v:

I poked around DF's editor a bit out of y'know, idle curiosity, and you're not wrong. "A great help" is an understatement about how incredibly useful this'd be in that hypothetical scenario.



I'm also noticing that even the conversation editor is clearer and easier to parse compared to Returns. They really did improve on everything. :v:

OutofSight
May 4, 2017
Look at all the copy-paste of text from the editor you could do, Kanfy. Even Shadowrun:HK conversation walls seem bearable with that tool option.

Psion
Dec 13, 2002

eVeN I KnOw wHaT CoRnEr gAs iS

Kanfy posted:


I'm also noticing that even the conversation editor is clearer and easier to parse compared to Returns. They really did improve on everything. :v:

thread title, at this rate

I remember one of the developer commentary bits in HK touching on this actually; mentioning how with both DMS and DF behind them and the respective workflow and toolchain updates, they could be pretty confident in adding event logic and triggers without breaking things. It led to several late-in-development additions, and the example they gave was one of my favorite touches. A good thing all around.

Psion fucked around with this message at 18:13 on Nov 27, 2017

CannonFodder
Jan 26, 2001

Passion’s Wrench

Horrible Lurkbeast posted:

Take note of this everyone, that's the proper way of handling insane shamans.
Always Geek the Mage first, and Shamans are just Mages with different stats.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


Sure, but I specifically meant that should you come upon a raving and ranting magic user of any type you should kneecap them immediately.
:commissar:

Keeshhound
Jan 14, 2010

Mad Duck Swagger

Horrible Lurkbeast posted:

Sure, but I specifically meant that should you come upon a raving and ranting magic user of any type you should kneecap them immediately.
:commissar:

Never trust a wizard.

Yeowch!!! My Balls!!!
May 31, 2006
Not perfectly, but competently, they touched on the thing that makes the bug spirits so intensely dangerous.

The Hive totem is -ludicrously- dangerous in the Sixth World, not just because of the concentration of metahumanity, but because of what it is the totem of.

Family.

You will lose everything that made you an individual. But your most basic animal needs- food, warmth, and companionship- those will be met. Once upon a time, the Hive had to go find some crazed wizard out in the middle of nowhere who was utterly lost to humanity to make its sales pitch, and it was not complicated to dragonbreath said idiot if things got out of hand. But it's the Sixth World now. You want to find somebody who'll sacrifice everything about themselves in order to feel a connection with another living being?

Throw a rock out your window. You'll hit one.

Massive, systemic alienation has turned every homeless shelter, every Speed-Dating For Executives, every single lovely enforced corporate bonding exercise into a prospective bug-spirit recruitment ground. In a world where everything that makes you individual has been a source of pain, and the only thing left that won't get you punished for displaying is loneliness and hate? Something that will take away all of that, and make you finally feel loved, is coming for you.

"We will take your individuality" is not a price. It is a selling point.

By popular demand
Jul 17, 2007

IT *BZZT* WASP ME--
IT WASP ME ALL *BZZT* ALONG!


What about all the other types of bugs that invade Chicago? Did they just hitch a ride on the hive guys?

wiegieman
Apr 22, 2010

Royalty is a continuous cutting motion


Horrible Lurkbeast posted:

What about all the other types of bugs that invade Chicago? Did they just hitch a ride on the hive guys?

A lot of them eat the hive guys, so there's no reason for them to show up anywhere else. But the bugs are always trying to make inroads, and every corp is sweeping hard to try and keep them out. Some are doing better than others.

The Lone Badger
Sep 24, 2007

wiegieman posted:

A lot of them eat the hive guys, so there's no reason for them to show up anywhere else. But the bugs are always trying to make inroads, and every corp is sweeping hard to try and keep them out. Some are doing better than others.

Ares Macrotechnology in particular has gone full X-COM and sends combat teams to the metaplanes to burn hives and gather samples.

painedforever
Sep 12, 2017

Quem Deus Vult Perdere, Prius Dementat.

Ze Pollack posted:

"We will take your individuality" is not a price. It is a selling point.

I'm glad someone spelled this out for me. I've never been good at "subtle", so I appreciate someone explaining what the hell is really going on.

IMJack
Apr 16, 2003

Royalty is a continuous ripping and tearing motion.


Fun Shoe

Horrible Lurkbeast posted:

What about all the other types of bugs that invade Chicago? Did they just hitch a ride on the hive guys?

The "solitary" insect spirits would probably go after people who had swung hard in the other direction, rejecting all other human contact and isolating themselves. A solitary-type "mother" bug spirit will try to break free of her shaman once she's strong enough, killing the poor bastard while she's at it, and she's perfectly capable of summoning others of her kind once she's free.

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW

The Lone Badger posted:

Ares Macrotechnology in particular has gone full X-COM and sends combat teams to the metaplanes to burn hives and gather samples.

And it makes sense for Ares to be the ones to do it, considering their Headquarters relative proximity to Chicago.

5e spoilers
Ares's leading role in suppressing the invasion hasn't gone unnoticed on the other side. Their efforts to learn more about the insect spirits in order to successfully combat them has resulted in Ares Macrotechnology being severely compromised by the spirits from the inside. At least one previously believed dead high level UB operative has been found to be working inside Ares. This is going unnoticed by Ares leadership due to an unrelated power struggle at the top. Damien Knight might win the struggle to keep his throne only to find it has been eaten out from under him.


Hey so here's a question: Does anyone know of any mention of insect spirits occurring outside of North America? It seems like they'd be a global phenomenon, but it just occurred to me that I don't recall any mention of them outside of NA.

King Doom
Dec 1, 2004
I am on the Internet.

paragon1 posted:

Hey so here's a question: Does anyone know of any mention of insect spirits occurring outside of North America? It seems like they'd be a global phenomenon, but it just occurred to me that I don't recall any mention of them outside of NA.

Think it was Ghost Cartels that had an encounter with an 50 meter long awakened Anaconda fighting half a dozen ant spirit soldiers and I deffo remember a bit in another splat about a WiP archology in England infested with bugs, there was some stuff about a BTL chip that turned out to be recorded from a posessed guy so you got to experience being a bug first hand.

Blademaster_Aio
Jan 22, 2017

Congrats, beat the final boss.

And I bet the money Sam had for his 'reward' doesn't exist right?

At least we'll get paid from that mission we accepted.

painedforever
Sep 12, 2017

Quem Deus Vult Perdere, Prius Dementat.
I think the natives are getting restless. Let's have the denouement, eh? I'd love to hear what else you reveal about the game that I missed.

paragon1
Nov 22, 2010

FULL COMMUNISM NOW

King Doom posted:

Think it was Ghost Cartels that had an encounter with an 50 meter long awakened Anaconda fighting half a dozen ant spirit soldiers and I deffo remember a bit in another splat about a WiP archology in England infested with bugs, there was some stuff about a BTL chip that turned out to be recorded from a posessed guy so you got to experience being a bug first hand.

Thanks!

Deep Dish Fuckfest
Sep 6, 2006

Advanced
Computer Touching


Toilet Rascal

The Lone Badger posted:

Ares Macrotechnology in particular has gone full X-COM and sends combat teams to the metaplanes to burn hives and gather samples.

You'd expect Saeder-Krupp to be the first in line for this, considering what we've seen in this game. But then again, Ares' branding and corporate identity as I understand it is all about weapons, security, and not so subtle use of excessive firepower. I imagine that also factors in this.

IMJack
Apr 16, 2003

Royalty is a continuous ripping and tearing motion.


Fun Shoe
I'm reading through the Shadowrun 2050 splatbook, about running the 1st edition setting using 4th/5th edition rules. The in-character writing is not terribly subtle about the foreshadowing and lore jokes, especially about Chicago and the UB.

MadDogMike
Apr 9, 2008

Cute but fanged

Deep Dish Fuckfest posted:

You'd expect Saeder-Krupp to be the first in line for this, considering what we've seen in this game. But then again, Ares' branding and corporate identity as I understand it is all about weapons, security, and not so subtle use of excessive firepower. I imagine that also factors in this.

Ares is also looking into ways to weaponize insect spirits as a side effort to their "crusade", so it does kind of fit the weapons company being the ones to jump into this sort of thing (Lofwyr is also I imagine both informed enough not to try to play with insect spirits as toys and willing to manipulate others into doing the hard work rather than doing so himself).

Kanfy
Jan 9, 2012

Just gotta keep walking down that road.
Part 33 - The Aftermath










Welcome to the final update! The insect menace has been stopped, at least for the time being, so the only thing left now is to wrap up Dead Man's Switch for good.

There are several familiar faces around the scene, but the first thing that catches our attention is Harlequin who's in the middle of recounting our underground adventures to Telestrian. Mr. Quoth seems to be by his master's side as well.



And?

And Amazon says something like "I won't let them eat you, Jessica. You're coming with me. You're going to pay for what you've done." It was very dramatic. Then, we splattered the bugs and handed her over to the UCAS FBI. They're going to want to have a long talk with her about the Universal Brotherhood. So, this nest is cleaned out and your cousin Lynne is being transported to a mental hospital for observation.

This part would obviously be a little different if Jessica had ended up as insect food, but James (who incidentally is a canonical sociopath) doesn't care much either way.



Yes yes, a grave threat to the whole world and all that, but first things first.

What about my million nuyen?

Ah yes. Do not be concerned, I will keep my end of the bargain. Mr. Quoth!

Sir?

See that our hero gets her reward. After deductions, of course.

Uh oh.

Deductions?

Yes, of course. You still owe me for your raid on my offices.

Aw come on, that was like ages ago. Does ancient history really matter between business partners?



Pff. Although, he seems to have forgotten about the "divided between living team members" clause, so perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky.

Yeah, alright. Here.

Had we negotiated ourselves an extra million with the Corporate etiquette before the mission, the damages would've instead been twice as bad and we'd have ultimately ended up with the same 15k. How's that for an unjust universe?

Very good. That transaction is complete. Now then, you have turned in a yeoman's effort, and - regardless of your obvious flaws - you are deserving of a reward. What would you ask of me?

This is the second "big" final decision of the game, our very own free wish! Our choices are as follows:

1. We can ask for the position of Telestrian's Vice President of Security, previously held by Erik Silverstar
2. We can ask for (more) money
3. Had I not missed an earlier conversation, we could ask him to cancel the city's plan to shut down the power grid in Touristville where the Union is located (I'll explain this in a bit)
4. We can ask for McKlusky to get fired

Now this is a pretty big decision and careful consideration should be


Not much. Just McKlusky's badge.

[Telestrian's ice breaks - for a moment.] You short-circuit an invasion of extra-dimensional insects and for your reward, you wish to have an insignificant police detective dismissed from his position?

I don't like his aftershave.



Very well, Detective McKlusky is now Citizen McKlusky - the man grates on my nerves anyway. And since this action requires little more than a nod to the proper peon, you may ask *another* boon of me. I am feeling generous today.

It was all worth it in the end after all.


Regarding the other choices, the position of Telestrian's VP of Security is only available to elves. Any other race (including humans) who asks for it will be given a position as the future VP of Security's Executive Consultant instead. We are in fact an elf so this hilariously blatant racial discrimination wouldn't apply to us, but I think we've seen enough about Telestrian corporate life to say with some confidence that it's not our scene.

Now, the power grid choice isn't available to us because it turns out I missed a conversation with Mrs. Kubota at the Seamstresses Union before the Telestrian run. See, that particular conversation only becomes available after the meeting with Baron Samedi where he tells you about the Aegis, but because Kubota was upstairs at the Union's front door where we no longer had any reason to go to, I completely forgot such a conversation even existed.

All credit to forums user OutofSight for pointing out my mistake.

In any case, what she would've told us had we spoken to her is that the city authorities are planning to shut down the power grid in Touristville because they don't want to continue devoting police manpower to protect the citizens who go there for seedier entertainment. Had we had that discussion, we could now ask Telestrian to pull the required strings to revoke that plan. This is how that particular conversation would have gone:

quote:


I hear the city's going to shut down the power grid in a part of the Barrens called Touristville.

I am sure you appreciate a good slum as much as the next shadowrunner. However, I fail to see the significance of the Redmond Barrens or its energy resources in the context of this conversation.

That's unimportant. Just fix it.

By "fix it", you mean convince a municipal government to abandon a bureaucratic process that has likely been in the works for several years. You do not have a grasp on how governments work.

You're James Telestrian the Third. Municipal governments are nothing to the man behind the throne of Tir Tairngire.

[He sighs.] Very well. I will speak with my contacts on the city's Zoning Board. I am certain there are better uses of their time than shuffling the city's criminal element from one part of the Sprawl to another. Good day.


Alas, since this choice isn't available to us it looks like Touristville and the Union are both doomed. My bad!

So ultimately we're just going to have to go for the "immediate personal gain" -option. Real shame, pains my heart really, but what can you do.

I want to get paid. Real money, this time.

[Another icy smile.] I would expect no less from you. Mr. Quoth, please place a suitable bonus on our friend's credstick. A bonus of such size that additional negotiations are unnecessary. I have no interest in furthering our relationship.

That's the one thing we have in common, buddy. Well that and our shared dislike of McKlusky.





:homebrew:

Looks like you two are best buddies now.

We're now free to have one last chat with everyone who bothered to show up.



We'll go through the area in a counterclockwise manner, starting from Coyote here.



Guess so.

Tough week, huh?

Gangers, hellhounds, amok mental patients, serial killers, ghouls, corporate deckers, extra-dimensional bugs, and an army of corp security. Yeah, I could use a nap.

I bet.

Coyote was with us almost the whole time of course, but she's too tough to complain about it unlike our whiny rear end.



Back to destroying the BTL trade?

Nah. Like I said, that’s over. I’m gonna take care of Gino - get him back to health. But no more storming BTL labs.

If we hadn't saved Gino, she'd instead be planning on "taking a flamethrower to that whole slagging business".

Good to hear. That last place was run by the Yakuza and they’re not going to forget you.



Today, I run the shadows. Get paid. Get dirty. See you around, Amazon. You're quite a lady. I can honestly say, I've never met an elf quite like you.

You're one hell of a lady yourself, and almost made it feel like we had one proper crew member in this game populated by boring non-personalities. Thanks for everything.



Ol' clownshoes is up next.



Here's a cool little touch: If Harlequin dies during the final mission, there's some extra dialogue available here where you can ask how he's still around. Not only that, but there's also a slightly different variation if he went down more than once. In both cases he jokes about it and then pretty much shrugs it off as something you shouldn't question too much since the Sixth World is full of much weirder things.

Where's Herr Brackhaus? I thought he'd be here too.

He flew back to Berlin. All sorts of things brewing there. He was very impressed with you, though. It could probably turn into work someday. But I’d forget about him, if I were you. Never make a deal with a dragon, kid. They’re playing a different game entirely.

Something brewing in Berlin, huh? Bet you could make a game about that.

I'll keep that in mind. You said you were getting out of here - is there a problem?



Think they can control the press?

One way or another, they will. If they can’t be manipulated, coerced or bribed, they’ll probably disappear. Quietly. There’s more though.

Although we were here to see its beginning, the whole Brotherhood/insect spirit mess is something that will continue to be relevant in the setting for a long time after the events of this game.



Do you trust him?

No. Just like I don’t trust you. Don’t take it personally, kid. You shouldn’t trust me, either. I’ve been manipulating runners like you for years. I’m manipulating you right now. You just don’t know *my* game yet. Let’s continue the dance. I have one more to show you.



As it happens, Ares are the ones who end up being the most involved in dealing with bug spirit activity elsewhere.

Government. Media. Business. All working to ensure the truth stays hidden.

So it's a massive conspiracy.

I wish it was. In a way, it’s worse. It’s a series of conspiracies, conflicting agendas, and petty jealousies, all building upon, feeding upon, and excreting into an unending web of drek that people wade through every day and call Life. If there was one Dark Lord controlling everything and we could drive a magic sword through his heart to free the world, that would be grand. Such clarity! Such focus! Alas!

So what’s the lesson in all of this? That I did all of it for nothing?



And that's why we don't *play* their fragging game. We don't swallow their drek sandwich and politely ask for another. It's why we run the shadows. That's where real life is, kiddo. Reality's living in the places no one wants you to see.

Turns out I was wrong about Harlequin swearing normally being a nice touch. Also this whole lesson would've missed its mark pretty spectacularly had we retired from running in order to work for Telestrian.

Okay, seriously - who are you?

A friend. Until I need you for something. Then, I'm a bastard.

Right. See you around, Harlequin.

Your presence here might've been pure fanservice, but at least you brought some much-needed lightheartedness to this otherwise dry endgame.



Ah, this should be good.



We got a whole bunch of different skill checks here, all aimed at humiliating our detective friend - Charisma 4 (to make him think that he got his lieutenant's badge and he's getting a surprise party), Intelligence 4 (to claim his shoelaces are untied in order to cold-cock him while he's distracted), Strength 5 & Close Combat 5 (to knock him out with a haymaker or a flurry of punches).

Of course we don't need to resort to any of those.


Hey McKlusky - I got good news for you.

Izzat right?

You won!

Won what?

The "I-lost-my-job-and-I-don't-even-know-it" contest. See you around, rear end in a top hat.

What the? Mr. Telestrian! Hey, Mr. Telestrian!

He runs to James, presumably to plead pathetically. Unfortunately we don't get to listen in.



Even Armitage has showed up for the denouement, despite presumably still having a bounty on his head and there being police everywhere. Or maybe the devs just forgot about that detail.



Did you doubt I would?

Not for a minute.



He's not wrong, it's surprising Seattle is still intact with how much crap is constantly happening in this city.

I heard Mitsuhama's looking for a team and they specifically want a woman. No idea what that's about.



Something's bound to come up. Whaddaya say?

I think we deserve a break after all this, but it's always nice to have something to fall back on.

I'll think about it, Jake.

You do that. If you want to find me, I'll be at McKraken's later - got a taste for some seafood. Take it easy, chummer.

Thanks for the help Jake, time will tell if this ends up being your final video game appearance of if you'll pop up again in Shadowrun Re-Returns or something.



It's only fitting for our last stop to be manned by this guy.



Just making more work for you.

Thanks, but I prefer natural causes.



Remember when all that happened and was relevant? Feels like it was a different story altogether. Some might say a better story, but that's neither here nor there.

[He leans in, whispers conspiratorially.] You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?

A vigilante attack, huh? Wow.

I know! It's fascinating, isn't it?



Good thing Dresden never met Erik Silverstar, that guy's habit of butchering language would've probably had the poor dwarf end up a customer in his own establishment.

So! The big question! What about that dead man's switch? Now that the ripper's dead, are you going to collect?

drat right I'm gonna collect.

Hey, just because we got one 100k doesn't mean we don't have space for seconds.

Excellent! I'm sure you deserve it. How do you collect, anyway?

I was told I need a secure line to call the number Sam gave me. Can’t use my commlink.

[He brightens.] Lone Star’s Emergency Response Team set up a secure phone line right here to coordinate their efforts. I can authorize you to use it!

Then I guess it’s time to end this thing.

I guess so! Take care, Amazon!

You were always one of the few legitimately good people around, Dresden. At least as far as we know.



This is the point of no return. We've done everything we can and talked to everyone we can, so let's just go ahead and make this final call.



Man, has it really been just a few days?



Oh hey it's... Chet, was it? Wait, did Chet have a facial tattoo?

Hold on. Are you even a lawyer?

Yeah... of course. Well... technically I'm not a lawyer anymore but... uh... I'll just slot Sam's video for you. Hang on.





If you're calling this number, that means the job is done, right?

Technically the job was done a while ago, but we got a little sidetracked somewhere along the way.

[He closes his eyes. Shakes his head.] Congratulations, amigo! I knew you'd do it. You were always the dependable one. More than me, anyway.

[He looks back at you, trying to speak soberly.] I - I just want to say thank you. For *whatever* you did. It means a lot - not even knowing what you did - it *still* means a lot. ‘Cuz I know you did something. You know what I mean? I KNOW you made it right, somehow.

From the looks of it I doubt you knew what time of day it was, much less what we have or haven't made right since then.





Just tell her I love her.

Boy howdy. If only Sam and this whole family had managed to figure out their numerous issues when they still had the chance...

[He straightens himself. Shakes it off. That grin is back.]

Anyway, you need to get paid! Which would be great except for one thing - I got nothin’. Never did! You know how it is, right? Sorry. But hey - thanks again for giving a crap! Seriously. I appreciate it.

Excuse me?





...

...

...This is exactly how it was going to go from the start, wasn't it. You really were a real fucker of a guy all the way to the end, Sam. It's honestly kind of impressive. But it also can't be denied that at the end of the day we did dig ourselves up from the hole we had fallen in thanks to you, even if it was in a roundabout way. But still, gently caress you man. For everything, and in behalf of everyone involved.


So? What did he say?

He told me to never trust a dead man.

And with those wise words, our story has reached its end.







The ending is entirely in text form, something that'll remain true for the entire series. Hong Kong does feature simple ending cutscenes in addition to the text though. And unlike this game, both Dragonfall and Hong Kong feature multiple endings.


So, this has been Shadowrun Returns. I hadn't actually played it in a long time before doing this LP, so it was interesting to go back to it after having played the later games. I stand by my opinion that it's overall a game worth playing, and I especially came to appreciate what a good job it does at easing you in to the Shadowrun universe. That said it's plain to see why it's so overshadowed by it's follow-ups, and revisiting the original has also made me appreciate just how much Harebrained Schemes learned and improved going into Dragonfall (and especially its Director's Cut version). One thing that I grew more negative on was the endgame which was even weaker than I remembered, and the game doing such a bad job at sticking its landing undoubtedly contributed to the unfavorable aftertaste a lot of players ended up with.

Still, Shadowrun is one of my favorite fictional settings and I'm glad this game got made despite its rough edges. And hey, without it we wouldn't have Dragonfall and Hong Kong either.



Thanks for reading, and special thanks to everyone who posted in the thread. You've all been great.

Kanfy fucked around with this message at 12:11 on Dec 6, 2017

Blademaster_Aio
Jan 22, 2017

The end!

Success!

And what an end it was, but I expected that. It was a fun ride at least? Except for the end part, where bugs were everywhere.

Soylent Pudding
Jun 22, 2007

We've got people!


Thanks for a great LP. I really enjoyed it as my intro to the Shadowrun universe.

Yeowch!!! My Balls!!!
May 31, 2006
and so, in conclusion, gently caress the entire extended telestrian clan

Groetgaffel
Oct 30, 2011

Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.
This has been an awesome ride. Thank you Kanfy for a great LP, and thank you to everyone who did the Shadowrun lore dumps!
:tipshat:

OutofSight
May 4, 2017
Thanks for the LP.
Now not everyone needs to suffer playing through the title anymore. :c00l:

Although i personally still find it enjoyable besides its flaws.

Ze Pollack posted:

and so, in conclusion, gently caress the entire extended telestrian clan

Marie Louise was nice enough i guess. Didn't she end up later as a powerful prince of Tir Tairngire?

Keeshhound
Jan 14, 2010

Mad Duck Swagger

Amazon posted:

 Not much. Just McKlusky's badge.

I love this so much, it's just such a fantastically petty thing to include at the end of the story, but it feels so right. :allears:

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Groetgaffel
Oct 30, 2011

Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Keeshhound posted:

I love this so much, it's just such a fantastically petty thing to include at the end of the story, but it feels so right. :allears:

I was just about to add this.
The best part is how its a free favour too, because James can't stand McKlusky either.
:allears:

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