History VideoGame / ShadowrunReturns

* ShortRangeShotgun: Downplayed. Shotguns can be used at any range, and while they ''do'' have the worst accuracy at medium and long range, it's only marginally worse than that of pistols and SMGs (rifles, naturally, have the best accuracy at medium and long range).

** Spells have cool down time rather than drain. You don't pay karma for every single spell, either, but instead unlock higher forces of spells and spell slots, then buy formulae for each spell & force level combination. This way, there is less work to managing your spells.

* DumbMuscle: Played with. Orks and Trolls get bonuses to physical stats and a lowered cap on Intelligence. That said, since it's only a cap, the smartest trolls are still much smarter than the average person, they're just dumber than ''other'' geniuses. Troll dialogue is never in HulkSpeak (Mister Kluwe is actually rather eloquent and politically savvy), and they make a capable PlayerCharacter in any role outside of Decker or Rigger, which are Intelligence-intensive archetype. They ''do'' make dandy mages, though.

* UnwinnableByMistake: During your first big fight with the [[spoiler:Insect Spirits]], they will automatically resurrect themselves and take up a combat space. Your only option is to run. If one blocks the single-square exit...

* PhoneCallFromTheDead: The game starts this way thanks to the DeadManSwitch implanted in the victim.

** That said, from a meta perspective the game definitely seeks to illustrate anarchy as not chaos as discussions with NPCs get into the actual philosophy of anarchy and how to maintain an anarcho-state like the Kreuzbasar.

* DoomedByCanon: History-wise, it doesn't really matter what you do in regards to your little piece of the Free State, as the German government (with the backing of several megas, especially Saeder-Krupp) moved in and dissolved the anarchist communes in 2055. In the Director's Cut, it outright tells you this in the ending.
** Except in the Director's Cut ending if you [[spoiler:fuse APEX with Feuerschwinge. Somehow, this leads to Flux State beating back the attack in the epilogue. "The Golden Wyrm is said to be surprised by the speed and ferocity with which the F-State assembles to repel the attack." You and us both, buddy]].
*** ''Hong Kong'' reveals this to be non-canonical, however.

* ObviousRulePatch: Armor in ''Hong Kong'' only provides armor and no other additional stats. Previously in ''Dragonfall'', armor provided skill stat points, allowing certain professions to reach their peak performance levels without spending a lot of Karma.

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:APEX, the AI built to safeguard the complex where Feuerschwinge is held, will attempt to manipulate the player to free it. Should the player at any point go against its wishes, it will quickly drop the façade of benevolence it is projecting.]]

* {{Irony}}: As Lucky Strike points out, the Kreuzbasar, which is supposed to be an "anarchist commune", is in practice Monika Schäfer's([[spoiler:and later the ''player's'']]) kingdom - she just chose to let her subjects roam freely. She isn't particularly pleased with this.

* QuirkyTown: The same, but of particular note is Dragonfall's "HubCity", the Kreuzbasar: an "anarchist commune" filled with oddballs of every stripe, its eccentricity and prosperity nurtured by the watchful and compassionate eye of veteran decker Monika Schäfer. [[spoiler:After APEX fries her brain, this role falls to the player character, as a demonstration of how much of a hassle maintaining such a community is.]]

* TranslationConvention: In spite of the English text being peppered by German words ocasionally, everyone is speaking German, as the game happens in Berlin. Made clear by some interactions with Altuğ (who speaks Turkish with his niece) and the Trial Run quest, where the PC can complain that one of the team members doesn't speak the local language.

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Renraku's feared elite security forces, the Red Samurai, feature heavily in the plot thanks to Gaichu. For those that don't know the tabletop lore, Red Samurai are listed as on par with the Tír Ghosts and other elite military units. In-game, half of the mission involves setting up the battle site with traps and decoys just to give your side a fighting chance. In terms of combat prowess, they're all very tough and one is even packing a minigun (it's best to use your OneHitKill device on that one).

* HonorBeforeReason: This is essentially why Gaichû's old Red Samurai squad are after him. Instead of just writing him off after he got infected with HMHVV and went rogue, Renraku designated his refusal to commit seppuku as a mark of dishonor to the whole team and refused to allow them to find a replacement. Hence, the squad will be stuck in a permanently undermanned state until they can confirm Gaichû's death.

-->“Ambrose silently bows his head as you recite a string of words in Sanskrit and Latin, invoking Karen to rejoin the Trans-Catholic concept of universal oneness: the Atma Brahma of the Holy Ghost.”

* AIIsACrapshoot: [[spoiler:APEX, the AI built to safeguard the complex where Feuerschwinge is held, will attempt to manipulate the player to free it. Should the player at any point go against its wishes, it will quickly drop the façade of benevolence it is projecting.]]

* {{Irony}}: As Lucky Strike points out, the Kreuzbasar, which is supposed to be an "anarchist commune", is in practice Monika Schäfer's([[spoiler:and later the ''player's'']]) kingdom - she just chose to let her subjects roam freely. She isn't particularly pleased with this.

* QuirkyTown: The same, but of particular note is Dragonfall's "HubCity", the Kreuzbasar: an "anarchist commune" filled with oddballs of every stripe, its eccentricity and prosperity nurtured by the watchful and compassionate eye of veteran decker Monika Schäfer. [[spoiler:After APEX fries her brain, this role falls to the player character, as a demonstration of how much of a hassle maintaining such a community is.]]

* TranslationConvention: In spite of the English text being peppered by German words ocasionally, everyone is speaking German, as the game happens in Berlin. Made clear by some interactions with Altuğ (who speaks Turkish with his niece) and the Trial Run quest, where the PC can complain that one of the team members doesn't speak the local language.

* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Renraku's feared elite security forces, the Red Samurai, feature heavily in the plot thanks to Gaichu. For those that don't know the tabletop lore, Red Samurai are listed as on par with the Tír Ghosts and other elite military units. In-game, half of the mission involves setting up the battle site with traps and decoys just to give your side a fighting chance. In terms of combat prowess, they're all very tough and one is even packing a minigun (it's best to use your OneHitKill device on that one).

* HonorBeforeReason: This is essentially why Gaichû's old Red Samurai squad are after him. Instead of just writing him off after he got infected with HMHVV and went rogue, Renraku designated his refusal to commit seppuku as a mark of dishonor to the whole team and refused to allow them to find a replacement. Hence, the squad will be stuck in a permanently undermanned state until they can confirm Gaichû's death.

-->“Ambrose silently bows his head as you recite a string of words in Sanskrit and Latin, invoking Karen to rejoin the Trans-Catholic concept of universal oneness: the Atma Brahma of the Holy Ghost.”

** One of the three options for the family saying used by Raymond's mother is one of ''The Seven Habits of High Effective People''.[[note]]"Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."[[/note]]

''Dragonfall'', released on February 27, 2014, sees [[PlayerCharacter you]] end up in Berlin, a.k.a. the Flux State, a utopia of anarchy where power shifts like the tides of the ocean. When what appears to be a milk run (slang for a quick and easy job) goes south, you and your new crew find yourselves drawn into a conspiracy surrounding the Great Dragon Feuerschwing, who rumors suggest survived her supposed death.

* {{Cap}}: As noted in FiveRaces, the base stats have a cap of 9 with variations based on race, though it can be somewhat impractical to get that high. This cap extends to the skills they govern. Dodge can only goes as high as your Quickness stat, for example. ''Hong Kong'' adds a cyberware specialization stat which allows you to override the maximums.

* FiveRaces: When creating a new character the racial choices are:
** [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]]: Stout, +1 to Willpower, higher caps on Body, Strength and Willpower.
** [[OurElvesAreDifferent Elves]]: High Men, +1 to Charisma, higher caps on Quickness and Charisma.
** Humans: Mundane, 3 extra Karma at the start of the game and all stats caped at 9.
** [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]]: Low Men, +1 to Body, higher caps on Body and Strength, lower caps on Charisma and Intelligence.
** [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]]: Big and Mean, +1 to Body and +1 to Strength, higher caps on Body and Strength, lower caps on Charisma, Intelligence and Quickness.

* GeoEffects: Maps may contain leylines (dragon lines in ''Hong Kong''), which reduce spell cooldown, heal casters, boost spell damage, boost spell accuract and increase spell "bounces" if applicable, depending the strength of the ley/dragon line.

* HoldTheLine: The runs where you kidnap Rooster Lo and [[spoiler: rescue Raymond]] have your decker hacking a device while the rest of the team holds off the attackers.

* FeministFantasy: Present in all campaigns, but especially in ''Hong Kong''. There is an unusually large amount of prominent female characters compared to most media examples, with several notable female party members and a surprisingly high percentage of female [=NPCs=], be they important or random questgivers. ''Hong Kong'' in particular appears to have more females in leading or plot-critical positions than males.

** In the Aztechnology Run, you can get a copy of the project data for analysis by Aljernon Half-Dream later. He will tell you it is BloodMagic of the most horrific kind. The 500 nuyen you'd get for the data by the Shockwellenreiter is not enough to balance the fact you would have made info that NOBODY should know, '''period''' (which was why "Frau Mueller" wanted you to bring down the Aztechnology building in the first place). One LetsPlay had the PlayerCharacter find this out in time, and he was okay with deleting the data when he found out.

''Dead Man's Switch'', the first campaign, is included with the first game in the series (but not the first game based on the ''Shadowrun'' table RPG). It takes place in UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}} in 2054. In it, [[PlayerCharacter you play]] a down-on-their-luck Shadowrunner investigating the death of their old buddy Sam Watts in exchange for a substantial payday and/or personal vengeance.

* InformationWantsToBeFree: The Shockwellenreiter's bread and butter. Too bad they don't differentiate between useful info (Humanis' donors list), dangerous info (a mind-altering drug formula used to create cyberzombies) and ''incredibly dangerous'' info that nobody should know ([[spoiler:Aztechnology's genetic data on clones made for blood rituals)]].