Shadowrun is Pretty Cool

So, I'm very glad I picked up Shadowrun.

It remains interesting, and I know that I'm not very far at all - I only recently acquired a weapon and figured out how to fire it. Since I've gotten it, I've been killing enemies and getting as much "karma" as I can (apparently karma increases my stats - I've spent a few on Strength and Firepower). I don't really know where to go next - I guess I have to get some Tickets to enter the Cage? There are quite a few people to talk to and even more keywords I can use on them.

I suppose I should describe the game to those who have never heard of it. Shadowrun is a 1993 SNES game, controlled from an isometric perspective in which your main character can examine his surroundings by bringing up a cursor, in real time, and clicking on points of interest. This allows you to pick up items, talk to people, and examine things so you can figure out where to go next. The combat works similarly - you point the weapon cursor at the enemy you want to attack and pound away on the A button, which fires your weapon. There is also magic, which probably works similarly, but I don't have any yet, so I've not seen it. Shadowrun is basically an amalgam of Phoenix Wright, Final Fantasy, King's Quest, and perhaps just a touch of Zelda. It isn't extremely well polished - the game basically throws you in and lets you fend for yourself with no idea of what your goals are and any clues you might receive end up being cryptic at best - but that doesn't matter because its presentation is so interesting.

The graphics are a little dated, but they work, and the only real complaint I have about them is it is sometimes difficult to see items you have to pick up because they are so small. I missed the Scalpel (in the first room of the game, no less!) for a long time because of this. The music is a little repetitive, but I think that's only because I only have access to such a small portion of the game so far.

And apparently, you can enter the Matrix in this game. I have no idea if it is anything like the movies of the same name (I doubt it), but boy, when I saw that you can "jack in" to it via some sort of device on your head I was very interested. Perhaps the Matrix movies are somehow based on the Shadowrun universe? Doubtful at best, since I really have no idea how it works in the game and since I was obsessed with the movies when they came out, and I probably would have noticed it somewhere if Wikipedia or something mentioned it. Regardless, I remain intrigued about this game. I don't think it will be my absolute focus over the next couple of weeks (I did just order Kirby's Dreamland 2 online, and I'm very excited to play it soon), but I will see how it goes. You can't beat 5 bucks for a game like this, though, ever.