Disclaimer: This review was written when Dragonfall was a DLC and will be updated to better reflect Director's Cut in the future. If you are already familiar with the DLC version, skip to the end for my initial thoughts on the new features.

When Shadowrun Returns came out there were numerous complaints. Rather than ignore them, HBS listened to the fans and fixed many of them when they released Dragonfall. That wasn't enough for them, wanting to better address the players suggestions they re-released it as a stand alone game and freely upgraded everyone's existing copy.

In Dragonfall you are the newest member of an established runner team in Berlin. Through the course of events you end up leading the team and hunting a dragon. I could go into more detail, but the story is so well presented you are better off experiencing it for yourself.

Rather than repeat the linearity of the Dead Man’s Switch campaign, Dragonfall uses a hub approach. There are a series of missions which advance the plot, but in order to unlock them you need to earn nuyen from other sources. You have a computer which lists all available jobs and its up to you if you accept them or not. Do you do every mission possible and postpone the final battle? Or do you rush through to complete it as quickly as possible?

I recommend taking your time since this is a campaign which focuses on setting. Each of your team members has a strong back story and distinct personality. I spent much of the campaign trying to learn what drove Glory to use such ancient cybertech and trying to get Eiger to stop questioning my leadership. I helped Blitz with his relationship problems and helped Dietrich find his path. You also get to know the community. The hub is not simply a collection of vendors and quest givers, each character has their own personality and needs. The depth of detail means you actually care what happens to the hub, its more than a means to an end (unless you want to role play a heartless mercenary).

On top of the strong story, Dragonfall is currently the definitive source for official modding assets. It includes all the assets from Dead Man's Switch/Seattle, the Berlin DLC, and more newly added for the Director's Cut. All the props can be used together yet have a distinctly different flavor. The prop selection is strong enough that I can recommend Dragonfall over Dead Man's Switch on their merit alone. Enjoy working with exploding barrels, drakes, new portraits and much more. My only complaints are that the Dragon prop is limited in its re-usability and existing fan made content will need to be migrated to the new workshop.

If you enjoyed Dead Man's Switch, you will be amazed by Dragonfall. If you were disappointed by DMS, Dragonfall fixes a lot of the common complaints people had. If you haven't played DMS, but like cyberpunk and turn based strategy, Dragonfall is an excellent place to start. I strongly suggest giving the game a try!

Edit - 5 hours in - DLC vs Directors Cut
Based on my initial impression, I am pleased with the enhancements.The combat interface has noticeably changed, making combat much easier to understand. The weapon interface is much better than the up/down scroll list in SRR and you can easily see what each attack does. Items and 'ware are equally clear.

As for the flow of combat, I now know exactly when I am in cover and when I have an exposed enemy. Each successful attack tells how much damage was dealt and why. We are told if we have flanking, if cover blocked an attack, and probably more information that I haven't realized yet. I am not yet sure how I feel about the new armor system though.

The new content seems to be carefully worked in, I am not actually sure what is an addition and what I simply missed in my previous play-through (with the exception of the new face I've met). I look forward to seeing what else is there and will update this review when I have more to say!

Lastly there is the new NPC advancement system. I'm very happy with this and hope it is easy to incorporate in my own mods! Yes, we only get two choices per level, but it is easy to understand and use, and seems to provide distinct tactics options. It also makes it clear exactly how they level up when previously it was a bit of a mystery.