Well that’s the real question, isn’t it?
It is clear that there is a bit more homework left to do in the world building — the various feedback threads here have caught a number of lore and continuity misses in setting descriptions and “flavour text”, ranging from nonsense call-outs in some of the equipment drawings, to e.g. a not properly researched reference to “positronic brains”.
And I’ll again mention, but not delve deeper into, my frustration with the utterly unimaginative, ill-conceived, and continuity-breaking treatment of Deckard’s
Blaster.
Further, I would not have minded seeing the game open a bit wider for non-Bladerunner gameplay, including what Bladerunners might be up to when not Investigating Case Files.
So in the end, Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
I’d have to say … thumbs up. And it’s not a difficult choice, really.
Yes, it’s not perfect; some ways from it. But this
is still to some degree a work in progress. There is still a chance to fix stuff.
For one thing, I know that my last point above will be addressed in upcoming expansions, as per the commitment stated in the book; hopefully turning this into a bit more of a sandbox game that it is out-of-the box.
If Ligan manages to sit on their usual NIH propensities this time, they also have a good chance to leverage the feedback here to fix the lore and continuity gaffes.
And they
could even sit on them heavily enough to actually fix the Blaster, although I have very strong hunch they won’t. Alas.
So in the end — it is already a stunningly beautiful, almost “coffee table book”-like, product; but it also looks like it might become a great game!
I’ll just have to home brew my own Blaster. Along with implementing Fenhorn’s character generation idea.