4 out of 5 rating for Shadowrun 5th Edition
My expectations for this game were very high, and they were met...for the most part at least. The changes in this edition make sense and, while I don’t agree with all of them, a lot of it is nitpicky (why couldn’t they have kept calling it the “Chunky Salsa Rule” officially?). This edition looks and feels more like the Shadowrun I grew up with than 4th Edition ever did, and aside from the introduction chapter, I love the tone of the writing. The rules themselves are flexible enough to allow many different styles of play, from high-powered Prime Runner to street-level gangers. And with a few modifications, you can even use the rules to run games in different eras of SHADOWRUN (strip out Bricking, restrict gear purchases, and tinker just a bit with the magical traditions and you’ve pretty much got a set of rules that work for 2050s era play). There are a few missteps here and there, but none of them ruin the book or break this edition of the game.