Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

Despite I don't really like vampire themes (damn you Twilight), I must say I really fell in love with VtM Bloodlines. Why? It artfully blends interesting setting (yeah, Masquerade is awesome after all my vampire doubts), RPG elements, amazing story, noir atmosphere, freedom of choice and sprinkles some not really polished action on top of it. The game is full of well thought out and executed characters whose facial animations are still better than lot of today's games, interesting plot parts that take place in various environments, and atmosphere so thick, you can feel it in your bones. Playing with different character may change the pace and play through quite a lot, so it's huge plus too. And the music, it's really nailing it! Sure there are negatives. The game was a buggy mess when it was rushed out, but it is mostly solved now with unofficial patches (included in GOG). Combat is very unbalanced. And some parts are still awful and should be deleted - yes, I mean sewers (not sure, but I *think* one of the latest patches disables/shortens them). Despite those negatives, the game still works as an amazing noir experience that every RPG lover should play. As a Malkavian.

It is, in my eyes, the best first person RPG to this day! That makes me quiet sad sometimes. And also lets me play it again and again everytime i read about it anywhere. I lost count how many times i played it. And i owned the retail version at release. Still loved it back then. Despite the bugs.

I recommend trying first playthrough with "unpolished" version then second with unofficial patch, just so you can appreciate it even more. Music is outstanding (Asylum soundtrack is probably my favourite) and those facial expressions are spot on. Ocean house hotel and Grout mansion are among the best designed levels I played in years. Graphics are passable, combat can be tedious and ending has "RUSHED" written all over its...forehead? Still, huge replay value and general atmosphere of the game (diverse characters and voice acting) makes up for lots of technical turn-offs. P.S. Don`t neglect combat stats

Despite it's numerous flaws and rough edges it packed such a good story that it made me binge the game almost entirely. I especially like that it has a fair insight into the lore of tabletop RPG Vampire: The Masquerade. Very informative. Supposedly the game was originally released unfinished, please handle the game with kid gloves. Still a true masterpiece. TIP: if you get stuck, be it because of a bug or of many wrong decisions, remember that you can cheat your way out via the console. Only once I had to use it for a sticky situation. Enjoy dear kindred!

You know how ocasionally with a book, video game, or any work of art, you can tell that the artist was really shooting for the stars and going all out to create something big and ambitious, even if they ended up falling short of the mark due to limited resources, or just a miscommunicated message? That's kinda what I think happened with Vampire the Masquerade. I think they were really shooting for the stars, with trying to bring the freedom of a Tabletop RPG to life but ended up falling short due to lack of time and money. Now, the game still has it's highlights, and it's developed a huge fan following over the years, but I know that for a long time this game was not well thought of, due to how buggy and unfinished it was at launch. Getting this game through GOG however, means it will come pre-installed with the unofficial patch, which fixes like 90% of the problems in the game, and it ran beautifully on my PC. There were however, still a couple bugs here and there, but nothing game-breaking. u You're given a huge amount of freeedom in this game but it might be more limited than you'd expect. Your biggest choice is which faction in the game you wish to support, although functionally they're all the same right up until the endgame. Also, you are given character creation but can't alter your character's appearance beyond the presets. Also, although many of the missions give you an impressive amount of freedom in how you complete things, near the end of the game, it's almost soley combat focused, which was disappointing. Overall, it's a great story, which offers a lot of player freedom, but the game obviously couldn't live up to it's creator's expectations, and has been patched and repaired by a dedicated fan community ever since, which in itself is kinda beautiful but also disappointing. As I'm writing this, there is a sequel on the horizon after a decade. So now is a great time to check out the original.