Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

Bottom line: Definitely recommend - A very good game that lets you role play as a vampire in LA w/ great sound, great story, and great characters. Good: Some of the best voice acting EVER. Seriously. Superb ambient sounds and background music that fits the environment. Dialog is also top notch, as is the story line, with multiple ways to solve each mission, as well as multiple endings. A few of the main characters are true works of art, both visually and w/ their voice overs. Graphics in some areas are extremely good for an older game, and a few of the 3D models are superb. Clan and character choice in the beginning has a huge impact on how you play – it isn’t just a different esthetic. Try Malkavians for some truly hilarious dialog or special options where you can impart your craziness to other characters to help solve a mission. Try the Nosferatu if you like sneaking through alleyways and sewers, but are willing to forgo seduction dialog options. Impact on game play is amazing. Wide variety of missions, and each mission often has multiple ways to finish it. Bad: The game seems “uneven”. While some aspects of the game are excellent, there are other aspects that are kind of blah. For example, while the main characters are absolutely excellent, there are only a handful of “population” type characters, w/ very few 3D models. The result is that you see lots of copies of the same people everywhere. Same for level design. A few buildings and levels are off the chart excellent, and some of the others are bland, empty rooms. Combat can be annoying at times, and there are sometimes clipping issues. Occasionally there are bugs that can cause you to have to revert to an earlier save in order to progress. I recommend saving your game OFTEN. “Gore” and language by today’s standards is pretty tame, but there are some adult themes, w/ sexuality being high on that list. I thought it actually added to the game, but I’m sure some may take issue with it

The greatest game ever made.

The quests have several ways to clear them, and the skill points you got depend on how you solve the quests. That's a nice thing. Because your way to solve problems depend on your Feats, making a different kind of character completely changes the gameplay. You need to concentrate on a few attributes and abilities, and that makes the game a lot fun. Also, the dialogue really varies on which clan you are and what sex you are, so the replay value of this game is really high. Talking with NPCs is the real best part in this game. It's fun and absorbing than any other game. I never felt like the character is actually 'talking' to me before playing this game. This game? The facial expressions, gestures are completely synchronized with every emotions the character have. Also the eyes of them reflecting light is so realistic that I always tried to talk with NPCs where their eyes can reflect light. I sometimes felt like just talking with NPCs over and over. It was the first game that made me feel like that. I warn you, you will feel bored when talking with dolls in other games after experiencing it. The scripts of characters(including player's one) are excellent as well as the expression of the characters. Especially the dialogues of Malkavian playable character are extraordinary, something which a gamer must have an experience of. Each NPC's dialogue is completely distinct from every other character. With their own, unique appearance, the dialogue of each character will make you never forget their face and personality. This game made a living world with living characters. The dungeons in this game is awfully designed. There are just hallways, rooms, and enemies. Sometimes there are simple puzzles, but that's all. Moreover, the enemies in a dungeon have exactly same appearance, and that made me really annoying. However, the boss fights in the end of dungeons are really nice. Almost all bosses have their own fight patterns, and the battles with them will blow all your annoyance and dissatisfaction occurred during the fight with miserable enemies. It is not too much to say that the boss fights absolutely relieved the whole game.

It's easy to recognize why Bloodlines is loved by so many despite its numerous issues. It's got all the telltale signs of a great RPG; good writing, a good story, some interesting characters backed by great voice acting, an immersive atmosphere that filled me with a nostalgic feeling, despite never having played the game before, a lot of charm and a truckload of player agency. Thanks to the Unofficial Community Patch that's still being worked on, a bundle of content has been restored and the game's technical issues are negligible for the most part. However, when one steps back and looks at the experience Bloodlines provides as a whole, it becomes difficult not to notice how the unfinished bits dull down an otherwise sharply written tale. If you can look past a farcical stealth system, clunky movement where you'll frequently get stuck on objects, a combat system that will have you feeling as if you're exploiting the game rather than beating it, some intriguing at first characters and arcs that end up going nowhere, a couple of frustrating boss fights and an endgame that turns into an absolute slog with somewhat rushed endings, then there's plenty in Bloodlines that you'll enjoy. If anything, it's a great appetizer for what the sequel might bring, provided it has at least a fraction of its predecessor's ambition.

My favourite almost 15 years ago and still love it to this day. I don't know exactly why, it is difficult as usual to describe personal preferences. The character sheet and its categories appear to be so simple, but it allows a wild variety of builts. The writing is one of the best that I ever experienced in a video game title, it grabbed my attention more than everything else before and after and was only surpassed by Divinity: Original Sin 2. Can I recommend this title? If you love to play with character builts and a certain complexity and variety, if you enjoy storytelling at its best and dont need modern day combat, the masquerade might be perfect for you.