I would like to start with saying that I really enjoy old school blobbers, crawlers etc. I do enjoy challenge and retro storytelling, i.e. a lot of text to read, long exposition, slower pacing and so on. Having said that, I really, really can't get through the controls and the general feel of this game. Almost nothing can be controlled with keyboard. You have to literally click everything to set every attack, spell, action. This could be simply avoided by having keybindings like (A)ttack, (D)efend, (C)ast, (E)scape, (S)hoot, (Q)uick cast and so on. The combat happens too often, there's no mechanic for avoiding the enemies/combat since you can't see them on the map... I'm a huge fan of M&M 4-5, so I may be biased in that regard - it's just that accessibility is very important for me to enjoy the game - having a support for an 80+ key controller is generally advisable for complex games like these instead of LEFT CLICKING EVERYTHING. This is incredible. Literally everything. I get the general idea and nostalgic feel, but the execution is not very good :( As other reviewers mentioned, it tries to emulate some games of the older era with missing QoL on purpose. The tech is old and deprecated (DirectMusic dependency in 2017, seriously?), the options are limited. Not recommended, sorry.
*Disclaimer* I have finished this game for the first time in 2019 so I have no sentiments from the past :) I haven't encountered any game-breaking issues or bugs. I must say I liked the story a lot. The writing is still good after so many years. I am giving it 5/5 just because of the story. I highly recommend treading game's manual to prepare for the game - it will make the whole experience easier and more enjoyable. There is a lot of fighting in this game and I wish there was a bit less of it. The levels are very linear and sometimes it gets boring a bit. The game took me about 25h to finish. Overall, if you're focused on the story element, it shouldn't disappoint you, but the "user experience" and action aspect of the game feels old, and clunky - the camera movement is not great, managing other characters is a chore sometimes (it's quite horrible if the AI manages the use of disciplines I recommend disabling it in the options...) and towns/hubs feel small and empty compared to modern games. If you're WoD fan, then that's an obvious buy in my opinion. Also, I suggest to take a look at Age of Redemption modification for this game, it changes some elements of the game and fixes a lot of issues and bugs. The good: + Engaging and interesting story + Diverse skills and abilities + Voice acting and writing + Interesting protagonist + Unique idea with story spanning through 800 years + Plays nicely on Wine/Linux The bad: - Coterie (team) AI is horrible - Combat is irritating at times - Some parts of the game are too structured and focused on repetitive combat
Some basic info: * Finished the game (31h) * I like vampire mythos in general * played as the "good guy" (no killing) * Used keyboard + mouse * Bought the game on discount (69 PLN -> ~16 EUR) The good: + atmosphere of London by night + decent music, sound effects, ambience and voice recording + overall decent story + dialogues and text found in the game is quite well-written and fit the language of the era + interesting difficulty curve, although frustrating at times + keeping districts safe is quite engaging + combat is OK if you learn how to play (and disable autolock because it's tedious) The "not so good": - irritating difficulty spikes in story-oriented game e.g. boss fights. There is no easy mode for people who don't enjoy technical and quick-death combat. This can be mitigated by preparing for the fights properly with serums and ammo - crafting is lackluster. You can improve a couple of weapons, but you cannot create them yourself. - the story definietely could be more interesting, gripping, with more twists and drama - apart from main story, there's not much to do unfortunately - the game tries to make a hard political statement and sometimes it's so blunt that you're rolling your eyes What could be improved: ~ fast travel could be there, at least optional for the players that want to use it ~ a regular save system wouldn't hurt. The game has an autosave feature only which doesn't suit "RPG-like" games in my opinion ~ dialogs feel forced at times and a bit too structured; the don't add too much to the gamplay ~ more activities between main story chapters wouldn't hurt In general: Don't treat this game as a RPG because it is definietely not. You have a predefined character and you live through his story which feels quite linear. There are some interesting choices though. The game suffers from cutting corners and reduced scope - it could be great game, but if feels "just OK" and it's a pity. Still enjoyed it! Overall: 7/10
