First off, this is a visual novel. Just deal with that and accept that you're getting a visual novel game with a few choices in the narrative. This might not suit many tabletop/Bloodlines fans, but this is what this project is. Now, I would say a lot of what irked me in the original game was the protagonists - they were dumped into the world way too quickly and you didn't get enough time to get to know and like/dislike the supporting cast. Shadows of New York gets personal - you're introduces to the protagonist gradually and carefully and she's likeable enough - not marysue-ish or all-powerful at all but rather as lost as a person in these circumstances would be - yet also she kind of likes the situation she's in. No moping around with her, she gets stuff done. This is refreshing for a world of darkness game - you very rarely get to play as a class that actually kind of loves what they've become. Visually and aurally the game is fantastic. The soundtrack, especially, is a work of art - i stopped several times at a dialogue option just to listen to the tune. The characters are very well painted, and you get several varied looks at the protagonist in the CG cutscenes that ensue - a welcome break from the different character sprites we got in Coteries of NY. Stylistically and in terms of the narrative this is also an improvement. This is a noir detective story, with some classic 80s goth undertones and infused with very modern, 2019 tropes. The game is very immersive and made me want a game where you can sit and chat with the protagonist in that burger joint for hours. That brings me to the thing I like the least in these two games - their length. In the previous game there was no way you could explore all the storylines in full. It seems this is also true for this game. One thing I would very much like is a New Game+ for this game - something where you could get all the dialogues, see all interactions and talk to everyone you want after you finish it once.
