Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

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.

I'm going to keep this short. This game is simply amazing. It does story, dialog, voice acting, choices, atmosphere, soundtrack, and unique classes all very well. The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because it does somethings wrong. Combat is frakly shit and the game clearly didn't have the budget it needs because the last few areas feel REALLY rushed. The good thing about the GOG version is that it comes with a community patch installed which fixes a lot of bugs.

What can I say abut VTMB that hasn't been said? It's one of the most well made translations of a table top rpg to virtual RPG ever made. With it's amazing humor and characterization thanks for 5 amazing writers who all seemingly have a lockstep rarely seen in games with this many writers, nevermind other mediums. I can't give it enough praise on that front. I've always played a "Gangrel", the more brutish of the clans, not because I think the others suck or I want to play the brutal class. Just simply, it's the one that calls to me the most. You may find the clan that calls you, or you may hop around the clans. Either way it's a fun narrative experience full of choices for each clan that make them stand out from each other. Two reasons reason it's a 4/5: 1. because of the broken state the base game is in and forever will be, unless of course Activision ever tries to go for a remaster/remake, which they've been slowly doing with their more prominent best sellers. 2. The only real atheistic changes you can make to characters are based on what clan you select and the armors or mods. While It wasn't 100% common place to be able to customize everything about appearance, it was still head, skin and hair selection that was common in 2004's rpgs.

I was completely smitten with this game when I started playing it. The cool "cyberpunk meets gothic" look and feel of LA, the cynical humor, the turn-of-the-millennium goth sound of the soundtrack and most importantly the great side characters. Playing this game for the first time is a truly exciting experience since unlike a lot of comparable games this one actually manages to make you feel like a newcomer in dangerous social circles where everyone has their own agenda and you have no idea whom you can trust. So you listen closely, you try to figure people out, you hedge your bets and try not to commit to anything - it's realistic and fun. Unfortunately, I think the devs might have run out of interest in the second half. This is where you get a lot of repetitive hack-and-slay and the story doesn't feel as tight anymore as in the first half. If the second half had been half as long, it would have been a better game. The game is supposed to have a lot of replay value since you get a different experience based on which clan you join - in fact I know someone who has completed this game at least 5 times. But the truth is, I couldn't get through the game a second time because it became more clear that the game is a lot more linear than it first appears. In many cases the "most obvious choice" that most players will make on their first playthrough is indeed the only choice the game actually lets you make. Still, it's a memorable game that I would recommend to anyone who likes RPGs, vampires, or has nostalgia about being a goth in the early 2000s. This brings back the aesthetic, the sound, the feel - even though I first played this game only last year.

I consider a great game to be one I never get sick of playing and always enjoy revisiting after some time, and just like with Mass Effect, Deus Ex, and KOTOR, VTM Bloodlines is an immortal classic I always love revisiting no matter how much time passes. It's a must play for every self respecting RPG fan. We desperately need more games that feature so many deep quests, engrossing storytelling, and meaningful choices down to which class you pick along with how you level them up. Even though Bloodlines becomes less choice driven and more combat focused towards the end, it doesn't diminish the experience. If you can handle a few lingering bugs and janky controls, this is a game everybody should play at least once in their lives.