joshbi

The graphics and VA are fantastic and really stand the test of time. There's the right level of campness and levity while still taking itself somewhat seriously, and it's so good.

I don't know how well this game would serve as an intro to World of Darkness, and certainly my child self didn't take in any of it, but with WoD lore knowledge it felt really rewarding to make educated guesses as to X thing happening etc. Like when I started finding flesh monsters and was like, oh, cool, we're dealing with the Tzimisce.

I'm a big fan of the split level design where on the one hand you have the in-city segments where it plays more like a traditional ARPG of its era and the out-of-city segments where it plays closer to Bioshock - listen to X character(s) monologue while you fight waves of faceless enemies and solve basic puzzles. Maybe it's just the nostalgia I have for the era, but I love it. The Malkavian manor was the best of this.

It definitely shows it age in some places, and I feel the dialogue options are more limited than I'd like (I have to be so violent and cruel to some people, even though I've maxed out humanity wherever possible?) but it's not enough to make me not love the game.

Just, objective: survive while this guy runs after you

It's such a charming game in so many ways and I'm so glad that I thought to replay it so that I don't play something modern and turn my PC into a radiator in a heat wave lmao