Vampire: The Masquerade® - Bloodlines™ 2

Okay, so where to begin? I guess we will start with this game has great bones. Everything about the game is fine, I guess, movement around the city, story progression, the fighting is fairly simplistic (but i tend to get bored with most combat in games, so meh). And the clues and storyline are too direct to bring a noir feel to it. It feels like they got the core of the game done and said thats it, ship it. No bells, no whistles, no open worldness to it. But that's just it, it's 'fine'. The game is missing depth and breadth to it (tho as vampires we all are missing breath, haha). It needs to be expanded on, and I don't mean through paid DLC; it isn't worth it at this juncture. Okay, now to be more specific, on your 'first night' in control, you meet a character that invites you to her club, only to have not just; no interactions there, but no nothing, nothing to explore, no people, only a couple of 'clues'. Why have an introduction and invite if nothing is there at that time? Yes, it becomes important later, but for just one moment in time, and that is a waste of space and potential intrigue. one night (well, a couple times, but I only checked once), I figured out where the clues were going to send me, and I went there. The NPC was there, but because I hadn't checked all my 'clues' I couldn't interact with them. Which is sad for 2 reasons, one the other 'clues' didn't add anything to understanding just made it more clear where I was to go next so skippable, and 2 if you have a npc there have the ability to interact with them even if you can't progress (though you should be able to progress if you've pieced it together). For being a dialogue and story diven game, they haven't fleshed out the world. then some fun mentions that have zero relevance. Werewolfs, Mr. Swan, Clans, the Beast, the Masquerade, and I'm sure there are more. These are things that could give the game a more rounded feel. Werewolves are brought up a couple of times but are not in the game at all, while I don't think they are necissarly needed, why bring them up at all if they don't exist in the confines of the game. Mr. Swan, I put because it is a good example of intrigue that a more fleshed-out clan lore could bring to the table. Clans in general are underwhelming outside of a few snipets that is just a choice perk and what skills/clothing you wanna start with. While the beast does show through for you once in chinamtic it doesn't burden you in game. Another aspect that could add some depth, maybe if you tend to overfeed it, could send you into a frenzy or something else. Same for the masquerade, while there is punishment for full-on breakage, there isn't anything that holds you accountable long term, like if you are often spotted doing vampire things, the meter will fill faster and faster the more you are spotted. Lastly, your choices don't feel like they have an impact. While you might get something quick and small for immediate choices, no one seems to treat you differently outside of a quick dialogue spot. Nothing seems to be lasting; it only changes the end outcome, which yeah, is the most important part to have discrepancies, but shouldn't be the only place to have discrepancies. TL;DR The game has a really good starting place, but that is literally all it is. At this point, it is shallow with no player agency.

This game was very poorly optimized for PS5, frame rate drops are terribly bad. PlayStation will not refund btw, they will tell you there is no issue with the game.

Not to bad of a game reminds of another game played ive played alot better than the other one .