It bums me out to see this game have so many low ratings online (It was buggy on release presumably, but a flawless experience for me on PS5 in 2024).

If you're a fan of narrative driven games with detective gameplay, you owe it to yourself to check this out.

It's actually quite a challenging game too. The game does not have manual saving. This means no save-scumming, no reloading. If your character fucks up, well tough shit, embrace the consequences...

This is also a game that is stingy with XP and with finite ability meters. I only realised halfway through it's not the kind of game where you unlock the entire skill tree, but instead you have to focus on levelling up only a handful of abilities.

This constraint is balanced by the fact that you get to play as 3 different characters so you still get to experience different styles of play.

The end result is a very tense campaign where every interaction with NPCs has stakes, and all your choices have consequences. It's got an intriguing story full of politics and backstabbing, great dialogue and acting.

The only flaw for me is that it rushes to an ending that can feel anticlimactic, as you get a few screens of text outlining the consequences of your actions. But up to that point I was engrossed by the vampiric politics, the hard detective work I put in, and the sacrifice of one of my characters who never made it to the end credits.

This is an underrated game that deserves a chance. I hope to one day see a sequel that irons out its flaws.

CHAPTER ONE review:

this game had a lot of dismissive attitudes aimed at it, but i fw it.

it’s not an action game, it’s a glorified point & click detective/mystery visual novel with RPG elements. duh, if you’re expecting Horizon Zero Dracula, of course, this game would be a disappointment

im not tripping on how realistic the character models are.

i didn’t really grasp that this is a MYSTERY GAME until i began: you control 3 characters, one at a time. all of them are investigating different aspects of the same situation.

i like the interior design so far! think: 1980s futurism (stark, artsy furnishings, super high ceilings) mixed with contemporary tropes found in fancy buildings.

i’m hoping the political machinations within the secret world of Bostonian vampires delivers, chapter one does much to establish the situation, so idk if the plot & pacing are gunna deliver

if you like games that include an attention to detail when placing art on walls, books on shelves..

if you want more characters to dress like they’re in KILLING EVE…(that part might be a stretch, but i see the vision)

so far, this game is a 4.5/7 for me. it was hard for me to get into the Vampire Masquerade Coteries of NYC visual novels, but this story feels like it’s trying to rub shoulders with a Vampire drama that HBO would greenlight. 🤞🏾

the art direction is stronger than the execution, which i can appreciate. as you look for clues and leads, there’s A LOT of documents & notes you’re either gonna fully read, skim, or click through to advance the story. which isn’t helping. half of them feel like lore that i’d rather learn of from cutscenes, but alas..
to this game’s credit, there’s a bit too much information to process, which makes me feel like i’m actually investigating, because i’m parsing thru a lot of non-essential info, on my way to finding what i’m ultimately after.

the traversal & user interfaces feel unpolished a bit, but those things are not dealbreakers in this case