An incredibly flawed gem.
Bloodlines comes so, so close to being masterpiece, an RPG ahead of it's time, but it fumbles the ball in the final act. It starts off very strong, choices feel like they have weight, dialogue is well written and interesting, levels are designed in a way that feels like it can be approached from multiple directions.
The only things I could have initially pointed out as a criticism was that it was a little buggy (to be expected from a game on its 20th anniversary), and the combat. The combat is a little floaty and doesn't quite pack a punch, in the same way that Deus Ex's does. And that was fine, I believe it's meant to feel that way until you put more points into it.
What becomes a problem is when the entire third act is compromised almost entirely of combat. The final levels completely drop any guise of trying to be an RPG, choice disappears, level complexity vanishes, as you're forced through waves upon waves of frustrating enemies.
After three levels of this, mixed with just as many frustrating boss fights, I felt disappointed, I felt frustrated. There's so much unrealised potential here, it truly was close to being an incredibly memorable classic, but gets dampened by its finale.
Bloodlines comes so, so close to being masterpiece, an RPG ahead of it's time, but it fumbles the ball in the final act. It starts off very strong, choices feel like they have weight, dialogue is well written and interesting, levels are designed in a way that feels like it can be approached from multiple directions.
The only things I could have initially pointed out as a criticism was that it was a little buggy (to be expected from a game on its 20th anniversary), and the combat. The combat is a little floaty and doesn't quite pack a punch, in the same way that Deus Ex's does. And that was fine, I believe it's meant to feel that way until you put more points into it.
What becomes a problem is when the entire third act is compromised almost entirely of combat. The final levels completely drop any guise of trying to be an RPG, choice disappears, level complexity vanishes, as you're forced through waves upon waves of frustrating enemies.
After three levels of this, mixed with just as many frustrating boss fights, I felt disappointed, I felt frustrated. There's so much unrealised potential here, it truly was close to being an incredibly memorable classic, but gets dampened by its finale.