Yeah, VTM Bloodlines hasn't really been surpassed in the last 21 years. It was lightning in a bottle, even without mods (which is how it played at launch...or, well, after the first patch).

I can't think of another game that really captured the feeling of playing a vampire. Like there are good action games where you are technically a vampire, but that's not the same.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug.

That's the only reason I can think for anyone GOATing this game, because the set pieces are badly paced, the plot is barely there, and the check lists get really long-winded after the first few chapters. The few major plot points that do happen are pretty poorly explained, too, even the ones central to the whole trilogy.

I mean the combat is fun and the production values are great, but those don't override the flaws.

Good? Sure. Great? Nah.

*edit* I will say, I did like some of the smaller character stories that came out of it all. That's what made it frustrating to me - this could have been a really good remake of FF7 if they hadn't overextended it or massively convoluted the plot.

Sega already had freebies if you sign up to their newsletter, so this is basically just the same thing.

I play heaps of Sega games, but...meh?

Yeah, I think I agree with every word of it.

Admittedly, for all my grumbling in the "What are you playing" thread, I mostly enjoyed it and would have recommended it to friends (despite its flaws and uneven minigames and total lack of story progression)...but the final few hours were terrible, and that soured my feelings about the whole thing.

It's just baffling that with 25 years extra experience and a massive budget, they're worse at storytelling than they were back in the 90s. They Hobbit'd it.

It definitely has a designed-by-committee feel to it.

Dragon Age Origins is the only one with the most authentic vision, and that's because it was in development hell for years before EA bought up Bioware.

It's good to see them finally having some relevance in Western markets, but I think you might be overblowing it.

They had a couple of hits. Very popular, derivative games that aren't likely to steer the industry one way or another. People won't be flocking to make Wukong-likes, and hero shooters and gatcha games are a dime a dozen.

2024 was also an unusually slow year. If they'd tried going head to head with any major developer this year (like a mainline Zelda or Souls game), i don't think they'd have done quite as well.

But yeah, give is a few years. You'll know they've made it once it stops being a novelty that Chinese games are great - similar to how Poland was in the late 00s.

Okay, this analysis is pretty funny - Did Trump's executive order just make everyone in the U.S. female?

I did enjoy the comment that Trump is officially the first female president of the United States.

Trump's policies will hurt everyone economically, but if there's any consolation, he only gets four years (unless he wants to go full dictator, but his lackeys snarkily assure us that won't happen).

Plus that's a max four years. He's in poor shape and a good chunk of the North American continent hate him. There's a decent chance he won't live out his full term.

How are people not making a bigger deal about this one?

On the one hand, Trump issues a bare-bones order to lower the cost of living - with literally no details - and on the other hand he's lifting caps on the price of medicine.

That's going to hurt the MAGA crowd as much as it hurts anyone else in the US. The only people who benefit are Trump's wealthy friends.

Whoops, that last one was (partly) incorrect. Information fatigue, man.

Fingers crossed nothing crazy happens overnight.