Got this as a gift, Its a VN, Not something I consider a game or something I enjoy. But gave it a chance because I like dark themed games and stories. I really wanted to enjoy this game, but it sucks. Pretty boring. Writing is bland. Choices don't actually seem to make much of a difference.

Honestly press control key first play through chose top choices then second play through bottom choices but one to shoot or not then bottom choices. And then go bottom choices don't shoot. You will have all "Achievements" in 19 minutes. Because yeah the writing is so bad and cringe they give you an achievement for sticking with it over the course of the story not for the choices you make until the end. Which isn't much of an achievement. If It wasn't gifted I would have refunded since I still have under 2 hours to do so per steam policy. But I have integrity so I won't even bother.

Feel free to disagree but this VN was really bad and a perfect example of why I don't play VNs normally. But hey I got the achievements. Only 12% of people who have this VN can say that. So Ill never have to grudgingly come back to finish. I uninstall and hide from my library. Maybe other VTM games/VNs are better I do not know, but this? No.

On paper, this game suffers the same problems as Coteries of New York.
The UI is annoying. The narrative is badly managed and constantly reminds you that the writers can't think even one scene ahead (which for an investigative mystery is REALLY bad and makes the finale laughable. There is no set-up and payoff, there's just things that happen with two minor details actually foreshadowed). The choices are shallow, the consequences are none, the plot is thin and more linear than an average dime-pile paperback.

What elevates Shadows of New York above its predecessor is twofold:
1) It's no longer trying to pull off more than it can chew. It still doesn't chew enough, but it doesn't get stuck in your throat when you try to swallow it.
The story is more personal, so the characters get to have their little moments and feel like that actually matters. The narration and story is more tailored to the protagonist, who is entertaining to focus on in all her conflicted moody glory. The plot is introduced fast and focused on directly and constantly, so you can easier ignore it (because it's still garbage) and focus on the little things that make the experience meaningful. The scope is deliberately small, so at no point does it seem like the lack of choice is a technical failure.
It just is more humble and so nothing gets in the way by the end. The writer might not have the ability to write a good story, but the writing is entertaining, so what does that matter? Which brings me to the second point...
2) It doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥.
Or maybe, I don't give a ♥♥♥♥. It just feels so more self-indulgently unhinged from the get-go that it begs to be engaged with on the line-by-line vibe, and on that front it delivers in spades.
It's crass, it lives in the realms of references, it's unabashed in what it wants, and it does everything it wants without rhyme or reason. Sometimes, you could swear this is a Malkavian narrative. The prose lacks so much professionalism that its pageant for the low-brow becomes that much more delicious. It's fun. And that's the focus. The story just gets in the way sometimes.

It does have a novel problem which it predecessor didn't have. The characters all sound the same. Nobody sounds distinct, which is especially apparent for the character who previously had actual personality to them. Instead everyone talks the same, says the same things, does everything in the same way, and only ever talks. They also seem to spout the exposition at you way more often than it makes sense. They are transparent vehicles of narration rather than characters who happen to illuminate it.

In the end, I wouldn't say I wasn't awfully disappointed. This is very close to a "don't play this" kind of review. But since it's a mostly direct sequel to something that was already garbage, I can only recommend it to the person who managed to stomach the previous VN.