On the whole, Bloodlines is an outstanding, one-of-a-kind RPG. While it is rife with faults, the lurid setting along with memorable characters make up for whatever the shortcoming… though sometimes just barely.

I had a blast playing this game until I started progressing through its final chapters. Bloodlines' world is divided into four hub worlds – Santa Monica, Downtown, Hollywood, and Chinatown. The first two, Santa Monica especially, feature a vast, rich selection of quests spanning a dizzying number of outcomes. The potential for role play is enormous there. Come Downtown, simple infiltration quests and series of mindless liquidation become increasingly common. Albeit rudimentary, they are braided with mysteries or personal vendettas—sometimes both, which means completing them does feel engaging or rewarding.

The richness of lore, however, becomes watered-down in Chinatown and Hollywood; the increasingly long mazes of enemies start lacking variety. Ennui resulting of which is further exacerbated by mind-numbing combat: bullets often miss the target, reload times are agonisingly slow, and all the melee combat has to offer is hacking at an enemy by repeatedly pressing the same button.

And then, even with the unofficial patch, there are many bugs, poor design choices, or engine failures—NPCs frequently turn a passage impassable, objectives demand going back and forth, and doors revolve if they collide with anything. The latter is indescribably frustrating.

On other hand, Bloodlines skilfully introduces the macabre World of Darkness through engaging dialogues, artistic imagery, hints and foreshadowing, or wild twists—all of which there is galore. The endings are superb; the very number of and variance between endings is impressive. Quests do not shy away from the most crude of topics: slavery, exploitation, abuse, murder—many times done or sleazily commented on by the player themselves. The writing frequently puts one's morality to a test. Everywhere the player turns to, they are awaited by choices and their consequences. And that is liberating.

A newcomer is in for a plenty of iconic, unforgettable moments, amongst which I personally count my dealings with Jeanette Voerman, the jaunt through Dr. Grout's mansion, starring in a snuff movie, or listening to Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 with Gimble the prosthetist.