The "Good" and "Bad"

kaylord · Post by **kaylord** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 5:26 am

Well, this surely is a very "moody" game, which does capture the spirit of VTM very well.

First, I was very dissappointed because of the numerous bugs. Once you learn a workaround, I was able to enjoy the experience and I love tha game!

However, near the end of the game, numerous issues come back to haunt me.

0. Overall size of the game. About half of the size which BG2 provided for. Not enough.

1. Bugs... bugs... bugs.... like, sinking into the ground after a sneak-bloodsucking-attack, crashes, getting stuck elsewhere.

2. Area-switching, terrible loading times (did you notice those numerous error messages when the console is active?).

3. Graphical glitches; I count them seperately from those bugs since they do not blockade the game. Some of them are so bad that they seem intentional.

4. Graphical stupid-laziness. Example: The deheading of your sire in the start movie... man that is so bad!

Now the issues which are IMO real design-flaws.

1. Only one avatar, one clothing. Since NWN long gone. Last decade, boys.
2. Very, very bad sound for the foot-Steps. Even Darkforces of the early 90s was better. Last decade, boys. This almost ruined the haunted-hotel experience for me.
3. Loose-ends en masse. Like, Tung, Isaac the Anarchs after you have finished the quests connected to them. It just spoils immersion when you go back there and just get a lame question about something which has been settled long time ago.
Example: Isaac "You been to Kings yet?" - great man, been there, done that!!!

4. The RPG-choices. Worst example: How dump is your PC, going back to LaCroix and playing along all the time!? Already after the first encounter with Nines I would have switched sides all along! Having to frame Nines, I never would have done it, since Grout left so many obvious hints that it never could have been Nines! Stupidity for the sake of a forced story-line.
5. PC personal interaction: The Heather, VV... good idea, bad implementation, these could have been the occasion to intriduce romances and conflicts which could have surpassed the famous BG2-romances!!!

Bottomline: They are on a good way, but they need to improve. I would say, they just missed the title of the game of the year. Sad.
Next time, for a sequel, Troika should employ better programmers and spend even more time on game design and story. Please.

tazman67 · Post by **tazman67** » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:17 pm

Well put kaylord! I did notice all of the errors on the console during the loads. It struck me as odd because I can't imagine that all of those components are missing. The graphical glitches and "stupid-laziness" (LOL) did not get in the way of the game (as you stated), but it did take away from the experience. (You would be in awe one minute, then unimpressed the next. It was like manic depression! LOL) Luckily, I did not experience too many crashes, but the load time did take a bit longer than expected. All in all, however, a great game. It will be sunshine and roses when the patches are released.

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 3:29 am

I'm most of my way through a second run - first time as a melee/ranged Tremere male with decent persuade, this time as a female Brujah seductress fighting unarmed. I think upon replay you see more of the good and bad stuff:
+ Excellent dialogue differences based on gender and character, more than most RPG's I've played.
- But it seems the game was tested more for a male player, as there are times when male is implied in a response, and others where they say 'he' directly.
+ I thought I was thorough before, but I found a few new quests and people to talk to.
- I've also found a couple of ways to 'manipulate the game', by getting two sets of experience points from a quest.
- I'm find that the overall game plays largely the same ... but I've not taken a large departure by going Nosferatu or Malkavian
- I miss clan-specific quests. When I was a Tremere, I thought that I would be 'taken in' by Strauss ... I hear there is one specific 'reward', but apparently it is one of those 'hidden' things like how you get the downtown haven (which I got this time but not last).
+ The romance thing ... I think they handled it about right. There are sexual overtones everywhere, and this time the thing with VV took an interesting turn

I have experienced no bugs, but with celerity at 5 I see more graphical stuttering during combat, which also seems tied to a memory leak.

Mike

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:26 am

And let's not forget sweet baby Chunk

Mike

fable · Post by **fable** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 8:36 am

0. Overall size of the game. About half of the size which BG2 provided for. Not enough.

I think we can expect smaller worlds, less detailed gameplay, or some combination of the two, from most RPGs in the near future. This happens every time the graphical bar gets raised. A major increase in resources is required, and something else has to be cut. In Bloodlines' case, world size, non-linearity, depth of game and (perhaps) betatesting were shortened. Graphics drive the size of development teams, and nobody wants to risk doing a great game that's going to be rejected by its audience because of poor visuals. Kinda sad, that.

pennypincher · Post by **pennypincher** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:18 pm

Just a simple ask:

Please, nobody, ever again, post any pictures of Chunk calling me his cinnamon bun and telling me my security stud is here for me... Please?