I have a confession to make. I mostly played Vampire as a p&p game and then got Redemption, which I greatly enjoyed, warts and all. However, I barely touched Bloodlines since I watched a friend playing it shortly after launch and was such a mess I couldn't be arsed with it. Everything I knew about the original game was mostly from random videos on YouTube and some second hand experience. With that said, the hype got the best of me after re-reading the clan novels, and with the missus being a huge pest about playing something new, I gave it a try via GOG.
The UI is dated AF, so is level design, and the fighting sucks ass, but voice acting is pretty damn solid and oh my God, this writing. I just got Jeanette killed (I think?) and I'm loving it. I haven't even moved from Santa Monica and I'm already blown away by how good this is.
It's also showing its age at every turn, though. Fashion and character design are firmly set during the aughts. Our Tremere girl protagonist is less scary Morticia and more like the chicks I used to oogle at back during my goth clubbing days, which is kind of odd when you consider that she should have a somewhat sickly and unerving look.
Still, playing Bloodlines for the first time in a proper way made me much more hyped for the sequel. I'm not even 8 hours in and it's already high on my personal list of best RPGs ever.