Recent reviews by Analog Pill

It began with an invitation sealed in wax, gold-embossed, perfumed with nostalgia.

“The Penthouse is reborn,” the letter promised.
“A new era for Bloodlines begins. Old charm, new luxury. The dream endures.”

And signed beneath, in a confident, elegant hand:
The Ventrue Elder of Paradox Holdings.

He spoke to us as if we were old friends. “You remember the first Penthouse, yes?” he said, swirling his glass of vitae. “Built by a genius named Brian Mitsoda.”

The name stirred the blood. The original architect, the mind who designed the first home, the one that captured the essence of our kind. It felt like fate. We've desired it for so long...

Now, He’d been brought back.

The very soul of the first Bloodlines, resurrected to rebuild it for a new age.

We lined up eagerly, leases in hand. We whispered, “He’s back.” We saw the concept art, the interviews, the alleys of Seattle dripping in neon rain, the dimly lit apartments where politics and desire coiled like smoke. It was real. The walls were being raised again.

And for a moment, just a moment it felt like home.

Then, one night, we return to find the locks changed.

The Elder announced, coldly, that the architect was “no longer part of the project.”
No ceremony, no warning. one day, his blueprints were gospel; the next, they were ashes.

The scaffolding still stood, but the soul was gone.
The artistry that made the original immortal - all stripped, redacted, and “re-envisioned.”

We heard whispers in the halls, in the night: that Brian was blindsided, exiled from his own creation - the way only a true Kindred could betray another. The Elder smiled to the mortals, assured them the Penthouse was “on schedule,” but we - the damned, heard the truth in the silence between his words.

Many nights, many years passed...

The doors stayed locked. We stood outside the estate, watching the lights flicker in a thousand delays. Rumors came and went...new caretakers, new directions, new visions.

Finally, The Chinese Room was chosen to continue the work. Scholars of atmosphere and mood, they promised a more introspective design. But when I stepped inside the newly unveiled lobby, my footsteps echoed far too loudly.

The Penthouse had been renamed “Bloodlines 2.”
But it felt like walking through a corpse. A familiar face with dead eyes.

The marble was polished, yes. The drapes were silk. But the architecture, the passion, the moral grime, ironically the flawed humanity, was gone. What once lived now merely functions.

Now the Elder parades the husk, telling the world the legacy continues. And perhaps for some fledgling Kindred, it will suffice. But those of us who remember the original - who knew the architect, who walked those haunted halls - we see through the Masquerade.

We see the rot beneath the glamour.

A lovely followup, decent story, great characters, great art and the puzzles felt organic and natural to the game world. I hope to see more of Kathy Rain and Midred in the future. :)

My only complaint is the game introduces several interesting ideas and concepts that it doesn't follow through with.

This game is excellent, I am normally not into stealth but this game removes the boring element of frustration from for me. Which is strange because the stealth is as strict as you can get.

You get spotted once, game over. Body Spotted, game over.

I think it is because the game approaches the stealth more from the direction of a puzzle game than traditional stealth. I think that is why I dig it.

The puzzles themselves are very well designed and the game has some fantastic performances with likable characters. So far the game has some solid pacing too, from chapter to chapter and within each chapter as well.

The performance issues seem to be mostly sorted from what I can see, so I can give it a recommendation. I am terrible at the game, not sure I have the skillz to beat it.

But I recommend it none the less.

Very cute, this game is like a nice warm hug. :)

This is a game with a clever premise and with the exception of the last main puzzle which was just to be blunt, very sloppy and poorly designed, the game utilizes it's premise very well.

Also the voice of the girl is beyond adorable.

It is a story based horror exploration game that isn't scary, not fun to explore and with a story that is not interesting.

The exploration its beyond not fun, is absurdly tedious. The opening area you are told to explore, but if you go too high or low in your depth, you hear the same voice line telling you to watch out, don't go too far! You go even beyond that, just a little, and you die. You hear the same warning line each time you go outside these bounds, so it is like someone takes your immersion and throws ice cold water on it.

There is no clear visual indication of where these bounds are, and they are ridiculously inconstant. One area seems like it would be out of bounds and it isn't, and another which seems fine but results in that same depth warning line playing.

The game plays upon this idea of, "What could have happened to this rig?", which is moot because if you played the base game you know what happened. This single plot point is what drives most of the DLC, all the while I was waiting for something interesting to happen.

The other idea the DLC seemingly promised is you will learn some new revelation about the entity that destroyed the Rig, and you do not.

Nothing, just that whatever it is, it is still around.

Not worth your time. :(

The art and animation is gorgeous and the gameplay is real solid so far, this is a game clearly made with people who have a love and passion for what they do. In an age where everyone is chasing realism in their visuals, it is nice to see a developer put emphasis on art direction which in my opinion will last longer.

Looking forward to see the game come together. :)

I am not far in, but I can already tell this game is going to be a blast. It plays wonderfully and has loads of character.

I hope it gets some more attention. :)

Thanks Saber and Aspyr for giving life back to the real Lara Croft. :)