Out of something of a sense of obligation I felt I had to give Bloodlines 2 a chance… and the first impression it leaves is quite dire.
Now I certainly have no love for the first game, as my feelings toward it are likely rather similar to a lot of people’s feelings toward this one (namely that it’s a notable departure from what it was supposed to be based on). Yet even lacking such a bias I’m still struggling to find something worthwhile here.
I’ve only just completed the tutorial and already run into a host of issues; the settings screen requiring keyboard input, keyboard prompts not matching any changes you’ve made, enemies magically appearing in places they have no business being in, the almost complete lack of character customization (which only becomes available post-tutorial), the heavily simplified ability system that seems expressly designed for a controller, and the lack of a manual save combined with a ludicrously rigid auto-save system.
The opening of a game is supposed to hook you or at the very least spark some curiosity, but all this one’s has accomplished is complete repulsion.