History YMMV / VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines

* HarsherInHindsight: If you look on Simon Milligan's computer when you come to deal with him for Pisha, you discover that they were planning on shooting the next episode in the zombie-filled graveyard in Hollywood.

** The Elizabeth Dane can be this if you were really unlucky with your skill point allocation. It isn't so bad if you're halfway decent in Persuasion and Hacking. You can persuade the first guard to give you the police report and call away another guard, then you just need to sneak into the cabin, hack the doors and the cameras, take the ledger and off you go. Without even coming close to another guard. And if you're a Nosferatu or a Malkavian, hence gifted with Obfuscate, even the sneaking portions aren't that bad.

** The Ventrue also get some flak for similar reasons. Besides Bertram, who has unique banter with every clan, almost nobody else really treats the player differently. As a result, half of the Ventrue's clan bonus of "easier acceptance into Camarilla society" isn't really useful, at the cost of not being able to drink from rats. The fact their combat style is also BoringButPractical doesn't help either.

** Late game guns eclipse melee weapons in power and usability, and the Steyr Aug stands above the rest. This beast has no major weaknesses with a mix of great damage, fast firing speed, long-range scope, high clip size, and excellent accuracy. The only downside is that you need to zoom in to get the double damage bonus, though it is only a bit inconvenient in close quarters. The AUG can even make the battle with the [[spoiler:Chiropteran Behemoth into an AntiClimaxBoss, since with a high firearms stat (to eliminate scope drift) plus the double damage boost from using the scope, coupled with its flightpaths being both distant and predictable]] means it can die in as little as ''one'' magazine if every shot hits true.

* ThatOneLevel: The Warrens, a MarathonLevel that largely serves as nothing but {{Padding}}. They're ''full'' of annoying and hard to kill monsters, tricky puzzles, and contain no interesting loot or anything important to the plot until the end. Thankfully the most recent versions of the unofficial patch re-implements a DummiedOut shortcut that allows you to skip the lower three levels.
** And these [[ThatOneLevel Scrappy Levels]] can't even be blamed on Troika's ObviousBeta release...
*** The [[DownTheDrain friggin' sewers...]] Both from a gameplay perspective and from a narrative standpoint.
*** Gameplay-wise, not only are they the worst kind of MarathonLevel, one which comes on the heels of a whole other level with its own boss fight, not only are they an unintuitive maze, and not only are there GoddamnBats every few feet, DemonicSpiders every few yards, and [[DegradedBoss Degraded Bosses]] ''in the same dungeon where they appear as proper boss fights'', but there is no opportunity to replenish your blood supply through any of it besides a rapidly-dwindling supply of rats. If you don't have either Pisha's blood-collection artifact or a generous supply of blood packs, you're going to be in a lot of trouble, very fast, especially if you're a Ventrue, who can't even use the rats. There are a couple of hidden and off-the-beaten-path points at which you can leave the sewers to heal your wounds and replenish your supplies, but when the big selling point of a level is that you can ''get the fuck away from it'', you know you've got a rare vintage of scrappiness.

* ThatOneSidequest: Defending the graveyard from a zombie horde. There are literally ''hundreds'' of zombies, they take forever to kill, and the two gates you have to defend are very far apart, and you automatically fail if even ''one'' zombie breaks through. With Celerity and lots of min-maxed combat skills, it's difficult and requires good time-management skills and lots of practice. ''Without'' it, it's practically impossible. Let's just say that many players take up Romero's offer to get him a hooker (or have sex with him, if your character is female) just to avoid the sheer pain of the graveyard level.

* TierInducedScrappy: While the Auspex and Presence disciplines provide decent buffs in combat, they're neither dramatic nor game-changing. They give you some bonus to offense and defense, but unlike other disciplines they don't give you bullet time, mind control, virtual immunity to bullets, or invisibility. They certainly don't have the same dramatic flair as boiling somebody's blood and making them explode hard enough to kill everyone around them. The fact that they're not identified specifically with any one clan makes them feel fairly generic as well.

* {{Misblaimed}}: While the mix of Activision forcing the game to release and the shadow of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s release (as well as several other anticipated titles) have taken the brunt of the blame for Troika's demise, the studio actually survived and only died after being unable to find a publisher for its isometric post-apocalyptic game. Though neither the broken state, SoOkayItsAverage reviews, and dismal sales of ''Bloodlines'' at launch probably didn't help matters.

* ActingForTwo: Many of the voice actors voice more than one named character, though their incredible range means it's shockingly hard to tell. Perhaps the best example: [[HotBlooded Damsel]] and [[TheCutie Heather]] are voiced by the same actress.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Possibly Strauss, given that he's [[{{Expy}} based off]] [[Franchise/TheMatrix Morpheus]], but it's hard to actually ''tell'' given that he's almost always shown in very dim lighting, and is a grey-skinned vampire to boot.

** Late game guns eclipse melee weapons in power and usability, and the the Steyr Aug stands above the rest. This beast has no major weaknesses with a mix of great damage, fast firing speed, long range scope, high clip size, and excellent accuracy. The only downside is that you need to zoom in to get the double damage bonus, though it is only a bit inconvenient in close quarters. The AUG can even make the battle with the [[spoiler:Chiropteran Behemoth into an AntiClimaxBoss, since with a high firearms stat (to eliminate scope drift) plus the double damage boost from using the scope, coupled with its flightpaths being both distant and predictable]] means it can die in as little as ''one'' magazine if every shot hits true.

* SelfImposedChallenge: Choosing to play as a Nosferatu presents a unique challenge - being seen by humans out in the open will break the Masquerade, so you'll be forced to navigate the city via the sewers (though since people won't see you unless you're up close, and you have to enter buildings anyway). Generic [=NPCs=] will refuse to interact with you, and you are cut off from almost all diplomatic options when dealing with quest essential characters.

* {{Wangst}}: Mocked; when switching from the Camarilla to the Anarchs, you can tell Damsel, "[[EmoTeen I hate my parents and I want a divorce.]]"

** The way Lily twist her neck after killing Scrubs looks ''very'' unnatural.

* YouLookFamiliar: The game reuses quite a bit of character models. The player models in particular are pallet-swapped, slightly altered and reused all over the place.
** Most player models are relatively unique in that no other character will have the ''exact'' same model, with the opposite gender version serving as the player's sire. However, for both the Nosferatu and Tremere, the opposite-gender model will show up as another, minor character: [[spoiler: The friendly Nosferatu in the sewers and the Tremere Antitribu in the Hallowbrook Hotel, respectively.]]
** Playing as a Ventrue can be even stranger, since in the level just before the FinalBoss, the player fights a group of Ventrue... [[MindScrew who all share the exact same model and clothing with the player models, leading to a battle with clones of the player and their (still dead) sire.]]

** The other boss fight in Santa Monica [[spoiler: the blood demon in Gallery Noir]] also qualifies. [[MightyGlacier It's slower, but has a larger health bar than the Cathayan and deals aggrevated damage.]] On the plus side, the Unofficial Patch Plus seems to nerf its damage output to a degree, making the fight much less of a pain.

** For the non-combat oriented, the Cathayan is destined to be a proper WakeUpCallBoss. He actively uses the environment unlike previous bosses, [[LightningBruiser uses katana to do heavy damage at close range before jumping away]] and unloads on the player with a flaming crossbow at range.

** The Protean Discipline becomes thanks to some quirks in the Plus Patch. The levels stack with each other when turned on, providing both the level 4 Strength bonus and level 5 Brawl bonus in War Form. Combined with boosting normal stats, this can give the Gangrel War Form an unarmed combat rating of '''''20'''''. The kicker? That rating can be achieved with a Strength rating of merely 3, and '''the game literally cannot stack the stat any higher'''. This frees up 28 XP to put into Fortitude, [[TheJuggernaut making them borderline indestructable on top of that.]] Even better, in the Plus Patch with some conversation choices and through pumping up Disciplines early, Beckett can give you a fourth discipline: '''[[UpToEleven Celerity]]'''

** The Protean Discipline also makes a case as the most powerful combat power thanks to some quirks in the Plus Patch. The levels stack with each other when turned on, providing both the level 4 Strength bonus and level 5 Brawl bonus in War Form. Combined with boosting normal stats, this can give the Gangrel War Form an unarmed combat rating of '''''20'''''. The kicker? That rating can be achieved with a Strength rating of merely 3, and '''the game literally cannot stack the stat any higher'''. This frees up 28 XP to put into Fortitude, [[TheJuggernaut making them borderline indestructable on top of that.]] Even better, in the Plus Patch with some conversation choices and through pumping up Disciplines early, Beckett can give you a fourth discipline: '''[[UpToEleven Celerity]]'''
** The Flamethrower deals ridiculous damage with no firearms skill needed, and it stops non-monstrous bosses from attacking or using their defensive skills as long as they burn. Its only weakness is its lack of ammunition, the high cost of the fuel, and the ever present threat of [[TooDumbToLive accidentally burning yourself to death with it.]]
** The Thaumaturgy Discipline, exclusive to the Tremere clan, is ridiculously powerful. Its starting ability, Blood Strike, is a homing projectile with a decent range that always damages, kills any non-boss in three or four hits, [[AntiClimaxBoss including the Tzimisce spider-creatures]], costs only one blood point, and - the kicker - restores two blood points to you after it damages most types of enemies. It's possible to wipe out an entire area with this ability and only end up with a net loss of one blood point. The second tier power, Blood Purge, affects almost all enemies, including several bosses. It costs only two blood points, and paralyzes enemies for several seconds by making them vomit blood. By the time they recover (assuming you haven't already killed them), the ability has long since recharged and can be used again. And to top it off the third tier, the Blood Shield, basically serves as a poor-man's Fortitude. While it costs three blood points, which isn't inexpensive, the bonus is that it's not on a timer like all passive disciplines, meaning if you don't take enough damage to break it, it'll last an entire level.

*** Similarly, with Brother Kanker [[spoiler:you can simple move behind the steam pipes and shoot him while he dances about unable to reach you]].
*** Another useful bug with Kanker is [[spoiler: that before he reveals himself, he can still interacted with; If the player has a targeted attack Dsiscpline, it'll even register him as a target depsite being invisible. Simply hit him with that once, or fire off a single shot from any firearm, and he'll turn visible and attack, skipping the entire dialogue with him. This should take a few points of his health off before the proper fight, as well as skip over his rather long and hammy speech,]] both of which may be appreciated by players [[WakeUpCallBoss given Kanker's reputation.]]

** The Plus Patch adds the Dragon's Breath, a double-barrel shotgun that shoots incendiary rounds that deal aggravated damage, in theory making it ideal against vampires. But it doesn't deal enough damage to kill supernatural enemies in both shots even with maxed out firearms stars (unlike the Automatic Shotgun, which is both cheaper and buyable earlier) and to top it off, most of the damage is done ''over time'' rather than immediate. This leaves the player reloading while getting pounded by enemies who get up close and personal, i.e. most of them.

** The Plus Patch adds the Dragon's Breath, a double-barrel shotgun that shoots incendiary rounds that deal aggravated damage, in theory making it ideal against vampires. But it doesn't deal enough damage to kill supernatural enemies in both shots and most of the damage is done ''over time'' rather than immediate. This leaves the player reloading while fighting the enemies who get up close and personal, i.e. most of them.

** In his BadassBoast, Gary Golden states that neither Sebastian, Isaac nor Nines have any domain over him. He doesn't mention Strauss, despite both being Primogen. Did he simply not bother to mention him? Is Strauss that below him? Does he respect Strauss. Or is he ''that'' scared of him?

** The Plus Patch adds the Dragon's Breath, a double-barrel shotgun which shoots incendiary rounds that deal aggravated damage, in theory making it ideal against vampires. But it doesn't deal enough damage to kill supernatural enemies in both shots and most of the damage also ''over time'' rather than immediate. This leaves the player reloading while fighting the enemies who get up close and personal, i.e. most of them.

** Even the male PC Nosferatu can have a weird, monsterous kind of charm to him after playing as him for a while. Especially compared with the female PC, who could compete with Bertram in the Ugly Olympics.

* UglyCute: Of all things, most of the Nosferatu you encounter. With a hood they could easily live in LA. The male PC Nosferatu is arguably the ugliest of them.

** In his BadassBoast, Gary Golden states that Sebastian, Isaac or Nines have any domain over him. He doesn't mention Strauss, despite both being Primogen. Did he simply not bother to mention him? Is Strauss that below him? Does he respect Strauss. Or is he ''that'' scared of him?

* ScrappyWeapon: The .38 Revolver is easily the worst weapon in the game and possibly one of the most useless guns in video game history. Poor accuracy even at medium range, kills normal humans in at least three shots, and has a six-shot capacity. The only good thing about it is that ammo is common and it can serve as a decent weapon for killing zombies.

** How trustworthy is Nines? While they always seems honest and polite to the Fledgeling, even if they're outright rude to him, he's ''not'' mentioned as being someone they can trust by Rosa. Whether or not this is simply because he has his own agenda seperate from the Fedgeling or not is uncertain.