Going Giovanni on this thread.
I just finished playing this game. Looking past the hilarious animation, dated graphics, laughable AI, and lack of polish, I immensely enjoyed playing through it. I couldn't put it down.
My favourite part of this game was the narrative, especially in the latter end of the game when it was really building up. I also like the levelling system and provisions for very organic playstyles. And especially how you don't get XP for killing enemies - that's just gold.
The lore was interesting, too.
The haunted house level was probably the scariest level I've ever played in a non-horror video game. The abandoned sewers got to me too. *shudder*
The game is probably the first gothic-punk movie/video game I've seen. Interesting atmosphere; very close to cyberpunk.
All this said though, after playing through and seeing all the different endings, i feel sorely disappointed.
40+ hours of playing to get a barely 2 minute pathetic ending that shows nothing of how your actions affect the kindred world in L.A., which you have, up to this point, been cultivating with carefully chosen dialogue options and actions (and, which was arguably what a huge portion of the game was about).
Disregarding that it did foil my half-game-long intentions/plans regarding the sarcophagus, I consider the part in the ending involving the sarcophagus to be a merit to to the writing, and the game experience as a whole.
At this point, I'm headcanoning the 'Legend' ending, though it doesn't fit my hopes completely: my character was a talker; a diplomat (that liked Nines to boot). He would have stopped to tell Nines his reasons for leaving the conflict, instead of just walking past and giving him the finger. As badass as that is, it communicates only one of the various dispositions available to your character through the game. I suppose the lack of ending options/permutations preserving consistency with playthrough-chosen actions is probably a result of a rushed game development cycle.
Overall, a good experience. I will probably play through again. This playthrough was a Toreador with playstyle being diplomacy/stealth/melee.
Next time, I'll probably try being a Malkavian.