The first game is a buggy mess (literally unplayable without an unofficial patch) with awful janky combat and a last third of the game that was hugely rushed and devolves into endless terrible combat sequences… But it’s still one of my favourite games of all time. I love the dialogue, the writing, the humour (though some of it is dated). But more than all that, it is a game that nails the atmosphere better than most recent games (Cyberpunk does similarly though). The graphics might be old, but the rainy streets of Santa Monica are as moody as ever if you boot up the game today, and the soundtrack still slaps.

Unlike you, I lost all hope when the project was transferred to another studio. Rik Schaffer himself said in an AMA on Reddit IIRC that according to him the heart and soul of the project left with Brian Mitsoda, and I’m inclined to believe him.

Bloodlines never got a cult following for its gameplay. What made me hyped for the sequel was that they actually got Mitsoda and Schaffer back on board. Judging by this trailer, nothing of the vibe of either the original or the old version of the sequel remains (first trailer for comparison), and I would be better off booting up Dishonored again rather than buy whatever this is.