I have a question for everyone who is not a fanboy (you know who you are so don't deny it); but how are the NPCs. I mean persoanlity, background, and depth wise? This has always been one of the sore spots for Troika games 9even FO to a limited degree). Not many people have discussed the characters in Bl not even when praising its awesome role-playing. So.. Answer.
Personallity differs. Generally the voice acting is very good. Some characters are certainly memorable (for instance, there are some twin sisters that have a certain 2 faced side I really dig) Most of the important characters are very well fleshed out, and even a lot of the minor npc's have a certain flair about them. Grumpy old diner cassiere, fat dumb security guard, drunk homeless guy, lots of them are fun/interesting to watch. Though there certainly are some fodder npc's walking around. Mostly the whores, some people in combat area's and certain shop owners. Heck, I dig talking my way through the game.
And some uncalled shit;
About all the fuzz in the combat department. Melee and hand to hand combat is cool, trust me, in a GTA; VC way. You throw people in walls, kick them down, jump at their throats, beat them so hard they go flying. To me it's very entertaining and gory. Gun combat I really didn't try that hard. At first guns seemed a bit underpowered, but now that I've gone a bit further in the game they get more interesting. The feel of firing a pistol, machinegun or shotgun is very cool, good sounds, nice kickback and all. I'll try out a more combat oriented character later on. In some area's walking around with a shotgun just feels like the right thing. Maybe I've seen too much zombie movies though. (hint heh heh)
I can't help but loving the way some area's look after a fight breaks out. Broken windows, charred remains, bullet holes and blood on the walls, exploded tv's. Fuck...it feels very very satisfying to be left standing with all that destruction going on.
Quests are cool. Most seem to have different ways to get through, or combinations of ways to get through. I showed my housemate some things that he never even saw, and he experienced some stuff my char never got. All because of clan, gender and char style. Seems very cool so far in all of the sub-quests. Even the area's you have to do seem to have plenty of ways to get through. (1st one and 2nd one all have multiple paths and outcomes...though the final goal stays the same)
It's a great game, it has it's flaws but for the first time in 2 years I've been losing sleep because I played a game for too long. Seems there is a lot of replay value and plenty of shit to discover allong the way. Fuck, I actually would urge people into buying it. Pirate whore that I usually may be.
