Good games that got overshadowed

[HoloDust]

Bofferbrauer2 said:

G2ThaUNiT said:

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines!

Not the best idea to release the same day as Half-Life 2 as well as within the same month as World of Warcraft, Halo 2, Jak 3, Killzone, and Metal Gear Solid 3.

Shame too. Troika were goated RPG developers and the franchise is finally getting a proper sequel, but talk about a perfect storm of bad timing that ended in the studio getting shutdown. 

The first one, Vampire: The Masquerade: Redemption, had it just as bad.

While Bloodlines released during a very busy release window, it's predecessor released at the same time as Diablo II and Deus Ex, two Juggernauts that are fondly remembered today, and Homeworld: Cataclysm and Icewind Dale, which have a very devoted fanbase, plus Age of Empires II and Baldur's Gate II releasing just a month later.

It also certainly didn't help that the season got flooded with Vampire-related games, as Dracula: Resurrection released the same day, plus Vampire Hunter D and Buffy the Vampire Slayer coming out shortly afterwards, with Dracula and Buffy much more well-known to even household names at that time, stealing quite a bit of it's thunder. 

As a result, Redemption is almost forgotten apart from a core fanbase, to the point that most don't even know that Bloodlines wasn't the first one based on the Vampire: The Masquerade license.

If we're completely honest though, Redemption is nowhere as good of a game as Bloodlines.