YMMV / Vampire: The Masquerade – Shadows of New York

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Actually part of the gameplay as Julia's personality is shaped by your decisions. If you make her a moral, kind, and compassionate person then she will have very different reactions to a cold blooded sociopathic manipulator.
  • In Shadows, the "good" and "bad" endings are both quite open to this.
    • In the "good" one, Julia exposes the Camarilla and Anarch leaders as the scheming murderers that they are, but wins herself a sweet deal as Lasombra Primogen by pinning it all on a loose cannon the others are happy to get rid of anyway. Her sire, for one, is elated at her ruthlessness and cunning, believing herself vindicated in having chosen her. Julia loses Dakota for good, whose death is named as a requirement for her new position, and Clan Lasombra's curse is tightening its grip on her, but she's hardened her heart to such trifles and finally succeeded in putting herself on top, pleased with what she's achieved overall. This is, fittingly, a very Lasombra ending, but whether it's a "good" one... well.
    • In the bad one, she chooses not to blow the whistle on the conspiracy, allowing the Camarilla and their Anarch counterpart to spin their bullshit PR and pass off Callihan's murder as a suicide. To avoid the complications arising from her conflict with Kaiser, she is encouraged to abandon the city entirely and take up refuge in an Anarch Free State. She shares a telling and touching farewell with "Katherine", reconciles with Dakota, and departs the city for pastures unknown, putting the depraved kindred and bad experiences behind her. She ends the story in a far weaker position as a vampire, but a more healthy one as a human being. For bonus points, "Katherine" encouraged her to try helping out with building the Anarch Free State into New Carthage, and it's left ambigious if she will give it a shot.
• Moral Event Horizon: The "good" ending is a fantastic example of Julia grabbing her enemies by the balls and twisting until the reader is cheering for her... up until the point where she lets them kill her girlfriend so she can advance in Camarilla society. Although, see Unintentionally Unsympathetic.
• Strangled by the Red String: Tamika and Torque's relationship seemingly comes out of nowhere, especially since they don't once interact in Coteries. It's easier to swallow since they're over by the time Shadows takes place (not to mention there's a certain justification thanks to the Time Skip between games and the traumatic events they were both on the edges of during the first game), but thinking about what drew them together in the first place reveals a lack of plausible attraction or even a reason for them to meet in the first place, other than a need to have them as exes for plot reasons.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: To Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York. Shadows is praised for its superior story structure, novel traits system, being arguably less linear (two endings instead of one) and having a better protagonist.
• Unexpected Character: The appearance of Katherine Weise, AKA Ecaterina the Wise, as a major character in Shadows of New York was quite unexpected. There's more to this one than meets the eye, though.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Dakota is a beautiful Perky Goth Morality Pet for Julia. However, she makes a lot of jokes that show she's a Conspiracy Theorist that seems meant to be endearing. However, most of the theories she espouses are — in the real world — at their heart very racist and actively undermining both science and the rule of law. As such, many fans see Dakota less as a cool Love Interest and more as a rich Trump supporter, and Julia sacrificing her to rise in the Camarilla as less a Moral Event Horizon than offing an Asshole Victim.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not Political?: Much of the game deals with the rise of conspiracy theories, Qanon, fake news, social media manipulation, and the value of truth. Coronavirus is even mentioned as part of the story. This all relates to Julia's decision over whether or not to help the Camarilla cover up Baron Callihan's murder.