One of the other rpg video review blogs I like is the Gentleman’s Guide to Gaming. Here he is talking about Wraith: the Oblivion:

Nice to see a smartly-dressed young man, don’t you think? I think his review is pretty much spot on – covering how different and estranged the game is from its Storyteller stable-mates, and crucially the problem of how the hell do I play this game?

I own quite a few games where that’s a non-trivial question. For some it’s a question of mechanics (e.g. Continuum), but for Wraith it’s a problem common to a lot of supernatural modern fantasy games that veer towards style over substance. When you have a character who’s immortal and can simply wait for their enemies to die of old age, where’s the pressure to act? And when the absolute best outcome you can achieve for your PC is to stop playing, what motivates players to start? These aren’t negative questions, in fact being able to answer these for any game is a very positive, empowering thing.

I may spotlight my Wraith collection at some time, but for now I’ll just say that it is a fantastic game, and I am not surprised one bit that it’s the one of the original 5 (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, Changeling) that didn’t get a reboot (not counting Orpheus or Geist, which are at best distant cousins). It’s an almost impossible act to follow.