There's no such thing as an original idea. Just look at tvtropes. The whole idea is to make a new take on a previous idea, to integrate and innovate. No idea if this will be successful in doing that, but the premise alone shouldn't condemn it.
I think it was a game that needed activations to play and I ran out of activations or something. Predictably, pirating it was the better experience in every way.
Update! I solved it with some sleuthing. Mage: the Awakening