Jump to content

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2


ktchong

Recommended Posts

It's a relief that they've got some of the same writers as Bloodlines 1. I was so bummed when the day following the announcement, there were a bunch of videos titled "Bloodlines 2 is woke!" Bummed because I want the game to be a success, not another internet whipping boy.

 

I also don't care if it's just the pronouns thing. On the other hand, a large part of what made Bloodlines 1 memorable is, let's face it, the female quest givers. So, I hope they don't mess with that.

 

The interview above was quite reassuring, though.

 

EDIT Interview tl;dr: Honestly, the developers were really vague and didn't reveal much. They didn't drop any social justice buzzwords. They mentioned that you start out as a thin blood (so even lower in the vampire hierarchy than in Bloodlines 1) and that thin bloods get a few interesting abilities. One example is an ability to go incorporeal, which will presumably be used for puzzles, etc.

Edited by Heijoushin
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yaeh, I'm pretty psyched. Vampire genres being naturally devious helps to make it impervious towards too much wholesome neutering. Honestly is just fud for the sake of content at this point. Any outrage will be paint by numbers, the only stop I care about next is the first gameplay slice. Seems to be far off though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be nice if the male npcs were as interesting this time round as the female ones.

 

what? Most interesting ones were males IIRC, Beckett, Smiling Jack, Taxi driver...

I'm the enemy, 'cause I like to think, I like to read. I'm into freedom of speech, and freedom of choice. I'm the kinda guy that likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder, "Gee, should I have the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecue ribs with the side-order of gravy fries?" I want high cholesterol! I wanna eat bacon, and butter, and buckets of cheese, okay?! I wanna smoke a Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati in the non-smoking section! I wanna run naked through the street, with green Jell-O all over my body, reading Playboy magazine. Why? Because I suddenly may feel the need to, okay, pal? I've SEEN the future. Do you know what it is? It's a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing "I'm an Oscar Meyer Wiene"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought there were plenty of good characters of all types, enhanced by voice acting. Seriously, what other game has that many fun, unique characters?

Mitsoda says there's going to be even more characters with more dialogue, which is pretty crazy, but I hope that doesn't mean quantity over quality.

 

So far, only slightly concerned with the use of "modernizing" and making the game more "pick up and play" friendly, as if the first game was difficult. I think they're saying the main quest line will be easily distinguished, side quests more hidden with environmental cues which were a nice touch in the first game. Curious about the UI though, always liked the ability to look at inventory items in games, plus descriptions - one of the best parts of Stick of Truth as well as updated quest feedback, etc.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be nice if the male npcs were as interesting this time round as the female ones.

 

The only really memorable female characters was Jeanette/Therese. VV was one of the more transparently manipulative characters, and the Kuei-Jin leader mostly didn't even bother trying.

 

Now consider Andrei, Jack, Nines, the Prince, Beckett, Max... etc. Hell, even Grout's disembodied voice was a more interesting "character" than 95% of the women in the game.

 

If anything, I would want more interesting female characters. It's not like there's a dearth of them in the lore.

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't count Jack as he was the pen and paper character used to give fans a feeling of World of Darkness. And he wasn't really himself in the game. Smiling Jack isn't the fatherly type.

The taxi driver was an easter egg.

 

LaCroix did not impress me. Nines was the arch-typical Brujha Anarch. I mostly remember Nines because of the Malkavian dialogue with him. OK, the most memorable thing about most characters is the Malkavian dialogue.

 

When you say jump, I say WHERE IS THE CLIFF!!!

 

The Voermann twins were the character with the most interesting dialogue based on themselves and not the player.

 

Beckett felt underused. Of course the whole game felt as if Santa Monica was fleshed out and then they started running out of funds. Which isn't too far from the truth I guess.

 

I'll agree with <string of numbers>U about VV.

Unobtrusively informing you about my new ebook (which you should feel free to read and shower with praise).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't count Jack as he was the pen and paper character used to give fans a feeling of World of Darkness. And he wasn't really himself in the game. Smiling Jack isn't the fatherly type.

 

I thought Jack was interesting because ultimately he embodies what vampire society is all about regardless of sect and clan: manipulating those lower in the totem pole than you are to do what you want. He may seem fatherly, but he's in reality anything but: he doesn't care at all whether the PC ends up blown to smithereens, and he sees them as a convenient tool to pull a fast one on Lacroix. The only really useful piece of advice he gives you is to watch yourself about vampire politics, while at the same time he knowingly feeds you bull non-stop.

 

Creating chaos is what he's all about in the lore, if I'm not mistaken, and weakening the grip of both the Kuei-Jin and Camarilla on LA seems to fit that.

 

In short, he's exactly what you'd expect from a low-humanity, selfish, cynical bastard with centuries of experience navigating vampire politics. That only becomes evident after the epilogue, which is why I think he made a fantastic character.

 

Most other major characters are very much archetypical clan representatives and from that someone familiar with the lore would probably know what to expect from each. Except for perhaps Lacroix, who turns out to be an even bigger poser than most Ventrue, and Beckett, who is a bit of an anomaly, but as you say, underused anyway.

 

I want them to recapture that, I don't care if they are male or female, or whether they dial back the titillation/ objectification/ fan service or whatever they call it these days.

Edited by 213374U
  • Like 2

- When he is best, he is a little worse than a man, and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, none of the Anarchs struck me as particularly memorable in general.

 

Regarding Jack, whether he behaved as expected or not, I find it rather hard to deny that he was pretty memorable.

 

I'd like to add Pisha (the flesh eater), Fat Larry and Chunk though. None of them were major characters but they were imho rather important for the atmosphere (and background exposition, in Pisha's case) and I felt that especially Chunk added a very much needed touch of normality and humanity whenever spoken to.

 

Heather was also pretty memorable, I guess, if only for the "Oh ****, what did I do now?" effect. (of course, people in the know would've seen this coming so there's that I guess)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Memorable is who you remember right? I remember a lot of the VTM NPCs years later, which is sadly not something I can say for most RPGs. 

 

I'd like to add Pisha (the flesh eater), Fat Larry and Chunk though. None of them were major characters but they were imho rather important for the atmosphere (and background exposition, in Pisha's case) and I felt that especially Chunk added a very much needed touch of normality and humanity whenever spoken to.

 

Ha! I can still remember how Fat Larry says, "Baby girl!" whenever you greet him as a female character.

 

Of course the whole game felt as if Santa Monica was fleshed out and then they started running out of funds. Which isn't too far from the truth I guess.

 

Possibly, but the late areas also had a lot of fun stuff. That snuff movie quest line in Hollywood? Really creepy. The Japanese schoolgirl vs fish monster in Chinatown? Cliche but super funny. If that was "running out of funds" then I'd love to see what they do with a full budget.

Edited by Heijoushin
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As always, the "disappointment" with the first bloodline came mostly from having followed it since announcement. When every vampire was planned to be unique. When there weren't going to be hordes of nameless enemies. Then you got to the end of the game and the sabbat were just that.

Unobtrusively informing you about my new ebook (which you should feel free to read and shower with praise).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Memorable vlads:

Twins, the whole storyline was memorable even if haunted hotel was bugged.

Damsel in distress, not many lines, and a bit angry, but she is loyal supporter of revolution.

Jack was fun. Fat Larry has some good stuff.

LaCroix was a prick, but that is a clan feature so probably good.

 

Generally good game. And the trailer looks right in the tune.

If i think about it, then many characters have rather short text line. But the variety of actions and general style was something unprecendented.

Edited by evilcat
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember Visceris getting killed repeatedly by the werewolf and people getting a laugh out of it... RIP Visceris.

 

The game oozed atmosphere though, even if it had it's weak spots here and there. The music and ambience might have contributed a lot to that.

 

Most negative memory was a game breaking bug halfway through and one of my favourite memories was the TV commentator discussing things with my Malkavian (better than the stop sign conversation imho)

 

Edit: The game also had some slightly surprising endings depending on your decisions ;)

“He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice.” - Albert Einstein

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Off topic but I recently started watching a playthrough of the pen & paper Vampire: The Masquerade. It's pretty amazing. This is from Geek and Sundry so I believe all of the players are actors and they really get into character  and the GM is from White Wolf.  It's really entertaining to watch, basically feels like an improv audiobook and if you were ever curious about these kind of games this is a great way to get a feel for them.

 

Edited by Serrano
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...