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There are a thousand and one vampire video games on the market, but none have the attract of Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines. Certain, by fashionable requirements it’s fairly janky and appears its age (after which some), however the sport has withstood the check of time and earned its place among the many greatest RPGs. With a possible Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 launch date on the horizon after an virtually 20-year wait fraught with turbulent adjustments in developer, quite a few prolonged delays, and rumors that the sport had really been canceled, I’ve requested myself repeatedly the way it can proceed VTM’s legacy and inject some new (everlasting) life right into a withering videogame franchise. The reply lies in Bloodlines’ roots, and if Bloodlines 2 attracts upon them, it could possibly be the most effective vampire journey that we’ve seen in years.
I’m a stickler for fancy graphics and fluid fight, so diving right into a sport from 2004 following a quick journey with Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion and mates was actually a little bit of a shock to the system. The beautiful Toreador that I created in VTM Bloodhunt was very a lot gone, changed with a pixelated Tremere with a deeply ugly matching skirt and crop high. Deep breaths, Lauren, deep breaths.
I had resigned myself to the truth that I’d in all probability find yourself enjoying an hour of the sport earlier than quitting, however as time rolls by and darkness ensues upon Seattle once more, I discover myself compelled to maintain enjoying. Why? Bloodlines simply has that je nais se quois that numerous fashionable video games don’t.
First off, the sport’s clans are extremely well-designed. The Toreador are obnoxious, the Tremere are straight-up bizarre, and – my private favorites – the Malkavians are simply ever so barely disturbed.
Take the random avenue signal interactions, for instance. In the event you’re a Malkavian, you may have a somewhat heated dialogue with cease indicators: “No, you cease,” you yell on the clearly inanimate object, which ultimately defeats you in your psychological battle for dominance. “You’ve made a robust enemy in the present day, signal,” you growl as you slink again into the darkness, spurned, offended, and vengeful.
It’s a silly, tiny second that’s simply neglected, however it completely feeds into the clan’s lore. Malkavians are “lunatics” (not less than, that’s what the opposite vampires say). They hear voices, see visions: Bloodlines finds methods to tell apart its characters and clans exterior of their gameplay talents alone. I hope that Bloodlines 2 continues that pattern – the soul of the evening is its vampires; the traits bestowed upon them by their clan’s blood lineage are integral to creating a superb VTM sport.
That is the place Bloodhunt, Sharkmob’s ill-fated battle royale sport, went mistaken. When you can chop and alter which clan you’re enjoying as, it solely actually impacts the way you look and the talents you employ. Certain, Mia greets a Nosferatu with distaste in Elysium and a fellow Toreador with open arms, however attention-grabbing interpersonal relationships usually are not its forte by design. Efficient and fascinating lore is, nevertheless, key to understanding the World of Darkness, and Bloodlines 2 must take this into consideration.
However there’s one thing else I’d like to see newly introduced developer The Chinese language Room do with Bloodlines 2: lean into its atmospheric horror experience. We haven’t seen a good vampire horror sport shortly. Whereas Bloodlines 2 is primarily an RPG sport, its predecessor scattered style stereotypes to the winds with the Ocean Home mission, once more shaking issues up in sudden methods.
I’d heard rumors of Ocean Home – which has been dubbed among the best horror ranges ever – in order quickly as I acquired the mission from the irritable Therese Voerman (additionally Malkavian, by the best way), I rushed via the sewers to tackle the offended spirit haunting this once-proud seaside getaway. I used to be not dissatisfied.
A chandelier crashes to the ground earlier than my very eyes, and the spectral determine of a fleeing girl screams as she passes via the hall in entrance of me, main me via a labyrinth of rotting basement tunnels. I flip a nook, and a ghost with an ax laughs menacingly earlier than vanishing instantly. There aren’t any bounce scares, no terrifying boss, simply random objects being thrown at you and the sound of my very own Psycho-esque screams and copious quantities of swearing.
I don’t desire a copy and paste of Ocean Home in Bloodlines 2, however what made White Wolf’s epic so particular is that it’s so extremely changeable. I’d play Ocean Home repeatedly as a result of I don’t know the place the risks lurk. I don’t know what’s behind every nook. Only a few horror video games make me really feel that sense of foreboding – and none that focus on vampires do.
The Chinese language Room has what it takes to make a really nice vampire horror stage and shake up the standard RPG format over again – it’s actually within the studio’s DNA. Take a look at Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs or All people’s Going to The Rapture, and the upcoming Nonetheless Wakes the Deep. A way of ratcheting unease is what The Chinese language Room does greatest. However Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines is greater than horror and lore – each of these parts alone don’t make for a tremendous sport. No, Bloodlines is simply straight-up enjoyable.
Yelling at TVs and different inanimate objects apart, the gameplay loop is de facto pleasing. You run round, use your respective powers, drink blood from folks peeing exterior nightclubs (solely excessive society varieties, after all, none of that low cost stuff), and simply usually do vampire issues.
It’s that feeling that Bloodlines 2 wants to carry onto. If it loses the essence of Vampire The Masquerade and turns its clans into soulless courses that exist in a humorless, inhuman world, it is going to fall on its face. What makes VTM so particular is the coexistence of people and vampires – positive, people are meals, however it’s their legal guidelines that govern the Camarilla; these on the backside of the meals chain right here nonetheless maintain energy. VTM is a vampire story, however it’s a human one, too. Bloodlines completely treads that line, and I hope Bloodlines 2 does as effectively.
In a world of darkness, there’s all the time a little bit mild – even when it’s only a actually nasty cease signal. I hope Bloodlines 2 doesn’t snuff that humanity out.
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