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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2: Fans are massively letdown by gameplay reveal

Draugoth

Gold Member
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The response to the reveal has been lackluster at best. Depending on who’s hosting the video, the dislike ratios range around the 30 to 40 percent mark and the comments are not much better. Most players responding indicate the lack of customization, the nonsensical inclusion of a prebuilt playable character (defeating the purpose of an RPG), and the lack of quality in terms of writing and voice acting. The dialogue options also oddly resemble those found in Fallout 4, which were harshly criticized by the 2015 audiences, and one would think studios would have learned from those times. Alas, they did not.


The graphical fidelity and animations of the showcased game also fall short of a AAA release in 2024, and one that’s supposedly been in development for many years. They feel janky, unpolished, and generally look stiff. It still is an earlier build of the game, but even the cutscenes are just the bog-standard “zoom-in and talk” found in so many Bethesda and Arkane games—but somehow worse from a technical aspect.

The writing and voice acting feel cheap, uninspired, and unprofessional. The reveal only focuses on the game’s intro sequence, and I already want to mute all the characters. It may be that Baldur’s Gate 3 has spoiled me with its standard of quality in the acting department.









Source
 
It did not look terrible if it is supposed to be some AA game, which it probably isn't.
It isn't making me feel excited at all. Bloodlines was an objectively rather mediocre game with some very bad bugs as well, killing troika, still it had charm, weird characters, great music, which resonated with some people for years now, all of which this presentation did not have.
I want to play as a malkavian again. Insane choices please.
 

HL3.exe

Member
I was thoroughly underwhelmed as well, sure. But I don't mind it that much. Most of these games just show off really badly in demo's. Just wait for the final release and check up on the reviews. That's it.

And if you want look forward too something similar from the actual VtmB veterans: Clockwork Revolution. Chad Moore as game director and Jason Anderson principle design. Both leads from VtmB 1.
 

Bkdk

Member
this dev used to know only how to do walking sims, of course this would be a massive flop. this chineseroom dev will likely be done for at this unforgiving high interest rate era.
 

Dazraell

Member
And for the right reason. Paradox made an absolutely disastrous call with canning original take at Bloodlines 2 and giving the game to Chinese Room
 

Gojiira

Member
I was thoroughly underwhelmed as well, sure. But I don't mind it that much. Most of these games just show off really badly in demo's. Just wait for the final release and check up on the reviews. That's it.

And if you want look forward too something similar from the actual VtmB veterans: Clockwork Revolution. Chad Moore as game director and Jason Anderson principle design. Both leads from VtmB 1.
Yeah a game with no character customisation or RPG aspects…Lol wtf? No I dont want to play a Bioshock Imitator from Wish thanks…
No if you want a Bloodlines RPG or anything like it you’re shit outta luck
 

Mister Wolf

Gold Member
Yeah a game with no character customisation or RPG aspects…Lol wtf? No I dont want to play a Bioshock Imitator from Wish thanks…
No if you want a Bloodlines RPG or anything like it you’re shit outta luck

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"Character customisation was one feature highlighted by inXile boss Brian Fargo in a series of tweets that stressed the RPG-ness of Clockwork Revolution. Fargo called Clockwork Revolution a “deep RPG” with “full character creation”, a “branching dialogue system”, “awesome” steampunk weapons and “dark humour”."
 

xrnzaaas

Member
I didn't expect a lot from Chinese Room, it's actually really weird they've been picked to continue this project despite not having any experience making larger, more gameplay-focused games. Maybe there weren't any other candidates interested in this trainwreck, who knows.

Imo the presentation wasn't awful, but the fact that there's not going to be much choice who you want to play as is concerning. One of the fun things about Bloodlines 1 was replaying it as members of various clans and spotting (sometimes major) differences regarding gameplay or dialogues.

Maybe they should've given up on naming it Bloodlines 2 and make another spinoff so that people's expectations wouldn't be so high. And continue looking for a more experienced studio to make a proper sequel.
 
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Mister Wolf

Gold Member
The main character is a super badass lady named Phyre with shaven sides and a terrible accent.


vampire-bloodlines-2-phyre.jpg



Yeah, no.


"STOCKHOLM – October 31, 2023 – Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room today introduced Phyre, the lead protagonist in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. An Elder Kindred Embraced during the early 17th Century, Phyre influences Seattle’s power structures with fully-voiced conversations. Players will customize this protagonist, choosing gender and clan - as well as outfits, behavior and the blood they feed on, all of which affect the way Seattle reacts to Phyre and their progression. Paradox will announce the playable vampire clans on the game’s website in the coming weeks."
 

SJRB

Gold Member

"STOCKHOLM – October 31, 2023 – Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room today introduced Phyre, the lead protagonist in Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. An Elder Kindred Embraced during the early 17th Century, Phyre influences Seattle’s power structures with fully-voiced conversations. Players will customize this protagonist, choosing gender and clan - as well as outfits, behavior and the blood they feed on, all of which affect the way Seattle reacts to Phyre and their progression. Paradox will announce the playable vampire clans on the game’s website in the coming weeks."

The OP literally states:

Most players responding indicate the lack of customization, the nonsensical inclusion of a prebuilt playable character (defeating the purpose of an RPG)

So which is it?
 

Dazraell

Member
The OP literally states:

So which is it?
Well, based on what they revealed it seems you will be able only pick Phyre's gender and clan. It looks like we will have predetermined models for both without character creator. As for differences with picking clans, posts on their blog mostly focused on showcasing differences in combat. We don't know if the clan choice will have any major impact on the narrative, gameplay and dialogue with NPCs, which is a shame as that was the strongest part of the original Bloodlines
 
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"Character customisation was one feature highlighted by inXile boss Brian Fargo in a series of tweets that stressed the RPG-ness of Clockwork Revolution. Fargo called Clockwork Revolution a “deep RPG” with “full character creation”, a “branching dialogue system”, “awesome” steampunk weapons and “dark humour”."
It is hilarious that people doubt InXile. RPG system wise the game will be stacked for sure.
 

Laptop1991

Member
I didn't play much of the original and i know it has a cult like fan base, but i quite liked what i saw, the graphics arn't modern, ie the desks and enviroment etc, but the gameplay and abilities were quite good and looked fun to use and play, similar to Dishonored, FEAR but that isn't a bad thing, and the voice dialogue was ok as well, i like quite a few things about the game, i'm interested and will check it out if it does manage to get released.
 

Filben

Member
Not surprised given the development hell and what Chinese Room had made before.

I'm open to let myself be surprised and I will try it. But no matter how it works out, at least no one can take away Troika Games' Bloodlines (with the amazing community patches) from me which will always have a special place in my heart. I'm still playing it once in a while to this day.
 

Gojiira

Member
1479206864-donald-trump-wrong.gif



"Character customisation was one feature highlighted by inXile boss Brian Fargo in a series of tweets that stressed the RPG-ness of Clockwork Revolution. Fargo called Clockwork Revolution a “deep RPG” with “full character creation”, a “branching dialogue system”, “awesome” steampunk weapons and “dark humour”."
I stand corrected! BUT remains to be seen…Avowed is being touted as a ‘deep rpg’ but everything about it sounds more and more like what they really mean is very little rpg 😂
 

amigastar

Member
huh? I expected much worse. Is this a gamepass release?
I also wanted to know this and looked it up, here is what i've found
"While Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is coming to Xbox consoles, there is no confirmation as to whether the RPG will be available on Game Pass for either PC or console."
 
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