What do you think of the "neon-noir" music in VTMB2?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcg7FSIGbPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uISdPK0bWos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_KCCqerzE4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jvk-n9tlCY
They released quite a bit of music from the game, but these videos have very few views.

bump

>>714238668 (OP)
I prefer Rik Schaffer. I know they contracted him again to bring back the music he made for Hardsuit Labs but it obviously will not be everything, thus I am apprehensive that The Chinese Room will only pick out select bits and pieces but vastly favor their own composers.
I desire Rik Schaffers entire discography, so it can eventually be modded into the game.
I also find it strange how late in development they contacted Rik to get his music again, this did not happen until late December 2024 and TCR quickly announced they were working with him again, probably due to the amount of recent backlash the game had received. However, why they chose combat music to showcase Rik confounds me. We all know Rik is best at environmental pieces and whatnot.

>>714238668 (OP)
>>714241450
To add to this I do not think they went far enough to convey the fact that a 400+ year old Elder kindred now stalks the street in the music. There are no musical hints in the neo-noir theming that hints of origins or historical cacophony that comes with living so long. No Constantinopolitan style music, no oud, or chants, or organ mixed with this low down investigation style music. It does not feel dangerous or frightening, in my opinion.

>I also find it strange how late in development they contacted Rik to get his music again, this did not happen until late December 2024 and TCR quickly announced they were working with him again
To be clear, they're not actually working with him. They're salvaging material he wrote for the old game.
>We all know Rik is best at environmental pieces and whatnot.
There's a problem in that this game's entire tone is of a neon-noir (basically, think John Wick) detective game. The music that Schaffer wrote was for quite literally a completely different game with a completely different tone, aesthetic, and story.

>>714242308
I don't think the game is going for that Galeb from Swansong thing. You're a very old vampire, but Fabien is really running the show more than you. He's leading you around by the nose, obviously manipulating you to some degree. He's the vampire detective, so I suspect a lot of the musical stuff is themed around that. That said, each clan has its own themes, each character has their own themes, and we haven't heard those. I think the pieces they've chosen to show are in line with the game's vision as primarily a vampire detective game.

>>714243321
>To be clear, they're not actually working with him. They're salvaging material he wrote for the old game.
I am fully aware, but calling it salvaging is not correct because they explicitly bought the rights to use the music he composed again for Hardsuit Labs originally, before the contractual buyout in 2024 they did not have the rights to use him, and likely weren't considering it in the first place but they changed their minds last minute; again, because of the backlash the game was getting. We can see this decision mirror in how Rik was originally going to release some of the tracks during Christmas but did not when he was contacted by The Chinese Room for the rights to use the music.
>The music that Schaffer wrote was for quite literally a completely different game with a completely different tone, aesthetic, and story.
Usually not a problem, considering we heard little of his compositions in the original version of the sequel. We had the main theme, a potential custom song in a club, and the Downtown alternative theme for the Downtown hub originally composed in 2004. TCR obviously aren't afraid of using rock and electro beat in their combat tracks, that much is certain. Thus, Riks atmospheric downtempo would probably not be difficult to fit in.
The issue again are different visions, as you say.

>>714243653
Part of what I find strange, the game fits the tone of Fabien, but there is very little of Phyre.
>each clan has its own themes, each character has their own themes
This is cool, at least, I was not aware of that.

>>714238668 (OP)
I was reminded that their initial trailer used this music, and as you can hear it is extremely different to the music they showcase now. Why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRj9MABsxUs

>>714243916
>I am fully aware, but calling it salvaging is not correct because they explicitly bought the rights to use the music he composed again for Hardsuit Labs originally, before the contractual buyout in 2024 they did not have the rights to use him
Are you sure about that? Because usually composers sign away the rights to their work on a project like this. Do you have any more details?

>>714244970
This was from Rik directly two years ago on Reddit, that his music was not being used. He said some times later that he was going to release some of the songs he composed for the game as a Christmas gift, but then there was radio silence followed by the news of TCR using his music again in the dev diary, a dev diary that was actually moved ahead of time of its original scheduling and announced as having a "big surprise", which was the fact that they had acquired Rik's music again.

>>714243916
>>714244487
An interesting question would be when the lead composers joined the project.
The dev diary from November 2024 says:
>We are excited to announce that the exceptionally talented Craig Stuart Garfinkle and the internationally renowned Eímear Noone are joining the team for Bloodlines 2 as lead composers.
It's possible that until mid-2024 at least the game's music was temp stuff done by TCR's in-house people. Then they brought in external composers.

>they scrapped the schaffer title theme
it's SO fucking over

>>714245283
Ah, that's very interesting. If you read between the lines in the dev diaries VTMB2 has undergone some significant pivots in the last 12 months. I think they downplay them to some extent because they're terrified of the game being seen as being in dev hell. But the fact the game got delayed to mid-2025 and then October 2025 is, IMO, less about polish (although that's a factor) and more about making changes to core elements like music and combat in 2024 that blew out their original timeline.

>>714245468
The Schaffer title theme doesn't fit the new game tonally. They're also refusing to use any musical motifs that directly reference VTMB1.

>>714245468
Could be modded in, but the most annoying thing is that the only "evidence" we have of Rik Schaffer's theme in 2 is a compressed audio recording from a twitch stream Hardsuit Labs did years ago when the title theme was revealed.

>>714245589
Not to mention the last minute rewrite of Fabien, seemingly. From Thinblood to Malkavian. That's quite a drastic change.

>>714245643
>They're also refusing to use any musical motifs that directly reference VTMB1
Why, are they scared?

>>714245884
It is a major change. We don't even know if he still has the same actor.

>>714246069
No, it's seen as tacky memberberries.

What I find most interesting about this dev change is seeing the characters who have already been introduced undergo major rewrites and design changes.
In this picture we see on the left the art of the Tremere's leader Viktor Goga, and when TCR took over they obviously took the model of Goga and rewrote him into Benny Muldoon, as we see him today. A radically different character, now a scarred and tattooed Brujah sheriff instead of a Tremere academic like he originally was.

>>714246295
It's obvious the fans want tacky memberberries, and I'd rather take that in the form of musical motifs than blatant fanservice returns like Damsel, etc.

>>714246538
The only character that bears any resemblance to the old version is Lou Grand, who has been renamed Lou Graham (her IRL name), and who has a new voice actor, and a clan change, and a different personality.

Tolly was a completely different Nosferatu named Samuel in Hardsuit's version. It's not a rewrite in the traditional sense. The two characters have nothing in common beyond clan.

>>714246962
Samuel was also voiced by Lacroix's voice actor, Tolly is certainly voiced by someone else.

>>714247095
Particularly with the voice actor's strike in 2024, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire cast is Canadian and British in the final product. Which could mean Damsel gets recast, unfortunately.

>>714247512
I would rather not see Damsel at all if it meant replacing her voice actor.

Why is he crack addict now?

>>714247938
What the hell is that outfit?

>>714247512
Didn't that end? Not sure when game devs start the voice acting stage.

>>714248745
It ended a few months ago. We just don't know when the finalized VTMB2 voice acting was done. They did do rewrites in late 2024, but that was for characters like Fabien, expanding the game with more endings, etc.

>>714249581
Maybe that's why they haven't showcased the male phyre's voice yet.

>>714245468
>6 years ago now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e_RAsns1o8

>>714249721
It has more to do with female Phyre being treated as canon and the focus of marketing. (Frankly if they were going to go down this road they should have written a female lead and committed to it and had her being female relevant to the story instead of just superficial.)

>>714250274
That's asking for the game to fail even more. It's obvious that fem phyre was meant to be the only choice available to the player and the basic canon choice, but due to extensive feedback they eventually added a male option. That much is obvious.

>>714250396
No, the game always had a male option. But much like how they added a male lead to Mass Effect during dev, they really shouldn't have done it.

>>714250951
There's no evidence that TCR's version had a male option until later in development though.

>>714238668 (OP)
Not a fan.