Thread 723627945

Let's talk about Bloodlines 2. It's a game that has a lot of good things in it and you're gonna see a lot of praise for the music and visuals and some of the characters and the combat is pretty good, but it's so strangely unambitious and undercooked and has repetition issues. Nothing about it is really broken. It's just oddly glued together. The Glass Door reviews claiming the studio was chronically understaffed make a lot of sense now. It's like a minimum viable product in places. Like major systems and major questlines or the game's ending were done by one person who got paid in coffee grounds.

I hope they work on improvements. Take a huge step back, and redo the core progression system. Take the abilities and make it so they have multiple levels. Have 3 levels for each ability. That way the player feels themselves getting more powerful, has more incentive to do sidequests. They should add more random shit to find around the city. I don't care if it's busywork. I want an excuse to explore each night to discover stuff of interest, little ministories you can follow.

The odd juxtaposition of a great story mixed with weird pacing issues and jank reminds me a bit of Mafia 3. Similar Metacritic score, too.

>reminds me a bit of Mafia 3.
that isn't great

>>723627945 (OP)
You can eat that dog shit I have no interest.

Chinese room are subhumans

Imagine if they forced you to do the repetitive side missions every time you wanted to advance to the next story beat.

>>723628372
Isn't that what Mafia 3 did?

>We went from fighting shark people, investigating a serial killer, stopping a plague, Jamaican Surgeons, and so many individually hand crafted side stories to 3 copy-pasted side quests archetypes.
You cannot strip away character creation, multiple approaches to quests, stats/stat checks, equipable weapons, humanity, discard the iconic main theme, lean less into Goth and more into Noir, and then be surprised when people are disappointed. The game is barely even an RPG.

Nobody should buy it when it isn't the same game. They don't get to slap a big fat 2 at the end of Vampire: The Masquerade- Bloodlines and expect sales.

This is like when they sold Prey(2017) under the Prey name when it wasn't actually prey and they shot themselves in the foot underselling one of the best games of that year.

> Let's talk about Bloodlines 2.
nope.avi

It's insane to me that they didn't make unlockable costumes a reward for doing the sidequests. Imagine if each of the clan representatives gave you a new outfit each time you did one of their menial jobs. Suddenly players would have an incentive to do that. Instead they've tied costume unlocks to learning abilities from the tree. But the ability is the reward. You don't tie an additional reward to it. You find a place in the game where the player doesn't have a huge incentive to do something, and you sweeten the deal.

Did this woke garbage come out and flop yet?

>>723628937
comes out in two days, but i can't image pre-orders for this game have been great considering the reviews

>>723628980
How bad is it if reviewers didn't like it? They normally cover for wokeshit.

>>723628464
That's exactly what Mafia 3 did, and the thing is, the devs knew this was a bad idea. But they felt if they didn't force you to do it the pacing would be fucked. There was so much infighting over the game's direction and the issue was never fixed.

>>723628608
They sold Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines under the VTM name and it was nothing like Redemption. But it got away with it because nobody really cared about Redemption.

>>723629134
Bloodlines 2 isn't particularly "woke". It's more like Dragon Age 3 where you can feel them pulling punches and trying to think up reasons why you can't have a hot blood slave.

The final boss of Bloodlines 2 is a naked woman. It's just not that kind of game. It's not like the cancelled version where they had trigger warnings on quests.

>>723629193
yes but Masquerade is a cult classic and cannot be done the same way.
They were expecting to prey on the large audience of a cult classic

The music is really, really good, but it's not quite as I guess in your face as the first game. The original game had a really good approach in that it tied themes to hubs. VTMB2 can't really do that. It has to instead tie themes to characters and story beats. I thought the club music was awesome. Easily the best "fight in a club" music since Aspari Extraction in Syndicate.

>>723629134
Wokeness doesn't SEEM to be the main issue in BL2. Just the fact it's slapped together game developed by a studio utterly unfit to work on it.

>>723629612
The most recent Glass Door review claims that TCR is run by "arrogant, egotistical men in directorial roles", which lines up with previous reviews claiming that TCR uses layoffs as an excuse to get rid of people who criticize company leadership. It seems like the kind of studio where trying to course correct Bloodlines 2 was a doomed affair because you'd be overruled by the core team of seniors.

>>723629703
Yeah, but you can also read similar negative opinions on Larian. Some people don't understand the role of MANAGEMENT and then spin it in a way that slights them.

>>723629612
>>723629703
It really is the Cyberpunk 2077 of Bloodlines sequels.

>>723629193
And they didn't call it Redemption 2 you dumb cunt.

>>723629840
VTM is the series. It's like Assassin's Creed Origins vs Shadows.

>>723629890
It's not even the series, it's the license games are based on.

>>723629819
Except CDPR at least made RPGs before doing CP2077

>>723629890
The guy you answered to was complaining about them calling it Bloodlines 2 you disingenuous faggot.

>>723630001
A lot of people don't know this but The Witcher 3 was originally being designed as a more hardcore third person CRPG type of game. That team was booted and replaced by the Blood & Wine team who wanted to make a sort of hybrid of Far Cry and Syndicate and some other influences. That's why the game took such a huge swerve away from being a conventional RPG to being more of a first person shooter with light RPG elements.

>>723630123
Sorry, Cyberpunk 2077 was being designed, not Witcher. Had a brain fart.

>>723630060
It's a moot point. Redemption fans were angry about Bloodlines. Bloodlines fans were angry about Bloodlines 2. The wheel turns.

OK /v/, how would YOU make good vtm/wod video games, while still being under Paradox's leash?

>>723627945 (OP)
>I hope they work on improvements. Take a huge step back, and redo the core progression system. Take the abilities and make it so they have multiple levels. Have 3 levels for each ability. That way the player feels themselves getting more powerful, has more incentive to do sidequests. They should add more random shit to find around the city. I don't care if it's busywork. I want an excuse to explore each night to discover stuff of interest, little ministories you can follow.
This isn't going to be like Cyberpunk, where the entire company's reputation is going to be tarnished due to releasing a half-baked, unfinished game. NOBODY expected Chinese Room to succeed with this cursed IP. And Chinese Room themselves have openly admitted that they're ready to move on already, because according to them this isn't the sort of game they specialize in. They want to go back to walking sim slop.

>>723630287
>It's a moot point.
No you flaming retard. If it was called Vampire the Masquerade: Garbage instead of Bloodlines 2, no one would give a shit.

>>723630340
I'd make Swansong 2. I'd focus on what Swansong did well, while steering well clear of the more obnoxious stuff like trial and error fail-forward dice rolls. Swansong is a really good template for VTM games.

>>723630206
I'm not surprised CP2077 was announced in 2012 and then came out 8 years later. I'm not surprised if the internal teams changed radically within that time

>>723630379
You fucker.

>>723629253
>It's more like Dragon Age 3
RIP devs

>>723630342
While that's true, they're contracted to release two DLCs next year, so at least SOME kind of emergency redesign over a few months would be beneficial.
>>723630365
You could make the argument that one the reasons Bloodlines sold so badly is that it completely alienated the VTM fanbase.

>>723630340
I'd make it every bit as sexy and irreverent as VTMB1 right in Paradox and White Wolf's face.

>>723630287
not really, I wouldn't expect a VtM game called Clans of London to play the same way as Swansong, same way I didn't expect Swansong to play the same way as Bloodlines.
Why would people expect Bloodlines to be Redeption 2? Because Trokia made it

>>723630379
Swansong 2, but with an anime art style.

>>723629193
I'd say the bigger issue is ever since Bloodlines, and especially since Paradox bought the license, people seem to care for NOTHING coming out of he license unless it's Bloodlines 2.

>>723630456
It sold badly due to coming out on the same day as Half-Life 2 a game every PC Gamer wanted to play at the time.

>>723630340
>rehire mitsoda
>put a big emphasis on fun, interesting sidequests
>have combat come second to creative ways to solve quests, like in the first half of VTMB (why did chinese room focus on COMBAT of all things, considering the type of games they make?)
>no "dude in your head/veteran companion" bullshit to drive the narrative, such a lazy way of writing that so many rpgs seem to be adopting
>actually add rpg elements, not this stripped down slop
>dont use ue5

>>723630456
>they're contracted to release two DLCs next year
Wasn't Dragon's Dogma 2 in the same boat? Did they ever even release that shit?

>>723630456
>You could make the argument that one the reasons Bloodlines sold so badly is that it completely alienated the VTM fanbase.
Yeah, couldn't be because it was released half-broken as the same time Half-Life 2 came out? I can't wait for the next month when you and your stupid takes will mysteriously disappear.

>>723630571
>I'd say the bigger issue is ever since Bloodlines, and especially since Paradox bought the license, people seem to care for NOTHING coming out of he license unless it's Bloodlines 2.
This is very much the problem. To most people Bloodlines IS VTM. This represents a problem for making videogames. It's not helped by the fact that most of the VTM games just aren't good enough or don't have enough mainstream appeal. Bloodlines 2 and maybe Bloodhunt are the only games in the past 20 years that a typical AAA-loving gamer might be interested in.

Even that gay leather daddy dude cohhcarnage said the game will flop. He says he told the devs that after his stream.

>>723627945 (OP)
In just 2 days, you'll be unemployed.

>>723630671
These takes will linger for years because the question of what happened to VTMB2 and why it ended up the way it did will be a point of discussion indefinitely.
>>723630610

>have combat come second to creative ways to solve quests, like in the first half of VTMB (why did chinese room focus on COMBAT of all things, considering the type of games they make?)
It's baffling, and I hope we get a post-mortem on it, especially since if you remove Fabien's sequences, Bloodlines 2 is jarringly focused on combat. The Fabien stuff was so obviously a frantic attempt to fix the fact they'd inexplicably made a VTM action game instead of a VTM story-driven game with some action.

>>723630802
Man, it really is you. I can't believe they make you work on a Sunday.

>1. not preordering
>2. not buying on release
>3. not buying after the first reviews pop up
>4. not buying on a sale
>5. not pirating
>6. not playing it on youtube
>7. not browsing threads on /v/

I'm at 6 I guess

Let's predict the Steam approval score. Bear in mind the game reportedly has some significant stuttering issues Not shader stuttering, more stuttering moving around the city and exiting doors and stuff like that. I predict it'll be positive. Maybe mid-to-upper 70s. (This is assuming technical issues are not too serious.) After some patches to improve things, it'll crawl to mid-80s.

>>723630735
Errrmmm he probably said that because they didn't put him in the game like Cyperpunk and BG3 did.

>>723630871
Not wasting any time on it is the correct choice.

>>723630802
I have a feeling Fabien parts are the game they really wanted to make.

>>723630735
Cohh also seemed to like the game a lot, to be fair. But he only played the first two hours. The pacing issues hadn't set in by then.

>>723631115
Maybe, but Fabien's gameplay is hamstrung because you can't fail and there's so much walking. I was hoping for a vampire version of Nobody Wants to Die, but it's not that. It's way too limited. It's an okay pacing palate cleanser, and the story is interesting, but the gameplay falls so short. There's no puzzles. Why are there no real puzzles? Why are there not cool telekinesis puzzles?

>>723631180
>but Fabien's gameplay is hamstrung because you can't fail and there's so much walking.
yeah. I think that's his point.

>>723630676
Part of the problem of Vampire and especially V5 is that Paradox and WW focused on the wrong part of the IP to appeal to Mainstream gamers since all the games have to conform to the most recent edition of the game, which expects PCs to be Weak, low in the social structure of Vampire society, and hunted by big organised Hunter groups which rather limits the type of games you can develop which aren't mostly social focused loike the CYOA adventure games or Swansong

>Googled "The Chinese Room Studio" to see pictures of the devs
>women sitting at desks
>the only males I see literally look like R*ddit open-mouth plant-based meal replacement drink consumers

Ghee, I wonder why the game sucks.

>Let's talk about Bloodlines 2. It's a game that has a lot of good things in it and you're gonna see a lot of praise
They haven't fired you yet? Thought your threads would end after the reviews dropped. Can't even get good scores from paid review sites LMAO

>>723631116
He seems like a massive concern troll but it's probably just to appear on side with the devs rather than actual trolling.

>>723631327
The contract probably goes into next week

>>723631252
Something that bothers me is that VTMB2 can't do anything with your haven because vampires can't use computers or the internet or phones. So you can't read emails. You can't browse news websites to hear about goings on. You can't get sms messages from other characters. Because v5 doesn't allow these things.

>>723631324
Almost all of the creative leads on Bloodlines 2 are men in their 30s and 40s.

>>723631327
I can't speak for the other anon, but if I like the game I'm absolutely gonna make threads about it. I am not expecting a masterpiece. I think most the criticisms raised by critics seem absolutely reasonable. But I liked a lot of games that got MC scores in the 60s. I liked Alpha Protocol. Gameplay was terrible. Story was neat.

>>723629524
It's funny you would mention that Syndicate game in a Bloodlines 2 thread. Textbook example of a company getting a licence, throwing the original audience away without a care to do a game in a completely orthogonal genre, and failling commercially (I won't venture whether the game itself was good or bad, not my my kind of games; hardly ever played it).
And I'm saying this as someone that's still eagerly waiting to test Bloodlines 2 comes the 21 to see how much there is to salvage, if anything.

>>723631418
Do any of TCR games have any interactable objects in them?
Frictional Games would have been a better choice of studio for Bloodlines 2 than TCR least games like Soma have computers to do stuff with

>>723631714
Frictional games*

>>723631592
It wasn't original syndicate and had absolutely no ties to it besides the chip and eurocorp name, but it was still a very good game, and as other anon said - music rocked, that night club theme is an absolute earworm. Bloodlines 2 doesn't even try in comparison.

>>723631714
>Do any of TCR games have any interactable objects in them?
Less so than frictional. This was actually one of the critiques of A Machine for Pigs. That the world felt so much less interactive. Mandalore actually pointed this out in his SOMA review. SOMA is weirdly similar to A Machine for Pigs. It makes many similar design choices. But it avoids feeling like a static, non-reactive world.

>>723631809
>Bloodlines 2 doesn't even try in comparison.
Have you actually heard the club music from 2?

>>723631538
Alpha Protocol is a perfect example of a game that was a design mess (I could go on for a while on things that are horribly thought out in that game) but what it does well it does /so/ well, and is so unique, people who value it are perfectly willing to compeletely ignore the bad.
Trouble so far is that Bloodlines 2 doesn't look like that. The one hope for the game was in story using the strength of gaming as a medium (and given the state of subquests, this seems a loss) and reactivity (as in granularity and complexity). Seems so far the game doesn't deliver on the later either, so there"s not much hope. Granted, that only becomes truly apparent on multiple playthroughs, and I doubt most testers bothered.

>>723627945 (OP)
You know it's really really bad when even the most braindead basedboy shills on youtube say it's bad.

>>723631983
I do want to get a breakdown on reactivity. How much actually changes? It does feel to me like maybe the devs had big lofty ambitions that came crashing down.

>>723632126
>even the most braindead basedboy shills on youtube say it's bad.
Like whom?

>>723631983
Alpha Protocol shows how much people love reactivity. Bloodlines 2 not leaning into that is so bizarre to me. They should have sacrificed almost everything else to focus on reactivity. Instead they did the exact opposite. Creating a beautiful but empty kind of game. It's very strange.

The most bizarre thing about vtmb2 being so bland is that there's a HUGE market for an edgy, sexy vampire game among both genders. Even on plebbit people went wild over Safia in pre-release materials because the thought of a cute nerdy vampire GF was too alluring. Instead of just rolling with it and making an unhinged game filled with sex and violence, they made such a nothingburger there's virtually nothing to discuss.

>>723631920
I really don't get the love for SOMA. Got it for free and I still felt robbed of my time.

>>723632132
I think at the core these are people who don't understand the medium (that's what I got from Still Wakes the Deep, at least) caught on top within the shit maelstrom that was the post HSL debacle -and if we're to believe the grapevine, was thrown on them by then owner SUMO). I mean, the fact that some of them seemed to think that using Mass Effect 2 as a template of sort was going to works says a lot, on both fronts.

>>723627945 (OP)
Would this have done better if it was marketed as Vampire the Masquerade instead of a Bloodlines sequel?

Is the shill gone? Did we finally kill xir?

>>723632589
The game has some edgy stuff. The goth blood doll chick is probably gonna get some traction, especially when people realize she's a giant raceplay corruption fetish.

The reason people aren't discussing this is because it's way later in the game and Paradox DMCAd all the streams. There is stuff to discuss. It's just under wraps right now. Everyone on Reddit is paranoid about spoilers. Once the game releases then people will start talking.

>>723632752
The disappointment-borne reaction wouldn't be as brutal, but I think Swansong shows this wouldn't necessarily save the game though. At the end of the day, it has to stand on its own merits.
Granted, I haven't played it, so I reserve opinion until then.

There is a scene really early in the game where Fabien point blank asks Campbell if he's the killer. Campbell stares at him and says, "No." And Fabien muses, "Put that under maybe..." Campbell is the killer. I know they're leaning into the Malk think, but it was so on the nose.

>can't flush
>can't pee
>can't drink
imagine using Source and not making environment interactable

A lot of this discussion is pointless because none of us have actually played the game. By next weekend we will have all played it and we'll have actually coherent criticisms that we're not just parroting from critics and youtubers. It is going to be VERY interesting to see how it fares on Steam, and how it fares on consoles. Consoles are interesting because the console audience just wants a cool vampire game. They do not care about expectations for a Bloodlines sequel.

>>723633182
Souce was more about physics. I remember awkwardly moving boxes to jump over, sadly.

>>723633216
We've seen videos and streams. Game won't magically change in two days when it releases.

>>723633216
This: >>723633270

Full playthroughs on YT already. I don't have to read reviews or listen to commentaries when I have hours of material showing me how bad it absolutely is.

>>723633270
>We've seen videos and streams.
Which have actually been mostly well received, for what it's worth. Even IGN's video of the game has a bunch of people in the comments saying they think it looks like a cool game.

The real rub seems to be how the game unfolds over its 20 hours. Maybe people will agree with critics that it wears out its welcome and becomes repetitive and bland. Or maybe they won't. There's a bunch of games on Steam where there's a total misalignment. I have no clue how it's going to be received.

>>723632752
Not really, I'd be willing to overlook a lot of things for the vtm name alone, but this doesn't even try, as the other anon said - vampire shit sells, sex sells, combine it and you get a win, but no, we can't have that

>>723628372
Like in Dragon Age Inquisition, 2014 GOTY?

>>723633554
I think at least it's not Veilguard. Game is not offensively bad, it's just not the game people wanted it to be.

>>723633495
I watched about 10 hours of footage and it seemed quite good, at least story-wise.

>>723633627
Where are people getting the idea that the game doesn't have sex and vampires? it leans fairly overtly into that stuff. The atmosphere and mood is not really a point of criticism for the game. It's dark and moody and all the vampires want to fuck you.

>>723632589
Paradox are allergic to sex and edge in their games.

>>723633643
Unless there's something I missed I can't see anything Veilguard-esque in terms of cringe, exactly. There's nothing to latch onto other than some polish issues. It's not like Swansong where you start the game and 2 minutes in there's a woman with a terrible haircut and a black woman with the meme skin condition.

>>723632927
he's still here, unfortunately

>>723633723
Here, is this what passes for "sexy vampire fantasy" among your misbegotten kind?

I do wish romance stuff had been fleshed out more. It's basically on par with Bloodlines 1, which is to say it's basically just a passing gimmick.

>>723633797
There's some Reddit in the writing, but perhaps just few standout lines. It remains to be seen.

I'm looking forward to the 21st and onwards when the game comes out and there's an onslaught of threads for the next week posting Steam charts, posting review compilations and generally just shitposting about the game. He'll have his work cut out for him trying to be a cheerleader in all of those threads at once.

>>723633896
Can you fuck Patience, though? Or Onda? It sorta sounds like all the clan contacts can be fucked. But it's not confirmed.

>>723633993
The all-time peak for Bloodlines 1 was 3,251 players. Can Bloodlines 2 beat it? I think one positive is that whether people like 2 or not, it will drive a lot of interest to 1.

>>723633993
I don't think its an actual shill, probably some hyper autistic schizo who likes trolling/pretending to be one. Posting shit like
>OMG, this game looks so hype bros! can't wait to play! VTMB1 was so dated, I can't wait to see a modern version!!!
over and over again to get (you)s.

>>723633723
Current discourse has used on the sexy/sexual/sexist trifecta critical analysis tools that were meant to be used as a scalpel, but were used as a fire-axe.
End result is a mess in which some think sexy can only mean slutty and others think that any trace of sexuality is structural debasing power-play at work. Among other issues...

I am happy to announce, that with Bloodlines 2, LaCroix is no longer the most incompetent Prince in Camarilla history.
At least he was able to spot the Sabbat threat and act accordingly.

>>723627945 (OP)
Cool I'm still not going to buy it.

>>723634304
Pirate it, then.

>>723634324
Nah, I'm just going to play the original.

I wonder if there will be a day 1 patch with some frantic last minute balancing changes to address feedback.

>>723634070
That's a disingenuous comparison and you know it, considering that Bloodlines didn't release onto Steam from the very start, Steam wasn't particularly popular from a great deal of the game's lifespan, the best versions of the game require modding that Steam doesn't support very well and modded versions of the game are sold by plenty of other sellers.

For all of those reasons, comparing Steam charts for those two releases is such a blatantly stupid idea that anyone arguing otherwise is a bad faith actor. But judging the Steam charts of the game independently is perfectly fine, as Steam is the primary PC platform on which this game will be played from the release date onwards with very little in the way of competition.

>>723634281
Michael takes that crown out of Lacroix easily.

>>723632345
Gameranx

>>723634392
I wasn't saying it to put Bloodlines 1 down. 3,251 players is really not bad. I'm wondering if VTMB2 will be 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, or what? It's really hard to get a sense of what impulse purchases are gonna be like given the extremely mid reviews.

>>723634797
It's easily going to be five digits and everyone knows it, there's enough interest in it that it's stupid to think otherwise. Only six digits will be a shock.

But there will certainly be less than ten thousand concurrent players by the time that a week passes, and probably less than a thousand by the time that a month passes.

>>723634797
The exact numbers won't really matter, its already bombing critically (in a world where simply existing and giving out review codes gets you a 8/10) and it'll do the same in terms of sales too.
Let me ask you this, WHO IS THIS GAME FOR?
Old, crpg fags won't like it due to VA'd protag
And lets be honest, you aren't going to get many new players to the setting with how fucking bare-bones and low-budget everything is.
This game was cursed from the cradle, they should have just said enough is enough and cancelled it.

>>723635391
>Worse animations than a 20+ year old game
This industry needs a big reset and it needs to happen soon what the fuck, where did all the talent go?

>>723632589
>Even on plebbit people went wild over Safia in pre-release materials because the thought of a cute nerdy vampire GF was too alluring.
And then TCR went Rian Johnson on their assess.
But seriously, Safia is such a lame and pathetic villain. LaCroix was million times more charismatic and entertaining. Because at least we were not supposed to take him seriously.

>>723635604
Why are you being both racist and antisemitic right now?

>>723635105
VA'd protag is the least of this game's problems.

>>723636260
But it is one. And it does add up.

>>723627945 (OP)
I can't wait to pirate this shit and then shitpost about it with other Anons ... I hope it's at least good enough for that.

Was listening to the VTMB soundtrack on the way back from my night shift. That’s the goods, man. I wonder if this sequel will have good music? Maybe some current dark stuff?

>>723636331
It will be a blast.

The fuck is spoopy corridors bs
I'm gonna touch your shit, show yourself bitch nigga ghost

>>723636383
I HATE the hotel. It isn’t tedious, it’s just TOO FUCKING SPOOPY
STOP IT YOU SHIT HEEL STOP SPOOKIN ME

>>723636441
Eh, it's only tedious first few times. Then you can almost see the script triggers for the next jumpscare as you proceed further into the level.

>>723630610
what an amazing idea
>let's rehire the guy that hired cara ellison who filled the game with literal trigger warnings and options to skip missions that trigger you, then started fucking her and got caught so hard he had to divorce
the more i read about mitsoda the more i think he had nothing to do with VTMB1 being good and it was probably other people whose writing everyone enjoys.

>>723635604
>gamers grow up playing games
>they dream of making games
>they find a job in the gaming industry
>the games they make suck

Loving games and having talent are too different things. Sadly, the trannies that love playing games end up working in the industry but they have no sense of aesthetic whatsoever. This results in what we see today. The best directors are people who didn't grow up playing video games. For example, Viktor Antonov (HL2, Dishonored, Wolfenstein The New Order, etc.), the Houser brothers (Grand Theft Auto series) and Miyazaki (Dark Souls 1, 3, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Elden Ring, etc.).

Brian Mitsoda could have easily made the list had the Paradicks trannies let him complete his 2019 Vtmb2 game. He is still dear in the hearts of people who recognize hidden generational talent.

i thought they cancelled this game in some gay scandal

>>723636728
And you'd be right. Brian Mitsoda joined the dev team in the last stretch, where the majority of writing was already done. But he was so passionate about the project, people consider him the godfather of the series, even if he didn't have that much to do with.
It's like with Chris Avellone being considered a godfather of Fallout, even though he just wrote New Reno in FO2 and created a Fallout Bible.

>>723628308
It's Paradox's fault, from the very beginning when they hired a trooner studio, till the end when they gave it to corridor makers.

>>723629890
No, it's an RPG system and a franchise like Dungeons and Dragons you retarded cunt.

>>723631418
>vampires can't use computers or the internet or phones.
Wait what? What the fuck are you talking about? Is that some retarded thing from V5?

>>723637904
>Is that some retarded thing from V5?
Yes, apparently Camarilla vampires being old, crusty old men forgot how to use computers, that's why those spunky, liberal Anarchs are running circles around them.
Also, it's a Lasombra clan curse.
V5 is dumb.

>>723637180
No, that was the Chechnya gay genocide debacle for the tabletop game which caused Paradox to kill the company which made the tabletop game in the first place and develop any further tabletop game shit in-house instead.

>>723627945 (OP)
Shill you lost and VTMB will always be beloved.

>>723637904
>>723637990
>>723631418
The actual lore is that the Second Inquisition hunters rocked the shit of the vampires by hacking into their online networks, stealing all of their info and using it to exterminate entire cities.

Camarilla reacted to this with a flat ban on all modern communication technology that the Second Inquisition could tap or hack into, Sabbat all fucked off to the Middle East in V5 so they're irrelevant, Anarchs reacted to this by being tech savvy, decentralised and communicating through code instead of vampire terminology.

After I play it I'm gonna go back and compare every frame of the reveal trailer to try to figure out what changed.

>>723637990
The Lasombra Clan Curse change in V5 makes some sense in the writer's thinking, not showing up on Video Cameras or photos was more of a boon for Stealth that players used to their advantage rather than a hindrance like some other clan curses, but other changes are odd, like Nofuratu, Salubri,or the Hecata ones make less sense

>>723638270
>Anarchs reacted to this by being tech savvy

>>723638270
>>723637990
Jesus, V5 is retarded.

I could honestly cope with the vast majority of issues with the game, but the fact you're hardlocked to 4 skill slots is what absolutely murders my interest.
>you learn your clan powers in the first 2 hours
>the rest of progression is entirely about dipping into other clans, but since you can't pick any more active powers, tough luck, 95% of them are never going to be used
Fucking normiecore hogwarts legacy had what, like 16 spell slots?

>>723638692
In case you haven't noticed, V5 REALLY loves to suck some Anarch dick. To the point fandom told them to fuck off with the Anarch shilling.

>>723638825
Consoles and their consequences have been a disaster for RPGs.

>>723638873
V5 writers seem to basically expect every player and Storyteller to only play in Games where the characters are Poor Anarch Thin Bloods and are living feeding to feeding

>>723627945 (OP)
Is it true that you can only use weapons by levitating them and only in the room you found them in, such a strange decision

>>723639029
It is true, but why does that matter? The critically acclaimed Breath of the Wild proved gamers prefer temporary weapons.

>didn't get to punch axe ghost
pfffft lame
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE

>>723639029
TCR basically decided that the entire game should revolve around making the player feel like a vampire and the player should never have to do anything that feels like something a normal person would do.

No learning information by reading a computer screen like a normie would, you gain information through seducing and dominating pitiful humans like a true vampire.
No shooting people or hitting them with objects like a human would, you tear them apart with your bare hands or rip them asunder with blood magic like a true vampire.

>>723639128
>brightness settings at max
Pffft lame…

>>723639209
I just comes off as Phyre being needlessly extra.
Even though neither my lad Christoff Romuald nor Smiling Jack, who are way older and powerful than Phyre would just cap the motherfucker, because it's efficient and "Kindred have to keep up with the times". Also, Phyre is a walking Masquerade violation.

>>723638873
To be fair, Vampire the Masquerade in its first edition started off with a big focus on the Anarchs with the Camarilla as regressive, domineering and old-fashioned vampires.

However, Chicago By Night was an incredible hit and people fell in love with how it depicted a Camarilla city with byzantine politics and intrigue, to the point where Chicago By Night became the model for how Vampire the Masquerade would be played until V5 came out, with the Anarchs being sidelined as uninteresting.

V5 was very interested in a factory reset to the first edition of Vampire the Masquerade, without realising how much more appealing people found the Chicago By Night style. They forgot all of the lessons that they had learned over twenty years before.

>>723639109
Gamers prefer to be retards, should every game play itself?

>>723639539
Yes, I know that, and there was a reason why starting from 2e to V20 the focus was more on Camarilla vs Sabbat, to the point in Revised, the Anarchs were a mere footnote.
Nobody liked to play as Anarchs, when you have much more interesting factions to pick from. So, V5 going back to the 1e roots is bizarre, because there is no point in coming back to this startus quo. And then they literally had strongarm players into playing an Anarch by getting rid of Sabbat and nerfing Camarilla to the ground.
>you will play as Anarch or you won't play at all.

>>723639445
>Christoff Romuald nor Smiling Jack, who are way older and powerful than Phyre
Christoff is older, but I'm not sure Jack is, as he meant to be a historical Pirate John Rackham, whos nickname was Calico Jack, which puts him in the early 18th century, and Phye is meant to be a bit older than that

>>723639920
Smiling Jack was embraced in 1650. Isn't Fayer supposed to be "only" 300 years old? It's a lot for a vampire in the US, but in a larger scale of things, he's just a kid.

>>723627945 (OP)
>you're gonna see a lot of praise for the music and visuals and some of the characters and the combat
>Music
I've not heard any of the game's music and hope they can nail the vampire vibes well, but I don't have high expectation it'll be an OST people would listen to years after, and think it'll be just serviceable enough to match the theme of VtM in a generic and forgettable way.
>Visuals
From what I've seen of the game, the visuals are what you'd expect a current day game to be, nothing spectacular. It'll be for today what Deus-Ex:HR was for 2011's standards of visuals; nothing to write home about, but unoffencive. Nothing cutting-edge.
>Caracters
There're many good caracters in VtM:B, and it's reasonable to think The Cinese Room will attempt to mimic the appeal, but I don't think they have either the talent to pull it off, or invsted the time in this aspect of the worldbuilding. At best you might find 1 or 2 characters who've slightly captured the vibe of the original, being weird and freakish, to outright funny and fun to interact with, but they will be far and few between and pushed to the side. My expectations of the gameworld having any solid characters who're similar in theme and feel to the original are low. Most likely, they'd largely be paint-by-the-colors stereotypes of what TCR thinks VtM:B, and plain WoD vampires, are like.
>Combat
From what I've seen of the combat, it is janky as fuck, unintuative, lacking in spectical, and not fluid. Also, I know I'm not the only one who noticed the PC's hands are awkwardly far too close to each other.

To sum up, I have zero (0) faith in the studio's abilities to create a followup to VtM:B, or any RPG for that matter. And the game we will get will be mechanically jank in terms of gameplay and a shade of the original's appeal regarding worldbuilding, characters, or atmosphere.
Hope I'm wrong, but you can tell things'll go the wrong way the moment you hear the game is getting the The Cinese Room treatment.

>>723640063
Don't they say they were embraced 150 years before the founding of America in the tutorial or something?

>>723639837
The V5 writing team was mostly Nordic LARP sorts who had their heads up their asses with a very particular perception of roleplaying of any sort should be handled. It needed to be emotional and introspective, they sneered at anything that could be considered a power fantasy.

So any sort of "gothic superhero with fangs" gameplay was thrown out of the window and the sexy political intrigue of the Camarilla was considered too much of a power fantasy too. They wanted something more street-level, that would force vampires to interact with humanity and struggle for blood every night and confront their transformation into a monster. The Camarilla intrigue style mostly sidelines this and treats humans as blood points to be collected during downtime, so that was no good and had to be thrown in the garbage. The Sabbat were even worse.

So, the only move that they could think of was to focus on down-to-earth Anarchs who couldn't afford to live in their ivory tower and treat humans like cattle. It's just hilarious how TCR abandoned this approach to Vampire the Masquerade, in favour of making it a vampire power fantasy.

>>723640069
>Most likely, they'd largely be paint-by-the-colors stereotypes of what TCR thinks VtM:B, and plain WoD vampires, are like.
It's actually the opposite. The Bloodlines 1 NPCs were all caricatures and stereotypes - Nines is the most Brujah Brujah ever, LaCroix is a textbook Ventrue, Andrei is a textbook Tzimisce and they are all extremaly fun, because the game doesn't take itself seriously at all.
From what I'm seeing, Bloodlines 2 takes itself very seriously, with the main villainess having this weepy melodramatic backstory that I don't give a fuck about, because she's lame and boring and I want my French jerk back, because at least he was funny in his buffoonery.

>>723627945 (OP)
>LQBTQ tab on steam
It's going to be just like Henry threads on /v/. Brace yourselves.

>>723640379
>Nines is the most Brujah Brujah ever
Didn't flip his shit even once.

>>723640741
Have you tried disagreeing with him? He immediately flips his shit the second you suggest Anarchs might not be the best thing that happened to vampirekind.

>>723640741
What pat of "those people don't want the introspective shit" do you not understand?

Ya know what? I'd like to see CDPRs take on VTM. If anything I'm sure they would make it sexy again.

But it has to be on RedEngine, fuck UE5

>>723641016
mods, kill this poster

>>723641016
Actually, yeah, I actually wouldn't be against that after Cyberpunk and Phantom Liberty.
Because like it or not, Cyberpunk shares a lot of design DNA with Bloodlines 1. And the devs themselves don't make it a secret that Bloodlines was an inspiration for Cyberpunk.

>>723641016
I would be down but they also did the Phyre shit with V.

I’m getting irrationally angry at the thought of people wanting CDPR to make an RPG after how much they fumbled CP.

>>723641016
CDPR could do the watered down mass market project that Paradox wishes Bloodlines 2 were. I don't think it has it in it to do the modern actualisation of Bloodlines 1 fans wishes it were.
Depends on what one wants, I guess.

>>723641226
Eh, V is is still way more customisable than Phyre.

yoooo that's sex, man
leglock suck better be in 2 or else

>>723641528
Phyre is way too sexless for that

>>723641352
The only RPGs that we're going to get in this day and age are isometric CRPGs that try to cash in on BG3's popularity.
Outside of those, action games like Cyberpunk with some RPG mechanics are the best that we can hope for.

>723641512
Is it? Froman interactive standpoint, probably, though we'll have to see once the game actually hits.
The photo-mode customisation bullshit being meaningless in CP2077, why care?

>>723641482
>I don't think it has it in it to do the modern actualisation of Bloodlines 1 fans wishes it were.
Honestly, I don't think Bloodlines was this grand, robust cRPG fans think it was. I've beaten this game so many times I can recite entire dialogues from memory and no, Bloodlines is actually insanely linear. Your clan choice barely matters unless you are a Malkavian and maybe Nosferatu (although in the later part of the game, the game stops caring about the NPC reactions to your Nos) and majority of dialogue choices lead to the same outcome and you can literally talk in circles. But it gives you a good enough illusion of making a choice, even though nothing you do matters.
Yes, that even extends to Jeanette/Therese choice. Cool, you can pick which sister takes over.. and it doesn't matter because after that section you never see them or interact with them again.

>>723639539
Yep, it's also funy how even in V5 they had to backpedal somewhat and make a new Chicago by Night with Camarilla politics that people considered the best part of V5. Also all the popular non-official actual plays I've seen have been Camarilla ones.

I wish they'd just release it already.
I work the next couple days and I want to play it...

>>723641984
Never understood why people release their games on a Tuesday.
I mean I know why it's so they can be around to support it post go-live but damn you can work a weekend to support the product launch you've been working six years for or whatever, lazy asses

I for one want a sabbat pack game

doesn't even need to be an rpg, I just want to tear shit up

>>723642306
Redemption is technically that

>>723641907
It's just that Anarch play doesn't allow for any of the sex-and-intrigue gameplay that people love Vampire the Masquerade for, unless it involves interacting peacefully with the Camarilla, in which case it's just a Camarilla-lite game.

I guess the fact that Bloodlines 2 goes for a (bad) sex-and-intrigue story over the street-level woe-is-me introspection that V5 prefers is just another nail in V5's coffin.

>>723642397
yeah but I want a new one

>>723642418
Yeah, even that stupid LA by Night Anarch live play eventually devolves into Camarilla-lite play, but with the Anarch PCs constantly complaining how evil Camarilla is because of all those politicking. Without any sense of irony.

>>723641862
No one is talking about “choice”. Everyone is aware that choices in a computer system grow exponentially instead of linearly. The discussion has always been atmosphere and characterization. The atmosphere is created with everything from ambient sounds to lighting effects to music choices to building designs to map locations. Characterization is done with a blank-slate mute PC with at least three means of approaching a map, and for the NPCs it means memorable, realistic dialogue from talented voice actors with replayability coming from how conversations and level objectives can be changed based on player agency within a limited framework NOT by a lack of creativity, but by mechanical design.

Bloodlines is a cult classic not because it has five endings. It’s a cult classic because of how much it absorbed players who loved the experience in spite of the bugs, glitches, and crashes.

>>723642758
>Everyone is aware that choices in a computer system grow exponentially instead of linearly. The discussion has always been atmosphere and characterization. The atmosphere is created with everything from ambient sounds to lighting effects to music choices to building designs to map locations. Characterization is done with a blank-slate mute PC with at least three means of approaching a map, and for the NPCs it means memorable, realistic dialogue from talented voice actors with replayability coming from how conversations and level objectives can be changed based on player agency within a limited framework
The joke is that outside of a blank-slate protagonist, the same thing can be said about Cyberpunk 2077.

>>723642924
You are incorrect.

>>723643043
Prove me wrong, then.

>>723642758
>atmosphere and characterization
2077 has great atmosphere and characters. Though I don't like how they changed some of the lore to make Johnny important

>>723642924
The magic of it is that the appeal of characterisation and atmosphere is subjective, so anyone can argue against that by saying that no, CP2077 has a shit atmosphere and shit characters, while VTMB has kino atmosphere and characterisation.

>>723643093
>”prove a negative”

>>723643117
You are also wrong.

>>723633093
>Mr Caligula
I like it.

>>723627945 (OP)
I would very much prefer a BL1 remake with a good studio but oh well, ler's play BL2 next week

>>723627945 (OP)
>Let's talk about Bloodlines 2.
No.

>>723634001
For me, it's Thorn.

>>723643173
>You are also wrong.
No u

>>723627945 (OP)
I play this games

>>723639445
>Even though neither my lad Christoff Romuald nor Smiling Jack, who are way older and powerful than Phyre
Are they? What generation is Phyre?

>>723643408
no u

>>723643537
6th apprantly

>>723643408
For me, it's the stradium shootout in Phantom Liberty. You CAN stealth trough it and the game gives you plenty of options for it, but then lose out on the kino beat, so fuck it, we ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VXJ2rhSla4

>>723634281
It's even worse than that. Lou hates Tr*mere so much that impostor-Safia was only able to remain in court because of Ryong vouching for her. For decades, the ruse worked, and Ryong never suspected ANYTHING!
Ryong is such a fucking idiot. It's amazing.

>>723641016
Bro https://store.steampowered.com/app/3751260/The_Blood_of_Dawnwalker/

>>723643636
Wew lad he would tear both of them a new shithole.

>>723643537
Generation does not equal age. Jack is “only” 10th generation but he’s been alive for some 400 years or something. Meanwhile, the player in the first game is 8th gen.

>>723627945 (OP)
Ign gave it a seven

They will add more insane incest jailbait vampire sisters killing their relatives in 2, right?

>>723643664
Yeah. Compared to those yahoos in BL2, LaCroix is actually scarily competent, even if he is a ponce.
Not only he didn't allow himself to get captured like an idiot during the Sabbat assasination attempt, unlike some other prince, he killed his attackers personally, then send the Magilla Gorilla to wipe out the rest. And his next order of business was to send his one-man-army PC to burn the Sabbat HQ to the ground, because at this point he knew who and where they were.

>>723629193
Number 1, redemtion was a great game, it was named rpg of the year by many outlets. Number 2, despite being buggy as shit at launch, bloodlines STILL literally got named rpg of the year by many outlets. The idea that's currently going around that bloodlines wasn't well received, is a total fucking lie. So thay's why things happened they way they happened, both games were great and were very well received by everyone. That's why no one had a problem with the name.

>>723630340
>, while still being under Paradox's leash?

>>723643649
>has a Blade easter egg and the blood rave intro song but no wannabe vampire cyberpsychos
Could've been such a cool questline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSwa_5j3-nQ

>>723643704
That one has my attention but I long for something more modern days like

They will add more love sick perfectly physically developed exotic dancers who write sappy poetry and are scared of conflict in 2, right?

>>723644156
Lecroix also just wanted the player to die at that point even more so than before

>>723630456
You mean the one where they give us a stop sign? Yeah, real ground-breaking stuff, there...

>>723644227
>Ah'm cah-vee-arr. Ah'm dah-minns in a champagne glass.
Think Verona is the closest we get to Venus. Patience isn't sexy enough. Ysabella is too psychotically antitribu to hit the same notes. Don't think there are any other Toreador in the game, or named strippers/whores/"exotic dancers".

>>723630340
SEXY

GOTH

BABES

Baldurs gate 3 made normalfags all over the world buy a fucking CRPG because it had waifus and husbandus in it. The goth aesthetic is really popular with zoomers and milenials right now, so its even easier. Give the player a harem of both waifus to pick from and the game would sell itself.

>>723644324
One of the best narrative bits about Bloodlines is that LaCroix isn’t as stupid as everyone thinks he is until he gives in to the paranoia. If the fledgling dies, good. If the fledgling does what he orders them to do and LaCroix gains advantage, great. LaCroix had a perfect pawn that accidentally got queen’d due to being thrown through so many meat grinders.

>>723643739
Yeah, the gemes like to make a lot of noise about the generation, but in the end IIRC lower generation only gives you bigger mana pool for Disciplines. And unlocks Disciplines above 5, but honestly, your entire campaign will end before you'll have enough skill points to buy those Dispiclines, so whatever.
But age actually matters, because not only you can be a jack of all trades that excels in everything if you are old enough, you can learn more and more Disciplines as the time goes by,

Not a single memorable character
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIVGyvKg7_U

>>723635391
Check out the version with sounds https://files.catbox.moe/aky76o.mp4

>>723631983
What did it do well?

>>723627945 (OP)
Ok, but those who played or saw gameplay, is the game sexy?

>>723644868
Here's the sexiest character bro, Lou's tits got deflated and she got fatter compared to the HLS version

rate my battlestation

>>723644820
No human characters either, everyone important is a Vampire, no Ghouls even.

>>723644868
no lol sex appeal is bad

>>723644868
To be fair, you get to see Safia naked. It's not as fun as you might think.

>>723644931
Oh my God, what’s wrong with your face?!

>>723644820
What's with those Nosferatu designs?
I think we've established that ages ago - Orlok bat-like look + face deformities is a proper way of portraying them.

>>723633216
I hope it fails. That will be parashit's just punishment for stopping development on imperator rome.

>>723645019
H-hey, I just take climbing ranked in LoL srsly, ok

>>723645151
Too cartoony for a serious vampire game like VTMB2.

>>723644931
>Unstable
>Keyboard and mouse where?
>If you are going use a standing desk make sure it's the right height.
-10/10

>>723645151
I believe v5 made them less deformed

>>723644968
She seems hot, wdym?

Im hoping the HSL's version can still be datamined from this slop. I want to see how much they changed.

I miss Mr. Damp. We didn't even get to really know him but he seemed like a fun, heart of the game kind of character

>>723643664
And the PC has some strange blood curse that prevents them from leaving town. There are only two acting Tremere (you know, A CLAN THAT SPECIALIZES IN AFLICTING BLOOD CURSES) in the city. Phyre, my guy, it's not that hard to connect the dots. Thorn and Safia should've been on Phyre's shitlist from the start.

>>723645586
Same guy btw

Can you seduce and rape people in the game like an actual vampire?

>>723645586
He was apparently Vandal from Bloodlines, I don't know if it was true

>>723636728
It takes two to tango, though. Why didn't cara reject him? A woman who messes around with a married man is a total loser and everyone knows it, you all know it. Any woman who is still single at the age of 30 is a certified loser and that's a fact. That was true ten thousand years ago, and it's true now. The simple fact here is that a lot of these people are complete losers, despite what their resumees or careers say. And that especially goes for all the millennial feminazis. So really, who cares about this bullshit drama? Everyone involved are morons who clearly don't have their heads on straight.

>>723645678
Confirmed by wesp5 iirc

>>723645318
>Keyboard and mouse where?
Levitating over the table to reduce pressure on the wrists and allow perfect air flow.

>>723645786
I want to see how they would have went

>>723645943
I have a feeling it might have relied too much on memberberries from what we were seeing.

>>723632972
>The goth blood doll chick is probably gonna get some traction, especially when people realize she's a giant raceplay corruption fetish.
It's not when people realize it's going to pale in comparison to the actual corruption fetish character from the first game, Heather Poe.

>>723645323
Is there anything v5 did right?

>>723645816
Dammit! I'm out play.

>>723646135
It depends on your perspective.

In your eyes, what should VtM be like, what should it focus on, and what should a VtM game/chronicle be about?

>>723646135
It got rid of the Kue-Jin because we can't hecking have... erm... ORIENTALISM? get with the hecking times, chud.

>>723646135
Some ideas are alright in the vacuum. Some new weaknesses are much better than previously - like the Tzimisce one, and reworked generation and age make now a bit more sense. But the issue with V5 is that for every one thing it does well, it introduces 10 retarded things to compensate.

>>723645517
They're definitely reusing parts of the HSL version. Even stuff like the lamp posts are clearly from older UE4 builds because they're noticeably low poly.
Whether any quests or VA actually made it through is a different story I suppose.

>>723645586
No Elif either

>>723646297
>In your eyes, what should VtM be like, what should it focus on, and what should a VtM game/chronicle be about?

>>723646424
I will say I think the snow was a good choice. It adds a bit of soul that the HSL version is missing.

>>723646487
She's still in, kinda >>723635391

>>723646692
I am pretty sure Elif wasn't intended to be a fucking Tremere antitribu.
Tremere antitribu are so fucking stupid, kill them all with fire.

>>723646538
HAVE NO CHOICE BUT BE ISOLATED
STRUGGLING
LEFT ALONE
APART
PUSHED ASIDE
MADE SEGREGATED
STRUGGLING
LEFT ALONE
APART

>>723645723
my point was you don't want that fucking guy running your game project when he hires le trigger warning woman as his #2 main writer
the fact she caused his divorce is just extra humor

>>723646637
The last ditch shill strategy. Snow = soul. Wow.

>>723646538
Commence the jigglin!

>>723646951
Why can't I like something...

>>723646538
Well, V5 certainly wasn't anywhere near as colourful or focused on partying as that. The most glamorous part of V5 was its attempt to steal the fashion magazine aesthetic and some of the very weird photographs it used in the place of actual art.

I'm sure this picture is glamorous, in the eyes of... someone, somewhere.

>>723646996
The bald chick noticing something wrong kek

>>723646916
Come to think of it, does BL2 have any licenced music?
Because that Lacuna Coil drop in BL1 credits was the most kino shit ever.

>>723644820
>>723644820
Meanwhile people still listen to the faceless radio dj from the first one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLp6vQ6_yKU

>>723647052
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

>>723646487
Utterly unforgivable. She was so hot..

>>723647052
Which clan is this...

>>723647092
Wym anon? We have the Bet of Night... Get it? Do you understand what they're referencing? It makes so much fucking sense

>>723647052
h-hillary?

>>723647247
She's a Ventrue

>>723647052
Bondage/femdom looks boring as fuck when there's no leather or latex involved

>gaymanity lost
>trannysquerade violated
good

>>723644807
Being lower gen also lets you nosell mindwhammies and heal disfigurements you get from your tzimisce girlfriend (male).

>>723646538
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHBhKbF2xMA

>>723647489
Also no sexy chicks and when the premise is some nasty shit instead of "hot sex but she's pushing me around"

>>723647331
https://youtu.be/IAfPfZL5RRU
Here's your bet

>>723647615
But that would be female objectification or something. White Wolf was very VERY high on its own farts when V5 came out.

>>723646135
V5 is a fake game. The book does not give any rules on how to actually run it. What few rules it has were designed to facilitate LARP because the developer was a big proponent of LARP. Paradox has moved away from that, but current books are entirely written by freelancers on contract. This means there is no actual vision for the game, and so it has no direction. They'd rather publish advice for playing on TikTok than how you do basic things in the game itself.
The latest iteration of White Wolf is hiring key RPG staff, which does indicated a potential V6, but the positions have been open for months. And these are key leadership positions.

>>723647951
Literally me in the background.

>>723647075
The licensed music conveying the player’s emotional state is so fucking sublime.

Isolated—Being made a vampire
Smaller God—Meeting Heather
Lecher Bitch—Doing bad shit but feeling great about it
Bloodlines—Realizing how long this vampire shit has been going on
Needle’s Eye—Trying to justify yourself
Cain—Accepting being a vampire is fucking dogshit
Come Alive—Accepting being a vampire is actually really fucking great when you’ve got a goal and a purpose
Swamped—We’re out here doing bad shit and giving the finger to everyone who tries to tie us down

>>723648008
Wtf

>>723644931
best part is weed clipping through mattress

>>723648008
>V6
Unless they walk back all the idiotic lore changes, I don't care.

>>723648008
Why is LARP considered an online play style?
Don't you have to go outside and interact with people physically for it to be LARP?

>>723648008
Not entirely true. Freelancers were always a huge part of White Wolf, which is probably why the company survived being gutted by CCP Games during their ownership period, but LARP is absolutely responsible for a good deal of why V5 sucks. Prior to it LARP scene would get their own separate corebook, but now a lot of that bullshit had to be folded into tabletop play.

>>723648153
I am still salty and jaded that Tiamat and Lacuna Coil play in only one club in the whole game and that club is non-essential to visit, so you can miss those tracks entirely.

>>723648359
That’s a pretty retarded thing to be jaded about but hey if you look like Ash you and be a brooding bitch all you want

It's gonna be great

>>723648359
lol it's not like the game has a ton of content for you to skip entire locations, i'd imagine most people just go through everything

>>723648263
Most RPG lines have freelancers. The point isn't that WW never used them, it's that current V5 is ENTIRELY freelancers. There is no core team. There is no one guiding a vision. This is how you get particularly bad books like In Memoriam.
But regardless yes, the V5 design principle was to make it as unobtrusive as possible so it wouldn't get in the way of LARP. This resulted in a "game" that isn't actually playable on the tabletop.

>>723646848
*Tzimisce using fleshcrafting to masquerade as a Tremere that she murdered ages ago

>>723648263
where can I meet these goth larping chicks?

2000s fursuits were something else

>>723648585
I missed the Japanese schoolgirl swordmaster my first two plays because I didn’t go back into that one building after getting the corpse’s eyes. The only reason I found her was because I misclicked while running along walls to move faster in the broke Source engine.

>>723648752
Old money circles and some in suburbia.

>>723640379
"Most likely, they'd largely be paint-by-the-colors stereotypes **of what TCR thinks** VtM:B, and plain WoD vampires, are like."
There's a proper way to write a character who confoms to a steriotype well, understanding the source material well. And then there's the way of hitting all the right notes just for the sake of saying a job well done, or having it being within the realm of possibility presented in the source material; without comprehanding the core of the steriotype or traits that makes them what they are in the first place. Essentially making a cardboard cutout that's cut in all the wrong places.
Which is what I believe we're in for.
Also, I agree. The original did not take itself as seriously as the new one and I did touched on it a little in my post, though maybe not in a cohirent or direct enough way.

>>723648752
Nordic countries. It has an insanely strong LARP scene and was who WW/Paradox were catering to.

>>723648216
If I understand VTM correctly, they use LARP to mean "always in character and wearing a costume".
Note: I don't play VTM, and I've never been involved in any kind of LARP. I, too, thought it involved physical interaction, like adventuring in the woods with beanbags for Magic Missiles.

>>723649036
Holy shit, imagine these losers trying to act cool or domineering but they’re speaking their silly sing-song Swedish language that makes every word sound like the punchline to a joke.

>>723649036
>what if we all just get in costume and kind of stand around in a big hall
I'll never really understand big social larps.

>>723627945 (OP)
god strike thee down shill-devil

>>723649085
LIGHTNING BOLT!
*throws rubber ball*

>>723648727
I am pretty sure she's just a very confused Tremere. Because if she's a Tzimisce, she's the lamest Tzimisce ever.
Also, as someone who has played too much tabletop - there is no way in hell her deception would've worked on a proper tabletop session for longer than 5 minutes and there is a reason nobody ever does that. Because all it takes is one elder vampire with Auspex and her entire plan is ruined.
Sorry, that's my tabletop autism kicking in.

>>723649197
That reminds me. Has Reawakened finished its rebranding? Last news I heard was Activision cockblocked them from using anything Redempion.

>>723649218
LIGHTNING BOLT!!
>*shoots you with my .44

>>723649085
>>723649142
Idea is people are partially there running pre-arranged stories, but also genuinely interreacting in-character. There's still experience and very basic "rules" in the background so it's not play pretend, but you can imagine drama escalates very easily.

>>723649319
If it can’t work on the tabletop then it shouldn’t work anywhere else.

>>723648840
The current edition of the game and the "mood" that Paradox pushes for it is one of melodrama. Older editions of the game flavored their drama with absurdity, satire, and a healthy amount of punk edge. The current atmosphere has none of this, wants none of tbis. It wants you to be wallowing in your own jizz at all times.
I think if you compare Confession from Bl1 to Wake the Dead (thats the sterile millenial coffee shop run by a Tremere) in BL2, the difference becomes apparent.

>>723648263
>>723649036
why are larpers so obsessed with medieval and victorian vampires? go play dungeons and dragons or some shit, late 20th century vamps are cooler

>>723649432
I just don't see the appeal of it in that large of a group. Makes more sense for a parlor larp instead of something that big.

>>723649319
I skimmed the complete playthrough that was posted; source of the poorly-animated ending cutscene you'll see in these threads.
I ONLY skimmed it, and the player refused to actually read codex entries and such, but when the mask comes off, impostor-Safia implies she fleshcrafted her current appearance, and she refers to real-Safia as a "fledgling". However, impostor-Safia never actually names her clan, or use the word "Tzimisce" at all.
And yes, I'm aware Auspex would ruin everything immediately. TCR did a number of weird contrivances to make their script work, like how they handle vampiric corpses.

>>723649585
It's an extrovert thing, brainlet.
The appeal, other than "meeting new people", is that those characters can be a genuine mystery (because they're not played by your ST or part of your coterie).

>>723649585
That's probably a large special event. Run of the mill LARP events are fairly small.

>>723649684
What do Storytellers or GMs do during these LARPs if they meant to connect to games a Coterie is doing somewhere else?

>A flop a half decade in the making that couldn't happen to a more deserving studio and publisher
Can't wait

>>723649684
>>723649757
If I were to show up as my Gangrel with Strength 5 Unarmed 5 and Protean 5 and then started attacking people in the name of the Sabbat would this make or break their LARP event? Do note that I would have metal fingernails that would actually slice a jugular and am wearing heavy leather for protection and mobility and am wearing a scary bat mask.

>>723629253
Sounds based

>>723649569
With some reverse searching those picture seem to be from a historical Convention of Thorns LARP. There are modern day ones, but then you really see it's just awkward people trying to dress up for a play pretend social gala. It's just sad without costumes.

>>723650034
If we go by the old Spoony Video where he talks about a VtM LARP, they would mind control your PC and make them run errands for the rest of the event without the player's consent

>>723650034
Pretty much the one big rule during LARPs is "no touching".

>>723650256
yeah I can tell these things don’t end in sex LMAO

>>723650034
You'd get clocked as just there to start shit pretty quickly. LARPers are very cautious about that kind of thing and practiced at detecting it.

>>723649602
Come to think of it, when your story only works because everybody in the story is retarded, it's not a good story.
To be fair, BL1 also makes everybody retarded about the sacrophagus, but that actually worked, beacuse the entire story was a joke and the TNT inside was a punchline.

>>723650336
Actually there is tons of hooking up at LARP events, if you want to fuck goth girls Vampire is a great way to do it

>masquerade violation is real bad mmmk?
>anyway I just bit you and I'm a vampire haha

>>723650439
Any actually hot or cute ones?

>>723650126
>Convention of Thorns LARP
Did they throw dildos at each other?

>>723650529
They're willing, anon.

>>723650034
You'd be arrested. Your humiliating mugshot would go viral for obvious reasons.
>>723650402
When you discover the Sabbat connection, it still takes two nights for the rest of the cast to accept the Sabbat even exist, despite them only dissolved like a decade before the game is set.
Really, the Sabbat soft-retcon V5 did was stupid.

>>723650439
>>723650656

>>723649547
I'll stop it here to prevent a circle jerk of confirmation from forming, but I agree.

Everything I see about this game makes it look shit. Are there ANY redeeming qualities?

>>723650950
Don’t redeem it.

>>723627945 (OP)
>The odd juxtaposition of a great story mixed with weird pacing issues and jank reminds me a bit of Mafia 3
Not yet.

>>723627945 (OP)
Whats the biggest vampire tits in the game this will make it or break it for me. I need to know are there big vampire milkers

>>723650950
It's short as fuck.
That's a good thing when the game fucking sucks, right?

>>723650950
The hub world looks fun to explore.
Christmas setting is comfy.
That's about it.

>>723629612
Nice try but I've seen the sheboons they forced into this shit.

>>723627945 (OP)
It's going to be my first VTM game. I'm the lowest common denominator they're appealing to.

>>723652161
Play the original

>>723652161
The sad thing is that three of those clans are unavailable in BL2.

>>723644749
Lacroix is not THAT stupid, I mean he is plenty stupid but most of his actions in the story come across as him lashing out like a cornered animal with some on-the-fly cunning. He's sent on a suicidal assignment, probably because he pissed off someone in the inner circle or they're trying to test his mettle in a swim or die position. Nobody likes him, nobody respects him and they disobey him. He has to walk around eggshells with the anarchs, he has the Kuei-Jin encroaching on California and now even the Sabbat is trying to fuck things up for him. It kinda made sense why he would ally himself with the Kuei-Jin even if in hindsight it was also a pretty retarded move because Ming Xiao told the Fledgling about her killing Grout to frame Nines. Grout was already making a move, he made a "faustian bargain" with whom? hard to say, but it was probably with the Society of Leopold because Bach somehow knows where Grout lived despite being a recluse and that Lacroix is the prince of LA. Taking two birds with one stone didn't seem like a bad deal, he just had to get rid of Ming Xiao before she could tell anyone what their deal was but he couldn't do that. He banked all his chips on there being a fucking Antediluvian on the sarcophagus that he could somehow diablerize. If the fledgling wasn't aided by fucking Cain himself, he could've won until he found the C4 at least kek.
>>723650402
>BL1 also makes everybody retarded about the sarcophagus, but that actually worked, because the entire story was a joke and the TNT inside was a punchline.
I mean, yeah? But also there was some validity to their concerns considering gehenna was approaching in canon and a few weeks or months after VTMB took place the end times came. There was a lot of anxiety in the city because Cain being there.

>>723631470
Coincidentally the exact demographic that is the most vulnerable to being brainwashed by leftist rethoric, anti-white, anti-natalist and anti-heterosexual propaganda because they were raised to be beyond cowardly and deathly afraid of going against whatever they're told is the norm because it might disrupt their carefree manchild lives to do so.

>>723652437
>If the fledgling wasn't aided by fucking Cain himself, he could've won until he found the C4 at least kek.
To be fair, the can still win if the player is retarded and decides to join with him for some fucking reason.
It's not like LaCroix was trying to actively kill you literally from the very first cutscene.

>>723652437
>He's sent on a suicidal assignment [...] in a swim or die position.
Is that a favourite Ventrue pastime, because I faintly remember someone telling you at the beginning of the game to raid a Sabbat warehouse on your lonesome or walk into the sunrise.

>>723653061
Well, he does want to kill you because you are a liability for him. You just happen to keep surviving more and more ridiculous suicide missions, much to LaCroix's chagrin.

>>723633896
God no wonder leftists are fucked in the head. They can't even have sex without making it sound like signing a contract. The Jeanette/Terese backstory wouldn't exist at all if VtM1 was made today.

>>723652437
Would Grout making a deal with the Society of Leopold make sense? I mean he could've also gone to the Kuei-Jin and Ming Xiao could've told Lacroix and they decided to assassinate him to frame Nines. But if Grout went with the hunters it would explain why for weeks hunters had set their sights on Hollywood, being that Grout lives on Hollywood hills he should've known about some kindred nearby. As to why Bach burned down his home... Ming Xiao chains the kindred to the sarcophagus and throws them into the ocean if you decide to help her, if you betray your kind for a group that wants to kill every single one of you it's never going to end well. They could've simply decided they had gotten enough information out of him and burn him because apart from VV and Ash, that's the only vampire they know.

>>723644836
holy shit the protag has a literal gay lisp

>>723653295
A great many things from the first game wouldn't exist if it were made today.

>>723627945 (OP)
So is the twist Phyre and Fabian are switched and Phyre is the fledgling and Fabian is the elder after all?

>>723654024
No, Fabien's a red herring who gets offed half-way through.

>>723641016
I'd love for them to do VTM or Shadowrun.

>>723654024
Not really, there's no real twist with Fabien. He's exactly as he appears. An ally to the Phyre and the second protagonist with more narrative impact and personality than your own customizable character. Yeah, get used to hearing him quip all the fucking time about everything and kidnap the main story so you can play his walking sim segments.
>>723654181
>No, Fabien's a red herring who gets offed half-way through.
By the time Fabien dies there's only like 30 minutes left of the game and no dialogue, no story, just a combat gauntlet until... >>723644836 and you only get a 30 second slideshow about what happened to the rest of the cast.

>>723654438
>By the time Fabien dies there's only like 30 minutes left of the game and no dialogue, no story, just a combat gauntlet
What a total shit show, anyone who buys this trash is getting what they deserve. I'm going to pop a blood vessel though when people bring this up and get a bunch of responses along the lines of "um you mean just like the first game? Check mate"

>>723654181
You're thinking of the Gideoner.
>>723654438
Hey, someone read my spoiler dump!

>>723635604
I hope you aren't implying that the first VTMB has better animations than that.
Because it doesn't.

>>723627945 (OP)
poop game

I am still salty that you can't join Sabbat in this game
>b-but Safia is trying to kill you
So did LaCroix and Ming Xiao. Also, why can't I simply take over the Sabbat cell in Seattle?

>>723656375
It's not a choice-based RPG, anon.

>>723656375
Sabbat are evil, anon, you have to stay a good vampire and only kill people once a week

>>723656375
THE SABBAT ARE EVIL VAMPIRE CHUDS ANON, NO FASCISM IN MY LARP-FOCUSED, FLANDERIZED VAMPIRE IN THE MASQUERADE!

>>723655865
If the best thing you have to brag about is that you have *SLIGHTLY* better animation than a game that's probably older than most posters here then you have a serious problem.

>>723654024
I wish that was a twist. The real twist is even dumber.

>>723659342
The real twist is that there is no twist, what a subversion

>>723630340
you cant.
that studio is semitic to the bone

>>723630340
simple, tell paradox to go fuck themselves then make a game under a legally distinct IP

Are there any enemies aside from ghouls and the odd vampire? I've seen those weird faceless looking humanoids too. That it? Disappointing.

>>723637137
The people that made this neither play nor love games they're hollywood rejects that wanted to make movies. But keep crying about the people that point out how shitty your slop is.

>>723652161
The overt and burning hatred of people that play games is just absurd. Like imagine being such a narcissistic poser that you make it your whole identity.

>>723660726
hunters in the end game, and some weird construct-looking zombie creatures

>>723661006
So basically nothing but humans and vague humanoids. That's sad

>>723658974
The beginning of the game does have better animation. It's obvious that they were understaffed so they focused on polishing the parts everyone would see and just didn't have time to finish the ending.

>>723630340
>VtMB style Hunter game set in V20
>you are random imbued in New England city
>you tried to save girl from vamp but ended up almost getting killed before being saved by pic related
>he gives you a quick rundown on what is going on and tells you that you have entered a whole new world before letting you loose
>you have a choice to join an org or stay independent
>pick creed to follow
>start out hunting ghouls and Thinbloods
>learn more about the supernatural
>eventually uncover conspiracy involving multiple factions and try to find a way to put a stop to it

>>723660726
Ghouls, thinbloods, normal mortals (ie, cops), Second Inquisition hunters, full vampire generic mooks, plus the Unbirthed/moon flowers, which are the white "weird faceless" things you're talking about.
Other than those, three bossfights: Benny, Ysabella, Safia.
If we count model swaps as "new enemies", then there's also the mannequins when you deal with Willem.

>>723629952
>Turn RPG IP into a battleroyale
>said battleroyale was intended to be a dual-release with Bloodlines 2
What the fuck were they thinking

>>723661490
No excuses, shit game for cunts and consumers. The slop will flop and shills will hang.

>>723662035
Paradox doesn't care about WoD outside of the revenue stream from it.
They only bought the IP so they could cash in on the cult appeal of the original Bloodlines

>>723630340
Just make a crpg man, it's not even that hard. Even a fucking indie or ps1-2 graphic'd game would be better than slop with decent modern graphics

>>723661878
Yeah so just humans and humans with fangs basically. I dunno if you're trying to make it sound better. But bloodlines 1 had zombies, gargoyles, multiple different tzimisce flesh creations, werewolves, kuei-jin, weird hammerhead shark thing. WOD is so varied, only having humans is such a miss.

>>723644912
>androgynous femboy
This will sell our game

>>723662165
>suits buy and kill IP
>this damages the brand
>somehow execs don't understand this actually removes cult appeal and potential of IP

>>723662035
>>723662165
>>723662405
>Vampire-focused IP acquired by people who could give less shits about it
>They have no idea what to do with the game so they pass it off to a random developer who has no respect for the original game
>The story is about a vampire inside the head of another
>The random ass multiplayer component gets released first as its own thing
Wow, if only they would've canned VTMB2 and history would've repeated itself.

>>723661696
That's actually quite kino

>>723661878
So, what are those moon flowers? Are they some kind of Tremere/Tzimisce creations or something TCR pulled out of their ass lorewise?
Because they seem to be pulling a lot of shit out of their ass. Unless V5 is this retarded.

>>723630340
Fallout: New Vegas but in VtM. Just have the game be the faction war between Camarillla, Sabbat and (bleh) the Anarchs, while you are playing the kingmaker.

>>723662595
Who owns LoK IP now?

>>723627945 (OP)
>Let's talk about Bloodlines 2
no, lets not. lets just go play the first game instead

>>723661408
>>723660726
>all the anon cope about Wolves at the park
>it's a nothing burger and the cope was for nought
>somehow Bloodlines 2, a game made 20 years after 1 in roughly 10x the dev time has
>less supernatural splats
>less freedom of choice
>shittier music
>animation barely better for the first two hours of the game
>weaker atmosphere
>worse voice acting
>characters do not emote or have expressions other than anime-isms like the hand movement and posing
Kek'd

>>723662595
How do you put ritual scars on someone who can regenerate his body from fucking nothing?

>>723662775
Embracer I think.

>>723662837
You ask a friendly neighbourhood Tzimisce naturally.

>>723662595
I completely forgot about this shitshow kek, and all the tech demoes being in some literal who void space
>>723662632
Tzimisce creations meant to revive Gideon (the vamp Safia is simping for) but as it turns out it's bullshit so don't got to explain shit. High level vamps like Gideon can slightly reality bend anyway so it's not really outside the realm of belief but it's about as headcanon lore as it gets

>>723662775
Pretty sure it's Embracer Group now. Square Enix sold off all of Eidos' IP because they got bored or something, they kept Gex though for some reason.

>>723662837
I wonder what they were thinking with this level design
>shirtless muscle bro who looks like he's from CoD but edgier
>random shoulder pauldrons with straps that don't connect to anything so can't even say Holster excuse
>belts on shins
This is even more retarded than Nomura but without any of the fun his character design is meant for

>>723662952
It's literally half of the female cast simping for Gideon? He must have been some real gigachad with a massive package.
Also, I have a feeling there are easier ways to pull someone from torpor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgC0c1xNS-I this guy is playing the game before it's out

>>723663007
They sold Eidos IP because one game slightly bombed so they took the nuclear option
Eidos got blamed and used to cover Square having poor sales because of shit games

>>723663160
It's Lou and Safia so yeah pretty much. As for awakening an elder like that I think the problem was his body got mega fucked up? I don't know I don't believe a reason was given why they couldn't just awaken him and given him blood sippies

>>723629524
Is music by Rik Schaffer?
>>723635391
Good lord

>>723662837
>>723662952
This isn't in the leaked gameplay footage. Apparently this is from someone who worked on it so be skeptical, but the story was set to continue in a timeline where Kain caused a fatal paradox after the end of defiance by killing his younger self (instead of you know fighting the Elder God now that he was free of corruption and had the only weapon that could harm him), somehow the story takes place after the Soul Reaver era where the world regenerated or something, now even the humans are having trouble giving birth. The Hylden were gone from the story, it was all a big mystery about this new birth and I think some vampire baby or something. There were hints that Elder God was involved somehow, and there were hints Raziel and Kain were out there somewhere for some sequel... It was a big mess that tried its hardest to avoid giving any answers about what happened to all of the characters from the old games. Apparently Square Enix told them to distance themselves from the original LoK storyline but the choice of Kain killing himself was done by the developers.

>>723663160
>He must have been some real gigachad with a massive package.
He's an ugly fat bastard

>>723663665
I don't understand women.

>>723662632
>>723662952
Phyre and Fabien have a conversation that makes it sound like they're an established thing, but I've never heard of them. I assume it's made-up TCR bullshit.
>>723662217
>MMMMMMM which direction does this?
>me direction brain no thinky
>me need direction
>is this a SHILL? is this a BASED 4CHANNER?
I'm factually describing what's in the game, NIGGER.

>>723663705
Moon flowers? I'm 99% sure that's purely made up by TCR though I'm not super up to date on v5 and all of the supplementary material

>>723663705
>>723663896
Cain being the taxi driver made WW shit their pants back in 2004, but this, Safia being a Tremere antitribu working for the Sabbat in the year of our lord 2024 and Phyre being able to survive the sun because Fabien sacrificed himself is somehow a-okay for them.

>>723662217
It's pretty much just humans and vamps yeah. Gargoyles are a vamp subtype made by Tremere's funnily enough. As for the Hammerhead Shark thing it was supposed to be an Eastern Fera (like a werewolf) though apparently Kindred of the East has a bunch of retarded lore going on like how asian gods are real and the beast courts are conspiring with them which is where the wereshark dude comes from, WtA just has them as edgier shapeshifters

>>723663509
some music is by Rik Schaffer, not all. It sounded like some turbulent shit between him getting hired back for VTMB2 and then fired and his music scrapped and then hired back so they could use some of his tracks again

>>723639109
Because that mechanic fucking sucks and it probably isn't why Breath of the Wild succeeded? Why in the fuck would you try to compare a fucking Zelda game to a game that at least pretends to be a CRPG occasionally, btw? We're talking about two different sorts of game here.

>>723663524
Kek, yeah that sounds like a shitshow. I don't even mind el diablo MC if he's charismatic enough as far as character design goes but it just seems like they wanted the LoK name without actually working on an LoK game. Why did the game get canned anyway? Shit engine?

>>723664049
WW were independent for bloodlines 1 but they're just paradox slaves with no direction as of 2015, so yeah checks out. Lore raping is totally normal

>>723639109
>>723664224
Breath of the Wild is some crazy different circumstance though, that was more of a puzzle solver rpg than an action RPG, you solved combat by swinging a bigger dick than the other dude or using your brain, not via reflexes like dodging and parrying or aiming. Bloodlines 2 may as well just be an action game pretending to be an rpg

>>723664524
I agree with you, I think, which is why I'm baffled that other guy compared it to Bloodlines. That comparison makes fuck all worth of sense, IMO.

>>723665058
quite right, even some of the earlier shit comparisons i've seen before like vampire bioshock or vampire dishonored make more sense

>>723663665
Seriously? This is the guy that tzimisce and ventrue bitches simp over?

>>723627945 (OP)
GAY NIGGER VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE

>>723665381
I have a hard time believing that a proper Tzimisce would simp over anybody to begin with.

>>723665184
>vampire bioshock or vampire dishonored
I'd take those any day over whatever it is tcr vomited

Bl2's world doesn't feel lived in. It doesn't feel functional. Basically bl1 sells the illusion. Bl2 stumbles very hard. A lot of it has to do with the fact so much of it does not really exist outside of quests.

The blood resonance system backfires because it exposes NPCs as being interchangeable.

I will pirate it and have a blast

>>723665715
>expecting level design from a walking sim dev
God I wish, sorry for all the anons that were hoping for something

>>723662035
I had fun with it for a good 60 hours or so, but it just didn't have lasting appeal.

>>723665924
Yeah, I wasn't even expecting a proper rpg, an action game with dialogue options would've been fine, something, anything. Couldn't even get that.

>>723665779
>Bl2's world doesn't feel lived in
Neither does bloodline 1's. The difference is that BL1 is an actually fun amusement park full of bat shit insanity. BL2 is boring.

>>723664302
>Why did the game get canned anyway? Shit engine?
No idea, Square Enix just quietly cancelled it and didn't even told the developers to stop working on the game even though they kept showing progress. Probably some market research shit

>>723627945 (OP)
>Let's talk about Bloodlines 2
Its not our yet, you degenerate tourist faggot fuck you.
500 posts per thread of people giving their opinion on a game they haven't played. Just reviewing reviews. And really just saying their opinions on trannies or mexicans. FUCK OFF FROM MY /v/!

>>723666661
>market research shit
Kek, believable considering how pants-on-head Square has been in the recent years

>>723665707
Give Constantinople by Night a look, I guess.

>>723627945 (OP)
I don't play without Kuei-jin.
The "game" is bad.

>>723628308
Yeah what is their problem
>let’s hire a studio who quite literally have only and can only make literal walking sims with zero combat or any real puzzles
Why? Bloober team and others like them unironically make more advanced games

>>723666832
Heaven forbid we have a VtM thread where we reminisce on the good old days when games were fun.

>Have no choice but be isolated
>Struggling, left alone, apart
>Pushed aside, made segregated
>Struggling, left alone, apart
>See I have no choice but be isolated
>Threatened, forced to extract the heart
>Pushed aside, made segregated
>Have no choice but be...

>>723667368
>Bloober team and others like them unironically make more advanced games
Do you know how sad of a sentence you just typed and for that to be true? Things are fucking bleak man.

>>723667368
Sumo likely volunteered them for cheap, and Paradox at this point is only seeing a price tag

>>723667535
Don’t mind the shill, he’s mindbroken over the fact no one wants his trash and that after the ending leaked everyone is memeing how awful it is.

>>723627945 (OP)
I don't pay those who decided to delete the Asian clan/cult.

>>723668512
Why not, chud? Don't you see the hecking Kuei-Jin were Orientalism????? and erm... PROBLEMATIC???? Now eat your thin blood soup it's getting cold and please play as an anarch, I beg you we already eliminated the Sabbat...

>>723668512
Retconning the Keui-jin seems like a bad idea if for no other reason than they show up in original Bloodlines, which is the most well-known WoD product

>>723667804
Remember when Human Revolution starter levels leaked? Even those who were sceptical had to admit that it was actually pretty fucking good, despite being nothing like the original deussex. Here we are, 14 or so years later, and bl2 is days away, but all we can do is laugh about how shitty it is... where did it all go wrong?

fun!

>>723667804
what's the ending? link?

>>723667684
>>723667535
man all this shit is making me want to replay Bloodlines

>>723668951
>>723644836

>>723668760
WoD v5 man, they just poof like all the other problems they don't want to talk about. Surprising that we haven't gotten Mage v5 yet despite mage being a lot more popular than Hunter. I suppose Vigil sold particularly well

>>723668839
somehow this fortnite clone has more of the spirit and soul of the original bloodlines, pretty bleak

I was actually naive enough to pre-order this. Refunded it when the reviews came out. All optimism was dashed. I just can't imagine I'll enjoy it, looks like a telltale game with tacked on combat. Rather just watch a lets play and get the story experience without needing to play the mediocre repetitive combat with 2 enemy types.

>>723669052
H5 only exist due to a bunch of Vtubers doing an actual play of Vigil, that's why it's bad because WW rushed it to appease Vtuber fans who didn't give a shit about it anyway

>>723668951
It's this:
>>723635391
To give some context: your dorky waifu is an evil mastermind behind everything and she only gets away with it because everybody in Seattle is an idiot who can't comprehend shit like background checks.
Also, she's simping for some guy who is in torpor and decided to make it everybody's problem. It's really fucking stupid.

>>723668708
Half of the "clans" are even more stereotypical crap from other countries in this fictional world. Fuck off animal.
>>723668760
There's only one original game, and they were there & most of the game is dedicated to them
My money won't go to racist liberals

>>723669142
>telltale game with tacked on combat
My anon brother even telltale games at their worst had more plot deviation and quality of writing than this game

>>723669159
That's rather hilarious. I could have sworn that's happened before as well. Either way though
>Rush out Hunter v5
>it's vigil but worse and without the cool shit

What's up with female tzimice. Do you think they can feel sexual pleasure?

>>723669113
Why is it that all the obvious troll posts never capitalize or use punctuation? Does 4chan have some kind of trollbot on every board?

>>723669629
No. Vampires can't have sex.
B-but Blush of life...
Blush of Life would require an above average Humanity score and Tzimisce by default reject their Humanity for an alternative morality path.

>>723669821
Paths don't exist in V5.

>>723669917
V5 doesn't exist in my reality.

>>723668964
Hey! What's that on the counter? That's not my margarine, that's butter!
It's - *smack*
Bitch! You know I'm supposed to watch my LDL levels!

>>723630340
I'd make a turn-based CRPG. No cinematics, just text and occasional voice acting. I'd use V20 and have the story revolve (you) ascending in power, taking span over decades or centuries, with different chapters for different time periods. By the end, you'd either be semi-alone, due to committing diablerie and incredibly low humanity, or with some allies and mediocre humanity, thanks to abstaining from more wicked deeds. Kinda like MotB ending.

>>723670025
>occasional voice acting
Cut that shit out immediately

Is V Rising good? I hear it has the power fantasy of you becoming a powerful vampire

>>723670024
Vote Republican Senator Robert Thorne, a candidate that has never committed vehicular homicide

>>723670114
Eh. I like companions having voice acting from time to time. Not having voice acting is a budgetary thing and having some will give character to them. Obviously protagonist should never be voice acted, as that ruins the roleplaying, but I wasn't talking about that character. BG1, BG2, Planescape, NWN, etc. All had some voice acting and it's a good thing.

>>723670202
No, it has a vampire coat of paint on it, but at its core it's a survival game where you have to cut trees while upgrading your axe every level or so to cut more trees

>>723669821
So there is a zero chance that somewhere in the world a Tzimisce lady has fleshcrafted a guy into a dildo chair?

>>723670202
Yeah it's pretty good

>>723670419
I'll just set the world so I only need to fell one tree to get whatever upgrade I want

maybe the next big vampire game will fare better

>>723628035
mafia 3 is a fun game about running around and killing people with a shotgun
>>723629147
it was a great idea. either make a 30 hours long game that people won't ever come back to (mafia 3) or make a 8 hours long game that people will replay on a yearly basis until their miserable lives end. (mafia 1/2)
it takes strength to realize that your job is to have people waste their free time and try to make them realize that this is the case.
but vtmb2 isn't a fun game.

>>723670646
Is this the Witcher thing

>>723670646
>game heavily advertised with "from the makerrs of X"
I'm quite pessimistic, not a single one of these type of games was ever good.

>>723669474
>Fuck off animal
Autism fascinates me, no matter how facetious and tongue-in-cheek a post obviously is some turbo sperg is going to get mad at imaginary enemies.

>>723670445
don't worry silly, that's absolutely a possibility. she just didn't do it for sexual gratification

>>723649319
Does Auspex actually expose fleshcrafting?

>>723668839
>>723669113
>>723669745
He isn't wrong
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5f4iiVDC0g

>>723663896
>>723664049
There are probably really good explanations for those things that we don't know because the one posted playthough of the game was by someone who refused to read any of the codex entries and refused to explore any dialogue tree in depth.

>>723671563
Once we all play the game, it will all be made clear become a cult classic

>>723671563
The Fabien one legit doesn't have an explanation. Phyre asks how it was possible for him to survive and Fabien says "idk, I guess I just gave myself up"

>>723671668
VTMB2 being a cult classic is basically guaranteed, frankly. It scratches a very specific itch that nobody else is scratching right now, and it's not a frustrating Eurojank mess like Swansong. If they can buff out some of the rough edges, or if they release modding tools so people can buff them out themselves, then it's guaranteed to gain traction over time.

>>723672038
OMG ARE THOSE SOME FUCKING DIAMONDS
THE LE EPIC ACCESSIBLE UX GUARANTEES THIS IS A CULT CLASSIC

>>723672038
If you have to keep saying "guaranteed" you're overcompensating

>>723672038
Bound to become a cult classic in the same vein of DmC: Devil May Cry

>>723672180
>>723672192
>>723672271
It's the shill, pay him no mind. You can guess who it is because he has turbo autism and posts like he was fed talking points.

>>723672038
>meat joy
Someone got paid to write that

>>723672038
game will be forgotten by the weekend and memoryholed into non-existence

The Russian leaker who was right about Safia claimed that you see Fabien's face in the game. So what happened to that?

>>723672417
It could work for a character with very low humanity who's detached from human wants completely, but I don't think that's the case in-game

>>723672554
Who gives a fuck, honestly?

>>723672642
>It could work for a character with very low humanity
Only if it's also an ESL

>>723672271
>Bound to become a cult classic in the same vein of DmC: Devil May Cry
Holy shit, if only.

do you think they made guns less of a focus because fps with controllers generally sucks

>>723672642
Ysabella has gone completely insane and is mass murdering hundreds, perhaps thousands of club patrons, so... uh... Yea.

She was being manipulated/controlled right? Because I saw that Safia was reciting Ysabella's dialogue word for word.

>>723672653
Curious what changed in the last few months of development. It might explain why Fabien's death is a bit unexplained. Maybe something was cut or changed really late.

>>723672417
Could it be a reference to this?

>>723644912
sexo

>>723672956
According to the devs, it was an intentional design decision.

>While making decisions about Bloodlines 2, one constant reference is our first game pillar: “Feel like a Vampire”. Everything you do in this game should make you feel like a predator of the night.

>In video games, we often get to be a mighty hero fighting against the darkness. Vampires, especially as playable characters, are underrepresented. We’re building the game around the experience of doing things only a Kindred can. With non-combat gameplay, we found early on we were doing the RPG tropes: find a keycard to open a door, turn on a generator to restore power to a lift. We put in a rule that the gameplay should be about something only a vampire could do; keep it aspirational.

>When we were exploring combat, it started off playing like Dishonored (which we love), but that didn’t feel right for a vampire: players were very cautious and afraid of the enemies they encountered. To us, a Kindred should stalk its prey and strike fearlessly like a predator. We want to build an action experience where players feel confident, almost trolling the enemies with their disciplines. Testers use the phrase “playing with your food,” which we love and illustrates how we think a Vampire: The Masquerade ARPG should feel has come up in playthroughs.

>Most action games offer a power fantasy; I like to call ours a confidence fantasy. When you have a supernatural edge and immortality to back you up, there should be a sense of “I know what is going on and, I can control this situation.” We want to give you the tools to do that in combat, conversations, or travelling across the city. When they come together, you should be immersed in the feeling of being a Vampire.

>>723673167
i'm not readin all that

game seems consolized just like what happened with deus ex

>>723673167
Dam writing all these words and making a shitty combat system to make you feel powerful, when VTMB1 (and the P&P too, incidentally) achieves the same thing just by soaking damage

>>723672192
Sorry, I mean to say that VTMB2 being a cult classic is very, very likely because of the gap in the landscape it fills. A lot of cult classics become cult classics because they're the only film or game or book that really addresses a specific topic or area.

>>723672554
Here's your Fabien. Cute as a button.

>>723673409
VTMB2 went the safest possible route to making a modern video game

>>723672836
I believe most of these are from people who grew up playing the reboot instead of the originals. The soundtrack was good, I'll give it that

>>723673167
Refutation: Vampires with guns are cool

>>723673546
And VTMB1 was (badly executed) Deus Ex with vampires. But the key was that nobody else was doing that. Hell, nobody else is doing that today. (Inexplicable, I know.) I'd argue that VTMB2's weird Amnesia: Machine for Pigs-like design tendencies weren't really the safe route. But it's hard to tell if they're conscious or the product of a limited imagination.

>>723673779
2/10 made me reply

>>723673779
A lot of people forget that you don't have to be hugely polished and novel if you're doing something in a subgenre or style nobody else is doing.

>>723673705
Fuck yeah they are

>>723673167
>>723673705
The biggest WoD ripoff had gunslinging vampires

>>723674219
Underworld also had the vampires constantly miss each other from like 10 feet away to enhance the drama.

>>723674219
Don't they also pretty easily fight werewolves the whole time? Completely unrealistic, everyone knows werewolves can rip hundreds of vamps apart

>>723639539
Did they forget? I'm not too familiar with V:tM Devs, but how many people in the original 1e or 2e team actually worked on V5?

>>723627945 (OP)
No thank you.

Is campbell fucking alive or not?I don't understand.
They show him as a main character and he seems to be there.
But i was told he died and you only see him in the flashbacks.
They never showed Phyre interacting with him though

>>723630287
You're being disingenuous. You know full well what the issue is.

>>723674394
Underworld Werewolves are reeeeally nerfed compared to WoD garou

>>723674426
Fabien has two layers of (glued together) flashbacks.
>A few weeks earlier.
>1925.

>>723674573
I remember the story mainly revolving around some kinda prophesied savior dude who was half and half
Are there any vampire-werewolf hybrids in WoD?

>>723674498
Yea, Bloodlines fans think they're special snowflakes, and the situation is totally different because reasons. The same kind of people who get upset at Syndicate 2012 for completely changing genre have no issues with Bloodlines 1 pivoting into an FPS game.

>>723674628
Would it kill you to be honest for once in your life?

>>723674628
Realistically how many sales do you think you will generate by constantly pretending 1 was bad?

>>723674615
>Are there any vampire-werewolf hybrids in WoD?
They're called abomination and they usually don't live long

>>723674730
Who said anything about 1 being bad? 1 was a slap in the face to VTM fans everywhere, a cash grab generic FPS game wearing the beloved VTM brand, but it wasn't a bad game.

>>723674615
>>723674770

>>723674948
Either no one proofread that or they all suck at grammar.

>>723675138
But Caine isn't in hell

>>723675138
So there's no option to join her and tap that ass? Fuck

So far nobody has posted any Veilguard-style cringe. But maybe it exists. The vibe I'm getting is "disappointing" not "bad". I wonder how it hashed out this way. Because it seems like the rebooted version is a better game. It's functional, it works properly, it doesn't suck to play, but it clearly lost its way somewhere along the line.

>>723675138
>>723675242

i wishpeople who spoil a very painful death.

>>723675627
Close your eyes nigga

>>723675265
The ending as a whole is so strangely rushed. I don't know what changed during development, but something clearly changed. The game just instantly ends after the boss fight. You have some slides to explain the fate of the city. Not even a simple closing conversation with the chosen prince. Nothing.

>>723675627
I apologize anon. The thread already had so many spoilers in it, though.