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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Information Thread, update: Paradox CEO confirms that the game was really close to cancellation (and probably just should be)

Commissar SFLUFAN

By Commissar SFLUFAN
in The Spawn Point

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Keyser_Soze

Keyser_Soze

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Sounds very in depth according to the RPS article

 

On 3/18/2019 at 8:52 AM, Keyser_Soze said:

I'd be down.

 

Though it's Paradox so they better chill out on the DLC.

 

“I don’t know how much DLC there will be, but I do know that some clans will be added to the game after launch, and that these will be free to all players.”

 

I take it back!

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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Lots of info in this ResetERA post.

 

Media previews of 30-minute gameplay demo

 

Vampire: The Masquerade—Bloodlines 2 revives and expands the long-lost cult RPG series (PC Gamer)

For fans wondering how long Bloodlines 2 has been in the works, it began to take shape from pretty much the earliest moment it possibly could have. "We started basically the day that the news broke that Paradox had acquired the World of Darkness IP," said Andy Kipling, co-founder and CEO of Hardsuit Labs, which was founded in 2015. "When our creative director Ka'ai Clooney came running into my office and was like 'Andy, we need to pitch Paradox a game."

 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 sprinkles Deus Ex and Dishonored into its grisly bloodbath (PCGamesN)

With the creator of the original Bloodlines, Brian Mitsoda on board, existing fans nervous about the sequel’s narrative front should not fear. The writing was strong in my brief time with the game, with the wider story inexorably clawing you in. It is the weaker elements of Troika’s 2004 effort that have been vastly improved as the immersive genre makes choosing how to proceed in combat just as absorbing as the original’s exploration and dialogue. Since we already consider Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines of of the best RPGs around, the sequel has the potential to be seriously special. With 15 years of without a feed, we now have an extravagant feast to sink our gnarled teeth into.

 

Why Seattle was the only possible setting for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (PCGamesN interview)

We spoke to Paradox and Hardsuit Labs about their upcoming bloodsucking sequel to Bloodline

 

Vampire: the Masquerade– Bloodlines Is Getting A Sequel, And It Looks Pretty Good (Kotaku)

I’m cautiously optimistic about Bloodlines 2. The gameplay’s emphasis on exploration and Hardsuit’s goal of building a vibrant Seattle are compelling. The team’s willingness to talk about the first game’s stumbles was good to see. And it’s exciting to have a Vampire game that appears to play well. It could be the expansive vampire RPG that players have craved for over a decade, even if they’ll have to wait until 2020 to play it. There’s challenges to the World of Darkness setting and plenty of baggage from the first game, but also a lot of potential for engrossing stories. Also, I might get to smooch a vampire. Or at least use my Seduction skill from time to time.

 

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is happening! It's real! (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

Imagine, dear reader, my delight upon learning that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, a game about which I have said “…but it’ll never happen” several times, is, in fact, happening. More than that, I have seen, hands off, the first half an hour of it and have spoken to senior writer Cara Ellison (late of this RPS parish), as well as Hardsuit Labs co-founder Andy Kipling, and narrative lead Brian Mitsoda.

 

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 looks great backwards and forwards (IGN)

There's a lot in Bloodlines 2 that's got me eager to see more, and I know I'm not the only one. The developers are well aware of how invested the fan community is in returning to White Wolf’s World of Darkness. “This is one of the biggest cult games ever made,” Mitsoda says, “so we know that the first question the fans are going to ask is ‘Is this really Bloodlines, or did you just slap ‘2’ on something that doesn’t feel like Bloodlines?’ And the most important thing, for us, is to say ‘No, it’s Bloodlines.'”

 

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Brings The Cult RPG Series To The Modern Age (Gamespot)

Some of my favorite moments from the previous game where seeing just how far you could push social or combat situations in your favor. Though often times they didn't work out in ways that I intended, I ended appreciating the events that occurred, most of which was very odd. From this early look, Bloodlines 2 looks to be a faithful restart for the series, keeping up the adaptive, and incredibly bizarre storytelling. It'll be interesting to see what passes for strange in the eyes of the developers, fifteen years after the original game's release.

 

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has the original’s lead writer and vibe (Polygon)

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is set for release in the first quarter of 2020, so it’s early to make any real judgments. But the short demo we were shown has tremendous promise, and while it looks like a game from the present, it echoes its ambitious predecessor from the mid-2000s. Asked if the team had considered designing any elements of the game for Twitch and streamers, the project’s creative director, Ka’ai Cluney, stated with confidence that “at no point was Twitch considered in the design.” It’s totally fine, he continued, if players stream the game, and great if they share their unique experiences. But Bloodlines 2 is a game about players making their own choices, imagining their own backstory, and taking their own path.

 

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is a modern vampire RPG built on a cult classic (GamesRadar+)

It's a miracle that Bloodlines 2 is even a thing, let alone such a promising thing. Expect more details in the coming months - like how vampire clans will work, and what clans will be added after launch - and polish your fangs for the early 2020 release. 

 

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2: “It’s definitely taking political stances on what we think are right and wrong” (VG247)

It’s not just politics where Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes a progressive approach. The character creator, which players get to use twice – once at the start to define your human aspects and then a second time later in the game to flesh out your vampire – goes way beyond basic male and female models. Body type, gender pronouns, employment history and fashion can all be toyed with for a very modular build.

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SimpleG

SimpleG

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17 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

It’s not just politics where Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes a progressive approach. The character creator, which players get to use twice – once at the start to define your human aspects and then a second time later in the game to flesh out your vampire – goes way beyond basic male and female models. Body type, gender pronouns, employment history and fashion can all be toyed with for a very modular build.

How long before some chuds start with virtue signaling,forced inclusion and the destruction of video games by the left?

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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While Thinbloods aren't popular—they're seen as a troubling portent—Seattle is apparently a bit more welcoming than most cities. The Camarilla have recently taken control, so maybe that will change things, but Thinbloods are still able to rub shoulders with important vampires and hang out in vampire high society. Unfortunately, they're still treated pretty poorly compared to clan members. 

 

At first, new vampires will have one of three Thinblood disciplines to choose from, giving them a different set of supernatural abilities that should come in handy both in and out of combat. Joining one of the five clans will also unlock more abilities and upgrades. Check out the Thinblood options below. 

 

Chiropterans 

  • You love bats. Can't get enough of them. 
  • Glide makes your bones hollow like a bird, so you can temporarily float, get up to hard to reach places and surprise people by swooping down at them like a hungry Batman.
  • Bat Swarm lets you summon a swarm of bat pals that can attack and disable enemies, and eventually you'll be able to protect yourself behind a wall of bats. 

 

Mentalism

  • Your massive vampire brain has given you telekinesis. 
  • Pull allows you to grab objects and weapons with the power of your mind.
  • With Levitate you can suspend a person in the air, and eventually more than one person. Fully upgraded, you'll be able to levitate everyone and everything in a whole area.

 

Nebulation

  • Your best mate is mist. 
  • Using Mist Shroud summons a cloud of mist that muffles footsteps and reduces visibility, letting you sneak around. You can also become a cloud of mist yourself, which will help you get around and get all up in your enemies' lungs. 
  • Envelop creates a vortex of mist that surrounds, blinds and chokes every enemy it touches. 
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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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Malkavian clan introduction

The final clan in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been announced today, and it is one of the fan favorites, the Malkavian. This week's update finishes off the clan reveals for the five base options in the game: Along with the Malkavian, players will also be able to choose Brujah, Tremere, Toreador, and Ventrue. From the seven playable clans found in the original game, this leaves out Nosferatu and Gangrel as options to choose from -- there's always a chance that they show up as DLC down the line though.

 

 

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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Bloodlines 2’s vampires are scrappy fighters and goofy dancers (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

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As action-packed as it was, there was sometimes something a little floaty about the melee combat, at least from a viewer’s perspective. This has often been a curse for studios, because first-person face-smashing is difficult to get right. It reminded me of the panicked streetfights you sometimes get into in the Dishonored games, but I’ll have to reserve judgement, since it was hard to get a sense of our vamp’s misty magic powers or skull-crunching hammerfists without actually laying hands on the controls myself.

 

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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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Just now, Mr.Vic20 said:

I'm still just not sure on this one. It looks pretty, seems to want to do right by the universe/series its joining BUT something is a little off with what I've seen so far. Can't quite put my finger on the "off-ness" though. 

I can answer for you: the actual combat quality is roughly on par with the original game :p

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Pikachu

Pikachu

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Enter the World of Darkness and rise through vampire society. Experience Seattle - a city full of alluring, dangerous, characters and factions. You are dead now but stronger, quicker, more alluring and with potential for so much more. Choose to be brutal and unflinching or cultured and seductive. Use charm, cunning, terror and sheer will to rise through vampire society. What monster will you be?

 

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Commissar SFLUFAN

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Bloodlines 2's Developers on Next-Gen, Immersion, and Seattle in the World of Darkness (USgamer)

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Hardsuit Labs had stayed fairly quiet in the months leading up to last month's Xbox showcase. Since the Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 developer announced a delay in October of last year, pushing the sequel of a cult-classic vampire RPG into the latter half of 2020, the studio seems to have been mostly heads-down in development.

 

At the time, Hardsuit CEO Andy Kipling and lead narrative designer Brian Mitsoda plainly laid out why the delay was necessary. Speaking to Hardsuit Labs recently, Lead Producer Nikhat Ali echoes the sentiment: the bar is set high for Bloodlines 2, both from fans and, as Ali tells me, internally at Hardsuit Labs. And the ghost of the original Bloodlines' notoriously spotty launch still lingers to this day.

 

"It is well known that the first Bloodlines game launched with a number of issues," Ali says. "We won't ship a game in that state. Last year it became clear to us that we needed more time to deliver the game that the community expects."

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Information Thread, update: Paradox CEO confirms that the game was really close to cancellation (and probably just should be)

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