World of Darkness The ending of Bloodlines was too abrupt

[Swigen]

 

[Okagron]

Honestly don't know what's rushed about the ending. Did it leave some stuff in the air like who the taxi driver is? Yeah, but that's meant to be a mystery. And if he's actually Caine, he's not gonna really tell you, will he?

I honestly loved the ending. How the whole thing was just a setup by Smiling Jack to make the major vampire factions fight each other, basically taking out some of the major players in town without lifting a finger.

 

[Nano]

it still turned out great though.

How is this ending "great"? You people think that a rushed ending is great just because?

It is great. I'm sorry that this fact bothers you.

 

[Roguey]

The ending itself wasn't rushed, that was exactly what they intended. Your character's just a pawn in Smiling Jack's game, and the Prince fell for the bait.

 

[vota DC]

So I finished Bloodlines very recently and after that final I found myself thinking "what? that's it?".
Just to reach the end and find that... it was all a scam. There was nothing inside the sarcophagus, at least, nothing good. So everything my character did was for nothing?

Your character was someone's pawn the entire time.

Whatever ending you get is ultimately a "just as planned" type of event. IIRC there are a lot of chess references based on current events you get in your email that point this kind of thing out. It is also a theme in general for VtM/WoD.

One ending you get all western vampires butchered, the anarch plan works only in other endings.
Also if you get Strauss ending and don't try the others you get some Indiana Jones feeling without realizing the scam.

 

[Storyfag]

While the latter half of the game was rushed, the ending itself was just brilliant.

You just have to deal make gesheft with that. Yes, you were the Chosen One in this game. The Chosen One to be Jack's pawn. So not sorry it was not the typical Chosen One story.

Remember, wherever we go, it is the blood of Caine which makes your fate.
Farewell, vampire.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

Just to reach the end and find that... it was all a scam. There was nothing inside the sarcophagus, at least, nothing good. So everything my character did was for nothing?
What happened with all the story about the sarcophagus being the tomb of an ancient king, with engravings of blood drinking? All a coincidence?

you got conned. suck it up and move on.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

You are a random vampire, mate. In fact, even Ming Xiao and LaCroix are also pawns in all that shit.

That's is not how it works. Every vampire has a generation, the lower the generation, the powerful the vampire. Supposedly what was inside the sarcophagus was an antediluvian, a vampire from the third or second generation, one of the most powerful. That's why everyone was searching it like crazy in the first place.

LaCroix is obviously from a lower generation than you, and thats why he can dominate you earlier in the game. But on the ending, he fails to do so. Which means that we got a few generations lower.

By the end of the game you may be one of the more powerful kindred that exist, but you're still inexperienced ergo easy to manipulate.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

The blood is wasted in you. Wasted!

 

[JarlFrank]

Supposedly what was inside the sarcophagus was an antediluvian, a vampire from the third or second generation, one of the most powerful. That's why everyone was searching it like crazy in the first place.

Yep. Supposedly. But nobody knew for sure. Funny how rumors work, huh? Some old sarcophagus containing a mundane ancient mummy is shipped into town, someone drops the rumor it contains an antediluvian, all the vampires in town go crazy hunting for the thing. And since nobody has looked into it yet (except Jack that old trickster) nobody can confirm or deny the rumors. The fact that getting your hands on it is so hard makes the rumor even stronger: if it's just a mundane thing, why is it so hard to get your hands on it?

And then the ending. Whoops. Everyone who thought it contained something epic and powerful was duped. It was a ruse all along. And now you're gonna get blown up and die because you couldn't resist the draw of a powerful rumor.

Genius plan, to be honest. Make the megalomaniac vampire prince crave to get the thing that will cause his death in his possession. Don't even need to send an assassin to deal with the guy, just deliver the goods and he'll trigger the trap himself. Hah!

 

[Zero Credibility]

What I like best about the ending is that Jack is not some infallible chess player - in two endings his plan simply fails. Either Kuei-Jin win and crush the local anarchs along with everyone else, or Strauss and the Camarilla take over. Can't imagine he would be happy with either.

 

[Chaosdwarft]

For me the best ending is when you don't open the sarcophagus, leave that Prince to do it himself, shit blow ups and the Anarchs say not bad how about you join us, and your character gives them the middle finger. For me that was the TRUE ENDING.

The only character I ended up trusting was JACK. Why? Because he actually takes time to HELP YOU out at the start. So every time JACK gave me a tip or some advice it seemed the most "trustworthy". Every single other faction was just trying to use you as a shovelhead. Like Andrew Ryan said: "A slave obeys, a man chooses". Well I chose to walk away because this story was never about me, it was about greedy fucks trying to use an antediluvian's blood in their quest for power.

Good Luck and good night, fellow kindred...

 

[Vincente]

What I like best about the ending is that Jack is not some infallible chess player - in two endings his plan simply fails. Either Kuei-Jin win and crush the local anarchs along with everyone else, or Strauss and the Camarilla take over. Can't imagine he would be happy with either.

Don't worry, Jack completed his quest of being the biggest tool in the setting and brought Gehenna singlehandedly. Not that it matters anymore.

 

[Nano]

For me the best ending is when you don't open the sarcophagus, leave that Prince to do it himself, shit blow ups and the Anarchs say not bad how about you join us, and your character gives them the middle finger. For me that was the TRUE ENDING.

The only character I ended up trusting was JACK. Why? Because he actually takes time to HELP YOU out at the start. So every time JACK gave me a tip or some advice it seemed the most "trustworthy". Every single other faction was just trying to use you as a shovelhead. Like Andrew Ryan said: "A slave obeys, a man chooses". Well I chose to walk away because this story was never about me, it was about greedy fucks trying to use an antediluvian's blood in their quest for power.

Good Luck and good night, fellow kindred...

Uh, Jack isn't an entire faction all by himself, he's literally part of the Anarchs.

 

[Storyfag]

For me the best ending is when you don't open the sarcophagus, leave that Prince to do it himself, shit blow ups and the Anarchs say not bad how about you join us, and your character gives them the middle finger. For me that was the TRUE ENDING.

The only character I ended up trusting was JACK. Why? Because he actually takes time to HELP YOU out at the start. So every time JACK gave me a tip or some advice it seemed the most "trustworthy". Every single other faction was just trying to use you as a shovelhead. Like Andrew Ryan said: "A slave obeys, a man chooses". Well I chose to walk away because this story was never about me, it was about greedy fucks trying to use an antediluvian's blood in their quest for power.

Good Luck and good night, fellow kindred...

Uh, Jack isn't an entire faction all by himself, he's literally part of the Anarchs.

That... is not completely correct. He hangs out with them and helps them from time to time, but that's that. He openly sneers at the concept of the Anarch Movement being something organised. And, for that matter, is Isaac, another Anarch, cooperating that closely with Nines? Not on a day to day basis, no. It is in the name: Anarchs.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

I loved how the ending subverted (yeah...) the typical RPG tropes. If this was any other RPG of course you would be discovering the mystery of the ancient evil(tm) at the end. Then, you would have to find a MacGuffin and perform a ritual which will allow to fight the ancient baddy. This is so ingrained in how RPG stories work that nobody was expecting anything different.

It took balls to pull off an ending like this because I can understand how a lot of people will be disappointed with it. Hell, when I first finished the game I was a bit dumbfounded, may I even say disappointed, myself. But it is a really good ending that totally fits the setting and makes Smiling Jack even more badass.

 

[Nano]

That... is not completely correct. He hangs out with them and helps them from time to time, but that's that. He openly sneers at the concept of the Anarch Movement being something organised. And, for that matter, is Isaac, another Anarch, cooperating that closely with Nines? Not on a day to day basis, no. It is in the name: Anarchs.

Wiki disagrees with you. https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Smiling_Jack

Jack's influence within the Anarch Movement is strong, though he absolutely refuses any formal leadership role. He acts as a mentor and, more importantly, as a friend to many vampires. He seems to have a particular dislike for both the Camarilla in general and the Ventrue in particular. He is not easily provoked into open battle, but his mischievous and underhanded tactics, and his tricks are legendary among young Anarchs.

 

[Raghar]

The ending is great but I wish it came about 3 filler-filled dungeons sooner.

You will not be as happy you have an ending when you will not be tortured by 3 filler filled dungeons before ending.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Seriously Jack in Bloodlines is probably among the top three of video game characters of all times, they did a fantastic job with the dialogue and his story in the game. And the voice actor just totally nailed it.

You jump into the game and this is your freakin’ tutorial. Complete and utter win before you even really start to play:

 

[Storyfag]

Seriously Jack in Bloodlines is probably among the top three of video game characters of all times, they die a fantastic job with the dialogue and his story in the game. And the voice actor just totally nailed it.

Jack and LaCroix both. Others are much more background characters so they have less screentime and it is naturally harder to heap such high praise on them, but you cannot deny the brilliance of Grout, Gary, Andrei, Isaac and Ming Xiao.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

You make it back from Santa Monica with your hide and we can trade life stories. 'Til then, I got about this much time - you’re in or out?

Numenera and PoE writers take notice.

 

[Storyfag]

Remember that time Jeanette dumped her entire life story including her complex relationship with Therese in a single paragraph on you right after you enter the Asylum*?
Right, me neither.



*

Spoiler

It is only *now* after countless playthroughs, did I realise there might perhaps be a connection between the name of the club and the Clan of the owner(s)... Observant, ain't I?

 

[barghwata]

What annoyed me much more then the abrupt ending is the level design, by the end of the game it takes an utter nosedive; by that point you were just going through shitty hallways. I guess we have Activision to blame for that.

 

[Zenith]

Speaking of observant, a couple things haven't been mentioned yet. One is that besides all the chess emails, player also literally starts out living in the "pawn shop apartments". Another: early on, Jack tells you he wouldn't trust anyone with an 'X' in their name. Seems like a throwaway line, until you realize the other ending choices are LaCroix, Xiao and Maximilian.

 

[Vincente]

Speaking of observant, a couple things haven't been mentioned yet. One is that besides all the chess emails, player also literally starts out living in the "pawn shop apartments". Another: early on, Jack tells you he wouldn't trust anyone with an 'X' in their name. Seems like a throwaway line, until you realize the other ending choices are LaCroix, Xiao and Maximilian.

I thought that was just a funny remark on his pirate life, since X marks the spot.