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World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York + Shadows of New York standalone expansion

Galdred

Studio Draconis
Patron
Developer
Joined
May 6, 2011
Messages
4,346
Location
Middle Empire
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
So how is it? Is it about guessing what choice the author thought was the good one or is there more to it?
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
Lacks basic visual novel features (as western vns tend to do), and also extremely limited in choices even though scripted choices is what the whole thing's supposed to be about? Sounds like a phoned-in cash-in.
 
Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
17,897
Location
大同
Eh, it's decent so far, but the lack of a proper save system and fast forward feature is shit. Been playing it safe after my first game over since I do not see myself skipping a ton of content click by click.
 
Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
17,897
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大同
Just finished the game and I have to say that the ending was somewhat of an asspull, although I'm guessing it'll seem less contrived on subsequent playthroughs with different story elements explored (don't think that the game has conventional VN routes). That aside, the game ended in quite an open manner, so I could see this as a first episode of a larger series akin to what Telltale used to do.

When I'll muster the willpower to do another playthrough, I'll (probably) reiterate my views on the matter.
 
Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
17,897
Location
大同
Just finished the game
Ahhh how long it is,2 hours?
LVkKUwq.png

With periods of 'dex posting intertwined.
 

Hellion

Arcane
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
1,582
When I reached the ending I was really expecting to see at least one more chapter in the story. Seeing the credits roll instead was a total let-down, but I guess I can see them going episodic and releasing more chapters in the future or something.

PS.
coteries-of-ny-epstein.jpg


"Look at us! We're relevant!"
 
Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
17,897
Location
大同
Is it purely visual novel, or are there RPG elements ? (ie, branches availables to certain kind of characters ?)
From what I've gathered in a single playthrough, you basically have a set number of 'questlines' split into multiple parts which you can complete. Different choices change the dialogue a little, but basically they are open to any character without too much of a difference in results.

I'm guessing that variety from playthrough to playthrough, besides the aforementioned dialogue changes, is that you can try different questlines given that during a playthrough you can only do about... 2/3 (%) of them I'd say.
 

lightbane

Arcane
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
10,156
So, it's shit basically, a poor man's VN. Why are the characters uglier than the average Nosferatu, and yet said clan is not playable? Also, forced ironman along with bullshit choices that insta-kill you if you pick the wrong one form an arbitrary list. FUN!
I hated that part in Choice of Robots, as it was obviously a way to force you to start over all again.
 

Hellion

Arcane
Joined
Feb 5, 2013
Messages
1,582
By the way, Hellion, did you...
Intervene on behalf of the Toreador lass at the end? I'm guessing that if you do, then it's game over.

Nah,
I thought I was too far into the game to toy around with such choices that might result in death, so I just stood there like a cuck and watched everything unfold.
 

1451

Seeker
In My Safe Space
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
1,368
The writing is generally enjoyable but it has it's cringe moments. Too much memery for my tastes. Art is beautiful but so sparse, they use the same backgrounds, the dirt road being the worst offender. Also far too few character drawings, I'd expect a wider variety to accompany the advancement of the story. There is a scene of diablerie that's not pictured, rather disappointing.
All in all a fine "game" albeit the budget limitations are apparent and annoying.
 
Vatnik Wumao
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
17,897
Location
大同
Nah,
I thought I was too far into the game to toy around with such choices that might result in death, so I just stood there like a cuck and watched everything unfold.
Same. Might do a second playthrough next week to see if there's a different proper ending to that.
 

Ibn Sina

Arbiter
Patron
Joined
Jul 12, 2017
Messages
921
Strap Yourselves In
Game is quite boring and railroaded even for a visual novel standard. The choices presented don't make a difference in the end.
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,232
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masqueradecoteries-of-new-york-review/

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE—COTERIES OF NEW YORK REVIEW
Pretty interactive fiction that captures the atmosphere of the Masquerade.

If you thought being a vampire was all about theatrical capes and indeterminate East European accents, think again. It is in fact all about the Masquerade, which basically means abiding by a set of strict rules that hide the existence of vampires from humans. This is just one thing you have to keep in mind throughout your time with this game—a memorable visual novel that, while very good, has a few problems holding it back from greatness.

Coteries of New York, in a way, occupies a sweet spot between the series’ tabletop roots and the videogames that followed. The game begins as it means to go on—with a choice. You can play as a character from clan Brujah (Hulk-like physical prowess), clan Toreador (super speed and supernatural senses), or clan Ventrue (mind control and enhanced resilience). All three clans can terrify or sexually attract puny humans. You get to choose your character’s name too, of course; and so, on my first run through, my vampire is Kevin of clan Brujah.

Poor old Kevin. After a bad breakup he falls into the arms of a vampire, who promptly bites him. I give this minor spoiler because I was slightly disappointed to find that the basic setup of the intro is the same regardless of who you pick. Meet mysteriously attractive stranger; become a vampire; dive into the story.

This isn’t indicative of poor writing, though. Far from it. The Masquerade story is about vampires secretly preying on humans, but it's also a story of backstabbing politics and uneasy alliances. Your human past isn't discussed much, but as you sink into the complicated, murky world of the Masquerade, the game creates a sense of detachment from normal life. Each character you meet is powerfully realised, though they are only represented by a static (but very well drawn) portrait.

The word 'coteries' isn’t just in the title to make it look fancy. A coterie is basically a fancy word for 'gang', and you’ll need to get your own together if you want to acquire status in the vampire underworld. There are roughly half a dozen optional story threads to tug on, but the main story progresses once you have two allies, so it’s impossible to see them all to the end on your first run through. You will probably want to. I happily play through with all three characters in order to enjoy as much of the writing as possible.

Feeding is an important part of the game. To live, I need sweet blood on a regular basis. The more feeding opportunities I ignore, the more I tempt the Beast—an internal, primal vampiric form that shreds my remaining humanity. If I become too hungry, certain story options will be blocked off to me—or will become available. It’s not just a simple case of clicking on any feed option that appears. Sure, I could chow down on this random stranger, but aren't I supposed to be standing guard for this character? Or what if I’m on another vampire’s turf?

The truth is that, contrary to appearances, very few choices have meaningful consequences. Most of the time, making the 'wrong' choice means little more than upsetting the person you’re talking to for a paragraph or two, before they revert to the dialogue line they would’ve jumped straight to if you’d pleased them.

Still, it turns out that vampires are by and large nicer than I’ve been led to believe. My two favourites are a Nosferatu detective, and a twisted but highly intelligent vampire named Hope. The storyline for one has a neat twist at the end tinged with sadness, while the storyline for the other has something surprisingly nuanced to say about today’s surveillance and fake news culture. It's a smart script for the most part but sometimes the game tries a bit too hard to reference pop culture: Netflix! Fortnite! Mad Men!..

There are, sadly, some technical issues at time of writing which dispel the carefully crafted atmosphere whenever I encounter them. Sometimes, a page of dialogue is attributed to the wrong character, or is presented as narration when it isn’t (or as character speech when it is). The story already suffers slightly during second and third playthroughs, due to some events and dialogue being unavoidable regardless of your character or in-game choices. There’s no way of skipping dialogue without constantly hitting a button, either, which risks accidentally hitting a choice you didn’t want. These are problems the game didn’t need.

Then there’s the bizarre save system. The only way to save is to exit the game through the menu. So, if the game crashes (which happens to me twice), I lose all progress since my last save. Odder still, each time the credits roll, the game deletes my save, which is painful when I test out whether making an obviously stupid choice at a fairly early stage results in death (it does). Nonetheless, this game holds me in its power, and I happily submit to its charms.


THE VERDICT
77

VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE—COTERIES OF NEW YORK
Excellent writing and vibrant characters help to overcome prominent technical issues and unwelcome repetition.
 

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