World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs

[True Ukrainian]

Is that the kineticism discipline being displayed in the trailer? That's caitiff exclusive. Meaning that there probably is not going to be clan choice. At all.

 

[Drax]

NPCs that don't give a fuck about you other than what you can do for them.

 

[Fairfax]

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

As for serious note , jokes aside, im quit somking today after hearing voice of Brian , its fuckin sad to see these old chaps from Troika and others in such a bad shape...

 

[normie]

I hope we will get to play a thin blood antifa vamp and build up squats for our faction bros

 

[True Ukrainian]

I predict you start out as a thinblood but the tutorial involves diablerie on a fascist white male Nazi Sabbat vampire.

Diablerizing nazis offers no benefits and costs humanity instead. So don't do it shitlord. REE.

 

[Tytus]

Steam shows there won't be a potato language version....

 

[Saerain]

I predict you start out as a thinblood but the tutorial involves diablerie on a fascist white male Nazi Sabbat vampire.

Brian keeps saying "start as", so yeah, I'm sure—wait what?

 

[LESS T_T]

Some interesting bits:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...lines-2-is-a-darkly-fascinating-immersive-sim

You won't choose your clan at the very beginning - that comes later, as will details of what exactly those clans will be, and how many of them to expect - but instead are offered the choice between three starting abilities. Nebulation grants you the ability to turn into mist, Mentalism allows you to manipulate objects from afar while Chiropteran lets you defy gravity and glide through the air. For this demo the latter skill is chosen, though environments are clearly built to accommodate each skill and plenty more play styles besides.

There are some smart new mechanics in play as you go about picking up side-quests or pushing the main questline forward as you see fit. As a vampire you'll have to feed in order to survive, and in Bloodlines 2 the idea is that you are very much what you eat - stalk out some prey and, via the detective mode-esque heightened senses available to you, you can see how characters have different hues and resonances, tied into their emotional state. Feed on someone who's angry and you'll consume that anger too, leading to temporary perks. Constantly feed on people of a certain emotion and you can get access to more permanent buffs too.

Combat is also improved. Guns are only ever short-term solutions, and instead Bloodlines 2 wants to emphasise that the best weapon in your arsenal is you yourself, and the abilities afforded to you as a vampire. So you can scale walls and take advantage of the verticality implicit in your skillset, and played up to by the environmental design, to gain the upper hand. The pugilism itself has a sense of athleticism, occasionally cutting to a third-person view as you perform a leg-sweep and cartwheel over your foe.

Then there's the element of social stealth as you try not to break the masquerade through your actions. Get too supernatural out in public and you'll draw attention, with police eventually being alerted. Repeatedly break the masquerade and the face of the city will change, with ordinary citizens choosing not to risk the streets while the police presence grows, as does that of other vampires hunting you down.

https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview/

Another choice you'll have to make is which vampire clan to align with, though unlike the original Bloodlines this decision comes a bit later in the game, so you'll have a chance to familiarize yourself with the different groups and what they stand for. The developers didn't want to talk specifically about the clans during the demo, only saying they'd reveal more later closer to release. Interestingly enough, more clans will be added to Bloodlines 2 after the game is released.

"The one thing we can say, we will have a good amount of clans in the main game that are really interesting, but we'll support it with more clans after launch," said Christian Schlütter, lead producer at Paradox. "And one thing that you need to write down is that every clan that we release later on will be free. We will never charge you for any clan." I wrote that down.

Along with clans, there are several factions vying for control of Seattle. "In Bloodlines 1, the main story was kind of a linear track," Schlütter said. "In this one the city is kind of divided by factions. You can work for different factions, it's going to color how you feel about certain things, it'll kind of inform the story from that faction's point of view. You can switch factions, and you can piss off factions to the point where they won't work with you anymore."

Also informing the story is your own character and background, explained Brian Mitsoda, designer and writer of the original Bloodlines and lead narrative designer of Bloodlines 2. "For example, in your character creation, you can choose what you were in life," he said. "You can say that you were a cop, or a coroner, and so when you go into a police station that's gonna have a different feel than if you were not a cop. We have lots of those little decisions that you make along the way that build upon and into your experience going through the story."

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-is-a-revival-o/1100-6465762/

Just like in Bloodlines 1, you'll be able to freely explore various open hubs and far away locations while tackling missions with other key-characters. In addition to exploring locations like Pioneer Square, Pier 55, and other areas of downtown Seattle, you'll follow leads into the city's underground ruins. These sections are said to be inspired by the real-life locations that were paved over after intense fires during 1889, and the ruins house a number secrets pertaining to the lost history of Seattle, and how vampires played a part in it.

https://www.polygon.com/2019/3/21/1...squerade-bloodlines-2-trailer-pc-ps4-xbox-one

Though most of the game takes place in the first person, the camera briefly zips to third-person for particularly fast and elaborate maneuvers, like vaulting over an enemy and delivering a blow to their side.

https://kotaku.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-is-getting-a-sequel-1833479366

Instead, player start as a “thinblood” vampire. This limits their early powers to certain ability trees like the Chiropteran tree which allows for levitation or the Mentalism tree, which grants access to telekinesis. It affects how you might deal with exploration. If a door is blocked, you could use your mentalism abilities to remove the barricade. Or maybe you spec into the Nebulation tree, turn into mist, and sneak through an air vent. The goal of this power-focused exploration, according to Paradox Lead Producer Christian Schlütter, is to make sure players “don’t see the world like a human.”

The team was quick to highlight two features meant to add spice to the world. The first is a massive side-questline, written by Ellison, that allows the player to hunt down and find all of the other thinblood created during the Mass Embrace. Each will have their own story about entering into their new life. For instance, you might find a married thinblood struggling to deal with their newfound powers.

“We’re looking at introducing you to the idea that lots of different people will have a different experience of being a vampire,” Ellison said. “And their vampire puberty might be a bit more difficult or more fraught.”

 

[Alexios]

Dunno why anyone is surprised that the game intends to be political and social justicey - have you seen the playerbase for the tabletop game? They're just playing to their market.

Only 3 people play the tabletop game, that's hardly a market. More likely is that Paradox realizes they're at risk of being cancelled for making games where you can play as Hitler and genocide Indians and Africans so they're going to make it right by catering to the SJWs.

 

[GothicWizard]

I have complied all the info in one post from my notes - https://worldofdarkness.news/Home/ArtMID/384/userid/1/ArticleID/9/And-the-game-is-Bloodlines-2

 

[Saerain]

As for serious note , jokes aside, im quit somking today after hearing voice of Brian , its fuckin sad to see these old chaps from Troika and others in such a bad shape...

Didn't he sound just the same in Bloodlines?

 

[Tytus]

Isn't diablorizing people/vampires punishable by death and you need to lay low after it?

 

[Ent]

Isn't diablorizing people/vampires punishable by death and you need to lay low after it?

Only if you are Camarilla

 

[GothicWizard]

Less T_T you are my hero... I bow before your reporting powers!

 

[Goral]

Beckett confirmed to be in the game.

 

[Turtle-Zone 3000]

Now that Brian is fat, does this mean his powers have increased, like fat Avellone and Sawyer on PST and IWD?

 

[commie]

I never asked for this....

 

[Fedora Master]

How is this even a thing when the Final Nights happened around 2000 canonically?

 

[Monkey Baron]

You won't choose your clan at the very beginning - that comes later, as will details of what exactly those clans will be, and how many of them to expect - but instead are offered the choice between three starting abilities. Nebulation grants you the ability to turn into mist, Mentalism allows you to manipulate objects from afar while Chiropteran lets you defy gravity and glide through the air. For this demo the latter skill is chosen, though environments are clearly built to accommodate each skill and plenty more play styles besides.

Kotaku says that you start as a thinblood. I think the option of playing one is great but being able to choose your clan afterwards doesn't fit with the lore. Thinbloods don't even have the ability to use disciplines innately in 5th Edition.

Another choice you'll have to make is which vampire clan to align with, though unlike the original Bloodlines this decision comes a bit later in the game, so you'll have a chance to familiarize yourself with the different groups and what they stand for. The developers didn't want to talk specifically about the clans during the demo, only saying they'd reveal more later closer to release. Interestingly enough, more clans will be added to Bloodlines 2 after the game is released.

"The one thing we can say, we will have a good amount of clans in the main game that are really interesting, but we'll support it with more clans after launch," said Christian Schlütter, lead producer at Paradox. "And one thing that you need to write down is that every clan that we release later on will be free. We will never charge you for any clan." I wrote that down.

Not a surprise when Paradox is publishing it. The DLC is definitely going to be different clans. Can't help but think that there will be a Malkavian DLC...

 

[Wulfric Pinewood]

Scary women on twitch again, .........

 

[Goral]

"We're making sure that even people having problems with playing games will be able to play this [so we will dumb it down appropriately] Accessibility is our priority".

WTF?

 

[EverlastingLove]

So this game is supposed to be accessible to the large crowd of people who normally don't play games like this

 

[Monkey Baron]

Interviewer: When are we going to see some gameplay?

Mohawk lady: That is a good question... you will have to be patient.

 

[Nano]

It's a year away. Gameplay videos or no gameplay videos, it's still going to be a long, depressing wait.