I played VtM - Bloodlines over Thanksgiving break

[racofer]

Enlighten me.

 

[wageslave]

make me

 

[DefJam101]

make me

Shut the fuck up.

 

[Silellak]

Yea, they should have made it like TESIV or FO3, amirite?
*decline*

and that's a bad thing why?

As flawed as Bloodlines' combat system was, at least everything in the entire game wasn't scaled exactly to your level in an attempt to ensure you never had any sort of challenge whatsoever.

This alone assures that, no matter what problems combat in Bloodlines has, it will never reach the depths of TESIV.

PS - Gameplay is NOT just combat, as someone reminded me when they linked to my Ultima 5: Lazarus review years ago. In other aspects of gameplay, Bloodlines also blows TESIV out of the water. Once again, this is largely due to the fatal flaws of Oblivion having 100+ carbon copy dungeons combined with the fact everything you fight and everything you find is pre-scaled for your convenience. Of course, Oblivion's horrible quests, dialogue system, etc. certainly don't help the gameplay argument.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

I played Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines over Thanksgiving break. What follows are my slightly incoherent and rambling impressions of the game. There's going to be a bunch of major spoilers in here, so if you've never played the game, stop reading and play the game now.

The whole vampire setting made me think of some faggy, Twilight-esque, teenage-angst shit, and the mature rating, along with Miss Tramp Stamp on the box, had me imagining that this was going to be a bunch of softcore porn for lonely nerds and/or a long string of dick and pussy jokes. I was wrong.

No, that's the New World of Darkness, not the old one.

The new Changeling kicks some major ass though. So does Promethean.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

I really didn't mind Bloodlines' combat in most cases. Except the sewers/temple, of course.

 

[inwoker]

You mean you didn't mind combat when you din't have to fight?

 

[The Rambling Sage]

The new Changeling kicks some major ass though. So does Promethean.

Must resist... Must... resist...

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

You mean you didn't mind combat when you din't have to fight?

Yes, there was no combat in the game outside of those two areas.

 

[Mnemon]

I also recently picked this up used through amazon and played through it. Then tried to restart as a Malkavian, but couldn't motivate myself to go on. Does the Malkavian perspective get better later on?

What annoyed me was how little of an effect on dialogue this seemed to have. You know ... Jack in the tutorial mentions you are well fucked, but after that the dialogue plays out fairly much the same. Mercurio, half dead, mentions he can't understand a word I am saying, but then, despite the pain he is in, is able to understand and reply to my cryptic lines just fine, using the same responses as in the first play through.

That felt well unsatisfying and I didn't go on much further. Does the Malkavian way of talking actually have a meaningful impact on dialogue beyond the way my dialogue options are worded? If it does I'll put it down to replaying again someday ... and probably a bit sooner than I would otherwise.

-Mnemon

 

[Jaesun]

Don't try playing a Malkavian the first time through, choose something else.

 

[Redeye]

... Does the Malkavian way of talking actually have a meaningful impact on dialogue beyond the way my dialogue options are worded? If it does I'll put it down to replaying again someday ... and probably a bit sooner than I would otherwise.

-Mnemon

There are a few thingies here and there.

Mostly it's humor.

I especially liked talking to the serial murderer guy in the basement shop.

 

[phanboy_iv]

Bloodlines had too much "flesh" displayed but no use from none of it. Just for looking.

That's realism for ya.

 

[hiver]

heh.

 

[Carceri]

Does the Malkavian way of talking actually have a meaningful impact on dialogue beyond the way my dialogue options are worded? If it does I'll put it down to replaying again someday ... and probably a bit sooner than I would otherwise.

There are a few NPCs with whom you are not able to effectively communicate but there are other means of getting the information you needed from them.

 

[Serious_Business]

make me

Shut the fuck up.

Move bitch get out the way get out the way bitch move

 

[OSK]

The key to understanding wageslave: http://rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php ... ht=#645330

 

[racofer]

Yes... that explains it all.

 

[Barrow_Bug]

Combat can be pretty horrid, especially if you want to use guns. The writing and amtos is pretty second to none, however.

 

[Cogar]

I also recently picked this up used through amazon and played through it. Then tried to restart as a Malkavian, but couldn't motivate myself to go on. Does the Malkavian perspective get better later on?

Part of it is up to you and the role you play. Although the game does some of the work for you via dialogue, you need to focus on the disciplines (Obfuscate , Dementation , and Auspex in the case of Malkavian) to change the play style. Otherwise, all of the clans can play pretty much the same if you select similar attributes (strength, dexterity, stamina, charisma, etc.) and ignore the disciplines.

 

[santino27]

Are people playing with the unofficial patches? Just 1.2?

I've been thinking of dusting my copy off again, but was not sure if the unofficial patches were worth installing... seemed like the guy doing them had made a fair # of changes instead of just bugfixes.

 

[Hümmelgümpf]

Combat can be pretty horrid, especially if you want to use guns. The writing and amtos is pretty second to none, however.

Once your Ranged feat reaches 8 it becomes damn fun, especially with Celerity. Then again, everything is damn fun with Celerity.

 

[Kingston]

Are people playing with the unofficial patches? Just 1.2?

I've been thinking of dusting my copy off again, but was not sure if the unofficial patches were worth installing... seemed like the guy doing them had made a fair # of changes instead of just bugfixes.

The unofficial patch installer gives the option of only installing bugfixes or the added content aswell.

 

[Cogar]

Are people playing with the unofficial patches? Just 1.2?

I've been thinking of dusting my copy off again, but was not sure if the unofficial patches were worth installing... seemed like the guy doing them had made a fair # of changes instead of just bugfixes.

I've played it with the 1.2 official patch and with the "true patch," which is bug fixes only. Both are fine, although there are fewer bugs with the true patch. The unofficial patch is different and does add content as you mentioned. (I was not aware of the option that Kingston mentioned the last time I looked at the patches.) Although Troika games were buggy, they were brilliantly designed and I am not too keen on even checking out additions by others. I would recommend either the 1.2 or "true patch" for a first play through and then consider the unofficial patch for a subsequent one. Since you have already played it once, it is up to you (of course).

 

[JoKa]

use wesp's basic patch, which is bugfixes only after some discussion here...half a year ago or so.