I played VtM - Bloodlines over Thanksgiving break

[Kingston]

I liked Tremere the most. Making people swell up and burst open felt so badass.

 

[garren]

I dunno why but the haunted house always keeps me on my toes even though I know what to expect, must be the atmosphere. My second playthrough provided a nice surprise to me, since I decided to explore all the corners etc. to see if I missed any cool clues.

So I turned left from the main doors and went across the hallway until there was a smaller hallway to the right with a dead-end. Go there and turn around and BOOM the ghost is in front of you for a second. Jumped out of my goddamn chair.

 

[phanboy_iv]

Nosferatu would be for more experienced players I imagine.

Not really. I chose Nossie for my first playthrough and managed just fine. I navigated the hubs with careful sneaking and the sewers at first, but soon discovered I could stroll around in the middle of the street with noone noticing.

Same here. I don't get why people claim the Nosferatu is hard(er). They aren't, so far as I can tell. Not all the way through yet,
but I can't wait to finish and play with another clan, mebbe Tremere.

 

[PennyAnte]

Seduction is really worth it as a female? Like where?

One use I remember off the top of my head is the gang boss with the Astrolite. There's also a guy soon after you leave your apartment in Santa Monica you can either seduce or intimidate IIRC. (He's the one with the nice watch.) The Asylum Bartender in Santa Monica might be seduceable as one way to get upstairs to see Therese/Jeanette, I'm not sure. I think you could seduce the Empire Hotel clerk in downtown to get upstairs to take care of one of the ninth circle Sabbat as well. Also the Russian mob boss' door guard if I'm not mistaken.

Overall, I remember it being in a lot of places throughout the game, it's just been awhile and I can't say for sure where all the checks are. Intimidate though, was much less useful; it usually just provoked combat, which you can do anyway without it. Dementation and Dominate also are useful in conversation (but I don't know if Presence is).

This thread makes me want to play again soon. WoD (at least old WoD) was one of my favorite settings. I really wish it had taken off in video games the way D&D has. A WoD MMO would have potential too.

 

[Worm King]

What about Redemption? The scores seem fine, in the range of 7-8, but nobody ever mentions it. Will I expect at least something more enjoyable than the usual Bio RPG?

 

[PennyAnte]

I found Redemption to be disappointing and forgettable. It's also pretty much a combat game, with a loose comparison of Bloodlines = Baldur's Gate 2: SoA/ToB and Redemption = Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance on consoles not being totally off the mark.

I don't think Redemption's storytelling component ever really took off. I might be wrong though. If it had become an online platform for PnP-type WoD, it would have been great.

 

[hiver]

Check the first page of this thread for some Redemption thoughts from me.

 

[Worm King]

Check the first page of this thread for some Redemption thoughts from me.

Your post is giving me a positive vibe, while Penny's is negative. That's how it goes with Redemption. Some of the features, such as transition to modern age and actual, historical locations sound interesting but I don't have balls large enough to try this out. *petitions a LP*

Would you say Redemption is more enjoyable than KotOR/JE/ME?

 

[Jaesun]

Would you say Redemption is more enjoyable than KotOR/JE/ME?

I actually enjoyed Redemption. It is what it is, however. It is a shitty RPG with a shitty story, and lots of combat. But even with all that... I still enjoyed it. I've even replayed it a while ago.

I personally would not say it is as enjoyable as KotOR/JE/ME. Though I LOVE the WoD setting, so maybe that's why I enjoy it.

This is one of those games where you either like it or don't.

Some of the music in it is pretty fucking cool.

A WoD MMO would have potential too.

White Wolf are actually working on one right now.

 

[poocolator]

Nosferatu would be for more experienced players I imagine.

Not really. I chose Nossie for my first playthrough and managed just fine. I navigated the hubs with careful sneaking and the sewers at first, but soon discovered I could stroll around in the middle of the street with noone noticing.

Same here. I don't get why people claim the Nosferatu is hard(er). They aren't, so far as I can tell. Not all the way through yet,
but I can't wait to finish and play with another clan, mebbe Tremere.

Well I just figured that playing stealth characters required more attention to what you do and where you do it. I remember playing Thief: Deadly Shadows and spending quite a lot of time completing missions because I had wanted to do so without killing/alerting a single guard.

 

[poocolator]

What about Redemption? The scores seem fine, in the range of 7-8, but nobody ever mentions it. Will I expect at least something more enjoyable than the usual Bio RPG?

It wasn't as well-refined as Bloodlines in terms of story and NPC interaction IMO. It played more like a dungeon hack *gasp*. Maybe my memory is just clouded. All in all I did enjoy it though, and would play it again over, say, Failout 3 anytime.

 

[Elwro]

Did I miss something about Fat Larry's quest or does it really require repeating the same set of stealthy moves a few dozen times? Is there some secret there I didn't find?

 

[Raapys]

I thought it maybe was one of the quests the unofficial patch put in, since it did feel rather unfinished, and I can't remember doing it the other times I played the game.

 

[Elwro]

I remember doing it in 1.2 with a Toreador. Hm, this says a stealthy approach gives +2 extra XPs. It may be worth the boredom.

 

[hiver]

Check the first page of this thread for some Redemption thoughts from me.

Your post is giving me a positive vibe, while Penny's is negative. That's how it goes with Redemption. Some of the features, such as transition to modern age and actual, historical locations sound interesting but I don't have balls large enough to try this out. *petitions a LP*

Would you say Redemption is more enjoyable than KotOR/JE/ME?

Over those pieces of shit? Anytime.
Its main problem is that its constructed like a RPG game with skills and all. Even has a point and click interface which is very good for the pace of it and the atmosphere and theat type of setting.
But it doesnt have C&C that would enable you to play the story differently. Except how to handle combat and powers.
Nor dialogue makes any difference really.

Its a story driven, character driven game.
You start as a crusader Christoph, wounded in battle somewhere in eastern Europe and taken to old Prague where you are tended back to life by sister Aneska. A maiden of rare beauty and purity.
Christoph falls in love with her, she gets kidnapped by some sort of devilish monsters and Crhistoph starts a new crusade, literally, to find her.
The first part of the game you play as a human and that was a very interesting part too.
After you manage to defeat one of the more monstrous Sabbat you get noticed by other players in the game and soon are offered to join.
Christoph accepts because that will help him find her and the story goes on.
I found that whole drive of finding Aneska presented rather well.
It also juxtaposes a character in Vampire masquerade with motives of his own, completely different then those of the Kin. You are more then just another clan member.

For all its linearity it was very well presented. Areas, levels and characters are well done and the motivations really seem important, believable even though it seems like a cliche kind of story.

And when Christoph wakes up in twentieth century is one of the sweeter moments in games generally.

I dont want to spoil it more but i think its very worthy of playing.

Its really a shame there was no sequell to it (directly) that would add those few enhancements where it lacked. It would have been a bloody great game.

 

[inwoker]

And endings depend on how you play game and not kotor style choose-side-in-one-conversation.

 

[PennyAnte]

White Wolf are actually working on one right now.

Thanks for letting me know - I searched up some info. Still some years out, but good news anyway. EVE Online wasn't my kind of game, but I thought it was pretty good for what it was and CCP a good company.

 

[catfood]

Damn, this thread makes me want to install Bloodlines again.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

A WoD MMO would have potential too.

White Wolf are actually working on one right now.

Personally, I'd prefer a proper RPG out of one of their new games, specifically Promethean or Changeling.

 

[Cogar]

Did I miss something about Fat Larry's quest or does it really require repeating the same set of stealthy moves a few dozen times? Is there some secret there I didn't find?

You can do it as a straight up shooter. I did it that way as a Toreador and enjoyed it a lot. I later did it as a Malkavian using stealth, and although it does provide more XP, I found it moderately boring. The waiting for people to turn their back and then sneaking around is not that enjoyable. I also recall that you get almost no weapons or ammo when you complete the mission using stealth. Going through as a shooter you collect a lot of booty although lots of the Mac 10s (or whatever they called them in VTMB) could not be picked up and were just there for show.

 

[David Xachaturian]

I didn't get bored at the "Kill Ming Xiao" and "Kill LaCroix" part of the game. Period. Know why? Cause I played as a Malkavian the first time and stealthed my way to the bosses right under the enemies' noses. And I've yet to make a second playthrough.

 

[racofer]

I didn't get bored at the "Kill Ming Xiao" and "Kill LaCroix" part of the game. Period.

Intense.

 

[goatvomit]

Reading this thread inspired me to install the game again with the latest community patch. I never tried playing a Malkavian before and so far the dialogue has been quite interesting. The wanker's background is naturally 'completely batshit' which seemed quite appropriate.