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

[ERYFKRAD]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

Not really. Already in the little piece that I saw was so much funny Mitsoda writing and if they remove all of that, what is left to justify even the name?

Vampires?

 

[Delterius]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

Not really. Already in the little piece that I saw was so much funny Mitsoda writing and if they remove all of that, what is left to justify even the name?

Vampires?

barbarian poster doesn't think vampires are lame

fewer news at 11

 

[whydoibother]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

I am, even though I should know better. Yet another triumph of the heart over the mind.

Will prolly check out some gameplay footage and reviews myself, but it's certainly no instant buy for me.

Did you play VTM: Swansong? Basically 90% dialogue, mood and story.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

Not really. Already in the little piece that I saw was so much funny Mitsoda writing and if they remove all of that, what is left to justify even the name?

Vampires?

barbarian poster doesn't think vampires are lame

fewer news at 11

Oh they will be lame once I am through with them.

They gotta count for something though right? Or is the setting utterly fucked now with paradox on it.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

I am, even though I should know better. Yet another triumph of the heart over the mind.

Will prolly check out some gameplay footage and reviews myself, but it's certainly no instant buy for me.

Did you play VTM: Swansong? Basically 90% dialogue, mood and story.

No Steam, no buy (and can't be bothered to torrent it). Simple as.

 

[Fargus]

Russian publisher/localizer Snowball

a russian company called snowball it's like they are asking to be scammed

Ironically they were pretty good localizers. At least in early 2000s. I played many games legitimately thanks to them and 1c.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

I am, even though I should know better. Yet another triumph of the heart over the mind.

Will prolly check out some gameplay footage and reviews myself, but it's certainly no instant buy for me.

Did you play VTM: Swansong? Basically 90% dialogue, mood and story.

No Steam, no buy (and can't be bothered to torrent it). Simple as.

It's not worth buying anyway. Just look at the metacritic ratings.

 

[whydoibother]

Just look at the metacritic ratings.

1. What a post.
2. The rating is low because of people thinking it will be an action game, people getting mad that there's blacks and gays in it, and the admittedly very ugly visual presentation. The game looks worse than an indie asset flip.
If you want a VTM themed visual novel with a bit of gameplay and character building, its not bad. Easily a 5/10 game, the score is low for anti-SJW activism reasons.

 

[jackofshadows]

If you want a VTM themed visual novel with a bit of gameplay and character building, its not bad. Easily a 5/10 game, the score is low for anti-SJW activism reasons.

The game looks like shit. The writing there is shit which is supposed to be the other way around in such a game. The only pro there are tiny detective bits here and there. 5/10 is way too generous.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The characters look like plastic and the writing is melodramatic and pretentious.

 

[whydoibother]

the writing is melodramatic and pretentious

Have you ever played any Vampire game, digital or pen&papper?

 

[Heroic Liberator]

If you want a VTM themed visual novel with a bit of gameplay and character building, its not bad. Easily a 5/10 game, the score is low for anti-SJW activism reasons.

The game looks like shit. The writing there is shit which is supposed to be the other way around in such a game. The only pro there are tiny detective bits here and there. 5/10 is way too generous.

Meh, will watch some reviews in a year from now when it comes on Steam and make up my mind then.

 

[Cricket McBangle]

If you want a VTM themed visual novel with a bit of gameplay and character building, its not bad. Easily a 5/10 game, the score is low for anti-SJW activism reasons.

The game looks like shit. The writing there is shit which is supposed to be the other way around in such a game. The only pro there are tiny detective bits here and there. 5/10 is way too generous.

Meh, will watch some reviews in a year from now when it comes on Steam and make up my mind then.

Personally, I thought the Ventrue dude had some pretty cool moments. The Malkavian lady had some parts that were alright. Every single section with the Toreador was a complete chore.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Never liked it when a game employed multiple protagonists tbqh.

 

[Harthwain]

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

I am, even though I should know better. Yet another triumph of the heart over the mind.

I am curious what we will get. I mean, after Hardsuit Lab anything will be an improvement, surely?

Are you still looking forward to this game's release now that the original dev rendition was discarded though, Wesp5?

Not really. Already in the little piece that I saw was so much funny Mitsoda writing and if they remove all of that, what is left to justify even the name?

Vampires?

Technically the system and the loose ties to Bloodlines 1.

 

[Mary Sue Leigh]

Not holding out for another good vampire game. The closest thing I've played in recent years were Yakuza games because the yakuza clans are always scheming and fighting each other and not-so-secretly running everything in the city, and Kiryu has super powers like blowing up a helicopter with a rocket launcher without killing any of the crew, apparently.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

the writing is melodramatic and pretentious

Have you ever played any Vampire game, digital or pen&papper?

Bloodlines poked fun at that stuff, because why wouldn't you? That's why I liked it.

 

[Ninjerk]

I got one on the river Kwai if you are looking.

I was hoping for one over troubled water.

 

[Roguey]

Paradox's CEO is still fabulously optimistic, but not optimistic enough to reveal who's working on it

Since I get this question on Twitter every now and then, I think this information might be of interest to at least a few of you: The game is in good hands and we look forward to showing you more when the team and the game is ready.

As I reported a few months ago, the Bloodlines 2 boondoggle made Paradox re-examine the way they did business with their external partners, so I'm sure he's making an informed-if-biased assessment here.

 

[Herumor]

but not optimistic enough to reveal who's working on it

What's the reasoning behind this? No faith in the dev team? No faith in what they're making? Afraid they're going to get asked questions?

 

[Roguey]

but not optimistic enough to reveal who's working on it

What's the reasoning behind this? No faith in the dev team? No faith in what they're making? Afraid they're going to get asked questions?

I can only speculate, but I'd say it's because they don't want to get embarrassed again. They were confident that Bloodlines 2 was going to be released when they announced it in 2019 and that went horribly. Unless Wester's fibbing, it sounds like they're meeting all their milestones so far, but they won't actually know for certain until they have a release date locked in.

 

[Abu Antar]

I haven't been following much of the develo9ment of this, but do we think they will rework everything, or just fix what was broken?

 

[Zombra]

I haven't been following much of the develo9ment of this, but do we think they will rework everything, or just fix what was broken?

I don't have any hard info, but there's no reason to believe they'll keep any of the old stuff. Seems like starting over is a much more standard practice in situations like this?

but not optimistic enough to reveal who's working on it

What's the reasoning behind this? No faith in the dev team? No faith in what they're making? Afraid they're going to get asked questions?

Note that plenty of games are made and released without Twitter updates, community managers, or dev diaries. Maybe the new developers simply don't want to have to wear body cams for the next 2 years. In my opinion it's a good sign that they just want to do their jobs and make the game.

 

[Roguey]

I haven't been following much of the develo9ment of this, but do we think they will rework everything, or just fix what was broken?

I don't have any hard info, but there's no reason to believe they'll keep any of the old stuff. Seems like starting over is a much more standard practice in situations like this?

Yeah, months back I posted an article written by a game dev explaining why Hardsuit's version is Dead. And Wunderbar pointed out a few days ago that Schaffer released all the Bloodlines 2 music he could under "More Music from the Vault" which means they even scrapped his work too. His music belongs to a different game, not the one they're working on.

 

[Ismaul]

It’s because Mitsoda was once again directing an unfinished, unstable, unsustainable and unsalvageable production pipeline which frankly should surprise literally fucking no one given that’s exactly what happened with every single project of his so far - be it Bloodlines, New Jersey, Deadstate or Alpha Protocol (where he, incidentally, was also given the boot and all his content scrapped - according to himself:

This man isn’t worthy of your apologism in 2022 just because he had a hand in making a masterpiece 20 years ago.

This man also doesn't deserve taking the blame for something that likely has nothing to do with him. He was the narrative lead, a writer, not the whole team, not the project lead or director, not the producer.

He does get the merit of what he wrote though, which is one of the best RPGs of all time, and the best character in Alpha Protocol which according to MCA stayed true to Mitsoda's vision, Steven Heck.

You want to blame him for HSL's incompetence and Paradox's idiocy and regime changes, or the same at Obsidian, that's on you. It's ridiculous to blame him for something that was never his responsibility in the first place.