You just know there's going to be peer-pressure from the other Tzimisce though.
"Come on Brian! All the cool Tzimisce are putting triangle-spikes on their foreheads this season."
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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 announced (2020 Q2 or later), PS4, X1, Steam/GOG/EGS, Paradox + Hardsuit Labs)
- Thread starter vestan
- Start date
You just know there's going to be peer-pressure from the other Tzimisce though.
"Come on Brian! All the cool Tzimisce are putting triangle-spikes on their foreheads this season."
"The blood is... contentment, a warm and base fulfillment. It reminds you of a hard, semi-crystalline cheese, and the mundane, mortal sins that wash down the shower drain at the open and close of the day."
Ventrue and Toreador aren't bad, but yeah, Tremere is top shelf(obvious bias).
Ventrue and Toreador ladies would beg to differ.
Edit: Alas I was too late to point it out.
The Malk clothes are supposed to go along with the games whimsical version of thier madness.
2 doesn't look like the Malk lol craziness will carry over.
I'd definitely like to know this too. Hell, is there any way for me to buy the issue digitally outside of the US? I'd like to read it myself.
Probably not much new. Most of the time magazine previews right after an announcement are just the own interviews from events, and usually recycle the same content everyone already knows.
That being said, I did spot this hint of playable clans on the PCGamer website.
So, five clans at launch, two less than Bloodlines. From the hints I'm gonna guess (bolded the ones I feel the article hints at explicitly)...
1. Brujah (melee)
2. Tremere (sorcery)
3. Toreador / Ventrue (social)
4. Nosferatu (stealth / unusual)
5. Malkavian
6 DLC. Gangrel
It's a tough guess. I'm trying to think; they'll want clan representation relative to the V5 lore, and I figure from a gameplay perspective they'll want a decently comprehensive variety of clans with fewer similarities. Toreador / Ventrue are different, but the social similarities could have one regressed to DLC down the track, the other filling the "social/persuasive class" bracket. I'm included to believe Brujah will get in over Gangrel, but the shapeshifting, animalia of Gangrel will be missed and could diversify the lineup.
I kiiiinda feel Nosferatu or Malkavian will be cut because of complex difficulties in production, but I also feel it might be easier to have them in now. More than any other clan these two require the most amendments to literally every single facet of the game, including how every NPC responds. Technically it's easier and cheaper to reserve a clan for DLC if that clan can use a lot of crossover dialogue from other clans. Nosferatu/Malkavian require more work, more lines. They could prepare for this during production and record the lines in advance, but they might just throw them in (Nosferatu in particular) to diversify the clan line-up and save themselves a production headache later on.
But yeah. Brujah and Tremere are locks, in my opinion. That leaves three gaps.
I think the only designs we've talked about are the character designs in Bloodlines 1, and the artwork from the V5 book. No designs have come out for Bloodlines 2 yet (beyond the trailer and screenshots).
As a huge Bloodlines fan (top 10 if not top 5 of all time for me), this was one of the biggest announcements for me during GDC. I have two questions:
- Are there any benefits to pre-ordering right now or should I simply wait with spending the money until next year before the game releases?
- Also, I am sorry to ask this question that appears to annoy some people, but as someone who played Bloodlines exclusively in third person, will this game allow for a third person camera during non-dialogue gameplay? It makes a huge difference to me, on an immersive level and a motion sickness level.
- Are there any benefits to pre-ordering right now or should I simply wait with spending the money until next year before the game releases?
- Also, I am sorry to ask this question that appears to annoy some people, but as someone who played Bloodlines exclusively in third person, will this game allow for a third person camera during non-dialogue gameplay? It makes a huge difference to me, on an immersive level and a motion sickness level.
Nope.
Literally the only thing I can think of is that there's a small possibility that the game becomes exclusive to the Epic Games Store. Though I feel like the game's not THAT big to warrant moneyhatting and even if it was, it would've happened already.
Yeah we need to wait for someone who can buy it
2) They said it would be in first person for most of the game. Some contextual actions like climbing and maybe feeding will be in third person, also cutscenes perhaps. Think nu Deus Ex in terms of how it will look.
1) If you want to show Paradox there is great interest in this continuation of 16 years old franchise then do it. I already pre-ordered it, but there is no tangible benefit to doing it now.
2) They said it would be in first person for most of the game. Some contextual actions like climbing and maybe feeding will be in third person, also cutscenes perhaps. Think nu Deus Ex in terms of how it will look.
Summary of the PC Gamer magazine article. Mostly stuff we already new.
- Paradox already had plans to use Bloodlines in some form due to its value, but Hardsuit Labs worked on their own pitch for three months the moment Paradox acquired the IP
- Pitch presentation was so good Paradox immediately began talking pre-production
- First hub surrounds Pioneer Square
- Customise your appearance and background from the start
- Awaken on the floor of a courthouse, victim and witness to a mass embrace. Surrounded by members from different clans and factions you're to be trialled and executed, but a firebombing allows you to escape
- Start as a thin-blood due to them being at the centre of political issue, and as a way to tutorialise your abilities and introduce you to the various clans and power structures, then joining a clan under unspecified circumstances later
- Five playable clans at launch, less than Bloodlines, but a focus on making every clan as distinct in play style as possible
- "If I'm someone who just likes to punch people in the face, we have a clan for you. If I'm someone that...in a normal roleplaying game, would play as a wizard or something, we also have a clan for that" (could be interpreted as confirmation of Brujah and Tremere)
- Unique abilities and areas to explore depending on clan. Players who want to "see everything" will need to play as different clans
- Thin blood abilities include the ability to grow bat-like wings, transform into mist, and telekinesis
- End of tutorial has players choose one of these abilities, with its own sub-skills
- Levels design to be navigated in mutltiple ways, eg slip through a vent in mist form, use telekinesis to rip a fan out of the wall, fly over the gap, etc
- System Shock, Deus Ex, and Dishonored cited as primary inspiration for level design
- Gentrification and the divided between old and new a key narrative theme
- Mysterious woman contacts you via mobile phone, teaches you some of the tutorial stuff, like how to feed
- Feeding requires balancing draining the optimum amount of blood and not killing your target, else risk losing humanity
- Combat primarily in first person
- Able to equip two melee and two ranged weapons at any time
- At high levels can use devastating special moves, where the camera will zoom out to third person
- Meet another thin blood, who is killed by another vampire, then saying to you "You're not on my list"
- "Unsanctioned Seven" side quest has you hunting down the other thin bloods and learning about how vampiric life has impacted their mortal life
- First safehouse is an apartment sub-let by a reclusive vampire named Dale, who acts as a guide to the world
- Apartment safehouse belonged to the aforementioned murdered thinblood, pin board covered in notes and documents, the vamp trying to work out who caused the embrace
- Mitsoda wishes to retain the noir, black humour vibe of Bloodlines in characters and dialogue
- Game dialogue is fully voiced
- No quest markers on NPC heads, must be discovered by your own exploration and engagement
- Example of the above; a missing cat poster. Keep exploring Seattle to find greater density of missing cat posters, investigate the phenomenon, uncover the reason
- More broader choice than Bloodlines in choosing who you want to work for, different experience based on your faction alignment, can insult factions so badly they stop working with you
- Public displays of powers will violate the masquerade, as will feeding, etc
- Masquerade violations of violence will reduce civilian population at night as people are scared to go out, and heavier, frequent violations will see supernatural enforcers sent after you
- Can repair masquerade violations through specific tasks, like joining a clean-up crew to clear up masquerade violations from other vampires
- Clean-up crew run by a weird, desensitised guy named Bart, used an example of the black humour in the game. One clean-up crew mission has you clearing the mess left behind by a vampire + human romantic encounter; "if someone had exploded in a small hotel room, that's what that would look like. You're there to just pick up the pieces. Literally, pick up the pieces, and Bart just comments on whatever's there while eating his noodle soup"
- Background choices impact quest structure and options. Eg background of being a police officers, for a mission at the police station will allow you to walk straight in the door, but that comes with complications of its own as others recognise you
- Emotional resonance provides temporary buffs based on emotional state of victims fed upon. Eg, angry victims will provide a melee buff. Repeatedly feeding on angry people will provide a permanent passive bonus
- Built in Unreal Engine 4
- Paradox already had plans to use Bloodlines in some form due to its value, but Hardsuit Labs worked on their own pitch for three months the moment Paradox acquired the IP
- Pitch presentation was so good Paradox immediately began talking pre-production
- First hub surrounds Pioneer Square
- Customise your appearance and background from the start
- Awaken on the floor of a courthouse, victim and witness to a mass embrace. Surrounded by members from different clans and factions you're to be trialled and executed, but a firebombing allows you to escape
- Start as a thin-blood due to them being at the centre of political issue, and as a way to tutorialise your abilities and introduce you to the various clans and power structures, then joining a clan under unspecified circumstances later
- Five playable clans at launch, less than Bloodlines, but a focus on making every clan as distinct in play style as possible
- "If I'm someone who just likes to punch people in the face, we have a clan for you. If I'm someone that...in a normal roleplaying game, would play as a wizard or something, we also have a clan for that" (could be interpreted as confirmation of Brujah and Tremere)
- Unique abilities and areas to explore depending on clan. Players who want to "see everything" will need to play as different clans
- Thin blood abilities include the ability to grow bat-like wings, transform into mist, and telekinesis
- End of tutorial has players choose one of these abilities, with its own sub-skills
- Levels design to be navigated in mutltiple ways, eg slip through a vent in mist form, use telekinesis to rip a fan out of the wall, fly over the gap, etc
- System Shock, Deus Ex, and Dishonored cited as primary inspiration for level design
- Gentrification and the divided between old and new a key narrative theme
- Mysterious woman contacts you via mobile phone, teaches you some of the tutorial stuff, like how to feed
- Feeding requires balancing draining the optimum amount of blood and not killing your target, else risk losing humanity
- Combat primarily in first person
- Able to equip two melee and two ranged weapons at any time
- At high levels can use devastating special moves, where the camera will zoom out to third person
- Meet another thin blood, who is killed by another vampire, then saying to you "You're not on my list"
- "Unsanctioned Seven" side quest has you hunting down the other thin bloods and learning about how vampiric life has impacted their mortal life
- First safehouse is an apartment sub-let by a reclusive vampire named Dale, who acts as a guide to the world
- Apartment safehouse belonged to the aforementioned murdered thinblood, pin board covered in notes and documents, the vamp trying to work out who caused the embrace
- Mitsoda wishes to retain the noir, black humour vibe of Bloodlines in characters and dialogue
- Game dialogue is fully voiced
- No quest markers on NPC heads, must be discovered by your own exploration and engagement
- Example of the above; a missing cat poster. Keep exploring Seattle to find greater density of missing cat posters, investigate the phenomenon, uncover the reason
- More broader choice than Bloodlines in choosing who you want to work for, different experience based on your faction alignment, can insult factions so badly they stop working with you
- Public displays of powers will violate the masquerade, as will feeding, etc
- Masquerade violations of violence will reduce civilian population at night as people are scared to go out, and heavier, frequent violations will see supernatural enforcers sent after you
- Can repair masquerade violations through specific tasks, like joining a clean-up crew to clear up masquerade violations from other vampires
- Clean-up crew run by a weird, desensitised guy named Bart, used an example of the black humour in the game. One clean-up crew mission has you clearing the mess left behind by a vampire + human romantic encounter; "if someone had exploded in a small hotel room, that's what that would look like. You're there to just pick up the pieces. Literally, pick up the pieces, and Bart just comments on whatever's there while eating his noodle soup"
- Background choices impact quest structure and options. Eg background of being a police officers, for a mission at the police station will allow you to walk straight in the door, but that comes with complications of its own as others recognise you
- Emotional resonance provides temporary buffs based on emotional state of victims fed upon. Eg, angry victims will provide a melee buff. Repeatedly feeding on angry people will provide a permanent passive bonus
- Built in Unreal Engine 4
Sounds promising. Glad to hear they're committed to the immersive-sim approach, especially since they haven't been doing too well as of late.
Five clans at launch, eh? If we're getting Brujah and Tremere already, I wonder what the other 3 will be. I'd imagine they're not gonna have both Toreador and Ventrue at launch, maybe one of the clans that weren't playable in the first game? Lasombra would be cool.
Here's hoping Malks and Nosferatu are in still.
Here's hoping Malks and Nosferatu are in still.
Mostly stuff we already knew, but I really like the quest and character details. Really sounds like I'll be playing this game for a long time. Very nice.
The original game had sidequest decisions that could repair the masquerade, but they weren't always explicit about it. It would be interesting to have some dedicated missions that you unlock through, basically, screwing up somewhere else. I doubt they'd lock them out for players with no violations, but you would probably want to save them for when you do screw up.
It's funny that the name of the prince from the original Bloodlines, LaCroix, translates from French as "the cross".
What a coincidence! (not). I hope this new prince will be more competent than Lacroix and not be such a tool.
All of that sounds good but this right here is probably number 1 on my things they needed to improve from Bloodlines. That game is great but you are railroaded for the majority of the game.
Sure you can tell the prince to fuck off but then the game will just stop and so on.
Always found it pretty hamfisted that if you refuse LeCroix he just uses dominate on you to agree anyways.
I mean he could have just killed you but....
I actually liked that as it showed just how lowly you are, in my head at least. It was after Grout's Mansion, I believe, where the game really shows it hand. You can tell LaCroix to fuck off and leave but then the main story just stops and you have to come crawling back eventually if you want to keep playing. For full disclosure I am playing with the plus patch and it has been so long that i don't remember 100% what is in the base game and what has been added anymore. So it is possible that option was added in the patch.
I've been watching the LA by Night 5th ed stream on Geek and Sundry and the second episode of season 2 starts off so great. Especially when The Sheriff showed up. I was all "Oh shit, they in trouble now."
Soo... Brujah, Gangrel, Toreador, Tremere and Ventrue.
I left out Nosferatu due to how different the playstyle and world building needs to be to support them and Malkavian due to them having completely different dialogue which obviously needs a lot more development time.
Didn't Mitsoda confirm that you play a silent protagonist?
I share this sentiment. I hope we meet a Prince who's cool this time. I kind of like being Camarilla, and I even liked being LaCroix's lackey to a point. I like playing a mean, loyal henchman. I'm content with having a boss.
Yeah sorry, more that every NPC is voiced.
Mitsoda also says he has more freedom with Paradox making this game than he's used to with publishers.
Mitsoda also says he has more freedom with Paradox making this game than he's used to with publishers.
Another summary about what we know about the game - I hope that EatChildren isn't going to mind - :)
Glide over big gaps and conjure bats that attack enemies.
Nebulation (Mist-based),
Travel through vents and able to choke people.
Mentalism (Telekinesis-based)
Manipulate objects from afar and snatch weapons from the hands of attackers.
End of tutorial has players choose one of these abilities, with its own sub-skills
- The average game lenght will be around 25-30 hours for one playthrough.
- NO LOOTBOXES! (confirmed via Twitter)
- NOT A EPIC GAMES STORE EXCLUSIVE but instead at
Paradox, GOG (DRM-free), Steam, Humble (Steam resale), Epic, Xbox, PlayStation. - Brian Mitsoda is lead writer (just like the original) alongside Chris Avellone and Cara Ellison
- Rik Schaffer is composing again
- Set in Seattle, first hub surrounds Pioneer Square
In the late 1800s, the original Seattle downtown area burned down, leaving the community to rebuild the city atop the old one. This means that a literal scorched city awaits just beneath the streets, a sort of American Pompeii full of abandoned storefronts and grimy street signs. - Seamless hub world
You will be able to travel through Seattle from a much earlier point and will be able to make your choice about where in the city you want to spend more of your time to a certain extent. - Multiple hubs
All are available from the beginning. - Direct sequel to 2004's Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
- Takes place 15 years after Bloodlines
The events of LA did happen. - Game starts off with a Mass Embrace at Pioneer Square where player is among the new vampires born from the event, you're captured and brought upon a court of prominent vampires like the first game to recount the events of the mass embrace before being sentenced to death, court is firebombed and you escape, thrust into Seattle to find out who's responsible
"Unsanctioned Seven" side quest has you hunting down the other thin bloods and learning about how vampiric life has impacted their mortal life - Player is a thin-blood at first, later on you can choose a clan.
- Five playable clans at launch (plus a bonus Clan later on), less than Bloodlines, but a focus on making every clan as distinct in play style as possible
- No quest markers on NPC heads, must be discovered by your own exploration and engagement
- First-person with contextual third-person actions just like Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided.
For example 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. - Fan-favourite characters from Bloodlines returning
- There are 3 branches (or Thin-Blood powers) to choose from that they can talk about:
Glide over big gaps and conjure bats that attack enemies.
Nebulation (Mist-based),
Travel through vents and able to choke people.
Mentalism (Telekinesis-based)
Manipulate objects from afar and snatch weapons from the hands of attackers.
End of tutorial has players choose one of these abilities, with its own sub-skills
- You can scale buildings, there's an emphasis on verticality
- Level design is very reminiscent of the original Deus Ex in the sense that you're offered many different pathways to approach a particular scenario
- The protagonist is not voiced but, game dialogue is fully voiced
- Way more dialogue than Bloodlines
More broader choice than Bloodlines in choosing who you want to work for, different experience based on your faction alignment, can insult factions so badly they stop working with you. - Huge emphasis on character creation. You can choose your background, gender pronoun, employment history, body type and fashion
- Loads of secrets and hidden pathways to find
- Seattle as a hub world is described as "very active", crowds gather outside clubs and muggers prey on victims in side allies, all seamlessly done.
- Main side-questline involves hunting down and finding all the other thin-blood created from the Mass Embrace, each will have their own story about entering into their new life e.g you might find a married thin-blood struggling to deal with their newfound powers
- Blood resonance from the 5th edition will appear in this game. Using your enhanced vampire senses, you can see when NPCs are experiencing an intense emotion like fear, desire, pain, joy and anger. Humans give off a bright aura. Drinking a person with a strong resonance will give you an immediate bonus to things like melee power or seduction. If you drink a particular resonance constantly, you will acquire a taste for it and this will give you permanent buffs called "merits".
Blood bags are just blood. They don't atribute resonance. - if you consume too much blood, you will give yourself further to your beastly form. While this confers battle advantages, there are as-yet-unknown benefits to retaining an element of humanity.
- Masquerade violations of violence will reduce civilian population at night as people are scared to go out, and heavier, frequent violations will see supernatural enforcers sent after you
- Can repair masquerade violations through specific tasks, like joining a clean-up crew to clear up masquerade violations from other vampires
Clean-up crew run by a weird, desensitized guy named Bart, used an example of the black humor in the game. One clean-up crew mission has you clearing the mess left behind by a vampire + human romantic encounter; "if someone had exploded in a small hotel room, that's what that would look like. You're there to just pick up the pieces. Literally, pick up the pieces, and Bart just comments on whatever's there while eating his noodle soup" - Emphasis on fluid combat, using vampiric speed to slide in and out of melee range and slash people and execute them with melee weapons. You can get special cinematic finishers in combat when you execute people a la Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Counters are in. Guns exist and are treated as temporary opportunities, you pick em up, use it, then discard it and move on.
- Rather than putting points into a smaller crosshair, a steadier hand, or an affinity for a certain type of firearm (all perfectly valid for a human with a gun,) players will be spending points on new things they can do with firearms -- things no human is capable of.
- Able to equip two melee and two ranged weapons at any time
At high levels can use devastating special moves, where the camera will zoom out to third person - It is not confirmed whether or not you can carry weapons like in the original, pre-order skins for weapons point to being able to do so.
- Background choices impact quest structure and options. Eg background of being a police officers, for a mission at the police station will allow you to walk straight in the door, but that comes with complications of its own as others recognize you.
- Game has modding support, available Day 1
- Will not feature day and night cycles
- Based on Unreal Engine 4
- ALL clans will ALWAYS be free, even newly released ones!
"To much blood" isn't a thing in 5th. I wonder if this replaces something like that the hunger system.
Not at all! Parts of that list are taken from my own anyway, word for word :P
Brujah/Tremere/Toreador/Nosferatu/Malkavian followed by Gangrel and Ventrue DLC are my guesses.
These details are making me salivate. So many well-considered advancements over Bloodlines with a lot of things people loved about the original. The Masquerade Cleanup detail sounds hilarious. Love that there'll be clan-specific areas and abilities too.
What, and jeopardize the sanctity of my happy place?
"Too much blood", in this case, refers to feeding to the point where the victim dies.
Oh yeah that makes sense. Loss of humanity etc.
What about the thin blood bat wings etc. isn't that only from Drinking the alchemy potions in 5th?
