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Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

Paradox has an announcement trailer on youtube.

From the description:
♞Become the Ultimate Vampire
Immerse yourself in the World of Darkness and live out your vampire fantasy in a city filled with intriguing characters that react to your choices. You and your unique disciplines are a weapon in our forward-driving, fast-moving, melee-focussed combat system. Your power will grow as you advance, but remember to uphold the Masquerade and guard your humanity... or face the consequences.

♝Descend into Seattle's Dark Heart and Survive the Vampire Elite
Seattle has always been run by vampires. Hunt your prey across Seattle locations faithfully reimagined in the World of Darkness. Meet the old blood founders present since the city's birth and the new blood steering the tech money redefining the city. Everyone has hidden agendas - so choose your allies wisely.

♚Enter into Uneasy Alliances
Choose a side among competing factions, each with their own unique traits and stories, in the war for Seattle's blood trade. The world will judge you by the company you keep, but remember no one's hands stay clean forever.

♛Experience the Story
Written by the creative mind behind the original Bloodlines, Vampire: The Masquerade® - Bloodlines™ 2 brings the ambitions of the first game to life and sees the return of a few fan favorite characters.
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The last one is really interesting.

God, I'm so hyped. :D
 
I have to admit I was shocked to hear that this existed.
 
As Obsidian did to Bethesda, now Paradox (and Avellone/Mitsoda) do to Obsidian. The Wheel turns once again.

(also it's going to be interesting playing as a thinblood, barely better than a baseline kine)
 
Kotaku has an article about Bloodlines 2 where they interviewed the devs, Vampire: the Masquerade– Bloodlines Is Getting A Sequel, And It Looks Pretty Good.

In particular, this part jumped out to me (and others):

The World of Darkness can be fraught at times. The original game traded in careless depictions of sex work and some tired writing about mental illnesses like disassociative identity disorder. You could play as a member of the mentally-addled but prophecy-gifted Malkavian clan, with altered dialogue that, while humorous, danced a fine line in terms of taste. There was even some racial stereotyping for good measure. Meanwhile, White Wolf's management of the World of Darkness setting has not been without controversy. Last November, the Paradox subsidiary drew criticism for using the real-life persecution and murder of Chechnya's LGBTQA population as a plot-point in the setting's vampiric politicking. Paradox fully integrated White Wolf after this incident. When asked about their approach to the setting, the team outlined how they wanted to handle the World of Darkness in 2019.

"It was very of its time," Ellison said of the first game. "It approached certain topics differently. How we look at stuff has matured since then."

"It's fifteen years later and things have changed," Mitsoda said. "We have to be very sensitive about how we handle things like mental illness and that was a concern for us and for Paradox, in how we can make a mature story but if we do anything, we do our homework and make sure that we are punching up and not punching down."

"We talk about these issues constantly," Ellison added. "Because we care about including people, we want them to feel powerful and sexy, and we don't want them to feel like it's not for them."
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The usual suspects are pearl-clutching about "SJW's" but I must say I'm really happy to read this. It's nice to see developers who aren't being cowardly about how political their games are, especially when it's being expressed in inclusive ways.

The more I learn about Bloodlines 2 the more excited I get!
 
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That they're framing this as a 3D with action is kind of surprising. Considering that I'd assume they'd take the same route that they did with Shadowrun.

What I'm not entirely into is that I'm getting this austere, gothic, Squeenix Deus Ex vibe from the aesthetics. Whereas a bit park of what I liked about the world of the first Bloodlines is the grungy, urban, down to earth and irreverent undercurrent that ran through how the world was presented. I hope that's not totally representative of the setting.
 
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Fourthspartan56 said:
I'm not sure I understand, what do you mean by this?

(I ask as someone who hasn't played Shadowrun)
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Paradox Published the new Shadowrun Games by Harebrained Schemes. Which are isometric and have a turn based combat system.

They're also really good. Or atleast Dragonfall and Hong Kong anyway. Everything I've heard about Returns told me to skip it and just play the sequels.
 
Reveen said:
Paradox Published the new Shadowrun Games by Harebrained Schemes. Which are isometric and have a turn based combat system.

They're also really good. Or atleast Dragonfall and Hong Kong anyway. Everything I've heard about Returns told me to skip it and just play the sequels.
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Oh, well to be honest expecting something like that for a sequel to Bloodlines doesn't sound very reasonable. I don't mean this to throw shade, I'm just pointing out that the original Bloodlines was 3D, it stands to reason that a sequel would be too.
 
Oh my goodness this is some amazing news to wake up to. I always tell myself I shouldn't be hype for videogames...

...BUT HYPE.
 
Never played the original, like the look of this. I hope it opens the door to more WoD games - I really want a Changeling: the Lost one

(literally would kill to get to write for it)
 
The cherry on top would be a debugged Bloodlines 1. No need to upgrade the graphics, just squash the bugs.

I think the best way to avoid a can of venomous worms is to skip clan choice as to avoid the 'fish malk' syndrome. A Catiff clan would allow one to customize their powers without the baggage.
 
Article:
It's not just politics where Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 takes a progressive approach. The character creator, which players get to use twice – once at the start to define your human aspects and then a second time later in the game to flesh out your vampire – goes way beyond basic male and female models. Body type, gender pronouns, employment history and fashion can all be toyed with for a very modular build.

"We're interested in providing a very robust roleplaying experience for the player with something were they can really identify with their character by fine tuning and providing lots of options for them to do that," says Rachel Leiker, UX/UI designer at Hardsuit Labs.


Well, that's a nice touch. I love robust character creators.
 
Given this and the CYOA game Paradox released when they first got the license, it seems like the big focus for Vampire is shifting to the thin bloods. Which makes sense, I guess, because their presence is supposed to be one of the key signs of Gehenna and they provide an easy underdog vantage point in ossified, vicious vampiric society. Literally starting without fangs is just another rung on the "RPG protagonist ladder" climb that feels so satisfying at the end.

Although given that they mention you joining a clan that means whatever diablerie gets you out of thin blood status is... approved of? Maybe there are renegade factions as the main antagonists and they tell you you can feed on one in exchange for swearing loyalty?
 
geckonator9 said:
Given this and the CYOA game Paradox released when they first got the license, it seems like the big focus for Vampire is shifting to the thin bloods. Which makes sense, I guess, because their presence is supposed to be one of the key signs of Gehenna and they provide an easy underdog vantage point in ossified, vicious vampiric society. Literally starting without fangs is just another rung on the "RPG protagonist ladder" climb that feels so satisfying at the end.

Although given that they mention you joining a clan that means whatever diablerie gets you out of thin blood status is... approved of? Maybe there are renegade factions as the main antagonists and they tell you you can feed on one in exchange for swearing loyalty?
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The trailer description mentions unique Disciplines, so perhaps this thin blood aomehow wound up with a discipline that lets them cultivate their own vampiric nature.
 
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