Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - Reviews Thread

Yeah. Part of the charm of an RPG is to have some cool side quests. Bethesda gets that.
Funny that of all RPG studios you pick Bethesda, who have some of the weakest sidequests, at least compared to its peers (like CD Projekt, Warhorse, Larian, Obsidian).
Even fanmade Enderal (running on Skyrim engine) has vastly better sidequests than Skyrim itself.

That said, thare are some good sidequests in Bethesda games, here and there...but then there is all that radiant crap they came up with.
 
not that I give a shit about critic reviews, but how the fuck do you make a game worse than the first? I mean it wasnt a marvel, but it grew into a classic over the years and all they had to do was improve on all aspects of the first and it seems this does the opposite... Anyway still getting it eventually.
Happens all the time with movies.
 
Game was in development hell wasn't it? I expected 75 at best.

To be honest i was expecting it to be a disaster, and not just a bit meh.

I'll probably try it out when keys are cheap on key sites.
It will come to Gamepass probably in 12 months.

Off topic, ever watch Prey? Excited for Badlands?
 
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By that token, neither does the first Bloodlines.
This isn't FF16 we're talking about. We have 6 different clans, varying dialogue options dependent and independent of clan, skill trees, etc.

Most RPGs are not endlessly branching experiences. There is a line, and maybe BL2 falls short, but pretending like the first title was some kind of Freeform TTRPG made into a game is nostalgic at best.
You should replay the game again. I think you forget that some choices can affect standing of some factions. Such as the gargoyle, pissing off Lacroix to give you the apartment, deciding whether or not you will fight the Chinatown boss. And let's not forget adding the Camarilla mod opens up an alternative Sabbat path as well. If this doesn't qualify as an RPG then the majority of RPGs don't count as well.
 
You should replay the game again. I think you forget that some choices can affect standing of some factions. Such as the gargoyle, pissing off Lacroix to give you the apartment, deciding whether or not you will fight the Chinatown boss. And let's not forget adding the Camarilla mod opens up an alternative Sabbat path as well. If this doesn't qualify as an RPG then the majority of RPGs don't count as well.
I don't see anything in these reviews that says that there's none of that.

Plus, I'll be honest, that stuff is mostly superficial imo. Optional quests and getting an apartment that has little to no real value are not what I'd say make a truly "immersive RPG".

I will say that the lack of an actual character sheet at least detracts from the vibe of an RPG, but at the end of the day BL1 is a pretty linear game that isn't a quantum leap over BL2 in terms of RPG design - much less is the gameplay anything to be replicated in 2025.
 
Choice and consequence is more or less non existent in bloodlines 1 as well. It was always style over substance
There aren't too many decisions that affect the overall plot, but there are choices about how you handle each mission. RPG's very rarely have large branching storylines, so the choices are more about how you play a character and who you choose to work with or piss off.

By that token, neither does the first Bloodlines.
This isn't FF16 we're talking about. We have 6 different clans, varying dialogue options dependent and independent of clan, skill trees, etc.

Most RPGs are not endlessly branching experiences. There is a line, and maybe BL2 falls short, but pretending like the first title was some kind of Freeform TTRPG made into a game is nostalgic at best.
If Bloodlines 2 provides a variety of ways to complete its quests, then that will go some way to alleviating the criticism. However from the reviews I have read so far, the lack of a proper skill system still limits the sense of player progression.
 
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blade wtf GIF by BBQ Films
 
Looks like another RPG flop.
Western made RPGs are either a hit or a miss, there is no in between.

Honestly, the writing was on the wall, i never expected this game to be good, not even 7/10 good, i knew it would suck years before.
I doubt this game will be a cult classic like VTMB, yes VTMB had poor gameplay and is borderline unplayable because its a buggy mess, but it came at a different time and it had actual RPG goodness in it, now we are in 2025, games like this get brutally destroyed live on day 1 infront of everyone, and if there is nothing to save them (like some unique or special feature) then they will flop and cause the companies big loses.
 
Looks like another RPG flop.
Western made RPGs are either a hit or a miss, there is no in between.

Honestly, the writing was on the wall, i never expected this game to be good, not even 7/10 good, i knew it would suck years before.
I doubt this game will be a cult classic like VTMB, yes VTMB had poor gameplay and is borderline unplayable because its a buggy mess, but it came at a different time and it had actual RPG goodness in it, now we are in 2025, games like this get brutally destroyed live on day 1 infront of everyone, and if there is nothing to save them (like some unique or special feature) then they will flop and cause the companies big loses.
It may end up being considered a cult classic among action adventure fans, since the strongest points seem to be the narrative and atmosphere.
 
I dont get it. You had the blue print from the first game. The only things fans wanted was more of that, new stories, better graphics and maybe some better gameplay.

Instead you make this? What the fuck is wrong with you Skidmore.

Exactly.. people are just incompetent beyond belief. Evem if they just made the same game again with better modern mechanics and graphics it would have been a classic.
 
The years of development hell and modern day devs made a turd sequal of a classic game....

I would have never guessed it.

It's kinda crazy how dev teams from 20 to 15 years ago look like absolute titans compared to many AAA efforts put out today, In many ways, the industry didn't progress. It went in a bizarro direction where bloated budgets meet half assed attempes.
 
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I had been passively following this game since its announcement and I can't say I'm a bit surprised at the scores.

Well, maybe a little because I thought it would get the 'game journalist' score boost for being adjusted for 'modern audiences'.

What a waste of a high potential IP.
 


Sounds like a flawed game with some redeeming qualities, but a lot of reviewers who liked many aspects of it say it can be janky, has pacing issues and is very light on RPG mechanics.
 
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