So has anyone actually tried that Coteries of New York game that just came out? I'm kind of tempted, since I was mulling over why I don't like visual novels. All the ones I've seen are basically no real choice and anime tropes. I did really enjoy Disco Elysium, which was basically all dialog but with skill checks.
While you are waiting for Bloodlines II, you might want to check out an amazing fanmade noir campaign mod for Neverwinter Nights - Honour Among Thieves. It is the closest in terms of all gameplay, narrative and atmosphere combined I have ever found to VtM:B, and it runs fine on NWN:EE. It takes less than five minutes to install on NWN, and offers a good 30 hours of sneaking, assassinating and uncovering intrigues and ancient mysteries (or not!). I've left a detailed review on the download page: https://neverwintervault.org/comment/51371#comment-51371
One thing that i don't understand is. Why so few vampire RPG's? I mean, there are TONS of novels about vampires, tons of movies about vampires, but games, there are very few.
I tried Vampy is a fun game but is not a masterpiece like VtMB1, the game mechanics are extremely disconnected than game lore. For example, why i need to wait 99 seconds each time that i cast Blood Cauldron? Why killing a criminal that doesn't do anything good hurts the district health? Why i made someone a vampire without being my choice on the beginning of the game but this only happens once? And no other people that i bite become a vamprie? Why killing nurse gives hundreds of times more XP than killing dozens of vampire hunters? Why costs XP to make someone a vampire EXCEPT in the beginning when the story demands? The developers are amazing on creating a deep drama story but a immersive living breathing fictional world...
That said, VtMB2 will have some problems. Eg - Looks like all disciplines are "combat oriented", Tremere looks like lost Domination(don't ask me how it makes sense, their gargoyle creation lore depends upon it to make sense) and that firearms will be just temporary(wow, i found this US$ 500+ 44 magnum revolver, will just drop once i ran out of ammo and nobody sells illegal ammo), BUT the gameplay looks interesting.
That said, i re watched the gameplay and the game looks good(not as VtMB1)
The delayed release is primarily so they can rework the combat, so in theory the combat should play out better than in the videos they've released so far. It also appears they cut each clan down to just 2 disciplines. I've got mixed feelings on that, it does seem lame to be restricted to just a couple disciplines, but on the other it lends to more uniqueness to each choice and adds more replayability. There definitely are utility disciplines that are useful in non combat or to avoid combat, like turning into mist to get through an air vent. You also get to keep you thin blood powers when/if you join a clan.
Also with blood bonds, you don't so much need dominate to have created the gargoyles. BTW, I always wondered how old Strauss was supposed to be in the first one, since he was the one that made the gargoyle. They're creation was banned when the Camarilla was formed in 1435, since it involved stitching together pieces from bodies of Nosferatu, Gangrel and Tzimisce. So either he's very old, or he's been very naughty. The ritual also is supposed to wipe out any existing personality and make them pliable to orders, but it did also make them more susceptible to any mind affecting powers. Although I have no idea how this all fits with the V5 lore now that Tremere can't create blood bonds, anymore. I think that was due to the destruction of the Vienna chantry, though, so previously they were able to.
Vampyr was a game I just could not get into at all. Lock and target combat is the absolute worst. I have a mouse and keyboard, just let me move around and control my character and aim for myself. I realized I was dreading continuing to play that game, though, when I was thinking, "I have to go and talk to all these people that I just don't care about." None of the characters were that interesting, but you were expected to learn everything about their boring lives to get anywhere. The game was just an endless string of boring talking heads and crappy lock and target combat.
I don't think it's possible to say if it'll be as good, better or worse until it comes out. What I've seen makes me think it potentially could be better, though. The original game has some serious jankiness to it, that even the 15 years of unofficial patches can't fix.
Oh, BTW, @SorcererV1ct0r, you had asked about why a mage would ever want to be embraced. Awhile back I picked up the V20 Black Hand book, and it actually had some rules for that. They get to convert their spheres and magick into half the XP they cost, and can spend it on Thaumaturgy and Necromancy. Also people like Tremere and his inner circle likely would have had mental and physical attributes at 6 or higher, so if some of them had Intelligence at crazy high levels, picking up and creating new Thaumaturgy and disciplines could have come pretty fast for them.
That's a pretty neat trailer. I never really played the first Bloodlines (I played the one that came out before it... Redemption, I think?).
Did Bloodlines 1 include dark comedy themes too? I appreciate the fact that the game doesnt appear to take itself too seriously all of the time (I was afraid it would try too hard to be edgy).
It has it's share of dark comedy, although some of it (especially the Malkavian stuff and their depiction of the mentally ill) might be considered in poor taste today. One of the Nosferatu in the game has a good sense of humor. There are spam emails on your computer for instance.
I was flipping through the LA By Night book and found out Griffith Park is inhabited by Black Spiral Dancers and has a Wyrm Caern under it. That means the werewolves you and Nines fight in the game were wyrm tainted and not the Gaia loving lupines.
I hope there aren't too many returning characters, it doesn't make sense for a bunch of people to relocate from LA. Although Becket would make sense, him being the globe trotter. There's a great book called Becket's Jyhad Diary that fills in a bunch of metaplot between the old revised stuff and V5.
I ordered it. I've already got the V5 PDF, but dammit I want that map of my city. The statue of the Tremere is pretty cool, too. Plus you get some future DLC. I'm not sure what the hell the Steelbook is, but it looks nice, plus I don't have any interest in the vinyl record, but it'll look cool on a shelf.
I wasn't even aware Chris Avellone had done anything with the game, but all of the writing he had done has been removed. Apparently there's sexual harassment allegations against him. They stated he was only briefly involved in the game.
I wasn't even aware Chris Avellone had done anything with the game, but all of the writing he had done has been removed. Apparently there's sexual harassment allegations against him. They stated he was only briefly involved in the game.
How the mighty have fallen. It hurts twice as much if it's done by someone who you respect greatly because of all awesome stuff he has done. Shame on you MCA. Shame.
yes it is sad. i respected mca as he made games i really enjoyed
but unlike some people i'm not just gonna put his games under the bus due to this as i can distance art from artist
if you don't know what i am talking about there are people trying to disown pst due to recent events.
Agreed it would by silly if I suddenly stopped considering PST as one of the greatest crpgs of all time. Still, I'm starting to think there is a reason why MCA was a freelancer all those years.
I'm not going to stop playing games he may have been involved in, in the past (if I already own them) - but I may not necessarily buy anything he's involved in now. Paradox got out ahead of that train, but there are other games he was working with/on.
He parted ways with Techland on Dying Light 2 as well, I've read.
I'm not going to stop playing games he may have been involved in, in the past (if I already own them) - but I may not necessarily buy anything he's involved in now. Paradox got out ahead of that train, but there are other games he was working with/on.
He parted ways with Techland on Dying Light 2 as well, I've read.
Pretty much this, although it seems like nobody will want to work with him anymore. You can't really fault the studios that had been working with him up to this point and only now found out about this crap, although I'm sure there'll probably be some it turns out were fully aware of it.
Not surprisingly, the losers at RPG Codex, (the same ones who review bombed Siege of Dragonspear because one NPC is trans) is now defending CA's vile behavior and rants.
Not surprisingly, the losers at RPG Codex, (the same ones who review bombed Siege of Dragonspear because one NPC is trans) is now defending CA's vile behavior and rants.
you got two extremes. you got the codex defending him and reset era wanting him cancelled and all his games to be forgotten.
This is the Internet. Middle ground and reason are unknown. It's US x THEM. A complete binary situation. Most people on the net nowadays seem to be completely unable to accept there are opinions other than their own or that they may be partially or even totally wrong.
reset era wanting him cancelled and all his games to be forgotten.
The only comment I'm going to make on any of this is an observation at how unreasonable this perspective is. None of those games were his work alone, all of them were products of a team, and the rest of the people who worked on them don't deserve their work smeared because of one of the people involved, and also its just an utterly dangerous precedent to set anyway.
I like that they're not going to shy away from the huge disparity that's happened in the city in the last decade or so. I think I'm going to have to go Brujah for my first game and fight the power.
Tremere are in as one of the 5 clans you can play as when the game initially drops. I think it was Tremere, Ventrue, Brujah, Toreador and Malkavian for the starting clans. First DLC is called Sign of the Wolf, so obviously Gangrel will be in then. Lasombra are probably going to make it in at some point, too.
BTW, Gangrel and Brujah both left the Camarilla in V5, but Lasombra and some of the Children of Haqim (Assamites) joined the Cam, while the Followers of Set rebranded as the Ministry have joined the Anarchs after being rejected by the Cam. The Giovanni leadership is gone and they had a family reunion where the Giovannia, remaining Cappadocians, Harbingers of Skulls, Samedi, Lamia, Nagarjah and Samedi all fused together as Clan Hecate.
I had thought it was just another visual novel, but looks like it's a 3d RPG. I'd prefer to make my own character, but it does have 3 different ones you can switch between, all over 100 years old.
They probably don't wanna launch near Cyberunk 2077.,
Probably part of the decision. They had previously delayed the game to fix up the combat, but add on the pandemic making a lot of things harder, they probably need more time than what they had originally allotted.
Comments
https://gamasutra.com/view/news/354759/Reworking_the_combat_system_in_Vampire_The_Masquerade_Bloodlines_2.php
Some of it is about the tweaking to the combat system that they delayed the game for.
I tried Vampy is a fun game but is not a masterpiece like VtMB1, the game mechanics are extremely disconnected than game lore. For example, why i need to wait 99 seconds each time that i cast Blood Cauldron? Why killing a criminal that doesn't do anything good hurts the district health? Why i made someone a vampire without being my choice on the beginning of the game but this only happens once? And no other people that i bite become a vamprie? Why killing nurse gives hundreds of times more XP than killing dozens of vampire hunters? Why costs XP to make someone a vampire EXCEPT in the beginning when the story demands? The developers are amazing on creating a deep drama story but a immersive living breathing fictional world...
That said, VtMB2 will have some problems. Eg - Looks like all disciplines are "combat oriented", Tremere looks like lost Domination(don't ask me how it makes sense, their gargoyle creation lore depends upon it to make sense) and that firearms will be just temporary(wow, i found this US$ 500+ 44 magnum revolver, will just drop once i ran out of ammo and nobody sells illegal ammo), BUT the gameplay looks interesting.
That said, i re watched the gameplay and the game looks good(not as VtMB1)
So IMO will be good but not as VtMB1. Maybe mods will fix most problems(temp guns, few disciplines/powers),etc
Also with blood bonds, you don't so much need dominate to have created the gargoyles. BTW, I always wondered how old Strauss was supposed to be in the first one, since he was the one that made the gargoyle. They're creation was banned when the Camarilla was formed in 1435, since it involved stitching together pieces from bodies of Nosferatu, Gangrel and Tzimisce. So either he's very old, or he's been very naughty. The ritual also is supposed to wipe out any existing personality and make them pliable to orders, but it did also make them more susceptible to any mind affecting powers. Although I have no idea how this all fits with the V5 lore now that Tremere can't create blood bonds, anymore. I think that was due to the destruction of the Vienna chantry, though, so previously they were able to.
Vampyr was a game I just could not get into at all. Lock and target combat is the absolute worst. I have a mouse and keyboard, just let me move around and control my character and aim for myself. I realized I was dreading continuing to play that game, though, when I was thinking, "I have to go and talk to all these people that I just don't care about." None of the characters were that interesting, but you were expected to learn everything about their boring lives to get anywhere. The game was just an endless string of boring talking heads and crappy lock and target combat.
I don't think it's possible to say if it'll be as good, better or worse until it comes out. What I've seen makes me think it potentially could be better, though. The original game has some serious jankiness to it, that even the 15 years of unofficial patches can't fix.
Oh, BTW, @SorcererV1ct0r, you had asked about why a mage would ever want to be embraced. Awhile back I picked up the V20 Black Hand book, and it actually had some rules for that. They get to convert their spheres and magick into half the XP they cost, and can spend it on Thaumaturgy and Necromancy. Also people like Tremere and his inner circle likely would have had mental and physical attributes at 6 or higher, so if some of them had Intelligence at crazy high levels, picking up and creating new Thaumaturgy and disciplines could have come pretty fast for them.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/dev-diary-10-these-past-months-were-about-side-quests-and-traversal.1368713/
Most of it's the transition to working from home with the plague out there. They do talk about how they've been going back through hub areas and tweaking them to provide more unique things you can do with disciplines in them.
Apparently the game's going to take place around Christmas, too.
Did Bloodlines 1 include dark comedy themes too? I appreciate the fact that the game doesnt appear to take itself too seriously all of the time (I was afraid it would try too hard to be edgy).
I hope there aren't too many returning characters, it doesn't make sense for a bunch of people to relocate from LA. Although Becket would make sense, him being the globe trotter. There's a great book called Becket's Jyhad Diary that fills in a bunch of metaplot between the old revised stuff and V5.
I ordered it. I've already got the V5 PDF, but dammit I want that map of my city. The statue of the Tremere is pretty cool, too. Plus you get some future DLC. I'm not sure what the hell the Steelbook is, but it looks nice, plus I don't have any interest in the vinyl record, but it'll look cool on a shelf.
https://www.vg247.com/2020/06/22/chris-avellone-bloodlines-2-dying-light-allegations/
How the mighty have fallen. It hurts twice as much if it's done by someone who you respect greatly because of all awesome stuff he has done. Shame on you MCA. Shame.
but unlike some people i'm not just gonna put his games under the bus due to this as i can distance art from artist
if you don't know what i am talking about there are people trying to disown pst due to recent events.
Agreed it would by silly if I suddenly stopped considering PST as one of the greatest crpgs of all time. Still, I'm starting to think there is a reason why MCA was a freelancer all those years.
He parted ways with Techland on Dying Light 2 as well, I've read.
Pretty much this, although it seems like nobody will want to work with him anymore. You can't really fault the studios that had been working with him up to this point and only now found out about this crap, although I'm sure there'll probably be some it turns out were fully aware of it.
you got two extremes. you got the codex defending him and reset era wanting him cancelled and all his games to be forgotten.
there is no real middle ground.
The only comment I'm going to make on any of this is an observation at how unreasonable this perspective is. None of those games were his work alone, all of them were products of a team, and the rest of the people who worked on them don't deserve their work smeared because of one of the people involved, and also its just an utterly dangerous precedent to set anyway.
https://www.usgamer.net/articles/bloodlines-2-july-interview-next-gen-seattle
I like that they're not going to shy away from the huge disparity that's happened in the city in the last decade or so. I think I'm going to have to go Brujah for my first game and fight the power.
BTW, Gangrel and Brujah both left the Camarilla in V5, but Lasombra and some of the Children of Haqim (Assamites) joined the Cam, while the Followers of Set rebranded as the Ministry have joined the Anarchs after being rejected by the Cam. The Giovanni leadership is gone and they had a family reunion where the Giovannia, remaining Cappadocians, Harbingers of Skulls, Samedi, Lamia, Nagarjah and Samedi all fused together as Clan Hecate.
*Edit, I also don't know if they're going to do anything with Thin Blood Alchemy
https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Thin-Blood_Alchemy
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/07/07/vampire-the-masquerade-swansong-conspires-towards-a-2021-release/
I had thought it was just another visual novel, but looks like it's a 3d RPG. I'd prefer to make my own character, but it does have 3 different ones you can switch between, all over 100 years old.
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-has-been-delayed-into-2021/
Probably part of the decision. They had previously delayed the game to fix up the combat, but add on the pandemic making a lot of things harder, they probably need more time than what they had originally allotted.