“Thanks to our community for the frank feedback on Bloodlines 2 and the Premium Edition. That feedback made it clear: Lasombra and Toreador belong in the base game, so that is what we are doing,” said Marco Behrmann, White Wolf Executive Vice President and Bloodlines 2 Executive Producer.
“Sorry we couldn’t get away with it” vibes
From the gameplay footage, it looks like a studio that’s only ever made walking simulators before is making their take on Dishonored. Maybe that’ll be pretty good, but I’d be surprised. What it certainly isn’t is an RPG that’s anything like Bloodlines 1, lol.
That’s largely what the pre release reviewers said, too. It’s light on RPG elements but feels like Dishonored. They didn’t say it was bad, just unexpected and a different kind of game than the first.
I was expecting an (action-oriented) RPG and it’s a stealth game instead 🫤 I’m gonna “wish-unlist” it 😞
It’s just wild to me that a game straight out of a TTRPG is “light on RPG elements”.
Like, what’s left of Vampire without the RPG elements?
The vampires, probably.
If there’s no roleplay, it’s just a bunch of people with big teeth.
Well, some of them anyway. Half are still missing.
If it has a solid enough story, I’m probably fine with it. If you’ve ever played the TTRPG of Vampire, you probably know that it has always been the weakest point of the game, while the lore and stories of that world have always been the highlight.
It is yet another of these inner companion-along-for-the-ride games. Likely with the annoying snark and flippancy that goes with these backseat exposition-dumping secondary characters. Let’s say I’m doubtful of the results.
Oh, I’m doubtful for sure. But being light on RPG elements, especially of the source material elements, is not actually a concern for me. I’m much more worried about their plot direction. But… Who knows, it might be good. I’ll wait for the reviews and see what’s up.
Character stats is just something DnD came up with and everyone goes “character stats = RPG”. DnD had character stats because Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson all played table top war games before creating DnD.
Some of my favorite TTRPGs, don’t have character stats; looking at you Under the Autumn Strangely, Dread, 10 Candles, For the Queen, and that one game were I play tested characters playing Truth or Dare.
At the end of the day, playing a TTRPG is about telling a story. If the Chinese Room can tell a great story with light character customization. I will take that.
Doesn’t VTM, the ttrpg the game is based on, use character stats? I see nothing wrong with expecting the videogame to have similar gameplay mechanics to the ttrpg its based on. Especially if the first game did that.
I don’t think I follow. Are you thinking that I’m saying Vampire needs character stats? Because I’m not.
I just think a game based on a TTRPG—a concept built around putting role playing first and foremost—should probably be pretty strong on the role playing aspect.
In that context, “RPG elements” means stats and mechanics based on stats. Not roleplaying
ten candles is still my favorite ttrpg, followed closely by fiasco.
My brother in Christ, you’re the only one who even mentioned character stats.