World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 - VTMB sequel from The Chinese Room - coming Fall 2024

[randir14]

Looks about like what I expected from a developer who has only made walking sims. The voice in the player's head is obnoxious, I can't believe they thought it was a good idea to include that. Also how the fuck are they calling this game Bloodlines 2 while not even having character creation, what a joke.

 

[Semiurge]

I just adore how the gender-ambiguity-aware the ghoul illusions are, shouting "Lost them!"

Technically you are a them, but it still doesn't make any sense for everyone and their mooks to address a single physical entity as them. Unless you all misheard, this could indeed mean that they figured that this choice would be both cost effective and "inclusive". A win-win.

It's like they want this game to fail.

I think so - the production of this game started when there was a revival of interest in paper RPG games thanks to D&D. But now the trend is ending again, and even Hasbro is feeling it, much less other tabletop game companies. In addition, Paradox had a completely different type of problems with Onyx Path, which also made losses.

This may not only be the end of Vampire Bloodlines, but also the end of Paradox's interest in the entire brand.

The lack of RPG elements isn't the only problem with this game. I've seen better combat animations in shovelware games. The art assets look generic and sterile. Just compare the mannequins in this to the ones in Condemned, a game from 2005. Complete incompetence all around.

A very prestigious game from a prestigious developer, from a bygone era.

Looks about like what I expected from a developer who has only made walking sims. The voice in the player's head is obnoxious, I can't believe they thought it was a good idea to include that. Also how the fuck are they calling this game Bloodlines 2 while not even having character creation, what a joke.

I watched the video without audio - but did those dweebs actually confirm that there's no character customization, not even the cosmetic kind?

 

[Child of Malkav]

Hey Wesp5 are you gonna fix the game?

 

[just]

so can you play as body type 1?
my estrogen levels arent high enough for this protag

 

[Wesp5]

Hey Wesp5 are you gonna fix the game?

Only if I really like it and this video didn't help with that ...

 

[Spukrian]

Hmm... NPC has critical information but is killed by the villain before revealing it... where have I seen this before?

Hmm...

So if Bloodlines 1 was Deus Ex with vampires, then Bloodlines 2 will be Human Revolution with vampires. Codex is going to LOVE this game.

 

[Lord_Potato]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if these outfits were purely cosmetic.

In a fpp...

 

[Wesp5]

So if Bloodlines 1 was Deus Ex with vampires, then Bloodlines 2 will be Human Revolution with vampires.

Maybe it will be Deus Ex: Invisible War?

 

[Hellraiser]

So if Bloodlines 1 was Deus Ex with vampires, then Bloodlines 2 will be Human Revolution with vampires. Codex is going to LOVE this game.

If only.

with vampires would have been a fucking big improvement over what they have shown in the gameplay deep dive.

 

[ChildInTime]

Yeah, it's nowhere close to Human Revolution. I remember the 'leaked' demo coming out and everyone being super impressed, to this day HR has the best persuasion system of any rpg out there.
With BL2 no matter how you try to spin what TCR showed - it's shit.

 

[Roguey]

It belatedly occurred to me that Paradox decided to turn Bloodlines 2 into a first person Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood (with a significantly less masculine protagonist).

So galaxy-brained that they turned their World of Darkness tent-pole into a copy of a low-budget game that flopped so hard it was discounted to $3 in the last Steam sale even though it was released just two years ago. Do they realize just how hard they fucked up yet or are we on this train of delusion through release?

 

[Dadd]

Interesting how people even care about this obvious trash. It's going to be trash.

 

[Herumor]

Interesting how people even care about this obvious trash. It's going to be trash.

The only thing I care about is whether Chinese Room is gonna get the boot as well once the game flops on release.

 

[Spukrian]

Maybe it will be Deus Ex: Invisible War?

Invisible War + vampires would be much better than Human Revolution + vampires.

 

[Cyberarmy]

 

[Roguey]

The only thing I care about is whether Chinese Room is gonna get the boot as well once the game flops on release.

What boot? They're work-for-hire contractors being commissioned by Paradox to make a licensed game. They'll just go back to doing whatever Sumo Digital tells them to do once this over.

 

[Herumor]

The only thing I care about is whether Chinese Room is gonna get the boot as well once the game flops on release.

What boot? They're work-for-hire contractors being commissioned by Paradox to make a licensed game. They'll just go back to doing whatever Sumo Digital tells them to do once this over.

Then it boggles the mind that anyone would have taken this on voluntarily.

 

[user]

The only thing I care about is whether Chinese Room is gonna get the boot as well once the game flops on release.

What boot? They're work-for-hire contractors being commissioned by Paradox to make a licensed game. They'll just go back to doing whatever Sumo Digital tells them to do once this over.

Then it boggles the mind that anyone would have taken this on voluntarily.

If you need projects to keep the studio afloat you ain't got much choice. But they will be the ones affected the most by a flop on their portfolio unfortunately.

 

[Roguey]

Then it boggles the mind that anyone would have taken this on voluntarily.

Back when all we had were rumors, Cricket McBangle claimed he heard that Sumo Digital forced them to take a swing at this.

If you need projects to keep the studio afloat you ain't got much choice. But they will be the ones affected the most by a flop on their portfolio unfortunately.

They grew to studio from 20 to 100 to make this game and its success/failure doesn't really affect them financially. They're being paid to make it and that's it. Sumo Digital is the one paying the future bills. They might lay off a good number afterwards, but that's standard.

 

[user]

If you need projects to keep the studio afloat you ain't got much choice. But they will be the ones affected the most by a flop on their portfolio unfortunately.

They grew to studio from 20 to 100 to make this game and its success/failure doesn't really affect them financially. They're being paid to make it and that's it. Sumo Digital is the one paying the future bills. They might lay off a good number afterwards, but that's standard.

Obviously - I wouldn't be surprised if their contract didn't include any revenue at all. But when a company like Paradox comes to your little studio with a project like this, and you don't know whether you will be relevant enough to keep landing gigs in the future, you usually not only accept but kowtow to them. If they were forced by Sumo to develop it, it's pretty much because of the same reason.

 

[Roguey]

Obviously - I wouldn't be surprised if their contract didn't include any revenue at all. But when a company like Paradox comes to your little studio with a project like this, and you don't know whether you will be relevant enough to keep landing gigs in the future, you usually not only accept but kowtow to them. If they were forced by Sumo to develop it, it's pretty much because of the same reason.

They don't have to land gigs...? They're owned by Sumo. Still Wakes the Deep is their Sumo-funded project. If that does well, they'll continue funding more walking sims/action-adventures.

 

[user]

Obviously - I wouldn't be surprised if their contract didn't include any revenue at all. But when a company like Paradox comes to your little studio with a project like this, and you don't know whether you will be relevant enough to keep landing gigs in the future, you usually not only accept but kowtow to them. If they were forced by Sumo to develop it, it's pretty much because of the same reason.

They don't have to land gigs...? They're owned by Sumo. Still Wakes the Deep is their Sumo-funded project. If that does well, they'll continue funding more walking sims/action-adventures.

What I am saying is that whether you are an indie studio or a subsidiary owned by a bigger corp, you will be compelled to get the job one way or another. Either because it is needed to keep you afloat, or because your owner forces you to, in order to keep providing value to them and keep getting gigs from the rest of the market. If that wasn't the case, or if internal projects were enough, Sumo would never have forced them to take it in the first place. Owned or not, CR is still a development team which will either be absorbed, get the staff streamlining treatment, or be thrown away altogether like Embracer did with their own subsidiaries, if gigs are not enough or don't provide enough value to their owner.

 

[Star Citizen]

Lol the previous attempt by those other devs most likely would have been trash too but I was still sort of interested in seeing how it materialized in the end. This however looks like total fucking garbage across the board and masochistic torture to play willingly. Garbage writing (!!!!!!!!). Garbage "music". Garbage gameplay. Garbage garbage. If I were the top suit in that publisher's office I'd legit just have cut my losses and shelved it after that previous attempt fell through, this shit is an utter joke

 

[jackofshadows]

If you need projects to keep the studio afloat you ain't got much choice. But they will be the ones affected the most by a flop on their portfolio unfortunately.

Why? These people need to go. They're hopeless.

 

[Shaja]