More action than RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 struggles to convince after a few hours' play - EuroGamer
More action than RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 struggles to convince after a few hours' play - EuroGamer
www.eurogamer.net
More action than RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 struggles to convince after a few hours' play
Let me guess, they toned down the RPG elements of a series known for being RPG heavy in order to reach a wider audience?
...
IS VTM Bloodlines (not to be confused with VTM Redemption or VTM Dating Sim Game) particularly known for being RP heavy? Or, at least, should it be?
Because I played Bloodlines and I even did a replay a few years back. Yeah, the hub city sounds a lot more "alive" than in the article... in the sense that just about every NPC had an interaction. But we also had maybe like ten NPCs (outside of the people dancing to Kidneythieves. Great band). This kind of feels like any game where the engine/tech is at the point that we can handle actual crowds but... how many people in a crowd do you expect to have a conversation with you if you walk up to them?
And the rest of the moment to moment gameplay really did feel like corridors with a few vents you could walk through and a LOT of people to mow down.
Don't get me wrong. I really would prefer a VTMB that is what we "remember" VTMB to be and not what it actually was. But... that article very much sounds like just about every Troika game: Some REALLY cool dialogue based quests that have little to no bearing on the game outside of what XP bonuses you get. And then pretty janky ARPG combat once they ran out of money. And in that sense? Get the banner because it is Mission Accomplished.
Also my memories of VTM Redemption are that it was some super deep CRPG spanning centuries and was amazing. But I am pretty sure it was also an ARPG with some dialogue. I should replay that...
I don't think any CRPG is RP heavy. I don't think it's possible for a computer game to roleplay. Well, maybe if they integrate LLMs? But generally, any RP happens entirely in the player's head.
I think CRPGs that are sometimes seen as RP heavy, are just very well written. That's not the same thing, although I suppose it's possible for good writing to inspire RP in the player. But that depends as much on the player as it depends on the writing.
I enjoyed the original VTMB a lot, mostly because of its excellent atmosphere.