Join us for the long-awaited gameplay reveal of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. Wishlist Now! https://www.xbox.com/games/store/vampire-the-masquerade...

New ~3minute trailer including some traversal, combat and cutscenes taking place in a warehouse.

  • SatanicNotMessianic@lemmy.mlEnglish
    101·
    11 months ago

    I have been more excited about this game coming out than any other one in recent memory. The first game, while not being a great technological achievement, captured the vibe of the ttrpg really well and it’s one of only a handful of games that I not only completed but did so multiple times. The haunted hotel to this day remains the scariest game component I’ve played, and I’m a regular player of horror games.

    I was so disappointed when they bogged down and went into development hell. I finally wrote them off because I’ve seen that happen enough times that I figured they just would never ship.

    I was excited by the news that another company was taking it over, but the game narrative changed so dramatically that it’s really turned me off. I’ll do a wait and see on it once the reviews start coming out, I suppose, but it’s not something I’m excited about anymore.

    • herrcaptain@lemmy.caEnglish
      7·
      11 months ago

      YES! The haunted hotel is hands down one of my all-time favorite moments in gaming. Even with the game’s primitive (by modern standards) graphics, I don’t think I’ve ever played through a scarier experience. I think the only thing that comes close was my first few hours playing The Forest.

      • CoelacanthEnglish
        6·
        11 months ago

        Ocean House Hotel really is a phenomenally well designed level. Pretty sure it was given an award of some kind for level design back in the day. Excellent combination of mood, tension and atmosphere with well timed jump scares. I imagine it still would be pretty spooky even for players accustomed to newer games, but back in the day it really was unbelievably scary the first time through.

        • herrcaptain@lemmy.caEnglish
          2·
          11 months ago

          I first picked up that game maybe 5 years ago, so I can assure you that Ocean House was plenty scary even in a modern-ish context.

    • CoelacanthEnglish
      71·
      11 months ago

      The first game is a buggy mess (literally unplayable without an unofficial patch) with awful janky combat and a last third of the game that was hugely rushed and devolves into endless terrible combat sequences… But it’s still one of my favourite games of all time. I love the dialogue, the writing, the humour (though some of it is dated). But more than all that, it is a game that nails the atmosphere better than most recent games (Cyberpunk does similarly though). The graphics might be old, but the rainy streets of Santa Monica are as moody as ever if you boot up the game today, and the soundtrack still slaps.

      Unlike you, I lost all hope when the project was transferred to another studio. Rik Schaffer himself said in an AMA on Reddit IIRC that according to him the heart and soul of the project left with Brian Mitsoda, and I’m inclined to believe him.

      Bloodlines never got a cult following for its gameplay. What made me hyped for the sequel was that they actually got Mitsoda and Schaffer back on board. Judging by this trailer, nothing of the vibe of either the original or the old version of the sequel remains (first trailer for comparison), and I would be better off booting up Dishonored again rather than buy whatever this is.