Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines, what a masterpiece
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I recently replayed this game too. As well as the unofficial patch, I added a "hard mode" mod that largely ruined the combat gameplay, as well as drastically altering the weapons (which by itself, I could have lived with). But poor choice of mods aside, it really is a very good game. A flawed masterpiece, alongside Alpha Protocol and other similarly ambitious, deep and engrossing games which simply failed in their execution.
I've played it through as Toreador once and Tremere once, properly, experimenting with different approaches and builds and had a great time with it. Since then however I discovered Malkavian clan and now cannot play anything else. I really want to try Nosferatu which, from what I hear, is a vastly different game. But Malk's are just too much fun and, as far as I can tell, the only clan none of whose abilities break the masquerade. The dialogue options, the Dementia ability, obfuscate all add up to a wonderful class to play.
The best thing about VTMB is that it makes you want more. It was good enough to suck us in, immerse us in a wonderful, grim world of undead and magic and had an interesting story, which according the wiki I spent a lot of time on reading up on the ins and outs of the WoD, is actually part of the canon leading up to gehenna. The biggest tragedy is that we'll never, ever see a follow up, there'll never be another offline, single player WoD RPG. It's very sad that we get CoDs and AssCreeds rehashed and regurgitated annually ad nausea, but the days of deep, single player, PC, story driven RPGs are over.
I've played it through as Toreador once and Tremere once, properly, experimenting with different approaches and builds and had a great time with it. Since then however I discovered Malkavian clan and now cannot play anything else. I really want to try Nosferatu which, from what I hear, is a vastly different game. But Malk's are just too much fun and, as far as I can tell, the only clan none of whose abilities break the masquerade. The dialogue options, the Dementia ability, obfuscate all add up to a wonderful class to play.
The best thing about VTMB is that it makes you want more. It was good enough to suck us in, immerse us in a wonderful, grim world of undead and magic and had an interesting story, which according the wiki I spent a lot of time on reading up on the ins and outs of the WoD, is actually part of the canon leading up to gehenna. The biggest tragedy is that we'll never, ever see a follow up, there'll never be another offline, single player WoD RPG. It's very sad that we get CoDs and AssCreeds rehashed and regurgitated annually ad nausea, but the days of deep, single player, PC, story driven RPGs are over.
You could avoid killing him if one of your dialogue skills were high enough and if your humanity was high enough.dammets said:
Pretty sure any high enough dialogue skill could be used, not positive though.
Meh. Never understood the appeal. The charterer creation seemed like it was ripped straight from the P&P version and I'm not a fan for several reasons, not the last of which was that it felt like it was not only possible but easy to make "wrong" choices and make the game brutally difficult. Also wasn't a fan of the combat, which felt almost as bad as Deus Ex giving me the impression that they didn't want you to ever fight your way out of a situation. I also seem to remember the quest design giving you a goal and then going "figure it out Sherlock" but I could be remembering that one wrong because it has been a long time. And to top it all off I haven't been able to get the game running even with the fan patch ever since I got my current PC. So yea not a fan.
I really loved bloodlines. I usually ended up going with Malkavian simply because of the hilarious dialogue. I'm hoping one of these days we get an elder scrolls styled WoD game. (only in the sense that you aren't limited to just Vampire. I've wanted to play another werewolf ever since I played one in a WoD session and while fun, skyrim's werewolf is kind of lackluster)
I used "Vision of Death" on him outside the gallery. It doesn't break the masquerade or give the Malkavian away at all. I even did it after sneaking into and out of the gallery *just* so he didn't call my PC "cupcake".The Madman said:
It made me laugh aloud when his "brother" in the Tower lobby shows up with the moustache.
It's an awesome game. The only point where they really dropped the ball is with the sabbat hotel. I remember the devs saying that the enemies there all had "super-sight" (i.e. auspex) because they didn't want people to stealth through it.
My only problem with the game was the fact that not everything could be solved diplomatically. I was coming off games like fallout, so my first character was a pure social Ventrue, I quickly had to rethink that. Thankfully you can "sneak" through some combat areas by dominating guards.
My only problem with the game was the fact that not everything could be solved diplomatically. I was coming off games like fallout, so my first character was a pure social Ventrue, I quickly had to rethink that. Thankfully you can "sneak" through some combat areas by dominating guards.
Best vampire game ever made, IMO. Loved the story, setting and the NPCs. Would love to play a sequel with more about it. Would like to play a half-blood for the fun of it.
May contain some minor spoilers. So caution ahead please, or just read it if your a person who finished the game.
I enjoyed the game as well.
Played as a member of the Toreador Clan, my characters was a master of melee/bladed combat.
Finished with the high humanity and went for the good "No side" ending, which I think was the best ending there could be.
You pretty much end it like a badass, although they could have had a bit more to the ending ... well, most endings.
The game I think started out strong, it had some great quests to start and get into.
Hell the Beach Hotel quest is still damn scary, even when I replay it.
The fighting was fun and everything else was usually fun.
It became bad near the end game.
Hell everything almost became almost impossible to kill for me.
The worst part is that my worst enemy was a door ... A DOOR.
The Chinese Red Door to be precise, it kinda ruined the experience for me since I had to use cheats to get through the door ... and so I just went through the rest of the game with console cheats.
Sure, I know that sucks, but I wasn't really bothered.
The end game wasn't really that fun.
I enjoyed the game as well.
Played as a member of the Toreador Clan, my characters was a master of melee/bladed combat.
Finished with the high humanity and went for the good "No side" ending, which I think was the best ending there could be.
You pretty much end it like a badass, although they could have had a bit more to the ending ... well, most endings.
The game I think started out strong, it had some great quests to start and get into.
Hell the Beach Hotel quest is still damn scary, even when I replay it.
The fighting was fun and everything else was usually fun.
It became bad near the end game.
Hell everything almost became almost impossible to kill for me.
The worst part is that my worst enemy was a door ... A DOOR.
The Chinese Red Door to be precise, it kinda ruined the experience for me since I had to use cheats to get through the door ... and so I just went through the rest of the game with console cheats.
Sure, I know that sucks, but I wasn't really bothered.
The end game wasn't really that fun.
Everything. Seriously. I've replayed the game so many times I have literally lost count. I can certainly say it's at the very least more than 20, as I've played with every clan (complete playthrough, not a speed run or anything) a minimum of three times. And then some more.SUPA FRANKY said:
Did I mention I like the game?
As mentioned, there are two:geK0 said:
- Redemption, which is on GoG. It's OK - really good to show you more of the World of Darkness, but story-wise it's merely OK.
- Bloodlines, which is on Steam and GameFly (and maybe 1 more service) - it is awesome. You need the Unofficial Patch [http://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/4647/60875] for it.
Not only on Steam - it's everywhere. I absolutely blame Activision, for it, though - I really despise them over everything that happened with Bloodlines and is still happening to it.Ratty said:
Well, there are. Sort of. The ones at the bottom of the dialogue tree do agree with her and more or less can be considered "friendly". Your character does "warm up" ever so slightly, if they have low Humanity, too.Ratty said:
Well, he fits several descriptions. All of them rather vague. I think the most probable thing he could be is one of the eastern demon thingies (not really well versed in those). But still - I think it's better he's not nailed down - he could be a myriad of things. Fits great with the World of Darkness itself.The Madman said:
Me, too.The Madman said:
It's actually so awesomely placed, it's easy to ovelook how good it is. In the beginning of the game, you go to Ocean House and go "Oh, shit" but things get better. The game goes on. You get more and more powerful, more and more proficient in being a vampire - a creature of the night. You go past the point where you can literally kill mortals with just a thought (applicable to some clans only, but the rest don't have much trouble with them either). And then you get to face a creature that laughs (or snarls) off your powers. Your bullets don't do anything, your close ranged weapons serve only to get you close to its claws. In an instant, you go from an almost unstoppable killing machine, to something insignificant compared to the werewolf. You get to feel what a mortal would feel in your presence. And it marks the second time you feel weak and helpless in the supernatural world - the first was Ocean House hotel, but that was only your beginning in this world, while this is possibly the last thing you'll do there.
It's LaCroix, not Delacroix (though that second name I did see somewhere recently, too - can't remember where, though). And in the last two endings, you have two options - open it or not. But it's essentially a choice between going back to the LaCroix ending (essentially) or not.The Madman said:
dammets said:
You can talk him into leaving you alone. Or you can decide to just not kill him. I usually do that, if I can't talk him out of it. Chunk is God. Chunk is the Almightly One that is making this game at least ten times better than it normally is. All hail Chunk!
Frankly, the game isn't that hard to begin with. Even if you invest in the wrong stuff, you would be able to finish the game without tearing your hair out. You might need to pour some money into equipment, though but it's not that hard, honestly.major_chaos said:
Do you have it on Steam? And if so, have you disabled the automatic updates? If you do have the UP, try switching the .dll file in the...I believe it was in the DLLs directoty - you'll find several, one is the original one, the others are called the same but have -Steam or -Direct2Drive (might have also been D2D) and so on appended to the name for each different version of the game. Try different ones, but I think the Direct2Drive one has had the most success. Also, make sure you're not continuing an old save that was started with different mods (and different versions of the UP count as different mods here). And finally, make sure that if you have other mods installed, they are all compatible. It must explicitly say so in the description of at least one of them. And again - the UP counts as a mod, make sure whatever else is installed (if any), is compatible with exactly this version of the UP.major_chaos said:
Dang, you're right, it is LaCroix. Delacroix is the name of a character in System Shock 2, which in all fairness I have been replaying lately.DoPo said:
My mistake.
Brilliant plot, brilliant characters, even if gameplay is often lagging behind somewhat. Suspense towards the end was palpable. This game is a must for anyone who sees himself a purveyor of intellectually stimulating experiences and great stories.
What a film/book this game would make!
If one is resolved to play Bloodlines, I would recommend the Clan Quest Mod.
One of the most memorable stories (for me) in this game was one that was added by this mod ("Dance of a Thrashing Dragon", not for the reasons you think, o critics). Mod is so well done, that it is hard to tell which parts were modded in and which are vanilla.
What a film/book this game would make!
If one is resolved to play Bloodlines, I would recommend the Clan Quest Mod.
One of the most memorable stories (for me) in this game was one that was added by this mod ("Dance of a Thrashing Dragon", not for the reasons you think, o critics). Mod is so well done, that it is hard to tell which parts were modded in and which are vanilla.
Team malkavian! Best tuna jokes ever.
I love the game. It has flaws but what is does well I have not found in another game. The atmosphere is amazing, I mean any game that can make me go from a bad ass vampire to scared to death of everything in one level is amazing. Fuck ghosts, well maybe flip them the bird if you can while running away.
There is a reason I that game is never uninstalled and that so many people have worked on keeping it paatched.
I love the game. It has flaws but what is does well I have not found in another game. The atmosphere is amazing, I mean any game that can make me go from a bad ass vampire to scared to death of everything in one level is amazing. Fuck ghosts, well maybe flip them the bird if you can while running away.
There is a reason I that game is never uninstalled and that so many people have worked on keeping it paatched.
I wholeheartedly agree - Clan Quest Mod is really awesome - it is so far one of the best mods I've played for any game. And the Dance of a Thrashing Dragon quest is, thus far, I believe, the best fan-made story content I've seen. It is absolutely the best addition from CQM, which is saying much, considering how high it raises the bar already with the other stuff it adds.Augustine said:
The malkavians were my favourite playthrough. alot of mods and fixes have added to the game and kept it playable.
just very sad we never got a sequal to this amazing game
just very sad we never got a sequal to this amazing game
It was definately a great game, it had deep atmosphere and sucked you into its lore and characters. The only problem was that terrible ending which felt more like a joke ending (like the dog ending in Silent Hill 2) rather than an actual ending.
It was a pretty good game.
Too bad I had to quit playing two times because of a game breaking bug, which kinda pissed me off majorly. I invested the second time quite a lot to finishing the game just to have my dreams of seeing the ending shattered. I was so angry that I didn't even bothered to go to youtube to see the ending(s).
Too bad I had to quit playing two times because of a game breaking bug, which kinda pissed me off majorly. I invested the second time quite a lot to finishing the game just to have my dreams of seeing the ending shattered. I was so angry that I didn't even bothered to go to youtube to see the ending(s).