Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines

[Dragor]

Coming over from the 'Scary Game Moments' thread, everyone seems to love the Ocean Hotel level. And, I thought, since a lot of people have apparently played Bloodlines (I was surprised) I thought I might make a little thread for it.

I recently completed it as a Malkavian, and I have to say it is one of the best games I've ever played in terms of dialogue and story. I was gripped from the beginning to the finish. Every character I met was unique and unforgettable.

So, discuss. I guess. :smallsmile:

Also: some awesome outfits in there, too. The Tremere female, I think, had it best.

[Morty]

A good game. I played it through as a male Tremere, and had a lot of fun. The dialogues are one of the best ones I've seen, but the combat is too chaotic.
My biggest compliant would be probably that social skills become less and less useful over the course of the game. In the beginning, they were very useful and satisfying, so I invested points into them. However, the nearer the ending, the less opportunities to use social skills you have. The choice is preety much between killing everyone in your path and sneaking through.
And yeah, Malkavian dialogues are made of win.

[Semidi]

I've played through the game with a Malkavian, a Nosferatu (twice), a Tremere, and a Gangrel. And completed most of the endings.

Yes I like the game, but I think I just like World of Darkness more than the game. I think it could have been a lot better, but as you can see, I've obviously enjoyed it.

I too felt like the game felt rather "Meh" during the endgame. The Kui-Jin part of the ending was so broke and boring. I hate randomly spawning enemies.

Also the sewer section of the game with all the monsters got really dull. The only saving grace for it was that it was incredibly hard with the Tremere due to just the lack of blood I was able to get my hands on. But for the most part it got old quickly.

And once the Nos. and Malk. got obfuscate lvl 5, the game became a cake walk.

[Muz]

Aside from the bugs (which honestly didn't cause me much trouble, though I understand others weren't so lucky) and the fact that it required an upgrade to run it, I thought it was a great game.

It was plot-driven, yet not completely linear in the details. It's one of the closest games to Deus Ex that I've ever played, and that's certainly a plus. (Amusingly, it's closer than Invisible War was!)

You're right about the end, though. It loses something in the endgame, though it's been a while since I actually played it, so I'm unable to quantify that.

The sewer warrens...ugh. The warrens were a nightmare, but I mean that in a good way. I just wanted to get the heck OUT of there. Yeah, so I'm a vampire, but THOSE things are NOT NATURAL! :smalleek: :smallbiggrin: Don't misunderstand: the gameplay down there was fun. I'm complimenting the atmosphere. I'm not much into games that are constantly survival-horror; it's more appealing for me to have parts that aren't so creepy in order to better accentuate the parts that are. Coming out of the warrens (or the Ocean Hotel) gives a rewarding sense of relief that adds to the experience of going THROUGH them. It's a motivating anticipation that adds another level to the game.

Side note: Regarding those things that look like horrible faces with arms, did anyone else bother naming them? I rather settled on calling them "hooseyf**ks," which frankly seemed appropriate somehow. :smallsmile:

[Dragor]

They honestly didn't get much dginity from me: walking pieces of the ruder word for 'faeces'.

Scared the living daylights out of me- the fact when they're running at you from behind, all you can hear is this quiet grunting, unnerved me. And the scream they let out when they finally reach you is chilling.

Haven't done all the endings. Only completed it with

Maximilian Strauss sealing the Sarcophagus away.

[Jade Falcon]

One of my most favorite games, completed it several times. I saw everyone of the ending sequences, except the kue-jin one. Even if I want it to finish it this way, I just have the urge to kick Ming Xiao´s butt.
Playing it as a Malcavian was .. uh .. an experience :smallsmile: To quote Jack "What? Uh you´re Malcavian? Oh man, you´re f***ed :smallbiggrin:

It has a few flaws, though. The frequent loading screens are annoying and the areas are quite small.
The endgame is also lacking .. at the beginning of the game you have to work hard for every single experience point and in chinatown you get nearly dozens of them for five minutes of running around. And the final levels are just "fight fight fight, fight some more"
Nevertheless, a great game.

[Pronounceable]

I played as male Ventrue and enjoyed it immensely. Domination pwns. And then a replay with a Malk, which was an experience.

Game gets bad toward the end, but the unaligned final cutscene was worth the last hours of grind. Slitting LaCroix's throat with the letter opener is the single most heartwarming moment of the game.

One of the most relieving moments was surviving the werewolf. Then I somehow magically fell off the goddamned cable car... Effing bugs...

Surprisingly, I hacked the Kuei Jin bitch to shreds with a katana on my first game. As a Ventrue. Later replays showed that it had been a miracle, when I got my ass busted repeatedly even when using guns.

[Dragor]

Was there any specific way to beat the crap out of Ming Xiao? I simply hacked and hacked away with the katana and the occasional blast of a gun.

[Saint George]

Might I recommend the lovely flamethrower? Just let out a puff or two of flame, then move back in the with the katana.

[Cespenar]

I've finished the game with a Brujah, but I'm planning to replay it with a Malkavian, due to all the love they get. I agree with the general idea by the way, the game was really great, especially the atmosphere, though the second half of the game was a bit fight-driven to say the least.

About the mechanics, I don't know if it was normal, but I went through the whole game unarmed, and encountered only a little amount of challenge. I guess I'll make that Malkavian a gunslinger to play the other side as well.

About the fluff, the atmosphere (as I said) was great, the dialogues were very good (I especially like games with an abundance of voice acting), and though the story was a bit linear, I have no qualms with it since it wasn't a bad one.

Oh, and @Dragor: That fight wasn't so easy, but I think the alacrity power saves a lot of work there, since it allows you to finish the little ones before they grow (I'm not misremembering, right?). And the flamethrower which I was saving the whole game proved effective as well.

[Muz]

Ack! I'd forgotten about the werewolf. Freaking thing was HUGE! (Much better than I was expecting.) I seem to recall running like hell, screaming (mostly for fun, 'cause I'm like that) as I went. :smallbiggrin: (The Ocean Hotel level absolutely wrecked me. The second I got out of there I got rid of that bloody locket the first chance I got. I gave it to Jeanette. Whoops. I didn't want anything from that place coming after me! ...I get WAY too immersed in a game sometimes.)

And I think I went through much of the game without weapons as well, or at least without ranged weapons. I seem to recall that they do so little compared to melee or your own hands that it just wasn't worth it.

[Ziren]

I finished the game with any clan and every ending, which says a lot about how much I enjoyed it. However, there are a couple of bad things about it:

Most of the clans play the same and the attributes are completely imbalanced. Seduction and intimidation are both vastly inferior to persuasion, firearms are a lot worse than melee (the fan-patch fixes this somehow by making a hit with the sniper rifle an instant kill against any non-boss). And of course there are bugs. Lots and lots of bugs.

However, most bosses were well thought out (except for Bach. He just takes very long to be beaten without ever being a threat to you), the sidequests are usually nice (except for the one on the graveyard). What I also didn't like, was the way they handled the Nosferatu. You can still talk to all important sidequest characters, they just think your a burn victim or something. Really stupid.

[Blayze]

Finished the game as a female Ventrue, simply because female characters get all the Seduction options - bar one. I struggled with getting the Histories to do something other than crash my game (I wanted Blunt Fang! I wanted more EXP!), so that I could drain the game of every last point of Experience ever.

I need to work out what sidequests can wait until after the Giovanni Mansion, so that I can go back and pick them up and get their EXP with the aid of that special item you get that gives more EXP (It's the same as Blunt Fang: Whenever you'd get 3 EXP or more at once, you get an extra point. Hope they stack).

[Poerts]

I played this game almost entirely for it's atmosphere, it's combat was fairly embarrassing, especially with how crappy the guns were. The characters and dialogue however, were more than enough to make me waste over 100 hours on it...

[Jade Falcon]

I finished it with a gun wielding Tremere .. the first half of the game was pretty hard with low skill level and weak weapons, but later, with adequate skill and some nice boomsticks, it was pretty fun und relaxing. This way the dreaded Hollywood canalisation was a piece of cake. I hate this level with a melee character, especially if it´s a Ventrue.

The werewolf was absolutly terrifying, but the golem too ..

*enter the abandoned theatre*
"CRASH"
"BOOM"
"Uh-oh..."

[potatocubed]

I loved the hotel. I hated the sewers.

I hated the sewers because they were boring. I discovered this by accident, but you know the little running things? If you're crouched, their initial leaping attack won't ever hit you. However, the collision detection means they fall down in front of you for chopping to bits with the fire axe.

Oh, and I also really loved the club with the two owners right near the beginning. I didn't see it coming at all. :smallsmile:

[Cynan Machae]

I played it with a Ventrue the first time, and I was quite axed on diplomatics skills ans sneaking, so fighting at the end was quite hard :smalltongue:

I had another game started as a MAlkavian, and those dialogues are awesome :smallbiggrin: Haven't had time to finish it tho, and that was a long time ago :smallfrown: I really have to get back to it, it's such a good game.

And all those bugs and weird stuff can be fixed with those unofficial patches. They make the game so much better.

And yea, the Ocean Hotel was creepy and an awesome level :smallwink:

Oh and yea, werewolf, awesome terrifying moment. I love how in this game you are so badass and stuff but a lot of things have to scare you still.

[EvilElitest]

there is a vampire video game? really?
from
EE

[TheSorrow]

Hopefully it isn't like that horrid Vampire Rain game. But then again Vampires in video games suffer from Narcissism, therefore are pale, gangly, sleep deprived, wannabes. And you can quote me on it.

[EvilElitest]

Hopefully it isn't like that horrid Vampire Rain game. But then again Vampires in video games suffer from Narcissism, therefore are pale, gangly, sleep deprived, wannabes. And you can quote me on it.

fair enough
from
EE

[TheSorrow]

fair enough
from
EE

Ik I hit it right on

[Ziren]

Fun Fact: With a high celerity and firearms skill, you can rescue that suicidal Nosferatu in the sewers. Of course, there's no way to interact with him afterwards, since he was supposed to die.

Also, the werewolf can be killed for four EXP. I admit that it is a bit tricky, though.

[poleboy]

I never finished it. My old computer hated it, it's full of bugs and crashes and I loathed most of the combat. I loved the story and dialog and walking around the city though... maybe I should see how my new machine runs it.

[MrEdwardNigma]

Well, I played it through twice, once Gangrel, once Malkavian.

Both times I got stuck in one of the end levels where you need to open a door which wouldn't open in my copy of the game.

[Fri]

Played it as gunwielding malkavian. Love it.

Haven't finished it though. I stuck at the werewolf. Just because I don't have the guts to play it.

The hotel is scary. The sewer was really frustating. Seriously, since I almost don't have any skill with melee weapon, and I was always in the verge of ran out of bullet. And oh god, the monsters were creepy...

But the Werewolf... Is unkillable. I freakin hate unkillable monsters. I don't have the heart for running around evading unkillable monsters. I almost always stuck at any game where we supposed to evade unkillable monsters.

[Ziren]

But the Werewolf... Is unkillable. I freakin hate unkillable monsters. I don't have the heart for running around evading unkillable monsters. I almost always stuck at any game where we supposed to evade unkillable monsters.

Run through the house and out through the backdoor. Use the switch at the small hut to turn the power back on. Go back into the house into the big room with the platform. Use the button on the platform to open the steel gate. Leave through the gate and wait till the werewolf is coming for you, then go back in. Wait until the wolf is betweenthe two doors of the gate, then close it. This should not only kill the guy, but also net you 4 EXP.

[Dragor]

But the Werewolf... Is unkillable. I freakin hate unkillable monsters. I don't have the heart for running around evading unkillable monsters. I almost always stuck at any game where we supposed to evade unkillable monsters.

If you're talking about the one near the end of the game-

You have to hit a switch on a shed near the observatory. This activates the power inside. You then have to coax the Werewolf to enter the observatory from the outside and then close the gates upon him by hitting the switch on the control panel inside the observatory, crushing him. This sounds tough, but the Werewolf undergoes an animation which involves him squeezing through the gap, so you have about a 2 second chance to hit the switch.

If you're talking about the long side quest (I think it's a werewolf anyway)-

The hard part is getting past the car throwing bit. This requires good timing if anything. Fighting the werewolf himself is tough. Since you're a firearms specialist, it's going to be tough. Blood buff immediately, pull out your most powerful gun, and fire away. Sorry I can't be of any help here- I played a melee specialist.

--Edit--

Ninja'd :smallamused:

[Revlid]

I played through parts of it with a Nosferatu, a Tremere, a Malkavian, and a Gangrel. But I never really got that far, thanks to bugs galore, the disks breaking (no reinstall for you!) and my computer at the time being very poor.

A shame, really. It could have been a great game for me.

I really liked the vampire in the abandoned hospital, though. She was quite cool.

[MrEdwardNigma]

I played through parts of it with a Nosferatu, a Tremere, a Malkavian, and a Gangrel. But I never really got that far, thanks to bugs galore, the disks breaking (no reinstall for you!) and my computer at the time being very poor.

A shame, really. It could have been a great game for me.

I really liked the vampire in the abandoned hospital, though. She was quite cool.

Yeah, my disks broke too... I mean, there's a bunch of scratches on them and it won't run...

As for the "werewolf" in the junkyard, that was simply a gangrel. A vampire.

[Ziren]

Also, you could convince him to stop his murderous rampage and simply leave the city, but that gave less EXP and a masquerade break, I belive.

And for everyone with a broken disk: You should be able to get the game really cheap by now. I've got a copy for 5€ a year ago.

[Hell Puppi]

Hmmm I've wanted to play this game, but it appears my husband has lost his first disk...so damn....

Well, he does have both disks to 'Redemption'. Is that one worth playing at all?

[EvilElitest]

so can anyone tell me about the game itself
from
EE

[Elidyr]

Vampire Bloodlines must be one of my favourite RPG games, certanly one of the few games in the past few years that I even bothered to finish. Certanly blows all Bioware rpgs out of the water.


so can anyone tell me about the game itself
from
EE

The game was the last game made by Troika, and is set in the old World of darkness, so Gehenna (vamp armaggedon day or whatever) is looming over everyone, with talk of ancient vamps rising up and eating their young. You play a newly turned vampire that gets pushed into the local vampire politics - which is never a good thing... and there's a certain sarcophagus that gets everyone scared.

Basically, it's a pretty awesome first person view RPG (it uses Valve's HL2 engine), with both good and bad combat mechanics. You can pick a numer of vampire clans and the game offers a lot of variety depending on what skills and feats you pick. For the most part, the game focuses on story, with some occasional boring combat parts of the game. The game can be buggy, but I never had any trouble with it, I guess it depends on your computer.

I think the game has lots of good qualities that make it into one of the best RPGs ever. It most likely has the best atmosphere of any game, the characters are awesome, the dialogue and the voice acting is top notch and there are a lot of great quests that avoid the grind mentality of some other RPGs (with some exceptions).

And it might be worthwile to mention that it avoids the black/white mentality/goth/emo/''i r sad bekeuz i iz imortalz'' cliches that some vampire movies/books/games like to do.

[Driderman]

Hmmm I've wanted to play this game, but it appears my husband has lost his first disk...so damn....

Well, he does have both disks to 'Redemption'. Is that one worth playing at all?

It's a bit like Diablo, only really, really bad...

There's next to no similiarity between the two games, I suggest staying from from Redemption

[Hell Puppi]

It's a bit like Diablo, only really, really bad...

There's next to no similiarity between the two games, I suggest staying from from Redemption

Okay, thank yah.

*tears house apart in an effort to find the first disk to Bloodlines*

[Brother Oni]

In Redemption's defence, while the gameplay and the mechanics aren't amazing, I think the story more than makes up for it.

It's worth playing through once for the story at least and as an added bonus, most PCs today will handle it very smoothly.

[Fri]

I was talking about the big bad werewolf near the end.

The guns was supposed to be bad? Never realized that.

No problem with other monsters, my trusty shotgun did all the work. It was funny, when I meet the first Kui Jin, he introduced himself with katana swirling, then I just blast him to pieces with my gun. A bit like that Indiana Jones Scene.

Maybe it was supposed to be difficult though. When I meet him, I was already high level and using a good gun.


so can anyone tell me about the game itself
from
EE

To sum it up, it's a FIRST PERSON RPG set in MODERN TIMES about VAMPIRE. Good games... good games. Only buggy, just don't forget to download the patches...

[Morty]

It's a bit like Diablo, only really, really bad...

There's next to no similiarity between the two games, I suggest staying from from Redemption

Hey, Redemption wasn't bad. It was a nice enoug hack'n'slash and it had a surprisingly decent story for such a game. I wish I could play it once more.

[Om]

Maybe it was supposed to be difficult though. When I meet him, I was already high level and using a good gunNah, the difficulty curve in Bloodlines is horizontal. I still love the game to bits though

[Driderman]

Hey, Redemption wasn't bad. It was a nice enoug hack'n'slash and it had a surprisingly decent story for such a game. I wish I could play it once more.

Nothing spectacular about the story of Redemption, as I see it. Pretty straightforward "Kill the take-over-the-world monster and get the girl" plotline with some more or less random NPCs tossed in with uninteresting and almost non-existant personality and plot.

I think the thing I hate most about that game is the fact that it promises a story that spans more than 800 years of history, which is effectively done by having a large amount of rock falling on you, knocking you out so that you sleep through those 800 years... :smallmad: