VtM: Bloodlines - Retrospective

[Silver]

A retrospective from Indigo Gaming on Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

In the third and final chapter of a 3-part Troika Games retrospective, I will take a look at Leonard Boyarsky, Jason Anderson and Tim Cain's RPG classic, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. This series will cover all three games they developed, how they innovated, what didn't succeed and and attempt at the age-old question: "What happened to Troika Games?"

In Vampire: Bloodlines, you play a fledgling vampire caught in a complex power play between the Camarilla, the rebellious Anarchs and the dangerous Sabbat; in a World of Darkness, filled with betrayal, ambition and politics of the night. Based on the beloved pen and paper game. Let's take an in-depth look at what made this game great but also what destroyed its chances of success in this Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines retrospective.

More information.

 

[JDR13]

It seems like we get at least 2 or 3 V:TM-B retrospectives a year. When are we getting a sequel?

 

[luj1]

Hopefully never. VtMB remains a cult RPG boasting fantastic atmosphere and story. I do however recommend the legendary unofficial patch.

 

[LongMuckDong]

Paradox sequel in 2019 me thinks.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

For any misguided soul who doesn't have this game yet, it's on sale for $5 at GOG.

Don't forget to click the GOG ad here on the Watch before your purchase, so our little site here gets a little kickback.

 

[Wisdom]

I know this is a cult classic…
But i thought the game was bad, the premise was bad, the story, the bugs.. etc. It honestly was one of the few games that I regretted paying for.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

Bah. And pfffft.

Regarding the bugs, I played through the whole game at release with just the two official patches, and I didn't think it was nearly as bad as people made it out to be. I didn't hit any game-stopping bugs, which is better than a lot of games.

Without the official patches at release, it was bad....

 

[Archangel]

I know this is a cult classic…
But i thought the game was bad, the premise was bad, the story, the bugs.. etc. It honestly was one of the few games that I regretted paying for.

Did you play it with the community patch that fixes the bugs?

As for thinking premise and story are bad, well that 1% that thinks so.. we had to find those at one point.

 

[Wisdom]

Fully aware I kill a sacred cow when I talk about it. I rarely say anything. But as this is the 5th retrospective this year I'm ok with it.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

*gets a far-away stare as he tries to remember arcane, uninteresting details*

Played the game day 1. Think I hit a game-stopper bug and had to quit until the patches were out. Seem to recall it was pretty slow rolling them out. I remember Troika had more they wanted to do, but Activision had a two-patch limit on all their games (or was it 3?).

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

And while I marvel at all of 'Wesp's hard work and dedication, I think I prefer the "True Patch." At this point, too much additional stuff has been added to the Unofficial Patch that strays a bit too far from the source for my taste.

 

[Deleted User]

Probably the most impressive RPG I've ever played. I have it ranked as my #1 RPG of all-time but I've only played it through once. It's definitely up there for me though. The overall branching choices, FPS gameplay yet still retaining dice-rolls and traditional RPG stats, different factions to join all wrapped up in a pretty beautiful, dark yet humorous and always interesting modern city setting just really impressed me.

A sequel would be nuts if they really put a good amount of effort into it. It would be a day one purchase and play for me.

 

[Archangel]

Probably the most impressive RPG I've ever played. I have it ranked as my #1 RPG of all-time but I've only played it through once. It's definitely up there for me though. The overall branching choices, FPS gameplay yet still retaining dice-rolls and traditional RPG stats, different factions to join all wrapped up in a pretty beautiful, dark yet humorous and always interesting modern city setting just really impressed me.

A sequel would be nuts if they really put a good amount of effort into it. It would be a day one purchase and play for me.

You really need to play it more than once and try very different factions. For me it became better and better with each playthrough when I figured out different clans give you a different play experience.
Gangrel is standard melee that can live through anything warrior.
Tremere is ranged kiting spellcaster that can also do cools stuff like steal blood or control others.
Nosferatu is hiding from everyone, due to their Invisibility powers they can do many missions with little combat.
Malkavian that is most known gives most fun story based experience.
Toreadors charm everyone.
Not sure which one of them has super speed (Celerity discipline) but that one is basically bullet time like in Max Payne games and super fun to play with.

 

[Deleted User]

You really need to play it more than once and try very different factions. For me it became better and better with each playthrough when I figured out different clans give you a different play experience.

Yeah, that just makes it all the more impressive to me. I plan on replaying it sometime soon as a different clan.

 

[beldurax]

Screw Elex, I just uninstalled it and have reinstalled VtM:B with Wesp's 9.9 patch from a few days ago. Should be some spooooky AWESOMENESS over the next week or so.

 

[JDR13]

And while I marvel at all of 'Wesp's hard work and dedication, I think I prefer the "True Patch." At this point, too much additional stuff has been added to the Unofficial Patch that strays a bit too far from the source for my taste.

I thought most of the stuff added by the patch was cut content that he simply restored. I don't believe any of it is fan-made.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

As I recall from the last time I used it, thought it was a while ago, there are things like changing NPC appearences to add more variety, new weapons and new spell effects, amongst others.

EDIT: Here is an example of some patch notes that include changing an NPC''s appearence and adjusting a weapon''s stats. This is just one patch, and over so many years, a ton of these things have been added. It's kind of taken on a life of its own.

There are two installation options to help mitigate this, but, as I recall from spending a lot of time reading old notes once, there are still plenty of subjective changes in the basic version. The True Patch had fewer, I decided when doing my old research.

 

[JDR13]

I doubt he added any weapons to the game that weren't created by Troika. Idk about the added effects, but I probably wouldn't care as long as they don't seem out of place.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

Just for kicks, here is a video wallpaper I made of the game's main menu. It doesn't look very good aesthetically, but hey, neither did the original game's.

I should check out the Unofficial Patch again. Maybe Wesp fixed that up, too.