So I finally got around to playing this game and I have to say it's highly overrated. Many consistently recommend it and I can't see why. It was a failure when it was released for good reasons. The first half of the game is solid in atmosphere, and the story is good. Downtown was definitely the pinnacle of the game. However, once you reach Hollywood the thematics start to fray, and by the time you reach Chinatown it falls apart entirely. It seems as if the writer didn't, or couldn't follow through on how they set the story up in the first half, and the endings in particular feel halfhearted and lackluster compared to the first part of the game. And that's the highlight, the best part of the game, the atmosphere and the story, at least in the first half.
The rest of the game is a mess, poor combat, glitches and errors all over the place, even after over a decade of support from third parties, pointlessly long dungeon crawls to artificially extend the game length (Noseferatu caves), and a shoddy attempt at faction system choices. If they had decided the Anarchs were the only real option, why not simply make it the only option rather than doing a piss poor job representing the other factions? A hamhanded attempt to make the Anarchs the "good guys", such as they are in this setting, and LaCroix the "bad guy" is a true waste of the games potential.
Overall this game was at best, decent, and it hardly deserves to be ranked so highly compared to any other truly stellar RPG.
Kevin Nguyen
I hope you don't think tripe like Baldurs Gate is an example of a good RPG.
Thomas Young
This. Two worlds and arena are better rpgs then this.
Charles Thomas
VtM: Bloodlines wasn't bad, but not stellar, I liked VtM: Redemption much more, you should try it.
Hi, hipster, I advise you to visit reddit for good RPGs.
Dominic Diaz
I hope you don't think Bloodlines is an example of a good RPG, since even the people who love it admit that the second half goes downhill
Hunter Taylor
Get some fucking taste, shiteater. M&M, Ultima, Wizardry.
Mason Lee
Because it was *RUSHED.* Couldn't you tell while you were playing? The devs became defunkt soon after, and it's pretty apparent they didn't make it nearly as well as they liked - which is why I think it has such a cult following.>>10484842 Just download a restoration mod like everyone else and get back to playing already.
Also /v has a thing for flawed gems see STALKER so I think posts such as these will remain in the minority, at least for now.
Jeremiah Foster
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Anthony Rodriguez
I agree with OP, I only play AAA quality mature roleplaying games like Fallout 4 made for discerning audiences.
Michael Ross
I'm with OP on this, even the storytelling was poor compared to a master piece like Fallout 4
Ethan Hall
Shame the game will never reach its true potential
David Martin
Next thing you say you played them Those are different games, fag. You might as well compare cowwadooty with Deus Ex because FPS
Matthew Adams
inb4 someone posts the ending
Ayden Fisher
i just liked the house slave bits tbh.
Justin Howard
Just because you don't play good games doesn't mean other people don't. Popamole is garbage that only reinforces my point that you're a casual
Owen Wright
The game spoils you pretty much at the beginning
Jason Parker
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Henry Peterson
>>>Holla Forums >>>/pigfarm/ >>>/gaschamber/
Isaac Adams
The only good thing I can think of that it did was the representation of such a wide part of the VTMB world. Its unfinished and clunky and the systems in place really don't feel thought out.
I don't think you know what that word means user.
Ayden Gray
Yes user, he was projecting his inability to play good games by assuming everyone around him is the same. I don't think you know what that word means.
Carter Sanchez
missed opportunity
Wyatt Flores
Are we reading different posts here or are you just extremely defensive of your opinions?
Wyatt Nelson
Are you a proxy or just retarded? Try reading the posts again.
Luke Long
Sounds like somebody's projecting
Joshua Robinson
How are Might and Magic, Ultima and Wizardy even similar to Baldur's Gate?
Camden Sullivan
They are role playing games with party tactics except ultima
James Jackson
They are rpg's focused on parties, which was the entire fucking point when I brought it up in the first place. Maybe if you played them you would have known that, casual.
Ayden Myers
...
Jordan Stewart
...
Liam Bailey
But
And why would you bring up RPGs with party tactics in a thread about an RPG that doesn't have party tactics?
Liam Reyes
Have you played Ultima you fucking tard? The "party focus" is even less deep than fucking FF1.
Lincoln Gonzalez
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Nolan Powell
Ha so that comment did strike a nerve? What a pussy.
Dictating who can and can't talk to you in a forum for discussion and then deciding you can twist the topic of discussion for the thread to anything you want just doubles down on your retardation, maybe you should leave if your feelings are getting hurt.
Isaiah Powell
Whenever people tell you the game was really good, they mean the first half of it. It was rushed by the publishers and the Devs couldn't do anything about it so the last half only has combat as a viable option, while the first has social and stealth gameplay perfectly possible to do just about anything.
You can basically do the first part of the game without a single point spent on any combat skill or ability as long as you know how to talk or explore your environment. The first thug house near the beach you go to is amazing for this. You can just bust in and crack every bone in every kine, you can persuade the guy outside to let you in and make arrangements with the boss or you can creep through a hole in the fence, take down the lights and sneak inside to steal everything.
People like to assume that, given enough time, the rest of the game would have similar options for gameplay that never made it because they were rushed. They are most likely certain, but as it stands you just gotta go with the rule that "eventually, you're gonna need to learn how to survive if you want to live in the World of Darkness".
The fun also comes from discussing the story, not just the gameplay itself. You remenber Grout being dead in his bed with a stake in his heart? Surprise! That's not Grout. Maybe. Who knows? And who's the taxi driver? Random vampire? Kaine? Malkavian thinking he is Kane?
The sewers are indeed considered one of the worst parts but the Nosferatu lair is pretty neat. Confusing, but in a neat way. Playing with different clans also gives you unique ways to play the game. Try Nosferatu and Malkavian next. Try Tremere and bro it up with that funky dude.
You can very easily just help the Prince for the Camarilla and never even go to the Anarch bar if you want. You can even go inside and insult every single one of them too. You can even tell everyone to fuck off and do your thing. Factions aren't represented in a simple manner like other RPGs, they are represented as they'd appear in an actual world.
Case in point: you though the Anarchs were presented as the "good guys", as the only logical choice. How do the Anarchs, recruit people, neophyte? They show good will and good intentions to mesmerize people. They are all about the good PR. Nines didn't saved you out of the kindness of his heart. He saved you because he can't sire at will like the Camarilla and he'll take whatever recruit he can get to the Anarchs. Keep that in mind next time someone decides to be philantropic with you for no apparent reason.
Angel Hill
I played it with the restored content, it's still a subpar game. What makes you think this game is worthwhile, and certainly, what makes you consider it to be an excellent RPG compared to its competitors?
Levi Collins
Wew lad.
Elijah Garcia
are you 12 or just retarded?
Brayden Davis
Are you actually retarded?
David Robinson
ayy
Benjamin Howard
picrelated.
Okay, let's be serious, what you do is nitpick about one element ignoring the rest of the game, all of it, from execution elements, like said controls of the party, to gameplay and world itself, those games are very, very different. From my view it looks like you haven't played any/some of those and just parrot popular opinion. Also quick to namecalling and being ultradefensive like some highschool kid, though that would explain your knowledge about said games. And all of it started simply because someone likes BG (and called your taste shit), bravo
Levi Nelson
I SURE LOVE ALL THIS DISCUSSION ABOUT VAMPIRE THE MASKERADE, BLOODLINES! IT'S LIKE THIS IS A THREAD ABOUT THAT GAME AND NOT OTHER RGPS.
IMAGINE IF SOMEONE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT OTHER RPGS? THEY COULD, LIKE, MAKE THEIR OWN THREAD FOR THAT AND STUFF!
Joshua King
On Holla Forums you'll get called a hipster for liking anything made before 1995 though. I've seen more people on Holla Forums who think old crpg's are shit and prefer fallout New Vegas and dragon age.
David Walker
You're essentially saying that by using your imagination, and speculating about things that aren't actual content, a bad game can be made a good one. That doesn't fly. This isn't a pen and paper campaign, it's a video game, and video games have standards, which this game horribly fails to meet on several levels. The fact you use this game as a substitute for an actual White Wolf VtM campaign doesn't change that.
Aiden Lee
B-but user, I gotta force my views on other and of course I will not sage my glorious funposting!
I'll just leave that whole discussion then Anyway, anyone here played Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption? I see people mentioning Bloodlines quite often, but never Redemption.
Samuel Sanchez
Redemption is pretty good. Its more of a Diablo clone but makes sense in the context.
William Baker
Conclusion, people who like this flawed gem likes it because it's still a gem. Meanwhile OP doesn't like it because it has flaws. Yet both sides agree what the game is, a flawed gem. /thread
John Jones
There's a pretty cool LAN multiplayer, maybe you can play it with Hamachi or Tunngle or something. It has several of the clans, Brujah, Cappadocia, Nosferatu, etc. you can even play human characters. I've heard it's a lot like playing a table top game, and you can do a lot with the base game resources, though there are mods and map packs out there.
David Phillips
1/2
Cooper Price
No. I'm saying the story can be discussed and speculated far more than your average videogame, which further extends it's life a bit longer. Planescape Torment, New Vegas and Kotor still manage to have some discussion because people like to argue about the story.
And this is content. You never see Grout's body, you only see a skeleton with a stake. You never have confirmation that it was him, he could have faked the whole thing to escape the prince. There's also the Tremere ending that's a nice bit of story since Tremere are freaky fucks that plot against everything and everyone because some freakier fuck inside a pyramid is telling them to.
The combat is quite nice for your average action RPG as well. The statistics do a good job at differenctiating weapons and you do notice a difference when you put skill points in them. The atmosphere and the pacing is perfect for a great part of the game, even the ending if you just want to be violent.
People don't know what fun is until they go Gangrel with full-on beast mode. That shit is so unbalanced, nobody would do anything similar today.
It's a pretty neat game too. It allows you to mix and match Disciplines and make a nice build for yourself and the premise about an old vampire waking up in the future is pretty great, especially since you get to play the past.
It has a few problems like the camera, spells (especially scrolls) not having descriptions and some control issues but it's still a nice hack and slash game.
One thing I liked was that the Beast was much more well done. First time playing, I went around killing everyone like an edgy fucker. Then come the Capedocians mission, my party spends half the time devouring themselves whenever someone touches them. Really made me fear for my Humanity much more than Bloodlines ever did.
Noah Moore
Except I don't agree since aside from the atmosphere in the first half the game is bad on every other front.
Austin Brooks
I got the same impression. Voice acting sounds like shit but the actors sound kinda decent sometimes. The combat is clunky as hell but the dialogue options are at least well thought out and expansive, which is the only thing I can say positive about it so far in like the hour I've played it.
Henry Sanders
It's not *excellent*, but IMO it's a game that avidly highlights what could have been.
Whether it's worthwhile or not is subjective. If you don't like it that's nothing to do with me.
Feel free to give me an example
Cooper Green
You say that as if the game is balanced at all
Dylan Foster
Yes, it is an excellent RPG compared to Oblivion
Jaxon Phillips
If this isn't proof that Holla Forums is now Reddit tier I don't know what is.
Zachary Collins
Bottom of the post. Enjoy ;)
Charles King
There's nothing wrong with the NWN original campaign; prove me wrong.
Nolan Garcia
(you)
Christopher Bennett
(you)
Andrew Hall
epicc
Ryan Brooks
Also I now realize my mistake in my post but I will now shitpost in the vain attempt to make my original post irrelevant and hopefully make me not look like an idiot.
Charles Harris
LOOK GUYS NIGGERS XDDDDD
THE GAME SUCKS KYS
Thomas Ross
But obviously yours is different
Right user?
Also it's not an argument..? You didn't read that either did you..
Nice try ;)
Josiah Torres
Well, it was for the most part. Abilities had their costs adjusted to the power they gave you and most of the game feels somewhat balanced. Even Celerity was balanced because it had a very large cost, required quite an investment to be worth it (only decent at lvl3 and beyond) and some enemies had Celerity as well.
I mean specifically the Blood Bats that you could use and would bring back enough blood to cover up the costs. Tremere had a similar ability that required them to stand still the moment the projectile was leaving the targets while Blood Bats has no such requirement. You could activate your monster form and spam blood bats to keep yourself topped of while mass murdering people left and right in a non-stop carnage. Much less effort than Tremere Magic.
Dylan Flores
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Michael Clark
Yeah no you're wrong suck my dick faggot.
Ayden Hernandez
No it can't. You coming up with your own speculations about the game and its scenarios doesn't make it a better game. The combat in the game is terrible, by the way, I don't see how you can enjoy it. It's far too easy to destroy everything with even semi competence.
Fallout: New Vegas. The Witcher series NWN: Mask Of The Betrayer Dark Sun: Shattered Lands Betrayal At Krondor Baldurs Gate Wizardry: Crusaders Of The Dark Savant
Somehow, still better:
Elder Scrolls series Dragon Age: Origins KOTOR 1 & 2
There are probably more. I only listed games I've personally played, and I'd recommend all of those to someone else before I recommended VtM: Bloodlines.
Josiah Bailey
stop.
Andrew Gray
ok I'm done
Cooper Anderson
Your opinion is awesome man
Ryan Scott
Also
Ryder Cox
I bet you didn't even play King of Dragon Pass, pled.
Gabriel Hughes
You picked the worst expansions like a millennial who just read the wikipedia page Wowwww the combat is so bad though :^) wowwwww the combat is so bad though, did you know you can get to max level by equipping a knife and farming exp for each hit?>>10485478
You reek of reddit hahahahahahahahahaha, i wouldn't laugh if you'd just said witcher 1 hahahahahahahahahahahaahah hahahahahaahahahaahhahaahahah hahahahahahaahahahahaahahaahahah You already said this redditor You're objectively a retard
hahahahahahaha I guarantee you've never played da:o with friendly fire Objectively the only good RPG in your list, which you pulled from wikipedia
Jacob Smith
Other points you've made aside are you fucking retarded? Good writing should not beat you around the head with every little detail. Viewing the Anarchs as essentially a criminal gang with a defined hierarchy pretending to be anarchistic is supported by the ingame evidence. Hell certain characters outright call them that albeit somewhat more subtly. You'll note that despite their claims of equality Nines is quite clearly their leader by dint of being the oldest, most powerful and most charismatic of them (barring Jack who still wields a lot of informal influence). The Camarilla at least have a power structure with proper channels.
Grout's possible non-death is more speculative. See picrelated for that.
Noah Wilson
shiggy diggity
Jace Evans
I meant rpgs that came out *around the same time* user, not years later.. Competitors in the traditional sense (you wouldn't put a Heavyweight vs a flyweight in a boxing match would you).
So excluding all those games that came out a decade/years later/before, it's an interesting list..
What are the things you feel these rpgs had which bloodlines didn't then?
Bentley Butler
If anything the game is highly underrated, what a faggot OP.
Reminder: on fullchan Holla Forums there IS NO NEED to make a bait OP to get a good thread about subject X going. That was only on cuckchan.
Your good threads about game X will not be slid to oblivion here even with a non-bait OP, you piece of shit. We all know you've played it dozens of times and just want to talk about it again.
William Collins
Bait keeps me alive
Xavier Torres
I have, and having RPG elements in a strategy game doesn't make it an RPG, so not a comparison to be made. Plebian.
Jordan Diaz
Planescape also had terrible combat, but the story and atmosphere was great throughout, and it didn't fall apart in the second half of the game like Vampires does.
Pick a few and I'll go over it.
Jacob Lee
That's subjective and highly contentious even here. Thanks for playing, reddit.
Juan Adams
Holy christ, the gameplay of these except Dragon Age, the Witcher Series, and Elder Scrolls isn't similar enough that I'd make that kind of gameplay comparison and if you actually liked the gameplay from even half of these I'm actually baffled you'd dislike VtM:Bloodines gameplay.
Tyler Barnes
On second thought.. I think I'll let you keep your reasons to yourself, not like everyone is gonna like everything anyway.
Noah Ross
I am sorry but you are the one who has to go back.
Caleb Parker
lmao no
Levi Reyes
You tried so hard, though.
Jaxson Price
If you want an RPG that doesn't get a bit fucked near the end you might be looking in the wrong genre. The closest thing I can think of is the first witcher game, but chapter 2 is easily the best one.
Camden Turner
They're all western RPGs, which is the genre VtM is in. And all of them are better games, for varying reasons.
Nicholas Price
To be fair the swamps of W1 feel like the type of filler you stick in a game near the end of development that just happened to occur in the middle of the story. Still not terrible, mind, but they are a low point.
Hudson Davis
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Aiden Taylor
Right.
Logan Powell
I like Betrayal at Krondor too. It hasn't labeled me a hipster yet.
Gabriel Bailey
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Jaxon Jenkins
I like it a lot, but never finished it. I got stuck because the game may be good, but it's a glitchy piece of shit. Lost all of my progress and also had problems in my other two tries.
Henry Ross
The clusterfuck of Crossroad Keep management. Creepy stalker as the only romance prospect for a male player character. Lego-like dungeon construction without really unique touches. Only the player character utilizing his social skills, even with companions present more worldly than some swamp-smelling hick.
John Allen
I can't read for shit today.
Robert Sanchez
This place really is full of underage faggots who think they should post without lurking for a a year or so first, fuck off back to cuckchan.
Nathan Rodriguez
Your lack of appreciation for the Yandere archetype is troubling.
Gabriel Campbell
To be honest I fucking loved the swamps. It felt like an actually dangerous place. I remember doing the quest to escort the cannibal to his house, and when I came out it was midnight. I looked around and enemies were fucking everywhere, with not even a chance of fighting, just running away. Although yeah some of those branches blocking your path are cheap as shit.
Asher Clark
The thing is, it was made with love and with the intention of being a game. It is a good game, after fixing the bugs, this is undeniable. You may not like the setting, or the genre, but it is a good game for it does many things very very right.
Of course thin bloods like you would never understand.
Thomas Brooks
Arcanum is a meme RPG.
Fallout 1 > Fallout 2
Cooper Roberts
Fallout 1 definitely feels more complete, but Fallout 2 had more interesting locations.
Cooper Adams
You really didn't understand shit. Also, the game's greatest strength is the variety of ways you can finish quests. Did you know you can convince Patty to go to the Hospital in order to solve the blood doll quest? Shit like that. If you aren't completely burned out and determined to hold onto your opinion, do another playthrough eventually and try to do everything differently.
Oliver Gray
is it bad that I only sided with the anarchs to get with that titty monster vampire? I can't say their politics are bad since vampires can't follow the same rules as a human does but I can't shake the feeling that i'm helping out a bunch of dirty commies.
Isaac Roberts
the camarilla are the jew, basically
Colton Stewart
Bullshit. The Anarchs are set up to be the good guys, insofar as the game setting allows. If you can't handle the term "good guys" then we'll go with "allies of the protagonist". They are the "free spirited rebels without a cause" and the game pushes them. If you don't understand this you need a lesson in narrative control.
Let's just say Holla Forums would be disappointed in you. They are the practically multicult defined. Spic leader, nigger sidekick, strong womyn who don't need no man, wearing communist gear, and Jack is a fucking greasy murderhobo. Look at them. They'd fit right in at a Bernie rally.
Meanwhile the guy who is well dressed, Aryan, and is described by aforementioned communist bitch as "fascist" is the villain. Nothing new under the sun.
The Camarilla are the Nazis, they desire to establish autocratic control over the Vampires in order to sustain the Masquerade. Though, with the way the setting works, one could argue that all the Vampires are Jews and the different factions are simply different viewpoints on how to best control the goyim/kine.
Ryder Wood
Couldn't be anymore wrong.
Tyler Powell
It's a pyramid scheme.
Hunter Miller
There is literally nothing wrong with choosing Camarilla.
Nathaniel White
Jews didn't invent that concept, that's just natural order.
Naturally there are fewer pure bloods than mixed, meaning fewer at the top. By the Camarilla maintaining the masquerade since the Renaissance means less watered down vampires who are basically cursed and would rather have not been turned at all and preservation of the vampire tradition.
Dislodging the Camarilla means no more masquerade which means more race mixing which means less humans and more kindred who need blood, which means total chaos.
Jason Scott
The game does not make them the 'rebels without a cause' the characters themselves push that line. There's plenty of flaws in the Anarch's ideology shown: their utopia turned into gang warfare quickly and had to compromise on fundamental principles (Barons) which still did not prevent chaos. They also quickly lost to the chinks and were retaken by the Camarilla in ~50 years, hardly any time at all by vamp standards. They only succeeded in their revolt anyway because of the distraction of WW2 and the Cold War. The game gives you ample evidence that the Anarchs are a mixture of ideological children and self-serving cunts if you just look for it. Picrelated is pretty blatant and you're told repeatedly not to trust anyone (Becket and Mercurio aside).
If you were blinded to all of this evidence by the charisma of the characters then hey, welcome to good writing.
Ayden Hill
you sure about that
Jason Flores
Yes.
Jayden Cook
By that logic Strauss is also set up as a good guy. Right after tutorial you get a letter from him, asking for him to come to you. He gives you the same task anarchs give you, but is a lot more polite about it. He gives you cool as shit magical items if you do your job right and gives some good advice. If you are a tremere he gives you a kickass house.
Ryan Bennett
doesn't make them not the jew
literally the enemies of christ and the creation myth of the vampires was in biblical times
John Campbell
So you never did find the Tremere chantry, huh.
Gavin Perez
Yeah, if you tell anybody there that you don't exactly like anarchs and their club looks pathetic then they will start with the threats.
Josiah Moore
Just about every vampire threatens you if you insult them.
The Anarchs are just really upfront and honest about their threats. And none of them are Ventrue so at least the cunts can't fucking Dominate you into doing it for them.
Zachary Nguyen
Consider: Nines saves you not out of the goodness of his heart but political convenience. He follows you around and saves you again to try and recruit you. For all that Nines claims to be principled and hate politics he has no problem with you doing the Prince's dirty work just to spy on him. He bullshits about not liking titles or leaders but he happily leads the Anarchs who, by the way, use the same type of 'with us or against us' ideology and terminology as any hard-left or cult movement. Try going against them or insulting them and then see how their 'to each their own' ideology is applied…
Samuel Butler
The idea of a vampire existed before the sand people saga was written. In terms of vampires to vampires, instead of vampires to humans, Camarilla are as far away as you can get from Judaism.
Hunter Russell
I sided with LaCroix the first run through and told the Anarchs to fuck themselves. The game narrative then repeatedly hammers you that you're making the wrong choice and eventually kills you off (by an Anarchs hands, how nice) in the ending. Siding with Tremere is the only other decent option, and it still feels lackluster compared to the Anarch path. The game was obviously set up for you to take that option, and that is disappointing.
Eli Martinez
Trust no one, no one.
Jacob Richardson
Well LaCroix is a shitty choice even if you want to be a Camarilla with Strauss being the 'true' Camarilla ending. It's assumed you side with him if you want power rather than an ideology. Also Jack, while technically an Anarch, isn't really part of the group you can side with. He's more after literal anarchy than some form of free state sillyness.
If anything it tries to push you into being independent. The Anarchs are merely better at putting their side across as characters because they're aimed at people on the bottom rung which includes you. What people say =/= what is true in the game world.
Ethan Reed
I wasn't even mad when it happened.
Xavier Garcia
And again multiple characters tell you to trust nobody Anarchs included. Jack himself tells you not to for god's sake.