Nowadays, everything has to have a cyberpunk theme, even the vampire-themed Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
Ever since the announcement of the sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, people have been trying to get more information from the developers. As we all know, the first game, despite being a Source Engine mod, reached a high number of players due to its high replayability and sophisticated gameplay with highly unnatural elements thrown into it. We have to remind you that the first game came out in 2004, almost 20 years ago, and the development of the sequel has been going on for quite a while now.
At some point, the developers, Chinese Room and Paradox Interactive, went into complete silent mode and gave no information about the next game whatsoever. Being skeptical, backers started to feel it was a scam all along until Chinese Room broke their silence and showcased their progress with the title. The reason behind the lack of communication was to keep the development cycle intact and uninterrupted as possible, as they could focus on the game better. While they kept their silence for too long, a recent showcase of the work-in-progress title was shared by the developer and it included a lot of elements that we would eventually see in the game.
One of the few striking additions is the voiced main character, which we will be taking control of. Named Pyhre, players can choose their gender, attire, and appearance too. Sadly, the freedom of choice usually ends there as Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has taken a more linear way of dealing with problems in the vampire underworld instead of letting players seek the right side for their suited, original characters. The game also includes dialog options similar to one in Fallout 4, which created a lot of flames for being dumbed down from the original dialogue boxes. Unfortunately, most people have felt the change of direction with the sequel and asking to revert back to some mechanics, as what they experienced in the first game seems to have vanished with the decisions given by the developers.
Players who loved the first Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines title were immersed with the hefty amount of choice and freedom at their hands, but now that developers have taken that away, people are not being warm to the project and how everything coming together. The fact that the addition of the main character, being somewhat related to the cyberpunk world as a vampire gives the clash of cultures, which would have worked on the paper if it was truly kept to its faithful creations, but with less care and needing to jump on the bandwagon, the developers are moving in the direction that is opposite to what players are pointing at.
