But maybe it should be.
It's been a while since I've had the chance to discuss anything Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 Electric Boogaloo here and for good reason. The last update anyone heard was the recent news that key management had been ejector seated from the company due to extreme disagreements with Publisher Paradox and as a result of that, not even accounting for the terrible year for productivity that 2020 was, and the subsequent drop of the development studio Hardsuit Labs, the game which already had a release window was delayed into obscurity. The way they all painted it made things seem like a game with a development outline was just totally jettisoned out the window and the remaining developers (whomever they may be) have since started from scratch, and I haven't heard a great deal since to dissuade me of that assumption. But at the very least, for whatever it's worth, I can say that right now, for the exact present moment, Bloodlines 2 isn't dead. Yet.
I talked a disastrous game last time about how certain I was this game wouldn't see the light of day, and have I completely shaken that perception? No. In fact a decent part of me feels that the game we saw advertised in that trailer that we loved is going to seem incredibly out of date if we ever do see the game, but Paradox want's everyone to know that the 'delay hammer' hasn't been switched for the 'cancel hammer'. But what that infomation is even worth when we're talking about a project that went from "Expect it around about this time" to "Expect it at some point- I dunno", is questionable. Does anyone have a handle on this project? Is there a person in charge? Do we have enough ancillary Vampire the Masquerade projects to keep the writhing masses sedated for this belated game of 'pass the buck'? All unanswerable queries, for the moment.
Legendary developer Chris Avellone was one of the names that was laid off from the project at the worst of the news cycle, but there's enough evidence to say that since then the entire development studio was essentially 'laid off'. (As in the project was nabbed from them, I don't think the studio has folded or anything) Not too long ago he himself was asking what the hell was happening with this game, as every avenue he had to development had been rooted out of Paradox too leaving him just in the know as the general public. That is to say, we haven't heard jack since the character reveal of Damsel. (Which was mid 2020, by-the-way) Chris seems to think that none of the work he done on the project is being kept, Brain Mitsoda (Lead narrative) left at around the same time so maybe none of his work is being preserved either. Now baring in mind that the game as we know was revealed when both of them were still doing their contributions, what even is this game anymore?
For all we know, Paradox could turn around and throw an isometric CRPG at us and call it Vampire The Masquerade. Now would I be totally opposed to that? Maybe not entirely, depending on what they would do with such a gameplay set-up, but the point I'm trying to establish is that this silence has been utterly perplexing from a fan's perspective. (Although I'm warming up to an Original Sin style turned based RPG) Unless we're expecting some sort of huge gate-crash reveal during the game awards, and I'm not, we're about to cross an entire year and a half without updates on this project. (Sans departures) But through it all the Vegas strip has remained open for business and Bloodlines 2 is miraculously free from the chopping block. Again, that fact amazes me. Although that doesn't mean it's always been immune.
During a recent interview we actually heard a bit about the higher level management decisions that were being made on this project, curtsey of a Mr. Direkt through Avanza. (They're not some bold newcomer to the game journalism field, they're a stockbroker firm from Sweden. So this update on the game wasn't even meant for us: Paradox sure have a strange relationship with marketing) Apparently after they pulled the premature foetus-of-a-game from it's incubation, they toyed with the power of life and death they wielded in that very moment, drunk on the godlike control over eternity. That would have been the end for our little undead abomination, if it weren't for the plucky intervention of some unknown saviour who swooped in with an apparently tantalising pitch. This mysterious benefactor then wisped the babe away to the tall towers of Candlekeep, to start many years of tuition in hopes that the child's destiny may never come back to darken it.
Hmm? Sorry, I just started playing Baldur's Gate 3, I got a little confused for a time there. What was I on about? Ah, that's right: The mysterious guys who snatched Vampire's development. Some incredible-how they've managed to remain anonymous, but by the way this interview sounded it was almost as if Paradox themselves were approached on the matter, so one can assume it's a company they've worked with or are trusting of. Whatsmore, our little tattletail executive bigged up this pitch in saying that it sounded like it would live up to the 'expectations of fans', namely the expectations that they provided fans with the concerted marketing efforts before they decided they didn't like it anymore. So I guess that means I can abandon my dreams of a topdown CRPG for now, this game will at least attempt to imitate what we've seen thusfar.
Which could mean anything, to be honest, because Paradox's whims and wants are apparently so unknowable that Hardsuit Labs managed to make this game to freakin' E3 gameplay demo level of developed before the publishers realised they didn't like the direction. Heck, we don't even know if the original narrative, which I think it's fairly obvious was going to make big moves in exploring the coming apocalypse 'Gehenna' destined to descend upon the World of Darkness, it going to be kept at all. Certainly that demo has been scrapped. A lot of characters and world elements are gone. Maybe even the small cast we already know to be in the game aren't there anymore. Damsel might be totally up in smoke.
All of this leaves me in the peculiar position where I'm not entirely sure if I'm excited for this game anymore. Back when I first heard about the sequel to Bloodlines, my gut reaction was of fear that a flawed strange little RPG would be sullied by a crappy sequel. That trepidation didn't really leave until that trailer which made me fall in love, but know I'm right back to that awkward stage of club-footed flirting just before the first date. By refusing to impart any knowledge to their fans, Paradox are wantonly obfuscating the fact that this game has most likely undergone a total reimaging and revisioning behind the scenes, which I find to be quiet disingenuous and exploitative, truth be told. Still, at least we've got Bloodlines 2 still in the pipe-line, whatever that even means anymore.
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