Bloodlines 2 ain't dead yet!

 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a decent part of me feels that the game we saw advertised in that trailer that we loved is going to seem incredibly out of date if we ever do see the game, but Paradox want's everyone to know that the 'delay hammer' hasn't been switched for the 'cancel hammer'.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.

Is Vampire Bloodline's development a Masquerade?

 Two

There has been one story that I've been pointedly avoiding for a while now in the hopes that it was all a bad dream. Perhaps I would wake up one day and look at my news feed only to see one huge emblazoned "Gotcha! Sincerely from the folks over at Paradox Interactive" But as we barrel ever closer to the date that was meant to be the originally revised launch window of 'Vampire Masquerade The Bloodlines 2' it's becoming increasingly difficult to deny the truth, that this game that I've been secretly thirsting, what feels like a lifetime, for is undergoing development difficulties. And just to be clear, I'm not talking about the kind of difficulties wherein you hear "Ah nuts, we messed up and there's some more bugs than we originally thought there would be" but rather the kind of complications that fester to the point where serious concerns are being raised as to how steady the entire team is right now. I don't want to be the one throwing stones here, but I'm really starting to worry about the game we're going to be getting.

For those unaware, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines has been very important both to me and this blog ever since I started it. I found the game as a recommendation of a recommendation, and it was one of those titles that you hear about and forget time after time. Every now and then I'd bite the bullet and look up some screens and gameplay, but each time I'd come back concluding that it looked kinda weird and bad and completely forget about it. But that changed when one day I ended up getting it on sale and it's safe to say that I never looked back. Rare is it that one comes across a purely abnormal and weird title that completely turns on it's own head so very often and cleverly, with memorable characters, moments and choices throughout. Was the game rough? Yes. Was some of the dialogue clunky? (Especially some of the player's dialogue choices) Yes. But was the game charming enough to endure as one of my favourite oddball RPGs of all time? Also yes. 

And to make this a little more about the blog specifically for a moment, one of my very first blogs I ever did, (hold on... no it was actually my very first blog) was about Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 and how excited it made me. I remember diving into that blog and really enjoying just spilling everything about my personal love for the title, and finally getting my own opinion out there. It also got me to look up things about the game and I was amazed about how many other people loved the things I loved about. And I even found some on the opposite side of the fence, like how some outlet somewhere was criticizing the portrayal of the Voerman twins, which encouraged me to refute and explain how in actuality they were the highlight of the game's writing and completely inkeeping with the lore of the source material. (Also, they were voiced by Azula, so show some respect.)

Somehow this has made the Vampire game deeply personal to me in a manner that I hadn't really expected it to ever be. Thus whenever I read articles about the troubles the game is going through I end up taking it weirdly to heart as though my own child is up there receiving ridicule. (Which is ridiculous, I admit, but that's just the way it is.) Of course, what I'm talking about in this instance is the removal of key staff from the project in very foreboding ways. Recently the senior Narrative designer decided to quit both the game and the company working on it, Hardsuit labs,  a couple of months after the firing of the creative director and the lead writer. That last one especially hit me hard as Brian worked on the original, in fact, he was one of the reasons that I was deeply excited to see this sequel with the promise that it would remember what made the original great. Now he's gone and rumours claim it was a very turbulent departure too.

All of these are like blaring sirens warning everyone that there's almost definitely severe troubles with this game and maybe we should be bracing for something heading our way. I'm not saying that there might be a cancellation, but I don't think it'd be the first time that a VTMB 2 project got canned. That being said the release date has been indefinitely pushed back, so at least things aren't being rushed into a messy sequel that ruins all the things I loved from the first game, but sometimes it doesn't matter how long you dedicate to a project if the ingredients are wrong. And if so many key cooks have abandoned the kitchen, who's to say anyone can even make sense of the recipe anymore. (Is that analogy stretched a little too thin? Maybe overcooked a little? Okay, I'll stop.) I know I'm not the only person who has officially entered nail-biting mode right now, and concerns might be rising within the studio too. (No one is comfortable when the bosses start getting fired.)

But just in case you're perhaps thinking I'm making mountains out of anthills over here, let me direct you to another game that was struck with similar staff departures in the leadup to it's launch. You ever heard of, 'Mass Effect Andromeda'? A game that I still attest came out 4 years too soon, not because it was underdeveloped but because the franchise needed time to become nostalgic before it was bought back; Mass Effect Andromeda has become something of a poster child for troubled development processes. Fraught with complications, overambition, withdrawn resources and key staff turnover: it really is quite telling that it wasn't until the ill-advised early-play sessions with the public that folk started to notice this game wasn't baked nearly as well as it really should have been. Bioware were heroes to the western RPG community before then, and since that mess of a game they have been as much pariahs as modern day Bethesda. (Even though I'd argue Bethesda's fall from grace has been all around worse.) Does a similar fate await VTMB 2? I certainly pray not.

What especially sucks about this was that things seemed so smooth for so long that I actually let my guard down. Truth be told when I first heard about a VTMB sequel my guttural first reaction was distaste in having something that I loved so personally bought out and thrown into the spotlight. It felt like having a memory of mine shared without my sayso, thus I was concerned from the get go and had to turn myself around to the idea. In fact it wasn't until that Christmas themed 'Come dance' trailer that I threw aside all reservations and screamed "Yes! They got it!". Now it seems that I was premature in my celebration and the game we were promised in that brilliant little tease may never make it to consoles. (God I hope I'm wrong.)

So we approach the year end and VTMB2 has been delayed out of 2020 and all news surrounding it has been exclusively covering and speculating on the departures. I haven't the experience with game design nor the sources to definitively conclude what this all means, but I have hope that things may come around on the otherside despite it all. Over everything else I want Vampire the Masquerade bloodlines to be both good and a success, to make up for the cult reputation that it's predecessor has never been able to shake. I want 'The World of Darkness' to hit the mainstream in a fashion similar to how 'Cyberpunk' has and I want to play as a particularly dickish vampire who either learns to have a heart as the narrative goes on or becomes the embodiment of pure asshole by the end. (I was waiting for the storyline to help me decide.) Fingers crossed that these delays don't banish the hope for all those milestones, but just pushes them back. (I put my faith in you, Paradox and Hardsuit)