Vampire the Masquerade 2 has me confused

Or should that be: Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2-2?

Bloodlines 2 again again

 I've just been in this time before...

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a decent part of me feels that the game we saw advertised in that trailer that we loved is going to seem incredibly out of date if we ever do see the game, but Paradox want's everyone to know that the 'delay hammer' hasn't been switched for the 'cancel hammer'.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

VTMB2 isn't coming out. Is it?

Facing the hard truths.

I've mentioned it before, but 'Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2' will forever have a special place in this blog as literally being the very first game that I wrote about. There's a special reverence reserved for your first foray, and though I'm typically not a sentimental person (Or at least I try not to be) VTMB 2 seems somewhat personal for me. Silly though it seems, considering that the I was never really too attached to the VTM franchise despite adoring the original, I've been pining for this sequel for a hot minute now. I had no idea about the other old school Vampire the Masquerade game, 'Redemption', which literally took my ideal concept for a vampire game and bought it to life. (Following your vampiric character through several periods throughout history) I had no idea about the Worlds of Darkness source material beyond it's name, and I didn't know about the sheer bevy or related franchises branching off onto all manner of supernatural beasties. I was a casual fan at best. (Heck, I still am. I just know about all these other branches of fandom; I still haven't had the chance to explore them.) And yet, whenever news comes our way about VTMB 2, positive or otherwise, I take it to heart like a parent adhering their child. (Or I suppose, a friend adhering their friend would perhaps be more appropriate.)

So in the ever immortal words of- quick google search- Barry Manilow? (Ew) "I feel sad when you're sad". And today I'd imagine that the video game branch of 'Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2' feels very sad because, as much as I rage against my very core to admit it, this game has finally completed every single possible checkbox to be considered 'a title with troubled development.' How many games have made it through this sort of nightmare and turned out decent? Even with my overbearing knowledge of gaming I had to look this up for clarification and ended up in the darkest recesses of the Internet for sources. (That's right; I went to Whatculture. May the Lord have mercy on my freshly damned soul.) And to be honest; a lot of the games that I saw there were 'maybe good depending on your taste', thus not spelling out a very hopeful road for VTMB. I mean LA Noire was good, FFXV was liked by me but hated by a lot out there and I'm sorry but I just did not like Alan Wake at all. Unless there's a clear cut- wait, DOOM? 2016's DOOM was so far gone into development hell that work on it had to be rebooted in 2011? And now it's an undeniable masterpiece! Okay than; VTMB 2 just needs to be completely restarted and undergo another 5 years of development to be good; that's no biggie, right?

Yes indeed, it seems we have a development cycle of shock layoffs, mass development studio shifts and everlasting delays; such to the point where I find myself asking that most lamentable of questions: Is VTMB 2 ever going to come out? Is this going to end up one of those unreleaseable projects like Chaos Walking. (In all fairness; that trailer did look terrible) I mean what's worse; just cancelling the game outright and letting us all imagine the greatness it might have reached, or committing to releasing a bad game and dispelling that illusion in a manner that might hurt future efforts from your company through sheer reputation knock-back? Is the sweet lie better than the terrible truth? I think 2020 rather handily showed us that gamers will no longer flock to your game if it's terrible unless you've already been grandfathered into the yearly customer subscription like the Madden games have or COD and AC. Maybe that's an indication that the vestigial limb is best removed in situations like these. >Sigh< Look at me, arguing for why VTMB 2 should be cancelled. What has led me to this place?

Well maybe that has something to do with the entire development studio being unceremoniously jettisoned. That's right, Paradox Interactive, the folk behind the curtain, have made the dual decision to kick Hardsuit labs to the curb and delay the game itself indefinitely. (Although that second decision is more just the automatic shockwave of doing something as crazy as firing your development team just under a year before your prospective launch) This comes after the lead writer, Brain Mitsoda and the game director Ka'ai Cluney; were kicked off the project for undisclosed reasons. Brian, by-the-by, was lead writer on VTMB 1 and Mr Cluney worked on Quake and F.E.A.R; meaning there must have been some serious, earthshattering direction disagreements going on behind the scenes to justify all the turbulence that Paradox has been going through. If I didn't know that Jason Schrier isn't currently kicking down doors over at Hardsuit in order to get this story, I'd be tempted to speculate.

For their part, Paradox wants to paint the picture that this is an amicable parting between the two, taking time in their announcement to 'honour' the work of Hardsuit and mention how their work on the game will be instrumental to it's coming out. But if that's the case then why were they fired? Now I don't wanna act like I know more than I do or anything, I'm sure there could be entirely normal and sane reasons for this breakup like... umm...I'm drawing a blank here... Oh, maybe Hardsuit took on another job and couldn't spare staff! (Yeah I know that's a dumb excuse; I'm trying here!) I just can't shake this underlying fear that either the game is in flames or Paradox are absolutely disgusted with the direction. (The latter would certainly explain the high-level firings better.) Yeah, I'm pretty sure that PR-speak departure note isn't going to age particularly well when the whole story inevitably lands.

But this isn't quite the end of the road, not yet. Because Paradox are already in close discussion with their replacement which is- oh they haven't said yet. It's okay though, we wouldn't know them anyway; they go to a different school. It is time to start freaking out yet? Because this is sounding like a disaster on wheels right now. This is shaping up like the forbidden recipe for total unabashed disaster and there's nothing to do on our end but sit and watch it unfold. Actually, I don't even think Anthem's development troubles were this transparent, and certainly not Cyberpunk's, what hope is there that this might turn out as a worthwhile sequel? (Paradox has stopped accepting Pre-orders, man, this is serious!) My only hail-mary plan would literally be Paradox just selling off the project to Rockstar or someone to be made, cause otherwise this is gonna end up as nothing more than new-age vaporware.

What makes this all the more heart-breaking is the fact that around this game the Vampire The Masquerade franchise has appeared to be slowly coming back into fashion through way of smaller, yet still intriguing, titles. There's 'Coteries of New York' and 'Shadows of New York' which are both VN's, as well as 'Night Road', 'Parliament of Knives' and 'Out for Blood', which are all text based adventures. There's also 'Swansong' which is said to be a narrative-focused roleplaying game that follows three protagonists, although there's no actual word on what the gameplay is shaping up as. (Feel like that would help) And, apparently, there's also a Battle Royale being made. I'm thinking that last one is a joke, but Sharkmob (the new studio who are taking it up) certainly don't seem to be in on it. Every single game I mentioned either came out in the last two years or is due out this year, indicative of a new wave of VTM interest that very much should have been spearheaded by Bloodlines 2. But that's looking more and more unlikely as the development bombshells drop and I grow increasingly jaded.

Hey, best case scenario we are all wrong and this is also frighteningly good news. The game's been delayed for another year and every extra moment results in an even better game that lives up to every expectation raised since that trailer. (A trailer which I still think is brilliant by-the-by.) My favourite vampire game gets a proper sequel, and The World of Darkness continues is slow accent to more mainstream appeal. But that's the talk of fantasy, and unfortunately we don't live in one of those. If there's any lesson to learn after 2020 is that fairytales don't exist and redflags are there to curb expectations, so consider this me officially departing the hype train and marking that thing off for fumigation; I can get my vampire fix elsewhere. 

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) 

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

It was a graveyard smash 

Oh, how long it has been? Ya'll probably not know this, but all the way at the start of this blog the very first entry I wrote (excluding my introduction) was a piece about 'Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2'. Of course, back then I used literally no screenshots of the game for some stupid reason, but I wasn't quite as atrocious as I might have imagined. (I did waffle on for a bit, but then I still do that know so I guess things don't really change, now do they?) To save you a trip, I basically spoke about my history with the flawed but classic predecessor to this game and implied at how incredibly stoked I am to get my hands on this title. (It's been literal years.) To that end I am over the moon to hear that another trailer dropped alongside the Series X gameplay event, and in the light of the last two titles from that event which disappointed me, I'm more than willing to cover something that I know won't. (I even made sure not to watch the trailer until this exact moment, so my thoughts are as raw as can be.)

Okay, so coming away from the trailer straight I'm intrigued by this slightly more whimsical attitude from the trailer, but not at all put off. In fact, a lot of what made the first game so instantly lovable was it's dark humour and this trailer had some very dark humour. As there is little information on the full game to go on (something which I delight in) I will be partaking in a little bit of guesswork to interpret what we're seeing. Although I will take a quick moment to note that whilst this may have been a cinematic, there are a few hints of gameplay to look at for those who only want that. (Now that's out of the way go watch the trailer then come back, it's good I promise.)

Now the trailer kicks off with something very interesting in that there is a Christmas tree being decorated, that alongside the festive jaunt that accompanies this trailer looks like a pretty clear hint that this game is still on for release some time this year, probably around November/December time. (I doubt they'll make Halloween.) Aside from the meta-connotations of this moment, what is perhaps also of note is the devilishly grotesque scene itself. We see a family strung up around their Christmas tree with their faces contorted by hooks into bloody smiles that, to me, brings to mind the effect of the Joker's laughing gas, somewhat. Similarly, we have several scenes of characters dancing to themselves in this trailer which conveys that irreverent, not-a-care-in-the-world attitude that one usually associates with the clown prince of crime.

Starring in this massacre we have- shall we call him 'puppetmaster'? (For want of a better name) Now unless I'm much mistaken this appears to be the same fellow who is front and centre on a lot of VTMB2's marketing, implying he is a fellow of some import. In the art he's typically depicted reaching a hand out, as though inviting the viewer into the World of Darkness. (tm) Originally I just assumed that he was the player character's sire (the person who turned you into a vampire) but after this I'm thinking that he may have a more pivotal, maybe even antagonistic, role in the game. Now I'm not just saying this because he's in a room full of strung up bodies that he presumably murdered, VTM isn't exactly renowned for being a series full of virtuous characters (is about Vampires afterall) but his general depiction of aloof indifference in such carnage just screams 'disruptive force' to me. Given the story of the last game focused on a vampire faction trying to assert order on LA, I'd imagine this puppetmaster fellow would represent a handy antithesis of all their doctrines.

From here another highlight of the trailer is the gameplay snippets and once again I am totally swept away by how the visual direction stands out so well. We feel the gloom the midnight LA streets but are never assaulted with the same dull colour. In the streets we get that yellow glow of florescent lights whilst away from the main street the pale blue moon illuminates the scene. It's such a perfect example of all the ways in which one can make the night-time shimmer without losing it's allure and mystery. This is one of the reason why I am so sold on the ability of this team to deliver the vampire game of this generation; they know all the little details to focus on in order to build up to the main course.

Beyond that there is a smattering of CG scenes placed about in order to give a feel of the sort of world we will be entering. There's some mystical world manipulation hinting at some of the magical aspects of this world taking more of a forefront this time around, or maybe just a Ubisoft-style dream sequence. (I really hope it's not the latter, though. I've seen enough dream sequences off of Ubisoft to last a lifetime.) One moment shows an unidentified suit dancing in his empty penthouse with the lights off, could this be a member of the Camarilla, or just an extra from Yakuza who stepped into the wrong game? And, of course, in order to ensure everyone that they're still making the same game we all got excited for last E3, Paradox showed us a familiar face in Elif, luring a hapless dancer in for some healthy neck munching. (Which, on an unrelated note, most be a pretty silly move to pull at your own bar. Aren't people going to stop showing up when they hear about people disappearing after a night out? Talk about poaching your own client base. Literally)

If there is one thing that I will say, and this is going to start becoming a bit of a chorus for these blogs at this point, I have no idea what business this trailer had for representing the Xbox Series X. Don't misread me, I adore getting another look at this world but I came away no more sold on the Series X than I already wasn't. Sure the textures look nice, I guess, the gameplay looked smooth, kinda; Am I supposed to be enticed by the HDR? The One X can pull of as good High Dynamic Range as any other console out there on the market right now, so what am I supposed to be impressed by? I worry for Microsoft if even their best games don't really represent what makes their console so special, because at that point you've just spent your whole event advertising other people's games. (Which is great for me, but sort of a waste of time for them.)

But alas, I have no actual stake in how Microsoft choose to market their console so I'll instead just bask in the glory of the trailer I've been granted. It's been a while since real quality RPGs were present in the modern market and right now I'm looking at a holiday season that's teasing three, and that's just dandy where I'm sitting. Oh, and to put a cherry on it all, VTMB will make use of that handy 'smart delivery' system just in case you couldn't live with yourself without seeing the shadows of LA pop like the developers intended. (Although again, I'm sure the One X can pull that off to a similar, if not identical, standard.) All minor complaints aside, I loved this trailer and right now I'm thinking that the afterlife hasn't looked more enticing!