Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

[DeeBye]

I picked this game up on a whim a few days ago. So far I am really impressed. This game is very pretty. It uses the same engine that powers HL2, which is good.

This game is an action RPG in FPS clothing. I detest pure FPS games, but I love looking at them. I love playing RPGs, so a combination of the two is perfect for me. Bloodlines fits the bill.

I really like the storyline and the quests. I haven't made it too far into the plot, but the sidequests are a ton of fun to experience.

The Ocean House hotel quest made me quiver in my booties. I'm a near-immortal vampire and there is no reason why this quest should scare the crap out of me, but it does.

If you respond, please do not spoil any plot stuff. Feel free to discuss builds and tips though. I'm currently playing as a Gangrel using Protean for combat. I've been told that Malkavians are the most fun to play, but not on the first go-around. True/False?

[jahcs]

A friend of mine played this game quite a bit when it came out. He said it desperately needed a patch (I think they released one).

Even with the problems he had (game crashes mostly) he played the game fanatically.

[DeeBye]

A friend of mine played this game quite a bit when it came out.  He said it desperately needed a patch (I think they released one).

Even with the problems he had (game crashes mostly) he played the game fanatically.
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Yeah, the game definitely has technical problems. I fixed some up with the official patch, and the rest are satiated with some unnofficial tweaks.

[Count Duckula]

The cool thing about V:tM Bloodlines is that the game's different with each race. Each race has a few quests and several dialogues only open to them, and yes, Malks get the best ones 'cause they're nutters.

[Luminon]

I've played it and though it was a great game I was a bit dissapointed with how the story turned out. Had terible framerate compared to HL2 too. Other than that I really enjoyed it.

[NiteFox]

Yeah, I was quite addicted to this game for a while. It's currently sitting installed on my computer awaiting the installation of a new graphics card I'll be getting for my birthday.

One irk that I had with the game is that, while it starts out varied and interesting with multiple paths through, it all eventually degenerates into a hardcore combat-fest; and if you haven't developed your ranged combat skills to a high degree, then the endgame becomes stupidly hard.

First time through I played a Gangrel with maxed melee/unarmed skill and a purposely-low humanity so he could practically frenzy on cue. He was an absolute monster, could tear through pretty much everything and anything without so much as breaking a sweat. Then I got to the final boss, and while there is a way to defeat it in melee, it's horribly reliant on luck. I can't possibly tell you how badly it sucks to waste your two chances at killing it only to leave it with a sliver of life. Even worse is when the boss bugs through the floor meaning you can't hit the damn thing :)

But on the whole, I loved the game. The haunted hotel scene is such a stand-out area I'll probably be taking good memories of that place with me to my grave. And of course trying to figure out Tourette. And the talking street signs. And, I swear, the only stealth section in a game I've actually liked (The museum).

[pakman]

I also have this game. I agree, that hotel scared the CRAP outta me, too. There are several parts like that, and there are so many ways to go about getting quests done. I have only made it to LA, and I stopped playing because the summer ended and I had to go back to school. I plan to pick it up again sometime. I'm a Tremere

I have never actually played the actual Vampie: The Masquerade, but I have read the rule books. I plan on getting to that sometime in the future, also.

[pakman]

Before I got sidetracked the first time from the game, I played a Malkavian. I was sitting in my chair laughing so hard sometimes at the possible responses that I couldn't concentrate on actually playing the game.

Based on the Malkavian I played in that game, I actually designed a characted to V:tM. A malkavian that thought he was a pirate. Here's the story:

When he was young he lived near the ocean in a fishing town in upper Maine where his father was a crab fisherman. He'd go out on the boat and "help" as best a kid could. He heard stories from his father about pirates, etc, and was always playing with his toy boats in the bathtub or would run around the house with a hanger pretending it to be a hook. He imagined when his dad took him fishing that he'd be looking for treasure.

Eventually he grew old enough to actually help on the boat and take over the business. However, A large coroporation started to overfish the waters and drive the production down. The business started to lose a lot of money and eventually went bankrupt. When the waters were all fished out, the company moved on to the next town where it could find profit. Robert (the name I would have used) went into deep depression and medication would not help. He stayed in the cabin on his boat, got behind on house payments, etc. In his current state he started to remember his childhood and decided to go out to sea. There was a large storm which wrecked the boat, and he somehow survived by clinging to a piece of the wreckage that floated ashore, but he was just barely alive.

It goes on from there, but I think you can get the idea. The character wouldn't always be acting like a pirate. That personality would only surface when certain "triggers" happened. But alas, I have no DM with which to test my design :(

[Rhydderch Hael]

Whatever you do, play the Malkavian character last. Play Ventrue. Play Tremere. Go to town as Brujah or Gangrel. To mix it up and have a change, go play a Nossie.

But, after you've played the same game a half-dozen times and gone through the storyline more times than you can imagine, when you know and have seen everything there is to see in the game, then play the game through as a Malkavian. You haven't seen nuthin' yet until you see the world through the eyes of a moon-mad childe of Malkav.

Kinda fits, too. The knowing-everything-beforehand aspect. Malkavians have prophetic insight and know things before most everyone else, even if they themselves cannot understand the meaning behind it.

If you make the mistake of playing Malk first, every other incarnation of the game through any other character class becomes vanilla.


It's true that the game's frame rates are choppy, the load times permit you to finish a novel between acts, and it's nigh impossible to sweet-talk or peacably manipulate your way through the endgame (fighting is the only way to go). But, for all those shortcomings, the show is damn well funny, even without the Malkavian perspective (that part merely doubles what is already a coffin-full of teh funnie). The Nossies, for example, are sardonic but strangely light-hearted, most probably a result of their twisted, hideous appearance contradicting the fact that they're, well, Hollywood's Nosferatu. Sure, they live underground and look like they've French-kissed a flamethrower, but the last thing they do is wallow in misery about it.

[roguebanshee]

Whatever you do, play the Malkavian character last. Play Ventrue. Play Tremere. Go to town as Brujah or Gangrel. To mix it up and have a change, go play a Nossie.
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Forget that nonsense, there are no other clans available than Malkavian.

[NiteFox]

the load times permit you to finish a novel between acts,
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Y'know, that never affected me. I was always getting nice and fast load times and I don't know why :ph34r:

[Artega]

Besides technical issues, my only beef was the fact that ranged combat in the game was mostly for show, and melee combat was mind-numbingly repetitive.

[NiteFox]

If you respond, please do not spoil any plot stuff.  Feel free to discuss builds and tips though.  I'm currently playing as a Gangrel using Protean for combat.
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My first character. Let's discuss yours.

There are two real problems with Gangrel characters: The first is that, combat-wise, a Brujah with good celerity can dish out much more damage combined with potence than a Gangrel with protean. The second is that a Gangrel's playstyle will coherce a player to naturally forego any ranged combat skills - Of course, ranged combat in this game isn't good at all until you get to the highest levels; and even then you can still shred anything with melee and unarmed combat without so much as breaking a sweat, close-quarters is the way to go throughout the entire game with a few minor exceptions (Unless you're a wussy Tremere or Ventrue). A few bosses might be easier with ranged, and one of the final bosses almost requires ranged combat - unless you get lucky in ways that I couldn't.

Although this is a spoiler, it's vital to know: You get to choose which group you can affiliate with for the endgame, and which group you side with depends on what final stages you go through to end the game. Ironically for Gangrel, the one that avoids 'the' final boss that meleeists would have problems with is also against the bloodline profile - I didn't pick it because, well, I was a Gangrel. And Gangrels wouldn't pick that path. If you are willing to swallow your pride, then you can go that way and be rewarded with an easier path and a suckier ending :)

Animalism: Okay, Nightwisp Ravens is a very useful skill. In fact, it's more useful than the rest of the animalism tree put together. Oh, sure; you can summon pretty Spectral Wolves to tear apart an opponent, but by investing instead in stealth and keeping Animalism at level one you can almost certainly guarantee a stealth kill using stealth to sneak and Ravens to distract. By the end of the game, 90% of my kills were neckbreakers or katana stabs, the rest were protean/fortitude scraps.

In fact, stealth is the way to go. If enemies are positioned in a corridor, chances are you won't be able to sneak up on them, but if there's enough room to get around them then do so - Stealth kills act as advertised, and a room full of enemies won't even flinch at the fact that their friends are vanishing one by one unless they happen to be looking directly at a stealth kill in action.

Otherwise, boost your unarmed, boost protean to the max, boost fortitude to the max and then you'll be something no Brujah can match - An infernal tank. Brujah might be able to kill with obscenely quick hit-and-fade celerity/potence strikes, but a Gangrel can practically wade in and soak up a stack of damage before dishing it back out.

Also, don't waste anything on Inspection. Apparently, this helps finding hidden items but nothing is implemented in such a way that any points in this attribute is useless. If, after dealing with combat/attribute skills, then protean/fortitude, and sneaking, invest in the likes of hacking and lockpicking since both skills are useful almost trhoughout the game; lockpicking moreso. Of course, if you want to be cheap you can save the points in hacking and find a list of all the computer passwords online ;) Stuff in computers is almost never critical with a few special circumstances, while there will always be locked doors.

[DeeBye]

In fact, stealth is the way to go.
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I've never been a big fan of stealth gameplay. I prefer to just wade in and hope the bad guys take more lumps than I do, even if it means reloading a quicksave 20 times before I can clear out a roomfull. Even so, I have been using stealth when necessary.

So far I have been mostly concentrating on Protean and the unarmed combat skills, but I'm still early in the game (just arrived at LA downtown).

I still can't get over how visually appealing this game is. The graphics are pure awesome. All of the NPCs I've run into are intriguing and well-voiced. The Jeanette/Tourette bombshell made me lose my monacle, and poor ole Chunk is a lovable sort of fellow.

Also, Ministry did a song for this game. Cool stuff.

[Rhydderch Hael]

...  The Jeanette/Tourette bombshell made me lose my monacle, ...
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Saw that one coming a mile away. The great Voermann family secret is that, well, there is no such thing as the Voermann family secret. I'm just surprised Therese was able to hold it together well enough to pass muster as Ventrue.

Though, through one insult in a certain conversation with Jeanette, you get a hint at what is realy going on.

Beckett is a riot, though, in a dry, warped sense.

So, you've entered the Downtown stage, which means you've seen the cutscene leading up to it. When that Sabbat 'broke the fourth wall', it was about the funniest thing I've ever seen in a game, and the last thing you'd expect in something that involved vampires.

[Mithrandir]

I read about this game when it first came out, but basically every review I read stated that the game was marred by some serious bugs and glitches. How much better is it now? Do you still have to fight through some things or is it definitely worth picking up now?

It's too bad Troika had to go down though... I really enjoyed Arcanum.

[NiteFox]

I read about this game when it first came out, but basically every review I read stated that the game was marred by some serious bugs and glitches. How much better is it now? Do you still have to fight through some things or is it definitely worth picking up now?

It's too bad Troika had to go down though... I really enjoyed Arcanum.
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It's... Not much better, frankly. Even with the official patch.

But hey, that never stopped Fallout 2 or KotOR2 from being excellent games, and there's a whole slew of fan-made patches that clean up the mess.

[pakman]

I just picked up where I left off after reading the thread :-D, and I took care of a couple missions in LA. I forgot how much I really enjoyed playing this game.

[DeeBye]

I just picked up where I left off after reading the thread :-D, and I took care of a couple missions in LA. I forgot how much I really enjoyed playing this game.
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Yeah, the gameplay is absolutely fanstastic but it really sucks about the slowness and bugginess about the game. When I want to play it, I click the desktop shortcut and then find something else to do for the next 10 minutes or so while it loads. Just tonight I loaded a savegame and it promptly crashed to desktop without me doing anything. I played D2 instead.

If they would have ironed out those issues, this might be one of the best games ever made. As it stands, it can be an excercise in frustration.

[pakman]

I'd check out fileshack or search shacknews (http://www.shacknews.com) for fan patches. I remember there being a post about it once. I really don't have a problem with the load times. :unsure: