Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is an awesome game and it was love at first sight, of course, being launched at 2004 has a lot of aged things and some problems related to the game itself.
First of all, i think VTMB really should to be more appreciated, it is a very precious experience. Has a deep story/lore, characters are great, good quests(until end of Hollywood and Chinatown) and it's so immersive that is hard until nowadays a game to do.
Obviously, this game is not perfect. At the end, some things looks rushed, the paths which earlier looks so natural in the end this aspect disappear, a few new good characters appears. The worst part about this game is the combat, aged like milk.Both gunplay and melee are a painful experience to going through, but i think this game really deserves a opportunity despite its flaws.
First of all, i think VTMB really should to be more appreciated, it is a very precious experience. Has a deep story/lore, characters are great, good quests(until end of Hollywood and Chinatown) and it's so immersive that is hard until nowadays a game to do.
Obviously, this game is not perfect. At the end, some things looks rushed, the paths which earlier looks so natural in the end this aspect disappear, a few new good characters appears. The worst part about this game is the combat, aged like milk.Both gunplay and melee are a painful experience to going through, but i think this game really deserves a opportunity despite its flaws.
Triste não ser uma obra-prima, foi ambicioso demais pra época, os diálogos, roteiro, introdução e principalmente ambientação são perfeitos, a estética me agrada muito com essa coisa meio Nu Metal com Evanescence e Neo-Noir, é também um jogo muito bonito em valores técnicos, o rosto e as expressões faciais são mais bem feitos do que em jogos lançados ano passado, gosto também dessa mistura de gêneros, um immersive com possibilidade de jogar como FPS e ainda sendo um CRPG com uma pegada bem clássica só que em 3D, tipo, o jogo não tem mapa, tu é sempre guiado de forma orgânica e com o tempo tu te familiariza completamente com todos as 4 regiões de Los Angeles.
Um dos grandes brilhos com certeza são as formas variadas de lidar com as quests e como elas conversam com o ambiente e a protagonista (joguei com uma Gangrel), ela é uma recém abraçada que não conhece a sociedade vampírica mas, o destino faz ela entrar numa literal espiral de merda, o ápice disso é em Hollywood, não apenas adentrando mais ainda no submundo dos mortos mas também no dos vivos, questões envolvendo celebridades, intrigas, strippers, prostituição, pornografia e filmes snuff são colocados em primeiro plano e tudo isso conectado de forma maestral.
Por se passar em lugares como Hollywood e Chinatown é claro que é repleto de referências, principalmente ao cinema, tem um vampiro muito bom que deixa bem claro que está por trás dos grandes cineastas americanos do século passado, tem uma side quest envolvendo zumbi que é baseado num filme giallo e tem um personagem chamado Romero, mas tem um lance que me chamou muito a atenção, talvez não seja uma referência, provavelmente é só uma coincidência, mas a forma que algumas questões dos vampiros é tratada me lembra muito os X-Men, tem uma situação em específico na main quest que é exatamente igual ao massacre dos Morlocks.
Mas chegando na parte triste, é de conhecimento geral que a Troika faliu na reta final de desenvolvimento, isso é o motivo de todos os problemas do jogo, a versão base não da pra jogar sem o UF por causa da quantidade de bugs, mesmo com o UF teve side quests que não pude terminar e teve 3 main quets no final que tomei softlock e tive que usar console command pra poder prosseguir. O combate é terrível, principalmente corpo a corpo, se tivesse lock já ajudava muito, o melhor a se fazer é investir em armas de fogo e nas disciplinas, isso até não é tão problemático, Planescape Torment, por exemplo, também tem um combate ruim e mesmo assim é um grande jogo, acho que o maior problema mesmo acaba sendo algumas quests na reta final que acabaram não sendo bem desenvolvidas e polidas, algumas feitas de forma corrida e outras simplesmente apelando pra ondas e mais ondas de inimigos, quebrando muito a questão do immersive sim que regrava o jogo de tu ter formas diferentes de fazer as coisas, a última quest é só tiro e foda-se, ainda mais sendo um rpg aonde tu não ganha xp derrotando inimigos, tu só enfrenta eles pq faz parte da quest ou são obstáculos ou apenas pelo roleplay de matar todo mundo mesmo.
Basicamente é isso, uma obra fantástica que, por uma infelicidade, não conseguiu alcançar todo o potencial que tinha de talvez ser um dos melhores jogos de todos os tempos, só resta lamentar e aceitar o fato de que nunca outro jogo nesse universo vai ser tão bom assim.
Um dos grandes brilhos com certeza são as formas variadas de lidar com as quests e como elas conversam com o ambiente e a protagonista (joguei com uma Gangrel), ela é uma recém abraçada que não conhece a sociedade vampírica mas, o destino faz ela entrar numa literal espiral de merda, o ápice disso é em Hollywood, não apenas adentrando mais ainda no submundo dos mortos mas também no dos vivos, questões envolvendo celebridades, intrigas, strippers, prostituição, pornografia e filmes snuff são colocados em primeiro plano e tudo isso conectado de forma maestral.
Por se passar em lugares como Hollywood e Chinatown é claro que é repleto de referências, principalmente ao cinema, tem um vampiro muito bom que deixa bem claro que está por trás dos grandes cineastas americanos do século passado, tem uma side quest envolvendo zumbi que é baseado num filme giallo e tem um personagem chamado Romero, mas tem um lance que me chamou muito a atenção, talvez não seja uma referência, provavelmente é só uma coincidência, mas a forma que algumas questões dos vampiros é tratada me lembra muito os X-Men, tem uma situação em específico na main quest que é exatamente igual ao massacre dos Morlocks.
Mas chegando na parte triste, é de conhecimento geral que a Troika faliu na reta final de desenvolvimento, isso é o motivo de todos os problemas do jogo, a versão base não da pra jogar sem o UF por causa da quantidade de bugs, mesmo com o UF teve side quests que não pude terminar e teve 3 main quets no final que tomei softlock e tive que usar console command pra poder prosseguir. O combate é terrível, principalmente corpo a corpo, se tivesse lock já ajudava muito, o melhor a se fazer é investir em armas de fogo e nas disciplinas, isso até não é tão problemático, Planescape Torment, por exemplo, também tem um combate ruim e mesmo assim é um grande jogo, acho que o maior problema mesmo acaba sendo algumas quests na reta final que acabaram não sendo bem desenvolvidas e polidas, algumas feitas de forma corrida e outras simplesmente apelando pra ondas e mais ondas de inimigos, quebrando muito a questão do immersive sim que regrava o jogo de tu ter formas diferentes de fazer as coisas, a última quest é só tiro e foda-se, ainda mais sendo um rpg aonde tu não ganha xp derrotando inimigos, tu só enfrenta eles pq faz parte da quest ou são obstáculos ou apenas pelo roleplay de matar todo mundo mesmo.
Basicamente é isso, uma obra fantástica que, por uma infelicidade, não conseguiu alcançar todo o potencial que tinha de talvez ser um dos melhores jogos de todos os tempos, só resta lamentar e aceitar o fato de que nunca outro jogo nesse universo vai ser tão bom assim.
Not bad, in fact it's quite refreshing to seeing the early 2000's aesthetics translated into a game. It's funny, I would have probably thought it was total cringe back then but now seeing these scantly clad ladies dance to goth music feels me with a sense of immersion and melancholy, specially after using the money command.
Still, the game is far from perfect. While it has a great deal of roleplaying options combat just doesn't work very well, at least in melee, and specially towards the end (before that I would say it's fine, even good). Level design also sucks when it matters the most: hubs, bars, etc. all look great but the sewers? The hotel where you go kill the Sabbat? The asian vampire temple? Instead of being set pieces like, let's say, a Yakuza game, they simply suck ass.
I also felt like I made a mistake by focusing in melee by the end, made my experience a bit miserable with the combination of those 2 factors I have mentioned.
It's also rather buggy, even after all these years and even after applying most recent Unofficial Patch. At one point I couldn't even get inside my apartment in Downton due to the clutter having being transformed into giant boulders, not kidding. Or the taxi disappearing and leaving the driver floating in the air. The camera also goes insane rather frequently.
The endings I've seen are nothing to write home about sadly.
Overall I think that it deserves to be taken into consideration and recommended but I also think it might be a bit overrated.
Still, the game is far from perfect. While it has a great deal of roleplaying options combat just doesn't work very well, at least in melee, and specially towards the end (before that I would say it's fine, even good). Level design also sucks when it matters the most: hubs, bars, etc. all look great but the sewers? The hotel where you go kill the Sabbat? The asian vampire temple? Instead of being set pieces like, let's say, a Yakuza game, they simply suck ass.
I also felt like I made a mistake by focusing in melee by the end, made my experience a bit miserable with the combination of those 2 factors I have mentioned.
It's also rather buggy, even after all these years and even after applying most recent Unofficial Patch. At one point I couldn't even get inside my apartment in Downton due to the clutter having being transformed into giant boulders, not kidding. Or the taxi disappearing and leaving the driver floating in the air. The camera also goes insane rather frequently.
The endings I've seen are nothing to write home about sadly.
Overall I think that it deserves to be taken into consideration and recommended but I also think it might be a bit overrated.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is like an early 2000s emo/rock vampire version of Cyberpunk 2077, but better in a lot of ways, in my opinion.
The story and characters are very interesting and are some of the best qualities of this game. I really didnt expect some of the crackhead interactions I have gotten and I'm very pleased with how a lot of quests had some very unique interactions. The dialogue in this game is fucking hilarious. The NPCs with their silly mannerisms and most importantly, the main characters dialogue choices in response to those silly characters, even responses to the serious characters/situations were very unhinged. Dialogue choices ranged from the standard "yes man" to the "hell no" to "im gonna kill you because i feel like it" to "early 2000s political commentary", and more out of pocket ass responses. Even your characters vampire subspecies affects dialogue. I was a Nosferatu, a notoriously hideous vampire. So many NPCs will comment on my disgusting figure, from shock/disgust to concern, and the response back from my character is always a delight to see.
The combat gives you many tools to your arsenal to approach fights, especially with the powers your characters vampire subspecies inherits. These powers can greatly change and enhance how you play the game, or you can choose to ignore them for simple run around and shoot people/hit them with sharp stick. Beware though, those boss fights are tough! Bring lots of blood bags.
The only and major downside to this game for me is the traveling. Your player character is SO slow and there is no sprint. The fast travel is barebones and meant to be immersive I guess, but ends up being a pain. The traveling is especially painful late game when you have unlocked all the areas and side quests make you run back and forth between them. It burnt me out to the point I had to take a break from the game.
Will note: I played this game on PC with an Unofficial Patch mod installed to fix a lot of bugs. There were still quite a few bugs, even progress blocking bugs. You should save often and make a lot of seperate saves.
I really enjoyed my time with this game, way more than I thought I would. I honestly only played it because Funhaus (RIP) played it in one of their videos and shit on it, so I thought I would do the same. This game honestly blew me away and was a treat to play. I highly recommend playing this game (with the Unofficial Patch installed if you're on PC) if you are a fan of Cyberpunk 2077.
The story and characters are very interesting and are some of the best qualities of this game. I really didnt expect some of the crackhead interactions I have gotten and I'm very pleased with how a lot of quests had some very unique interactions. The dialogue in this game is fucking hilarious. The NPCs with their silly mannerisms and most importantly, the main characters dialogue choices in response to those silly characters, even responses to the serious characters/situations were very unhinged. Dialogue choices ranged from the standard "yes man" to the "hell no" to "im gonna kill you because i feel like it" to "early 2000s political commentary", and more out of pocket ass responses. Even your characters vampire subspecies affects dialogue. I was a Nosferatu, a notoriously hideous vampire. So many NPCs will comment on my disgusting figure, from shock/disgust to concern, and the response back from my character is always a delight to see.
The combat gives you many tools to your arsenal to approach fights, especially with the powers your characters vampire subspecies inherits. These powers can greatly change and enhance how you play the game, or you can choose to ignore them for simple run around and shoot people/hit them with sharp stick. Beware though, those boss fights are tough! Bring lots of blood bags.
The only and major downside to this game for me is the traveling. Your player character is SO slow and there is no sprint. The fast travel is barebones and meant to be immersive I guess, but ends up being a pain. The traveling is especially painful late game when you have unlocked all the areas and side quests make you run back and forth between them. It burnt me out to the point I had to take a break from the game.
Will note: I played this game on PC with an Unofficial Patch mod installed to fix a lot of bugs. There were still quite a few bugs, even progress blocking bugs. You should save often and make a lot of seperate saves.
I really enjoyed my time with this game, way more than I thought I would. I honestly only played it because Funhaus (RIP) played it in one of their videos and shit on it, so I thought I would do the same. This game honestly blew me away and was a treat to play. I highly recommend playing this game (with the Unofficial Patch installed if you're on PC) if you are a fan of Cyberpunk 2077.