Some time has already passed from the actual reveal but Paradox Interactive has been able to wait until E3 2019 to put all the cards on the table and show us something more concrete about Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The title in question is full of great expectations, especially for fans of the first chapter which, at the time, was a real pearl of the Western GDR and which, in our opinion, has aged quite well, so much so that the basic principles will be the same for the second chapter.
This time, the backdrop to the adventures of our vampire will no longer be Santa Monica but Seattle, a very popular location in the gaming world lately (Infamous 2 and The Last of Us Part II tell you something?). obviously the aim will always be to climb the Camarilla, the vampire society that lives in the shadow of the human one, keeping the "masquerade" to stay alive, away from the oppression and violence of the human world. This is by no means to say that vampire society is devoid of plots, conspiracies, violence and depravity. Already the first chapter of Bloodlines had made all this clear and what is expected from its sequel is that it reaches at least the quality of its predecessor.
The news is not slow to arrive, in fact in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 various clans of vampires will be available including Brujah, Tremere, Ventrue, Toreador and Malkavian. Clan membership will obviously mark some aspects of our adventure and will also lay the foundations for the myriad of dialogue options that we will find along our path: this is in fact one of the prerogatives of Bloodlines that will be re-proposed and further deepened, as also shown in the trailers at E3 2019, and this can only give us hope.
Our vampire will obviously grow his skill base over time. From the gameplay shown there are three main arts which will be nebulization, chiropterization and mentalism. Of these, in the 18 minutes of the trailer, the first is deepened: several times the character guided by the player turns into fog to cross the ventilation ducts or use it in combat. Regarding the development of skills, there is also another small innovation to take into account: it seems that the quality of the blood that our vampire will drink will influence the skill tree, enhancing our abilities or not.
During the mission shown through the E3 2019 demo, our character will be assigned an apparently simple task: to find a certain Slugg and obtain information. In these few minutes of the game session it is already possible to notice how profound is the dialogue system that Paradox wanted to be maintained: through our choices we will influence the ending of the mission. There does not seem to be a "good" or a "bad" ending, as much as various shades of gray. Bloodlines teaches that good things do not come from everything that seems right and vice versa.
A separate discussion on the combat system. This is based on the use of our vampire abilities without disdaining the use of melee, improvised weapons such as iron bars and baseball bats, up to firearms. The gunplay honestly seems quite uncertain and inaccurate, at least visually, and even if it should not be the main focus of the combat system it could still be improved between now and the first months of 2020, as well as some animations, to make everything much smoother and less. woody than it looks at present. On the other hand, in a title full of expectations like Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 even the gun (as well as the eye) wants its part.
After what was shown at E3 2019, we expect great things from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. A pulsating and alive Seattle, with dark tones and countless intrigues and mysteries, a deep and unique world and society of vampires. just as they were in the first chapter as well as a solid and fluid combat system, capable of much more fun than 15 years ago, which it still did splendidly at the time. The Los Angeles event has laid further foundations to hope for this sequel that fans are eagerly awaiting, after the surprise announcement a few weeks ago. Hope seems to be well placed, for the rest it's up to Paradox and Hardsuit to chase away the last shadows ... or create them, as good vampires.
