Today, Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room have resumed publishing developer diaries for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. The new entry is solely dedicated to the protagonist, the enigmatic Elder vampire Phyre, and their so-called Nomad's legacy. According to the narrative's background, Phyre is really old and left a big mark on history, creating all sorts of legends that various characters in Seattle will have heard of. During multiple conversations, players will have the opportunity to shape their character's legacy, as outlined by Senior Narrative Designer and Writer Sarah Longthorne:
Importantly, we have chosen not to do this up-front in the style of Bloodlines 1, because this history is a choice as much as any other in the game, and a choice is most effective once you know the stakes. It should make you umm and ahh, maybe even agonise a little: What will happen to X if I choose Y? As such, it was important to us to have these choices occur once play has already begun, once you have started to feel your way around Seattle and its various dangers. These will come in waves — some ‘golden path’, others optional (for instance, if you choose to spend more time with and open up to certain characters) — each tackling a different aspect of your legacy which, tapestried together, suggest a more bespoke story.
The first thing we establish is the theme. Who does the Nomad say they are? A legendary warrior? A curious traveler? Or a desperate survivor, fleeing disaster to disaster to avoid their foes? Once this is chosen, we branch out into further options — each unique to that choice — which both refine roleplay and drill further into that initial theme with your motivation. These sub-choices layer in more texture, allowing your mind to play it all out like a movie and start filling in the details. Later, you’ll have other opportunities to further fill out this narrative, even (if you wish) touching on details that preceded or even caused your embrace.
The player's choices in Bloodlines 2 will trickle down to following conversations, possibly even much later in the story. Moreover, they will influence the endings, which will be shown through stylized cinematics that mix images of Seattle with character shapes, inspired by True Detective. According to the developers, there are nearly 40 images for all the different finales in the game. A map of all the endings had to be made so that they could see how they connected, and the concept team used this to create a series of storyboards and choose the right images for each ending shot.
The next Bloodlines 2 developer diary is slated to go live on the official website on January 29. The game still has no release window, although Paradox Deputy CEO Mattias Lilja expressed hope it would launch in the first half of the year, while also clarifying that a potential third installment would be licensed to a third party rather than developed in-house.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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