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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Discussion in 'Playground' started by dmc, Oct 30, 2018.

  1. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Remove all ads!
    So, I picked this up from GOG at some point (not exactly sure when) and it had been sitting there in my virtual library, staring at me accusingly, as if it were saying "So, you only play D&D based computer fantasy role playing games, huh, punk? Care to take a crack at something different? Huh? Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do you?"

    Of course, it was saying that with a Clint Eastwood sounding voice and was more than a little threatening, but, what the heck, I downloaded it anyway.

    I am quite enjoying this game. I am sure I am (obviously) very late to this party, but it's got a nice little system going, the character generation and advancement is relatively intuitive, and it's also got a good gritty feel to it. I have no idea how long it goes, but I have only recently gone through Hollywood, so there's at least one more major town area to hit, and I feel like I am beginning to get some interesting hints to the story.

    Sure, the graphics are outdated, but I don't care. I seem to remember that some people on here talked about liking it, and I have to say I agree with them. It's fun.
     
    dmc, Oct 30, 2018
    #1
    Taluntain likes this.
  2. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I also got it from GoG, but still need to play it. Bloodlines was pretty infamous for being buggy, did you notice this already?
     
    henkie, Oct 31, 2018
    #2
  3. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I have had exactly one crash-to-desktop to date and have not noticed anything else that you could call a bug.
     
    dmc, Oct 31, 2018
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  4. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I just remember seeing a (screenshot) Let's Play of Bloodlines, that used some unofficial patch, but, like I said, I haven't played it myself yet.
     
    henkie, Nov 2, 2018
    #4
  5. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    According to something I looked up after seeing your post, the GOG version has some sort of unofficial patch applied to it already.
     
    dmc, Nov 3, 2018
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  6. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    To put a cap on this, I played it through three times, using different clans (they have different strengths and weaknesses but, except for the Malkavian, which I describe below, nothing earth-shatteringly different). The game was certainly good and worth an extra play-through after the first go-round, as I missed a bunch of stuff in my headlong rush to be true to my perceived character. I probably would not have done it a third time except that the description for the Malkavian clan was that they were all insane and I could not pass that up. That made for a very interesting run-through as the vast majority of conversations were changed into mad ramblings. Kinda fun though. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES should that be your first character.

    I'd certainly recommend the game. No major bugs at all with the patch that it came with.
     
    dmc, Dec 4, 2018
    #6

  7. Keneth Gems: 29/31
    Latest gem: Glittering Beljuril

     ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran

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    That's good to know. I might bump it up my backlog.
     
    Keneth, Dec 4, 2018
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  8. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    I might as well. Also, I hope the Malkavian dialogue is like the Malkavian mod for Deus Ex.

     
    henkie, Dec 4, 2018
    #8
  9. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Just played through Bloodlines as well, I really enjoyed it. If you choose to play it that way, there is really very little combat in the first few chapters, almost everything can be solved by talking it out. Which is nice. Unfortunately, this may lead you to think that you can just boost your speech skills and manage throughout the game.

    But in the later half, it really starts to get pretty combat heavy. Which is not that bad, but not that good, either. Definitely not the main strength of this game. But, it's also possible to just sneak past a lot of the combat, if you boosted the right stats and skills, which really helps.

    Now I'm playing as a Malkavian, which makes the dialog different and interesting. All games should have a Malkavian mode, really.
     
    henkie, Oct 13, 2019
    #9
  10. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Right, but could you imagine playing a Malkavian as your first character?

    On the combat front, it definitely is not the strength of the game, but it's not tooooooo clunky.
     
    dmc, Oct 13, 2019
    #10
  11. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    That would be confusing, yes. Interesting, but confusing. But it really does add to replay value. And it's just a lot of fun.

    As for combat, it's not too bad, though I don't look forward to some of those boss fights with the Malkavian. At least the Toreador I played with the first time had Celerity, which is good for avoiding damage, or if you have a clan that has fortitude, which is great for tanking damage. But the Malkavians don't have something with such a direct combat application, so I wonder how survivable I'll be in the boss fights. I'll find out, I'm sure.
     
    henkie, Oct 13, 2019
    #11
  12. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Another reason the Malkavians are good for a second or third playthrough: In their madness, they can occasionally see the future, and if you've played through the game already, you might catch it, though it's probably too obscure to notice on a first play through.
     
    henkie, Oct 14, 2019
    #12
  13. henkie

    henkie Hammertime Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Finished the Malkavian run through and really enjoyed it. There's really some gold in the dialog with Malkavians.

    "No-one expects the Malkavian inquisition.''
     
    henkie, Nov 14, 2019
    #13
  14. dmc

    dmc Speak softly and carry a big briefcase Staff Member Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Glad to hear it. Some of the conversations were just surreal.
     
    dmc, Nov 14, 2019
    #14
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