Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines has always held a special place in my heart for many reasons, but certainly the most prominent is this: It was the first time I remember playing a game and thinking, “Wow, I am absolutely too young to be playing this.”
I was 11 years old when I took my first stroll down the streets of Bloodline’s Santa Monica–when I clumsily WASD’d my way through rooms filled with empty pill bottles, condom wrappers, and other bits of paraphernalia that I can only recall with an accompanying blush. I was too young (and timid!) to be sucking on necks, canoodling with the scantily-clad Jeanette, and traversing the Ocean House Hotel’s utterly horrifying floorplan. And yet, I loved it. I loved knowing games could be… this: dark, mature, and wicked.
Alongside 2002’s Neverwinter Nights, Bloodlines turned me into a die-hard fan of both TTRPGs and CRPGs in equal measure. So, needless to say, you can count me among the thousands of us who have been waiting–impatiently and a bit nervously–for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.
Fortunately, I think the wait (and the absolute chaos of development) was mostly worth it. Though I wouldn’t call Bloodlines 2 a great game, per se, I had a great time playing it. For better or worse, it retains a lot of Bloodline’s DNA, blending action, stealth, and mystery to create a mature and enthralling, choice-driven RPG. Though not as nitty-gritty or system-heavy as its predecessor, it still largely feels the same to play. I swear, I experienced deja vu as I crouched through warehouses and nervously spoke with characters seemingly eager to sink their teeth into me if I said the wrong thing to them. However, it also carries with it some jank and technical issues that make it feel like an early aughts title.
Yet when I could seamlessly play, I truly enjoyed the experience. Bloodlines 2 is not, to be quite frank, operating at the same level of sheer abundance and choice as a lot of modern-day RPGs. However, its streamlined approach isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering just how wonderful the game’s narrative and characters are. I loved waltzing around the gorgeously rendered Seattle, gushing over science with Safia, and Fabien’s entire noir schtick. I never got over the thrill of stealthily eliminating an entire room of baddies with my elder vampire powers, or just how paralyzing it can be to make a dialogue choice that will ultimately seal which of the game’s endings you are locked into. Though Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 might not offer a deep RPG experience, it’s certainly a bloody fun time.
Whereas the first Bloodlines saw players take on the role of a freshly-turned vampire, Bloodlines 2 makes the inspired decision to have you play as an elder vampire–one roughly “150 years older than the United States” and referred to by many as “The Nomad” before they ultimate decide to adopt the name Phyre. The game’s events kick off shortly after you awaken from a century-long torpor (think of it like vampire hibernation) with an all-consuming urge to feed and a mysterious, disembodied voice in your head. Turns out, that mysterious, disembodied voice belongs to Fabien, a vampire detective who was turned in the 1920s and also has no idea why you two appear to be sharing a body and consciousness. This kicks off the first of the game’s many mysteries–mysteries which see you play through three different timelines as you try to piece together what’s happening to you, Fabien, the rapidly-dying Camarilla (or vampire court), and the city of Seattle.
The ensuing adventure is one full of political intrigue and twists that, while not entirely unexpected, still deliver and delight. And though it’s certainly not the first game to explore the freedom versus security dichotomy–or how so many are willing to endure broken systems when resisting them is seen as uncomfortable or inconvenient–Bloodlines 2 does so with adequate skill and plenty of flourish.
A large part of what makes Bloodlines 2 truly shine is its characters. Considering Fabien is both the person you are around the most and is essentially a 1920s detective archetype, it would be all too easy for him to be insufferable. But even with those qualities and the fact that he serves as the game’s comic relief going against him, he’s actually a well-written and, dare I say, endearing character.
All of Bloodlines 2’s characters are caricatures, of a sort, but evolved and far more well-rounded. Lou Graham, the former vampire Prince of Seattle, is an aristocratic narcissist, but there’s still a part of her that feels human, understandable, and pitiable, even. The Camarilla’s current Prince, Ryong, tries her hardest to maintain a tough-as-nails facade, yet is obviously struggling with her rise to power, and how to bridge her idealism with her pragmatism. Katsumi is a former surgeon and leader of the Anarchs, but heralds this rebellious cause not as a way to attain power or incite violence, but because the elderly Chinese woman knows someone needs to stand up for all the vampires the Camarilla ignores or abuses. Safia is the Camarilla’s designated scientist, and comes with all the awkwardness you might imagine. That being said, she’s also extremely passionate when it comes to the people she cares about and utilizes her vampiric charisma in her own way.
And despite there being so many other characters worth mentioning, I’d be remiss not to bring up Tolly. As a Nosferatu, Tolly no longer possesses conventional good looks, having lost that part of his humanity in his transformation. This is touched upon in a very interesting way, as it’s revealed that while he used to be obsessed with his appearance, living through the ’80s as a gay man has left him simply happy to still be here.
In short, I was consistently impressed by the amount of thoughtfulness and compassion that went into constructing these characters, and finished the game eager to play again and learn even more about them. It’s also worth noting that, yes, you can romance some of these characters, though it is admittedly a pretty shallow feature. Still, if you want to hear an elderly vampire yell, “I think the kids call this ‘edging,'” I highly recommend giving it a whirl.
Despite absolutely loathing Phyre’s name (listen, I know she saw it on a poster and just went with it, but it’s so bad and never gets better to hear), I actually loved them as a character as well. Even after 45 hours of playing, I never tired of their clichéd and vaguely Romanian accent, and the subtle but persistent way they just don’t get certain parts of modern living. At times, the jokes made about it can get a little too “how do you do, fellow kids?” but by and large, they worked, and didn’t induce too many groans or eyerolls.
Yet the most compelling part of Phyre is their backstory, and how seamlessly woven into the game’s overarching story it is. This might be a somewhat niche comparison, but in many ways, playing as Phyre reminded me of playing as The Dark Urge in Baldur’s Gate 3. Similar to The Dark Urge, Phyre is a pre-established and somewhat dark character with a storied past and people who know them–for better or worse. They are so much more than an everyman with a chip on their shoulder and the desire to kiss and/or kill everyone, and it makes for a far more interesting experience overall.
That said, I think one downside of the emphasis on Phyre’s backstory is that it draws even more attention to how disappointingly little Phyre’s clan affiliation matters to the plot. In the world of Vampire: The Masquerade, clan affiliation is an extremely important part of a vampire’s identity. For example, Toreadors are renowned for their charisma, artistic prowess, and seduction skills, while Tremere are often feared for their obsession with academia, rituals, and the occult. Many dismiss Gangrels as beasts and Brujah as brutes, while Ventrue are seen as arrogant aristocrats. Bloodlines 2 addresses all of these orders and their respective histories, yes, but outside of very slightly altering the way some characters talk to you and determining which abilities you start out with, I found that the clan I chose had no real impact on gameplay; all clan-specific abilities, and outfits, can be unlocked later down the road by talking to other characters, regardless of what you choose at the beginning.
But I’ll admit, the fact that you can attain all combat abilities was a great decision. Whereas the game’s basic, melee-focused combat is relegated to simply hitting R1 to attack and L1 to dodge, your vampire abilities completely transform what would otherwise be an extremely dull affair.
Regardless of class, Phyre is given telekinetic abilities, which can be used in battle to push and pull enemies, or fetch and use weapons. It never grew old, flitting back and forth between rooftops and using my power to pull enemies down to their death, or yanking their rifles and bats away before turning them against their owners. But beyond that, each vampire is also allowed to utilize four greater powers as well. Some of these are macabre, such as the one that commands an enemy to–I’ll phrase this delicately–take care of themselves, and another that makes their blood literally boil. Others, like Possess and Mass Manipulation, are simply devious. When strung together, these skills make for gameplay that is extremely fun, regardless of whether you are approaching things head-on or more stealthily.
Of course, these powerful abilities require that you are regularly consuming blood–be it from enemies while fighting, pedestrians, or blood packs–but by the time I reached the game’s final chapters, I was blown away by how easily and gracefully I could take down an entire building full of enemies. Though I kept things varied, generally, it went a bit like this: After stealthing my way up to the rafters, I’d use Possess on the largest enemy and force them to strike an ally. After the entire mob turned on them, I’d then use Mass Manipulation in combination with Blood Curse or one of the more instant-death skills, clearing out the bulk of smaller enemies and making them drop their weapons. Any additional enemies would then make their way in after hearing this commotion, and I promptly greeted them with a stealth attack, followed by utilizing the small arsenal of their former allies’ weapons against them. Again, I can’t understate how great this felt, time after time.
Traversal is another important part of Bloodline 2’s core gameplay loop, and it too feels similarly fast-paced and fluid. Early on, Fabien remarks that he’ll “never get over a flying vampire” after seeing the way in which Phyre’s elder status allows her to glide across the city, and honestly? Same. It’s a rush, getting in that groove and seamlessly bounding and gliding between buildings–although I’ll admit that the game’s clunkiness can make these mad dashes a bit unwieldy at times. Still, this is the closest I’ve gotten to Batman: Arkham City in a long time, so I’ll take it.
All that said, it becomes unfortunate that Bloodlines 2’s overall structure doesn’t do much to heighten the joy of roaming the city or incentivize players to do so. While there are collectibles scattered about the city and rudimentary side quests–one character will ask you to deliver a package each night while two others offer up the occasional bounty–by and large, it is an incredibly linear game that tasks you with running back and forth between the same handful of locations. Side quests are largely inconsequential, and thus getting to know these Seattle blocks feels inconsequential as well.
Yet that’s not to say that developer The Chinese Room’s take on Seattle isn’t gorgeous. In fact, it’s something of a shame that exploration and curiosity aren’t fostered purely because of how detailed and lovely this small piece of the city is. I adored wandering around Pioneer Square as a grungy-sounding motif slowly built around me, moonlight and street lamps refracting on the freshly fallen snow. And I was delighted by how certain places are very clearly inspired by real-world Seattle locations, such as the entrance to the city’s infamous underground. Though I’m no Seattleite myself, I could see bits and pieces from my numerous trips reflected in this world just as easily as I could see the effort poured into making the location feel beautiful and polished.
Less polished, however, is Bloodlines 2 as a whole, and that is perhaps its biggest downfall. While playing on my PlayStation 5, I experienced around seven or so crashes; my colleague playing on PC reported at least two. At one point, I was rendered unable to play the game for days because I had been inexplicably locked out of a room I needed to get into to turn in a quest and progress the story. I tried countless things before eventually loading up a much earlier save and replaying an hour or two of the game to get back to the same spot. Thankfully, that did the trick.
Enemies often defied physics, Phrye frequently clipped through walls, and characters behaved in some truly asinine ways at times. Whenever I accidentally broke the Masquerade–meaning I did something decidedly vampiric in front of a human audience, thus threatening to reveal “our kind”–it was treated with altogether less urgency than “oh my god, vampires are real” would necessitate. I’d simply skulk away somewhere, wait for a bit, and then resume what I was doing. Sometimes, all of this made the game incredibly funny and added some charm; other times, not so much.
This more or less reflects Bloodlines 2 as a whole: sometimes charming, other times, not so much. There is a lot here that is great; I loved the narrative, the characters, the drama, and the sheer power fantasy of it all. At the same time, it’s one of the more unpolished games I’ve reviewed, and definitely lacks the same level of ambition, scope, choice, and general tightness of other modern RPGs. Oftentimes, I found myself thinking that Bloodlines 2 is a great game in spite of itself–which really only makes it a pretty good game, ultimately.
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