>start playing pic related because Sup Forums can't stop talking about how ridiculously good it is
>the combat fucking blows
>it's astoundingly bad
>somehow the witcher 3 gets shat on even though its combat doesn't come close to how bad vampire's combat is
More proof of this epic hi/v/emind.
Just started playing it the other day. Amazing game and atmosphere. I wish there were more good WoD games.
> you get to fuck a crazy vampire girl
your other points are disregarded
TW3 is an action RPG with shitty combat. Bloodlines isn't an action RPG, though towards the end is does require combat I guess.
>fighting in vtmb
>ever
>though towards the end is does require combat I guess.
And assuming you allocated at least a handful of points to combat before that, it's not that bad. Or you just roll Tremere and never have to directly engage in combat ever because blood magic destroys everything forever.
You really only need to invest in a few things to get by. Usually its celerity for easy mode.
>tfw my first playthru was gun&bloodwizard
>tfw blood explosions somehow fucking chain through enemies
>tfw absolutely have to melee use bloodshield and TANK FOR DAYS
Gotta say, playing a ninja malkavian was a much better route
dat atmosphere
dat dancing
>action RPG
Do you call everything that isn't turn based "action RPG"?
dem titties
An RPG where combat is the main form of gameplay.
TW3 isn't even an RPG so I have no idea why you're comparing them.
>Enter Celerity mode
>Something slowly moving across the screen with a strange trailing ripple affect
>That instant you realize you're faster than your enemy's bullets
It's because W3 combat isn't being compared to other RPGs, since its combat is objectively better than RPG combat and obviously in an elevated category.
...
I've loved this game since it came out, and it has only gotten better with fan patches, but the game is deeply flawed.
Thing is it is very unique, does a lot of interesting things, full of ideas that never quite got off the ground. There is also a story as to why it has so many problems, Valve has a lot to do with this.
Just because a game has its fans doesn't mean it's for everyone.
I'd love to see this get a reboot a bit like Deus EX HR with Arkham City features.
>And assuming you allocated at least a handful of points to combat before that, it's not that bad. Or you just roll Tremere and never have to directly engage in combat ever because blood magic destroys everything forever.
You don't even need that shit
Blood Buff (or whatever it's called) buffs your stats enough for you to kill anything with your fists. The very VERY final boss fight basically required you to have brought a bunch of ranged weapons, but nothing else requires much more than fists
V:tM: B always requires good combat skills. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.V:tM was great and ambitious for its time. It needs to be played understanding the context in which it was delivered. This was a time where it was being dropped onto the market at the same time as Half Life 2- which every one knew was going to black out the PC market for the next month. It was made on a prototype source engine the team never got an update to because Valve wouldn't release Source until HL2 hit the shelf. Their dev time was sliced by 8 months by the publisher Activision and forced to release and compete with HL2.
>it's a witcherdrone shits on other popular games episode
Love these
From what I understand the game wasn't even done. They were rushed to release by THQ to release the game the same day as Half Life 2 no less. Retarded publishers always ruin these things.
As a reminder, that isn't a black guy with goggles and a white T-shirt. It is a white guy with a leather mask and gloves
You can use the spotlights on the roof to bring the boss down to the ground for you to pound on him.
>not giving yourself full stats via console when you realize the combat is horrendous.
Even after that both the gunplayand melee were ass, but still managed to enjoy the game.
I knew I saved this picture for a reason.
...
>Warrens level
Does it get better or can I begin another playthrough?
Op do yourself a favor and open the cinsole command and punch in money 1.2
Just cheat. God mode or noclip out of that unfun shithole.
It gets only better as the game goes on. Come on dude the game isn't that long, just enjoy the ride.
Activision fucked Troika so hard m8, as pointed out.
People actually thought that was a black dude?
All these disgusting cheaters on my board.
...
>not playing Nosferatu
its all about that rat life mang.
>want to re-play Bloodlines
>still so fresh in my mind despite not having played it in a year
I still have yet to play nosferatu or malkavian
>ninja malkavian
My nigga. Most enjoyable playthrough so far.
malk playthrough is fun as fuck
I envy you
>comparing the first game of a companu; buggy game from the 2000's to a newly released game, the third game of the company, released 2016
Oh gee I wonder why the difference in quality I don't know.
>tfw playing the clan quest mod as a nossie
>lacroix says I get to embrace one childe
>embrace heather
>she turns into a variant of the female nos PC
That was an unexpected touch
What was even better was
>huh that's cool
>might as well embrace yukie while I'm at it
>same thing
>sudden cut to me getting my head lopped off because he said "ONE" childe
Not everything in that mod is great, but this was one.
Really the only exceptional thing about VMTB is the atmosphere. Otherwise it was fairly boring in the writing compartment. Gameplay was barely serviceable too. The one part of the game I thought was exceptional was the Malkavian Manor, but everything just paled in comparison.
>Bloodlines isn't an action RPG,
Correct. It's a first person shooter with RPG elements slapped in.
>Otherwise it was fairly boring in the writing compartment
Nah it's stellar there as well, at least in the dialogue.
Basically, everything it's really good at is something that would be better for a television show.
It's still a fun game, bad combat or not.
Is the reverse, dillman.
yeah yeah we get it, fuck off
>Nah it's stellar there as well
The main plot is such an incredible bore though. You just get dropped into this world of vampires and monsters and immediately start answering to the big bad himself because why not?
I can't remember any lines of dialogue that struck me as anything above average. I'll admit that voice actors did a top tier job most of the time, but that doesn't really stop someone like Nines, that stripper chick, or the Prince himself from saying anything interesting. And god damn that ending had such a rushed feeling to it.
It's funny how popular the game is here considering the source material the writers had to work with. The original Vampire tabletop is exactly the kind of cringeworthy chuuni shit Sup Forums loves to make fun of. The tone of the game doesn't reflect that at all.
>The original Vampire tabletop is exactly the kind of cringeworthy chuuni shit
You mean the setting with the fleshcrafting Transylvanian vampires, or the Spanish shadow-manipulating pirate vampires, or the gypsy illusion thieves who rule an entire continent?
World of Darkness is a pretty cool franchise, m8.
Have you ever actually sat down and played the game?
>fleshcrafting Transylvanian vampires
Andrei has taught me that the only good tzimisce is a dead tzimisce
>and immediately start answering to the big bad himself because why not?
LaCroix really isn't the main antagonist, and even though his ending is bad, he isn't really an antagonist at all.
You're answering to him because despite his 'power' in the city, he's very low on the run in the big picture and being the Prince of LA is like being the Governor of Siberia.
The ending was rushed as hell but all of the dialogue smoothed so well to me.
Valve? I thought it was Activision that murdered Troika with their Jewery and impatience.
Nobody plays Vampire for the combat. Which is why everybody fucking despises the sewers.
Andrei is a low tier Tzimisce to wrapped up in fighting Gehenna to dedicate himself to the one true goal of any Tzimisce - enlightenment via fleshcrafting.
He starts off okay, but they really don't sell the immaculately polite but completely alien mind of a fiend.
>LaCroix really isn't the main antagonist
Who is the actual antagonist then? The smug chinks in Chinatown? They were bigger assholes than LaCroix, but they weren't as big of an asshole to you personally compared to him.
the best level was clearly the doctor who cut off peoples limbs, that was atmospheric as fuck.
the whole of santa monica was great
Pleb taste.
>comparing the first game of a companu; buggy game from the 2000'
Third, actually, Troika released Arcanum and Temple of Elemental Evil before Vampire.
I don't see how it's a problem really, maybe it's just the community patch but there's more than enough XP going to become proficient in unarmed, melee or firearms by the lategame.
Don't forget that one chinese bitch. Without a reliable way to take our her little tentacles she can fuck you up easily.
Sebastian LaCroix is sort of a bro if you play Ventrue and treat him politely at all times, to be honest. You get a completely different image of him that way, and it is noticeable that he develops a deep respect for you.
However, he is driven by greed for more power first and foremost - Most Vampires, as you surely notice after a while, have a sort of agenda with almost everything they do and say. Maximilian Strauss Camarilla ending is my favorite. Anarchs is for plebs.
>Who is the actual antagonist then?
Jack.
You can just use the Flamethrower that Mercurio gives to you (May be acquired differently in newest patches..) without any Gun talents and it's enough to burn her down - She's very weak to fire.
Community patch plus gives you a shortcut from Warrens 1 to the hideout.
It's clearly those filthy anarchs who are behind everything, goyi-I mean, neonate.
user all the money cheat does is increase NPC titty size by 20%
Combat isn't as big a part of Bloodlines, at least not till the end which is a common criticism. Everything else is top tier. Velvet, Damsel and Venus > Jeanette
>Who is the actual antagonist then?
The Cab Driver. (A.K.A. Caine, the first Vampire, and the guy you see standing next to Jack covered in a dark shroud in most of the endings..)
>Maximilian Strauss Camarilla ending is my favorite
It's
>Anarchs is for plebs.
It would've been another pointless combat sequence, but I kind of wish there was an end mission to eliminate the Anarchs.
Nines seems like a bro but if you give him (and literally any of the Anarchs) a hard time, he's really just as much of a baby as LaCroix.
Each side has one based member. Strauss and Isaac always keep their word and treat you with general civility.
Independent is the one true path.
>4. What did you mean by that?
any other drastic changes in the plus patch?
>game was rushed and borderline unfinished
>still better game than most games now
Why would I act polite to him though? He's really nothing but an asshole who wanted you dead in the beginning until he realized he could use you.
I still don't understand what role Jack was playing in the game
I don't know the lore, but did Caine actually do much wrong? He seemed really chill at the end, even with my Malkavian having an extreme anxiety attack.
>these guys show up at your door
wat do?
He's the one truly responsible for 90% of your busywork.
He doesn't give a shit about you and is only using you to kill people he doesn't like.
Caine isn't really the "bad guy" in the greater Vampire world and he doesn't do anything in the game besides drive you around.
Sure he might be the creator of all vampires and the first deadbeat dad in history, but he's pointedly not involved in his stupid kids' affairs.
The Tzimisce antediluvian and Set are the closest things to bad guys for Vampire.
Doesn't WoD canon try to establish that the Cabby wasn't Caine because he was off doing something else or something? Granted it was still supposed to be Caine.
The game was made using Valve's proprietary engine that they used for Half-Life 2. The licensing contract stipulated that the first published game using that engine should be HL2, but Bloodline's development was halted in 2003 and the game was left in limbo while Valve piled up delays because they're Valve. So basically you had a 2003 game hitting the markets in 2005 at the same time as a much more polished game running on the same engine because of corporate meddling.
>Why would I act polite to him though?
Because that's what you do with authority figures who are responsible for your life, when you're not an idiot. You don't even have to lick his boots, just follow his orders and not be a prick and he still ends up liking you out of success alone.
He wanted you dead, because that is his job. A Prince is literally required by the oldest traditions to kill unauthorized childer. Not because they want to, but because they have to. Otherwise the city is filled with vampires, there's a struggle for food and power, the humans get wise, and you have another Inquisition on your hands.
>I don't know the lore, but did Caine actually do much wrong?
He killed his brother out of jealousy and refuses to apologize for it. He might have mellowed out after several millennia, but he's a deadbeat dad and the reason vampires are predatory, selfish, backstabbing cunts who eat their own parents.
Still doing my first playthrough on plus after one on standard, there are a bunch of new intimidate dialogue options so the skill becomes useful for non-social characters. New quests with some new locations(just some building interiors) become available after Hollywood. There are some new options in character creation which are completely optional too.
>crouch
>melee attack
If you crouch they literally just lunge and stop right in front of you. Rinse and repeat.
If it was one of the szlatcha though, I'd be fucked.
Lacroix is not cool or intimidating, just overcompensating because nobody takes him seriously
>Not because they want to, but because they have to
Did you miss the implications that he got mad at your sire because they didn't consult him in the intro? He's only acting out because nobody shows him respect
Not him, but that's probably why he genuinely likes you if you're not a prick and follow orders when he asks them.
You're the first person in the entire city to afford him the respect a Prince usually commands.
If it wasn't for Jack, you would've just ended up with him mildly disappointed for a while but eventually happy that he was able to unite the Anarchs and drive out the Kuei-Jin - all thanks to his new Sheriff.
Nines killed a Werewolf though.
>Did you miss the implications that he got mad at your sire because they didn't consult him in the intro?
You mean he's upset that he was given a position and at every turn no one does what they're supposed to, even though he's doing exactly what he's required to do?
Every prince would be pissed that one of the vampires under their charge disobeyed them.
Hell, LaCroix probably would've been fine with another embrace, it bolsters their numbers to fight the Kuei-Jin.
>New quests
Any good in terms of writing / voice acting?
I'm tempted to give it a try for the shortcut alone, just don't want to install a bunch of fanfic tier garbage on top of it
So he's a baby with super strength. That's certainly not a recipe for disaster.
I killed a werewolf and I don't fly off the handle after someone calls me out on my bullshit.
I'm not talking about as my character, I'm talking about as the player. This guy acts like a cock to you, yet needs you to do his work. Of course I'm going to act like a cock back.
>He killed his brother out of jealousy and refuses to apologize for it.
Pretty sure he admitted he regretted doing that though on my Malk char.
Or so he claims. That's very open-ended, especially if you are buddies with LaCroix by that time - He would have no reason to lie to you then, would he?
The game does that brilliantly. Everyone's corrupt. You may choose a side to trust in, sure, but they're all playing you in one way or another - Try playing the game with a different clan and being loyal to a different NPC/side and you'll see exactly what I mean.
>Or so he claims.
There's a freshly severed werewolf head in one of the rooms in the hollywood motel.
nu games don't even have stuff like this. either there are no windows, they're boarded up/closed/otherwise you can't see out of them, or you just get a texture.
He's a dick to you at first because he's an elitist asshole and you're still a nobody. However, as soon as you prove you have actual talent, he is quick to change his tone to a very neutral one, and shortly after that, he's both kind and generous towards you, rewarding you with things and willing to talk about his past history with you and whatnot. He even calls you friend at one point, I believe, and mentions you're the best asset he's got and that he's glad you're both fighting for the same common goal.
>or you just get a texture
That's what that image is. It's just an animated skybox.
Also I don't think windows being boarded up is a common thing in most games.
Damn she's even bigger than the girl with pigtails everyone always spams
Doesn't Beckett take credit for that in the older patches, at least?
The thing is, he's not really that much of a cock. He's stern and he's a little arrogant, but if you simply don't act like a faggot, that's all he is.
Even then, if my boss and the guy who could have me killed is a cock, that doesn't mean I'll be a cock. Because I'm not an idiot.
>Pretty sure he admitted he regretted doing that
If he apologizes to God, then his curse is lifted, he is forgiven, welcomed into heaven, and the vampires all are healed as well.
He just doesn't. Not even at the end. And he dies for it in some of the scenarios.
no, it's real geometry.
Man why you gotta say things I wish were real
You mean the one in OP's pic? Yeah.
In terms of size, it's VV, then Venus, then Heather.
I think the Malkavian PC and Jeanette are the same size.
Not much by way of voice acting, but it's nice to have more substance by being having side quests to do in Santa Monica&Downtown in the mid-late parts of the game. Doing an investigation into the Sabbat for Beckett right now.
>I'm tempted to give it a try for the shortcut alone, just don't want to install a bunch of fanfic tier garbage on top of it
You can just noclip if you're in the middle of a playthrough right now, and if you don't like the new material it's not as though you have to do any of it.
Pretty sure all of the added quests are either leftover stuff that wasn't implemented, or don't have dialogue.
They're fairly minor. The Sabbat quest for Beckett is literally two rooms and a boss fight, and the only Lasombra in the game.