They just released the sequel, (sadly not up to its predecessor from what I gathered), and it’s Halloween, so what better time to talk about this special vampire game?
It was the last game by Troika and they were creating a mix of RPG and Acton and an early version of open world with a lot of incredible side content. And it is precisely this optional content that fleshed out the world so much and made it feel more real. The action part was not exactly stellar, although it was kind of funny as a Nosferatu in the late game to simply be invisible for ever and just stealth takedown all the enemies. Boss fights did not go so easily in contrast… I would even say the main story is nothing to write home about, although with a fun twist. The side content is what I enjoyed immensely however. Because it didn’t feel like the game was telling me: oh, go down that alley, it looks like there could be something with a big arrow. Instead I was simply put into the world and was free to explore it. And if I stumbled on something, that made the enjoyment that much higher, because I felt that exploration was rewarded.
It’s great strength is also that it takes role playing serious and let’s you commit to a certain character. Depending what vampire clan you belong to, your game experience can be very different. I chose the butt ugly Nosferatu, which meant I couldn’t even be seen on the street by humans without them calling me a monster and attacking me. So i was forced to move in the sewer or go invisible. That made certain interactions much harder. But other Nosferatu NPCs were cool with me but aren’t so friendly to normal pretty face vampires in contrast to how they treated me.
This game is set in the Vampire: the Masquerade setting of World of Darkness, which is normally a tabletop RPG. You do not need to know anything to enjoy the game. It contains a lot of explanation for new players to understand the world. For me it was also the entry point without any other knowledge before.
If you want to try it out: use the fan patch, it fixes bugs and adds some cut content.
So to those who played it: tell us some of your stories and what you liked about this game, to wake the interest of new players.
Give it a shot. It’s not too bad and you can’t mess it up really.
I’d recommend picking a specialty and try to max points vs spread out in a few categories. Skill points cost more the higher you go once you start.
It really gets its source from a character sheet of tabletop games. “What are you good at?”
I agree about giving it a shot, but not about not being able to mess up. The second half/third of the game has a ton or forced combat and it you went into it expecting to be able to avoid fighting then you might end up soft locked.
As long as you pick at least one way of fighting - whether unarmed or melee or guns or disciplines (vampire magic) - and invest in it then you’ll be fine.
Yeah those categories are pretty straightforward at character creation. Just pick one and dump all starter points into it