Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 Sold Me On its Story But Left Me Wanting More

I’ll admit, I’m one of those Baldur’s Gate 3 fans who couldn’t get enough of Astarion. As someone with an affinity for vampires, I’ve had an eye on Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 for quite some time. After playing the TTRPG, my interest in the latest video game adaptation only grew. My thirst has been slightly sated by an opportunity to preview the early missions in Bloodlines 2. Despite a few snags here and there, my first taste of the vampire RPG slash sleuth story left me hungry for more.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 puts players right into the action. They wake up as the Nomad, an Elder vampire who has chosen many names over the years. But the vampire currently known as Phyre isn’t alone, as they wake up with the consciousness of Detective Fabien within them. Thus begins the player’s quest to seek out answers. Why is Phyre awake again after all this time? Who woke them, and what is Fabien doing inside their head?

An Engaging Narrative That Leaves You Wanting More

As far as beginnings go, the narrative is certainly compelling. Start with some questions, and the player is going to want to find answers. Exploring the world, you’ll encounter various clues to help you piece things together. Finding these tidbits is satisfying, slowly filling out your codex with more insight as you adapt to life as an Elder Vampire in Modern Seattle. Even in the opening missions, the story has some twists and turns that kept me wanting to keep going. With each new character we encounter, the story expands in potential. You get to decide how to handle these interactions, building new alliances or making new enemies along the way.

The conversation mechanic was one of my favorite elements of the game. It’s got a sort of Baldur’s Gate 3 approval meets Oblivion Remastered puzzle vibe. You’re offered a list of choices, and you’ll get a real-time reaction to let you know how the characters liked that option. It’s a bit of a puzzle, piecing out how each Kindred you meet prefers to be dealt with, making the game feel more immersive as your dialogue choices very much impact your dealings with the denizens of Seattle. The voice acting adds another layer here, bringing each character their own personality, including our own Phyre.

As far as immersion goes, I found Bloodlines 2 to be a bit of a mixed bag. The game uses a first-person perspective, so in theory you should feel properly steeped in the story. However, the world itself feels a bit empty at times. There’s plenty to see, but little that you can actually interact with. While walking from point A to point B on the map, I yearned to have a bit more to do besides avoid breaking the Masquerade. There are a few rare instances of new clues to pick up, but for the most part, you can’t actually interact with the map much outside of a few key locations.

Fast-Paced, Strategic Combat That Challenges Even on Easy Mode

Once you arrive at said key locations, Bloodlines 2 pulls you pretty immediately into combat. Depending on which Clan you choose near the beginning of the game, you’ll unlock different Elder Vampire skills to aid you in battle. Despite this, I found combat incredibly challenging. It is fast-paced, but you can’t really muscle your way through it (at least, not as a Tremere). Instead, you have to be strategic about how you take on your enemies. If combat gets too tough, you can toggle the difficulty settings at any time. I tried a few different ones, and even on Easy, it was still pretty tricky to tackle the hordes of Anarchs.

Simply jumping into battle will result in death more often than not, so you have to be clever about how you handle things. For those who prefer a more button-mashing type of combat, this may be frustrating. I certainly had to walk away and think over a few combat situations before I figured out the missing piece of that particular puzzle. But if you enjoy strategic combat, I think Bloodlines 2 will deliver. There’s a mix of stealth and careful use of your vampiric abilities to it, and this is one place where the game does invite you to use your surroundings.

Combat will evolve over time, as you have an RPG-style skill tree with perks to unlock. The options vary based on which clan you choose, letting you further customize your playthrough experience. During the preview, I only got to unlock a few of these perks, but they made a big difference. Earning other abilities requires building relationships with specific Kindred, something that further encourages using the delightful relationship mechanic. Players even get to test out two versions of vampiric powers in one, thanks to some opportunities to play as Fabien himself.

A Solid Sequel That Left Me Hungry for More

Performance-wise, the game does well enough. When launching on PC, you can easily toggle the game’s settings to suit your rig with a quick benchmark setting. This was helpful in ensuring that things ran as smoothly as they could. I did encounter a bit of lag at various points, though admittedly, my PC falls between the minimum and recommended specs, so your mileage may vary here. The graphics are decent, even at lower settings, with characters looking pretty realistic and varied. The world does look good, with a nice, gritty Seattle at night feel, despite lacking actual moving vehicles and other immersive elements.

In all, Bloodlines 2 feels like a solid follow-up to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. At times, it does feel a bit like it leans on some dated gameplay elements, particularly with the static world. But for all that, it offers similar gameplay mechanics to its predecessor, with RPG elements and a compelling story, along with fast-paced and visceral combat. Though I had a few minor complaints, it’s certainly a game I look forward to seeing more from.

Bloodlines 2 releases on October 21st for PC via Steam, Epic Games, and GOG, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The standard edition costs $59.99, and pre-orders are live starting on August 19th.