vampires eh? Well, the first game like this wasn’t so hot. I suppose that with that material something more self absorbing can take form.
The first game with a dragon wasn’t very “hot” either, what does that have to do with other companies’ games though… It’s just a theme like any game uses, it can be great or crap depending on what kind of effort is put into it…
The only thing that was wrong with the first V:TM RPG was its childish linearity (an experience only equalled by Grandia 2). Everything else was good (the music especially).
Well I don’t see why a game has to be judged by aspects such as linearity etc… If the game is an enjoyable experience what does everything else matter? This game is like this, you either like it or you don’t and you go for a game that has what you think this one is lacking, correct?
PDS was obviously linear as well but even now I don’t say “aw too bad it was linear” or anything, it was just a masterpiece and that’s that. I’d like the next one to have bits of nonlinearity perhaps BUT I love the original as is and don’t think it’s lacking in any aspect.
Anyway this is irrelative to Vampire as it’s going to be non linear so I’m saying this for games in general…
You could revisit old locations in Panzer Dragoon Saga, whereas V:TM - Redemption forced you in one direction.
I loved how Christof exacted his revenge on one of the villains who had betrayed him hundreds of years eariler.
“We remember what you did Orsi!” I laughed my head off when Christof threw him out of the window of a skyscraper. And of course, the automatic weapons rocked, not that they were much use against the final boss.
What I liked about the game was that you could decide Christof’s fate in the game depending on how you acted, rather like KOTOR. I hear the evil ending was pretty… well evil.
God help the fool who unleashes an evil Christof on the world.
So Al3x (or anyone else) did you pick this game up yet?
I wasn’t interested in this before, but now I’m sure I’ll get it.
I’ve been playing in a Vampire:TM LARP and I like it. I also have the Vampire: The Requiem book and hope to play that next semester.
For those of you who don’t know, LARP = Live Action Role Playing.
No, I don’t have this yet, I’m getting Half Life 2 first (that I still don’t have).
A couple of reviews have been doing the rounds tho, it sounds like a good game in the end. Not the masterpiece I was hoping for but really good nonetheless. Talking about Vampire here, Half Life 2 IS a masterpiece 
GameSpot complained about the game having some graphical glitches and a clumsy battle system. However, my friend has told me that the graphics (especially the lip synching) have to be seen to be believed. He was annoyed that the game was released before anyone could review it because that’s often a bad sign (some games skip being reviewed because a publisher doesn’t want poor reviews to impact on their sales… like Doom 3 which came out before almost anyone could scrutinize it in advance).
All things considered, it looks quite good. Japanese RPGs are starting to lose their charm since they are primarily developed with teenagers in mind, so as long as V: TM - Bloodlines is playable I’ll probably enjoy trudging through the mature game world it has to offer as the noblest of vampires seeking to defend the defenceless.
Gamespot mentions the graphics are amazing too, they just mention the glitches because they are there too and they have to 
I’ll still get Half Life 2 first, it may not be an RPG but it drives its genre forward and looks even better than Vampire
Plus it’s going to have the biggest mods community that will make sure the game stays alive for years upon years like the original
Anyway, here’s the review of Computers & Video Games:
computerandvideogames.com/re … ?id=112106
And their Half Life 2 review:
computerandvideogames.com/re … ?id=111902
I hope to get a new (and powerful) PC in a close future.I’m already planning a mod for HL2 myself…
I’ve been playing this one a lot the last couple days. Great game, as GS said the battle system is a bit clunky and there’s a few graphic glitches/performance issues, but overall it’s a VERY solid RPG. It gives you quite a few options and the quests are usually surprisingly fun and varied, and some of the characters are pretty interesting. There’s a lot of side-quests and such, and replay value seems moderately high for a game like this (you can approach some things completely differently depending on your skills). It’s actually a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.
Oh, and while the character customisation was dumbed down a lot from the PnP RPG, it still has a very strong sense of the Vampire: The Masquarade universe. I think this is one of those games you could “forgive” GehnTheBerserker, the whole vampire concept is portrayed very realistically. It’s not like they just threw a bunch of vampires in a modern-day setting and said “here’s vampires, have fun”, the game actually has a lot of explainations and backstory for how the whole universe works. Plus it gives you that feeling that no matter how important you think you are, you’re still a minor speck in the grand scheme of things.
I’ve given up on PC games altogether, not gonna get Half-Life 2. With DOAU, Halo2 and other Live games I simply don’t have time.
Plus my PC specs are crud.