The latest developer diary from Paradox Interactive and The Chinese Room shares World of Darkness IP details. The diary shares greater information on the setting, society, characters, and RPG elements players can expect in Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2. Project Creative Director Alex Skidmore notes how the series handles the supernatural in a “mature and grounded way, basing it on the premise that vampires, werewolves, and ghosts are actually real, but are hidden from our contemporary human society.”
Bloodlines 2 is the successor to the cult-classic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines. The game takes players to the dark underbelly of Seattle, where vampires struggle for survival and supremacy. Fight your way through a modern-day Seattle on the brink of an open war as an elder Vampire. Meet the power players, ally yourself, and decide who will rule and what the city will become.
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Noting that The World of Darkness is the larger umbrella for the Vampire The Masquerade IP, Skidmore writes:
“Video games offer a unique perspective on this world that other mediums don’t, being able to walk around it and explore it. Our goal with this pillar was to create a version of Seattle that is authentic to The World of Darkness IP and makes you believe that this hidden side of Seattle, where vampires are in control, could be real and that in contrast the human world feels more alien to you and potentially unreal.”
Skidmore also explores how the team created Seattle from the eyes of a vampire, making buildings taller, lights brighter, and alleyways darker to mimic the heightened senses of those lurking in the shadows.
The blog post from Project Creative Director Alex Skidmore explains how players assume the role of Phyre. Skidmore divulges their motivations while navigating their role as the Camarilla Court’s Sheriff. He notes that in Bloodlines 1 players were a new vampire in a city with a large Anarch presence where the Camarilla don’t have complete dominance. He goes on, saying that Bloodlines 2 flips this idea. Players will play as Phyre, an Elder vampire, in a city where Camarilla has dominated for decades.
“Phyre’s number 1 loyalty is to herself, but she is wise enough to respect the power of the Camarilla and, more importantly, the Masquerade. Within the story Phyre earns a seat at the top-table of the Camarilla as the court’s Sheriff, giving her the court’s protection but also a powerful authority within Seattle’s vampire society. This is an RPG, of course, so you can roleplay Sheriff in multiple ways, maybe you are a loyal Sheriff of the Camarilla, or an Anarch sympathiser working from within to undermine the court, or maybe you’re a self-centered Elder vampire playing the different factions off each other to your advantage.”
Release Date
Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 arrives Fall 2024.
