Vampire®: The Masquerade - Bloodlines™

Revisiting this game after well over a decade and it's still as fun as I remember. The GOG verison includes both the last official patch from the sadly defunct Troika Games and the latest fan patch rolled into the installation. This provides some much needed bug fixes, returns some cut content, and updates some of the visuals so the game will look slightly less muddy on a modern HD display. This game is part of what I like to call the "early 2000's greats" in terms of roleplaying games - it ranks up there with the first two KOTOR games and Deus Ex, and that's no exaggeration. GOOD: - Works out of the box from the GOG launcher on Windows 10 with HD support - Missions often let you tackle them in many different ways, be it stealth, combat, or talking - Lots of differing dialogue options that will change the story and how characters react to you - Does a good job for explaining the basics of (third edition) VtM lore for newbies - Four big hubs for you to explore non-linearly, packed with hidden goodies and side-quests - Each vampire clan is unique in terms of advantages, disadvantages, and interactions ingame - A handful of different endings depending on which vampire faction you want to side with BAD: - Some clans are definitely more fleshed out than others; Nosferatu, Malkavian, and Tremere in particualar get nice exclusive content while other clans do not - Some clans recycle generic Discplines (vampire powers) between one another, leaving a Tremere with a far more unique powerset compared to a Toreador for example - Game still buggy even with the patches pre-installed, I got softlocked in the tutorial. SAVE OFTEN TO PREVENT LOSING PROGRESS!

Vampire - Bloodlines ou l'incarnation parfaite du chef-d'oeuvre! Mais un chef-d'oeuvre qui fut en son temps sabordé par de nombreux soucis de développement. Lorsqu'il arrive sur les étals, le diamant n'a pas le lustre qu'il aurait du présenter. Mais fort heureusement une communauté fidèle et dévouée a su préserver l'héritage et lui rendre son lustre au fil des années grâce à une cohorte de patches qui ont depuis réglé bien des soucis et même restauré du contenu perdu! Si vous avez uniquement en tête le souvenir de Bloodlines tel qu'il était à sa sortie, voilà l'occasion de le redécouvrir purgé de ses bugs, crashes et autres petits soucis. Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas le jeu, il s'agit d'une adaptation du fameux RPG de White-Wolf et N'EST EN RIEN LIÉ à Rédemption sorti quelques années auparavant bien que se déroulant dans le même univers. Jeune Vampire fraîchement étreint vous vous retrouvez au service d'un puissant Prince vampire qui vous envoie enquêter sur de mystérieux événements qui mettent la société des damnés sur les dents (c'est dire!). Choisissez votre clan en fonction des avantages et inconvénients qu'il vous apportent et évoluez dans un Los Angeles gothique, sulfureux et underground. Le jeu est un mélange de FPS et 3ème personne où la sorcellerie vampirique cotoie les armes. Augmentez vos compétences, faites des choix qui influeront la suite des événements, remplissez des quêtes, rencontrez des NPC qui réagiront différemment selon votre genre ou votre race vampirique. Vampire c'est aussi une ambiance exceptionnelle, des personnages charismatiques et un humour aussi acéré qu'un tranchoir de boucher. Certains dialogues vous feront hurler de rire et le scénario est ultra prenant. Quant à la bande son elle est mémorable par sa puissance immersive. Bref Bloodlines est un chef-d'oeuvre qui est soigneusement poli par ses fans encore aujourd'hui. Une perle à découvrir en vitesse pour amateurs de vampires et d'ambiances sombres et matures!

This game is unironically so good, every time I see it on sale I have the strong urge to buy it again. I have it on Steam, on GoG and twice as a hard copy, because the cover was not looking so well anymore. It gives you several stories to experience from the perspective of several protagonists, all of them are the same, but have minor or sometimes major differences. Just give it a go, install the fanpatches and don't feel bad if you don't enjoy your first run. Try again. And again. And again. And at some point you fall in love with its deep and well written characters, its brilliant atmosphere, strong writing, awkward and stiff gameplay. Games like Vampire Bloodlines are a rare gem, both superior and inverior to blockbusters like GTA. It is dialogue and story driven, but for everyone who can appreciate that it is a one of a kind experience they will not regret. Also it is one of few games where vampires are cool without being edgy and where the setting is presented with an adult and most of the time dignified fashion. I love it so very dearly!

Great game, I played it for the first time a few years ago and it was a good experience. So, I don't have nostalgia glasses on and I think my opinion seems to be more "objective". The downside is that the very end of the game seems to be done in a rush and the result is that the game feels more buggy than usual. Ah, and one more thing - the quest in the cemetry area (LA) is too hard and frustrating. Just play it, dialogs and voice acting are great!

You can dance in a goth club as a vampire and suck hookers in an alley, Need i say more?