I'm kinda bummed that they got rid of the late 90s early 00s "feel"

[VickiLeekx]

It may sound weird but i think the whole feeling of being immersed into this late californian 2004 night vibe really had a huge impact on our own perception of VTMB, the pop culture context , that urban-fantasy cybergoth grungy atmosphere, i'm really going to miss it.. it was a part of the game's essence, it kinda was its trademark, they managed to capture the zeitgeist in a very legit way.. This game was witty & funny. Sarcastic & good play on some of the major influences of the contextual time it was made in. They could have kept that cybergoth aesthetic while making it more modern, i'm a bit sad that they decided to get rid of it, not everything has to be realistic.

[Highwayman667]

We're probably rushing a bit in our judgements. We only saw one dance club and it obviously didn't have the ambience from The Asylum and Confession. That might not necessarily be a bad thing considering The Asp Hole was a rather dissonant club in comparison to the former two.

I will say that I did love the goth athmosphere of many places in BL1. I've never been to a goth or dark synth discotheque before but BL1 gave me a nice taste of what it would feel like.

[NateHevens]

I gotta be honest... I don't want them to go that route with it. I said it in the comments of a Reddit post, but VTMB1 captured that vibe specifically because it was in the zeitgeist at the time. It's not longer in the zeitgeist today.

Remember that VTMB2, in order to be successful, has to appeal to people who didn't play VTMB1. That's gonna be hard if it just copies the aesthetic of VTMB1. Even today's Gothic culture has moved on from all that.

I want VTMB2 to be more modern. I'm not saying it shouldn't be creepy or have a dark atmosphere. But aping the Gothic vibe of the original would be a mistake, IMO. Update it for 2020. Make it really look like it's been 15 years.

[Highwayman667]

I gotta be honest... I don't want them to go that route with it. I said it in the comments of a Reddit post, but VTMB1 captured that vibe specifically because it was in the zeitgeist at the time. It's not longer in the zeitgeist today.

Was it though ? The goth aspects were part of a subculture that was being represented in BL1, rather than the general feeling of the decade.

You still make a good point, though I would argue that the benefit of having a similar athmosphere from BL1 would actually benefit BL2 because it fits the mythology. It is the World of Darkness after all.

[mdqp]

I think part of the reason for the shift in mood could be the passage to the new edition of the tabletop rules. I am not an expert, but I feel like the lore and background story did move a bit from that idea. I do personally quite like the feeling and look of the original, and as a personal note I also prefer that level of technology for storytelling and world-building (modern times with cameras and surveillance everywhere feel a bit incongruous for the needs of magical creatures, and the mysticism and mystery harder to keep).

I don't think the new tone is a bad fit (or even TOO distant from the first one), however. In fact, it's one of the things I am more optimistic about, given what little we have seen so far. Time will tell, anyway. Did we get a more precise date for the new release, or is it just Q2 2020?

[Highwayman667]

Well, we do know that at least the masquerade is still law... or at least it will be in BL2. I can't say it would be a deal breaker for me if this game turned out to neglect the goth aspects from the first one but I would still play the hell of it.

It seems like the date hasn't been altered yet. I do believe we're looking at Q2-Q3 this year.

[Happydeathclaw]

And I'd like to see more mind scientific explanations of vampire anatomy and physiology and less of all this gothic&mystic crap.

For the science!

LOL

[Nanaloma]

It may sound weird but i think the whole feeling of being immersed into this late californian 2004 night vibe really had a huge impact on our own perception of VTMB, the pop culture context , that urban-fantasy cybergoth grungy atmosphere, i'm really going to miss it.. it was a part of the game's essence, it kinda was its trademark, they managed to capture the zeitgeist in a very legit way.. This game was witty & funny. Sarcastic & good play on some of the major influences of the contextual time it was made in. They could have kept that cybergoth aesthetic while making it more modern, i'm a bit sad that they decided to get rid of it, not everything has to be realistic.

Probably a few people similarly lamented that BL1 didn't have an early 80s feel.  I don't see the point in dating a game and alienating new players right from the get go. 

[MooCHa]

Well, we do know that at least the masquerade is still law... or at least it will be in BL2. I can't say it would be a deal breaker for me if this game turned out to neglect the goth aspects from the first one but I would still play the hell of it.

It seems like the date hasn't been altered yet. I do believe we're looking at Q2-Q3 this year.

I'd hope they go for Q3 as it won't even be on my Radar before that.

[fylimar]

I gotta be honest... I don't want them to go that route with it. I said it in the comments of a Reddit post, but VTMB1 captured that vibe specifically because it was in the zeitgeist at the time. It's not longer in the zeitgeist today.

Was it though ? The goth aspects were part of a subculture that was being represented in BL1, rather than the general feeling of the decade.

You still make a good point, though I would argue that the benefit of having a similar athmosphere from BL1 would actually benefit BL2 because it fits the mythology. It is the World of Darkness after all.

I agree about goth being a subculture in that time (being a goth myself). It is much more mainstream today than it was back then.
I would love, if B2 has a similar gothic vibe, but I'm ok with another theme alltogether. I agree though, that the dark tones fit the WoD very well. I think, it is no coincidence, that many goth play Vampire the Masquerade.

[Talyn82]

I gotta be honest... I don't want them to go that route with it. I said it in the comments of a Reddit post, but VTMB1 captured that vibe specifically because it was in the zeitgeist at the time. It's not longer in the zeitgeist today.

Was it though ? The goth aspects were part of a subculture that was being represented in BL1, rather than the general feeling of the decade.

You still make a good point, though I would argue that the benefit of having a similar athmosphere from BL1 would actually benefit BL2 because it fits the mythology. It is the World of Darkness after all.

I agree about goth being a subculture in that time (being a goth myself). It is much more mainstream today than it was back then.
I would love, if B2 has a similar gothic vibe, but I'm ok with another theme alltogether. I agree though, that the dark tones fit the WoD very well. I think, it is no coincidence, that many goth play Vampire the Masquerade.

I think they'll bring back the gothic vibe.  Before I ever played the game, one of the things I always heard was how good the music was, and I agree.  The devs most likely did their research and saw it was one of the positives of the game.  Though since I am a metal fan I would like to hear some metal too.  Jack looks like a metal head.  In fact I downloaded a skin from this site where on his vest it says Motorhead.  Yeah I can definitely see Jack rolling with bikers. 

[Gurkhal]

I'm kind of happy they moved away from the 90s and 00s feel to the game. Because we're 20-30 years away from that time and I'd rather see they capture today well than see some awkward attempt to create a past era. Now it could be done, I assume, but I'm more comfortable with them getting it right in taking on our own time.
Besides, I grew up in the 90s and I barely recall what it was like.

[Ghanima_Atreides]

Am I the only one who thinks Bloodlines 1's world isn't too different from the present day and could easily be adapted? I mean, yeah, people still used pay phones and computers had these large chunky monitors but apart from that, what's so fundamentally different? Alternative clubs still exist today, cities still look largely the same (especially in a game that takes liberties with the geography and aesthetics).
Besides, the World of Darkness had never been an exact copy of our world in terms of appearance and vibe, it has a darker/grungier feel. So goth and other subcultures could still be a part of it.
So, what I'm saying is, apart from updated graphics and technology and a contemporary culture context, I don't think it will be unrecognisable from the first game.

[Gurkhal]

It wouldn't be entirley unrecognizable but the digital evolution has moved things forward, a lot. I think that many of the tasks done hand or so in Bloodlines 1 would be by hacking computers in Bloodlines 2. Thus "Computer/Hacking/Whatever" would be the single best skill, after combat given the second half of the game, and with hacking you would be able to access a great deal more things than you can in Bloodlines 1 as much more information is nowadays digitalized.

[Ghanima_Atreides]

IMO Hacking was already the most useful skill in Bloodlines 1    At least the way I play my characters. It's just useful in many situations, from acquiring information, to bypassing traps and finding shortcuts. I agree, it's likely to become even moreso in Bloodlines 2. I suppose the extent to which everything will be accessible in digital form depends on how the quests are built; if the information we need is held by a person, or in their journal, or some ancient tome belonging to an Elder etc. other skills may come into play. Lockpicking will probably still be a thing as well, since there are still plenty of doors with conventional locks.


I guess one of the biggest changes from the first game is the prevalence of smartphones; in Bloodlines 1 Jack talks about camera phones and the internet making life difficult for Kindred but it's even moreso nowadays, anyone can take high res photos and recordings and upload them to YouTube or whatever where they can go viral within minutes...the Masquerade is more vital than ever. At the same time however, with all the "deepfakes" and photoshopped images etc. mortals are likely to dismiss many of them as hoaxes someone made up for laughs/likes. Still it would be interesting if a side quest involved dealing with a viral video of supernatural origin, by discrediting it in some way.