Earlier this month, Brighton-based developer The Chinese Room was revealed to be the new developer behind highly anticipated RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. In the first dev diary since taking over the project, Studio Design Director Alex Skidmore delves into the team’s approach to building the troubled but now on-course sequel.
The Chinese Room is largely known for narrative-based games such as Dear Esther or Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. With Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, the developer is “taking a big leap forward into the action role-playing genre while bringing our narrative expertise to bear.”
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Developer Diary 1
“We love how it lets you express your monster in a world full of supernatural secrets. That just fits our style of storytelling,” Skidmore wrote in dev diary 1.
“Bloodlines 2 asks us to believe that blood-sucking monsters could inhabit our world, that you are one of them and how would you deal with that world while navigating the darkness within. Bloodlines 2 is designed with a balance of roleplaying game and adventure story. A compelling and rich plot you’d expect from an adventure game, but with RPG agency allowing you to act out your vampire fantasy.”
The core pillar behind the sequel is that of making players feel like a vampire. “Everything you do in this game should make you feel like a predator of the night,” Skidmore notes while pointing out how vampires aren’t often seen as playable characters.
“We’re building the game around the experience of doing things only a Kindred can. With non-combat gameplay, we found early on we were doing the RPG tropes: find a keycard to open a door, turn on a generator to restore power to a lift. We put in a rule that the non-combat gameplay should be about something only a vampire could do; keep it aspirational.”
In terms of combat, Bloodlines 2 “started off playing like Dishonored (which we love), but that didn’t feel right for a vampire: players were very cautious and afraid of the enemies they encountered.”
The Chinese Room’s vision for the Kindred revolves around embodying a predator capable of striking without fear.
“We want to build an action experience where players feel confident, almost trolling the enemies with their disciplines. Testers use the phrase ‘playing with your food,’ which we love and illustrates how we think a Vampire: The Masquerade ARPG should feel has come up in playthroughs.”
Rather than a power fantasy, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 promises a “confidence fantasy” backed up by the knowledge that supernatural powers and good old immortality are two advantages you can use not just in combat but also when talking to other characters and simply traversing the city.
Two other game pillars guiding the sequel’s development are “Visceral, Immersive Combat” and “Exploring the World of Darkness,” which we’ll learn more about in the future.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is now aiming for a fall 2024 launch.
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