Short Gameplay From Vampire: Bloodlines 2 Raises Concerns About Dialogues and Faces
Although the plot of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 seems more than interesting, short gameplay footage raise concerns about English dubbing and facial expressions.
As it is Halloween, developers of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 have decided to share new information about the game, while presenting small fragments of gameplay. The secret was revealed by Ian Thomas, narrative director from The Chinese Room and Sean Greaney, executive vice president for World of Darkness from Paradox Interactive.
Protagonist or protagonist
First of all, we met Phyre - the protagonist of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. He or she is a vampire - the player will choose the character's gender, outfit or one of the four available clans to belong to - living in Seattle since the early 17th century.
The game's action, however, is set in 2024, when Phyre awakens from nearly a century of sleep with large gaps in memory. In filling them, she/he is helped by Fabien - a modern-day vampire inhabiting Phyre's body. In a way, he resembles Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077. The protagonist knows of his presence and hears him.
Although he provides useful information about the game world - which can be useful especially to those unfamiliar with the World of Darkness. Fabien can be ignored. However, his relationship with Phyre will affect the plot of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2, as will our clothing, the way we "eat", our approach to other characters, etc.
Dead vampire faces
This can be partially observed in the gameplay fragments included from points 1:22 and 12:10 of the above video. Particularly interesting seems to be this first one, in which Phyre is talking to Lou Grand, leader of the Pioneers. Interestingly, she was presented some time earlier and - based on her outfit etc. - World of Darkness fans quickly came to the conclusion that she was inspired by Lou Graham, who made quite a fortune through her work in a Seattle brothel between 1888 and 1905.
You can't hear the German accent, but for almost 150 years Lou Graham may have gotten rid of it.Source: Paradox Interactive.
Undoubtedly, the plot of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 seems very interesting. Instead, the game's audiovisuals, specifically the English dubbing and facial expressions of the characters, may be of concern. The characters - and Phyre in particular - speak in a rather monotonous manner. The movements that can be observed on their faces, on the other hand, give the impression of limited fluidity - almost only the eyes, eyebrows and mouth are animated, which is quite creepy (especially the jumping movements of the former). On the other hand, perhaps this is fitting for vampires?
Concerns seem all the more justified because the presented gameplay fragments are from the "post-alpha" version of the game - so almost a beta. So it's hard to expect drastic changes for the release, whose exact date we still haven't learned. All we know is that Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 is scheduled for release on PC, PS5 and XSX/S in 2024. It is worth mentioning here that in the coming weeks the devs will present and discuss in detail all four aforementioned vampire clans.
